Heavy Rocket Cart

Heavy Rocket Cart
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - update 141935
Type	Siege weapon Gunpowder unit
Civilization	Chinese Jurchens Khitans Koreans
Age	Imperial Age
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	130
Gold	155
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	65
Melee attack	5
Projectiles	10
Attack bonus	+12 vs Building +7 vs Castle +7 vs Wall +5 vs Heavy siege +2 vs Siege weapon
Blast radius	1.25 [tapering effect]
Reload time	5.35 in theory 5.65 in practice
Attack delay	0.03
Range	8
Minimum range	2.5
Projectile speed	3.75
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	8
Armor class	Siege weapon Gunpowder
Speed	0.6
Line of Sight	10
Ability	Can attack ground Can destroy trees Attacks ignore armor of non-siege land units
Upgraded from
Upgraded from	Rocket Cart
Notes
See also	Onager

“	Siege Gunpowder Unit with ranged blast attack, but cannot attack at close range. Can attack ground and destroy trees.	”
—In-game description

The Heavy Rocket Cart is a gunpowder siege weapon introduced in update 141935 of the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It can be upgraded from the Rocket Cart at the Siege Workshop in the Imperial Age, and replaces the Onager for the civilizations which have it. It shoots several primary projectiles like the Dromon (and unlike the Elite Chu Ko Nu) in the targeted area, dealing Area of Effect damage. Like the Onager, its attacks also destroy trees.

It is a regional unit available to the Chinese, Jurchens, Khitans, and Koreans.

Tactics

The Heavy Rocket Cart serves a similar role to the Onager, being well suited for fighting groups of units at a range and also being moderately anti-building. Compared to the Onager, Heavy Rocket Carts deal notably better damage against groups of armored units, due to their attacks bypassing armor. However, this same reliance on many weaker attacks also makes the Rocket Cart less effective against buildings with Masonry and Architecture, since these technologies effectively negate bonus damage against buildings once per projectile and the armor-ignoring effect does not work on buildings. As such, comparing the damage output of the unit is very much dependent on unit armor, with the entire calculation becoming more complicated due to the Heavy Rocket Cart reloading faster.

Damage output aside, the Heavy Rocket has +5 hit points, +1 pierce armor, +15% creation speed, -0.5 tiles (-16.6%) minimum range, and the gunpowder armor class compared to the Onager. The gunpowder armor class makes Condottieri and Winged Hussars major threats to watch out for. Compared to the Siege Onager, they bridge the gap halfway with their hit points and have the same pierce armor, but none of their other statistics come even close.

Every civilization with Heavy Rocket Carts has a unique variation when fully upgraded, with all except the Khitans having access to an Imperial Age unique technology that affects them. Korean Heavy Rocket Carts with Shinkichon end up being the strongest, having 10 range and the most damage output. This makes them a solid counter to enemy Onagers.

Comparison with the Onager

	Onager	Heavy Rocket Cart	Siege Onager
Research cost	800 food, 500 gold	800 wood, 750 gold	1,400 food, 1,000 gold
Train cost	160 wood, 135 gold	130 wood, 155 gold	160 wood, 135 gold
Train time	46	40	46
Hit points	60	65	70
Attacks	Melee: 50 + 1x7 + 1 vs heavy siege: +50 vs buildings: +45 vs siege: +12	Melee: 5 vs heavy siege: +5 vs buildings: +12 vs siege: +2 vs Castle, walls: +7	Melee: 70 + 1x9 + 1 vs heavy siege: +50 vs buildings: +60 vs siege: +12
Reload time	6	5.65 (x10)	6
Minimum range	3	2.5	3
Projectile speed	3.5	3.75	3.5
Armor	0/7	0/8	0/8
Other		Attacks ignore armor Has gunpowder armor class

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Tight groups of units
Weak vs.	Units at close range (especially Condottieri and Winged Hussars)

Technologies
Attack	Siege Engineers (+20% vs buildings) Rocketry (+25%, Chinese only)
Range	Siege Engineers (+1) Shinkichon (+1, Koreans only)
Additional projectiles	Shinkichon (+6, Koreans only)
Attack speed	Shinkichon (side effect: +0.2 reload time)
Ability	Thunderclap Bombs (projectiles detonate some time after landing, Heavy Rocket Carts detonate when destroyed, Jurchens only)

Civilization bonuses
Damage resistance	Jurchens (-50% friendly fire damage)

Team bonuses
Line of Sight	Jurchens (+2)

Trivia

• As a gunpowder unit, it does not benefit from Chemistry.
• The Heavy Rocket Cart is based on the historical "Nest of Bees" (Chinese: 一窝蜂 / 一窩蜂; Yīwōfēng), a type of early Chinese multiple rocket launcher. Its name refers to the clustered volley of fire arrows used to overwhelm enemy formations.

Gallery

Views of the Heavy Rocket Cart

Rocket Cart and Heavy Rocket Cart (right)

Korean Hwacha-type rocket-launcher, able to fire 100 shinkichon fire arrows at once

Ming Huo Che-type rocket carts with 30-100 rockets per pod, recorded in the Wubei Zhi

Rocket Carts overview by Ornlu the Wolf