Golden Lion

Golden Lion
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Type	Animal
Creation
Trained at	Temple
Created through	Chariot of Cybele
Population	0
Training time	60 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	70
Speed	5
Line of Sight	18
Hack armor	15%
Pierce armor	20%
Crush armor	99%
Attack
Hack attack	3.8
Reload time	2.2

“	Magic lion summoned by a Relic. Golden Lions obey their owner's commands and will respawn if killed.	”
—In-game description

The Golden Lion is a military animal unit in Age of Mythology that is exclusively obtainable by placing the Chariot of Cybele Relic in a Temple. Once placed, two Lions appear at the Temple. If both Lions are killed, they will both re-spawn from the Temple shortly after. One Golden Lion is stronger than a Relic Monkey, which is a similar animal spawned by another Relic, but they only come in pairs, while the Monkeys come in troupes of six.

Strategy

Golden Lions are more valuable in the Archaic Age or Classical Age before players have access to stronger units. To make the most of them, it is best to build the Temple as quickly as possible and have the first available hero grab the Chariot of Cybele Relic. Their primary purpose is scouting thanks to their decent speed and LOS. This is especially useful for the Norse who in turn are able to free their Berserk from the burden of scouting so that it can begin constructing other buildings. Egyptian players will also enjoy not having to constantly build Obelisks, though this is not as much the case for Set who already provides Animals of Set for scouting. If scouting is not a concern to the player, their hero should focus on grabbing more valuable Relics.

Another use for the Golden Lions is harassing enemies. In the Archaic Age, many units, such as Priests and Berserks, have their stats reduced drastically. The Lions can seek out these units and interrupt their work by attacking them, delaying the enemy's progress. Other targets can include Egyptian Obelisks and Atlantean Oracles, the latter of whose Line of Sight will reset when attacked. They can also raid worker units hunting too far from the safety of their Town Center. Against anything that can fight back however, the Lions are not as effective as their low defenses mean that they will quickly die from an attack. As the player gains the ability to train stronger units, their purpose is reduced to act as bait from attacks, such as Towers, increasing the longevity of other units. In online battles, they can serve as decoys. When attacking an enemy building in one area of the map, the opponent may get distracted for a few seconds by the distress signal. The player may use these valuable seconds of inattention to raid a mining operation, ultimately crippling the enemy economy by the time they realize what happened.

Changelog

Age of Mythology

• Its attack deals 7 damage per second. They are spawned by the Relic "A Pair of Golden Lions".
• It makes unique sounds when selected and tasked.

Retold

• Its attack deals 3.8 damage per hit with a Rate of Fire of 2.2. They are spawned by the Relic "Chariot of Cybele".
• It reuses the Animal of Set's sounds when selected and tasked.

Trivia

• Despite its name, the Golden Lion's icon and model are identical to that of a regular Lion.

Gallery

Golden Lions mere seconds after being summoned from a Temple