| “ | Archer of Hades. Good against infantry and buildings. Benefits from archer improvements. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Gastraphetoros (plural: Gastraphetoroi, named Gastraphetes before Retold) is a Mythic Age ranged soldier unit in Age of Mythology. It is trained at the Fortress, and is the unique unit for Hades.
Special ability[]
Solar Flare (Passive, requires Sun Ray): Projectiles reveal the area around where they land.- Venomous (Passive, requires Shafts of Plague): Inflicts poison on enemy units, causing 0.25 divine damage per second for 6 seconds.
Strengths and weaknesses[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. |  Hoplite,  Hypaspist,  Prodromos,  Spearman,  Axeman,  Berserk,  Throwing Axeman,  Hersir
|
| Weak vs. |  Hippeus,  Raiding Cavalry,  War Elephant,  Peltast,  Slinger,  Huskarl,  Jarl
|
Upgrades[]
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
|
 Medium Archers
|
150 wood, 150 gold 20 seconds |
Upgrades Gastraphetoroi to Medium (+10% hit points, +10% damage, +1 Line of Sight) |
|
 Heavy Archers
|
300 wood, 300 gold 30 seconds |
Upgrades Gastraphetoroi to Heavy (+10% hit points, +20% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Medium Archers |
|
 Champion Archers
|
500 wood, 400 gold 40 seconds |
Upgrades Gastraphetoroi to Champion (+10% hit points, +30% damage, +1 Line of Sight); requires Heavy Archers |
Further statistics[]
God bonuses[]
- Hades: +1 attack range.
General technologies[]
- Levy Ranged Soldiers, Conscript Ranged Soldiers: -20% training time.
- Copper Weapons, Bronze Weapons, Iron Weapons: +10% damage.
- Copper Armor, Bronze Armor, Iron Armor: -10% hack vulnerability.
- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields, Iron Shields: -10% pierce vulnerability.
- Burning Pitch: +3 damage multiplier against buildings, +1.5 damage multiplier against ships.
- Ballistics: fires more accurately at moving enemy targets.
Myth technologies[]
- Sun Ray (Apollo): +10% damage, projectiles reveal the surrounding area.
- Oracle (Apollo): +4 Line of Sight.
- Olympian Weapons (Hephaestus): +20% damage, +1 damage multiplier against myth units.
- Shafts of Plague (Artemis): +10% damage, +0.25/s divine damage for 6 seconds.
Relics[]
- Bow of Artemis: -10% cost.
- Pelt of Argus: +6 Line of Sight.
- Arrows of Heracles: +5% attack.
- Ullr's Bow: +1 Line of Sight and range.
- Thundercloud Shawl: -5% pierce vulnerability.
Strategy[]
Gastraphetoroi are quite expensive but can handle various roles. They have a very long range and deal crush damage so can destroy buildings in groups. As archers, they are strong against infantry as well. Due to their long range they can kill infantry from much further away than conventional archers, and therefore can provide long ranged support. This also reduces the extent to which infantry can close the gap and hurt them. They are effective when paired with Petroboli since these can provide anti-infantry support and help destroy buildings. Their main weakness is that they are expensive and take up three population slots. Furthermore, like all archers they are weak against cavalry, though their range helps to mitigate this somewhat.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- The unit is named Gastraphetes. Gastraphetes cost 120 wood, 80 gold, and can be trained only at the Fortress.
- Gastraphetes have 8 pierce attack, 6 crush attack, 24 range, 15 hack armor, and train in 14 seconds.
The Titans[]
- With patch 1.0.1, Gastraphetes can also be trained at the Archery Range.
Tale of the Dragon[]
Retold[]
- The unit is named Gastraphetoros. It can no longer be trained at the Archery Range.
- Gastraphetoroi have 14 pierce attack, 23 range, 2.1 Rate of Fire, 5 hack armor, train in 18 seconds, and cost 100 wood, 60 gold.
- With update 17.27932, Gastraphetoroi have 12 pierce attack.
History[]
| “ | This ancient weapon was an ancestor to both mounted ballistae and medieval crossbows. It appeared to be a large crossbow that was cocked, and perhaps fired, while braced against the soldier's middle. "Gastraphetes" literally means "belly bow". Because they were slow to fire, but had a great range, the weapons were most likely used for siege. | ” |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- The Gastraphetoros was the last trainable human unit created for Age of Mythology before The Titans, as Hades originally had access to the Cataphract instead.
- The last trainable unit created was the Jormun Elver.
Gallery[]
