Heavy Catapult

Heavy Catapult
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Siege unit
Civilization	See Civilizations
Age	Iron Age
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	180
Gold	80
Training time	60 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Attack	60 melee
Attack bonuses	+140 vs. Buildings +50 vs. Towers +10 vs. Fire Galley
Blast radius	1.2
Rate of Fire	5.375
Frame delay	11
Range	13
Minimum range	3
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.8
Line of Sight	16
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	Catapult
Required research	Siegecraft

The Heavy Catapult is a heavy siege weapon in Age of Empires.

Civilizations

The Heavy Catapult is an uncommon unit, and can only be trained by some civilizations.

The * indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Heavy Catapults, i.e. gets Alchemy, Engineering, and Ballistics.
The ^ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of their Heavy Catapults.

Gameplay

Requiring research of Siegecraft from the Market, it is the upgrade of the Catapult, with twice the amount of hit points and larger Area of Effect damage. This makes Heavy Catapults a popular Iron Age unit for bombarding enemy troops and enemy buildings. It is also the only land unit that can knock trees down with its attack damage.

Like all stone throwing siege weapons, Heavy Catapults deal 28 bonus damage against buildings (to a total of 40 damage, since buildings in Age of Empires have 80% resistance to all attacks) but only 10 bonus damage against towers (to a total of 22 damage). Only a certain number of civilizations have the ability to research and train this unit.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Buildings
Weak vs.	Ships, Ballistae
Upgrades
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Engineering (+2)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)

Civilization bonuses

• Hittites: Heavy Catapults have +50% hit points.
• Sumerians: Heavy Catapults have -30% reload time.

History

The heavy catapult was a powerful siege weapon, representing the greatest advance in siege weaponry during ancient times. It was employed against fortifications and on the battlefield. It broke down fortification walls, allowing attackers to break in. On the battlefield, smaller missiles could be fired in a shower against dense formations of soldiers to cause casualties and disrupt morale at long range. Enemy armies that could be softened and shaken before the hand-to-hand clash of infantry were at a decided disadvantage.

Gallery

A group of Heavy Catapults

Two Heavy Catapults destroying a Wonder in the Wonder scenario

A Heavy Catapult in the Definitive Edition

Video

HEAVY CATAPULT vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

Siege Workshop Tree
Bronze Age Siege Workshop Stone Thrower Iron Age Catapult Ballista Heavy Catapult Helepolis