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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the unit in Age of Mythology, see Helepolis (Age of Mythology).

Upgrade of the Ballista. The Helepolis has more range and a faster fire rate.
Age of Empires description

The Helepolis is an ultimate siege unit in Age of Empires, the upgrade of the Ballista in the Iron Age. It has a strong attack and fires three times as fast as the Stone Thrower and its upgrades, but is very fragile and should be supplemented with non-siege weapons when sent into battle. Despite being a siege unit, it does not deal bonus damage against buildings.

Civilizations[]

The Helepolis is an uncommon unit, and it is only available to some civilizations:

Aoede helepolis available Available Aoede helepolis unavailable Unavailable
x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Helepolises, i.e. gets Alchemy and Engineering.
+ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of their Helepolises.

Gameplay[]

It is built at the Siege Workshop (before Return of Rome, also required research of Craftsmanship at the Market beforehand). 1,200 food, 1,000 wood are needed to upgrade the Ballista to a Helepolis.

The Helepolis fires faster than the Ballista and has +1 range. It is strong in groups as it is fairly accurate and deals the highest damage per second in the game. Like its predecessor, the Helepolis does not deal bonus damage against buildings but deals a +5 attack bonus against Fire Galleys.

The main counter to the Helepolis are Catapults that can out-range and eliminate them in a single shot, unless the unit moves clear of the attack.

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Infantry, ships
Weak vs. Catapults
Upgrades
Attack Alchemy Alchemy (+1)
Range Engineering Engineering (+2)
Accuracy Ballistics Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Creation speed RoR Conscription Conscription (+25%)

Civilization bonuses[]

  • Assyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians: Upgrading to Helepolis is 50% cheaper.*
  • Roman AOE DE ROR icon Romans: Helepolises have +1 range.*

Team bonuses[]

  • Assyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians: Helepolises are created 20% faster.
  • Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans: Technologies that benefit Helepolises are researched 30% faster.

Changelog[]

Age of Empires[]

  • Ballistae can be upgraded to Helepolises only if Craftsmanship is researched.
  • Helepolises have 40 attack, 1.5 reload time, 4.5 projectile speed, and cost 1,500 food to upgrade.
  • They are visually identical to Ballistae.

Definitive Edition[]

  • Helepolises have 1.95 reload time and 4.9 projectile speed.
  • With update 38862, Helepolises have 1.85 reload time.
  • With update 46777, Helepolises have 45 attack and cost 1,200 food to upgrade.

Return of Rome[]

  • Researching Craftsmanship is no longer required to upgrade Ballistae to Helepolises.
  • Upon release, Helepolises had 40 attack and cost 1,500 food to upgrade. With hotfix 85208, they have 45 attack and cost 1,200 food to upgrade again.
  • Helepolises receive a unique model to visually differentiate them from Ballistae.
  • Assyrian AOE DE ROR icon Assyrians (team bonus): Helepolises are created 20% faster.
  • Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans (team bonus): Technologies benefiting Helepolises are researched 30% faster.
  • Roman AOE DE ROR icon Romans: Helepolises have +1 range.
  • Helepolises have 7.2 projectile speed. With hotfix 85208, Helepolises have 4.067 projectile speed.

Trivia[]

  • Due to the fast fire rate at a long range, the unit may still fire a bolt or two within a fraction of a second even after the enemy unit is eliminated.
  • Typing ICBM allows the player to upgrade its range by 90, bumping the total up to 100 range.
    • Although the firing range will be improved, the Line of Sight still remains the same. Likewise, it cannot attack any target unless the unit is already discovered within the fog of war. Even if the fog of war is removed by a cheat code, it still cannot attack moving targets unless it is within the Line of Sight of other allied units. However, it may attack enemy buildings already discovered through the fog of war.
    • Typing this code before finishing researching Engineering will grant the player an additional 2 range. This will affect both the firing range and the Line of Sight.
  • The name is a misnomer. Helepolis was actually a name for Greek siege towers, not a siege weapon firing bolts or rocks.

History[]

The helepolis (Greek for "city killer") was one of the most advanced weapons of antiquity and a remarkable demonstration of ancient engineering ingenuity. It was in fact an automatic siege weapon that fired ballista bolts. The top loading lagazine of the helepolis was a horizontal funnel in which were laid bundles of bolts. These were fed by gravity into the chamber of the weapon. A clever gearing mechanism automatically recocked the helepolis and fired. Human operators needed only to keep it loaded and aimed, plus providing power by cranking. The original of the machine was abandoned outside the city of Rhodes when a besieging army withdrew. It has been reconstructed on paper from contemporary sketches and descriptions of that only known example.
Age of Empires manual

Gallery[]

Video[]

HELEPOLIS_vs_EVERY_UNIT_-_Age_of_Empires-_Definitive_Edition

HELEPOLIS vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

Siege Workshop
Requires
AOEDE Archery Range icon Archery Range
Stone Age Icon (DE)
Tool Age Icon (DE)
Bronze Age Icon (DE)
Iron Age Icon (DE)
Aoede stone thrower available Catapult Aoede heavy catapult available
Ballista Helepolis


Units in Age of Empires
CivilianReturnofrome female villager icon Villager · Returnofrome trade cart icon Trade Cart
OtherAoE2 DE priest icon Priest · Slinger-0 Slinger · Returnofrome artifact icon Artifact
Civilian ship1 Fishing Boat Fishing Boat · 2 Fishing Ship Fishing Ship
3 Trade Boat Trade Boat · 4 Merchant Ship Merchant Ship
5 Light Transport Light Transport · 6 Heavy Transport Heavy Transport
InfantryClubman Clubman · AxemanAoEDE Axeman
Short Swordsman Short Swordsman · Broad Swordsman Broad Swordsman · AoE nuRoR Long Swordsman icon Long Swordsmen · Returnofrome legionary icon Legionary
HopliteDE Hoplite · AoE nuRoR Phalangite icon Phalangite · Returnofrome centurion icon Centurion
ArcherBowman aoe1de Bowman
Improved Bowman22 Improved Bowman · Composite Bowman Composite Bowman
Chariot Archer111 Chariot Archer
Horse Archer Horse Archer · Returnofrome heavy horse archer icon Heavy Horse Archer
EAICON DE Elephant Archer
CavalryScout-0 Scout
ChariotDE Chariot · ScytheDE Scythe Chariot
Cavalry111 Cavalry · Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon Heavy Cavalry · Returnofrome cataphract icon Cataphract
War ElephantDE War Elephant · Returnofrome armored elephant icon Armored Elephant
Camel RiderDE Camel Rider
SiegeStone ThrowerDE Stone Thrower · CatapultDE Catapult · Returnofrome heavy catapult icon Heavy Catapult
BallistaDE Ballista · Returnofrome helepolis icon Helepolis
War Ship7 Scout Ship Scout Ship · 8 War Galley War Galley · 9 Trireme Trireme
Catapult Trireme Catapult Trireme · Returnofrome juggernaut icon Juggernaut
10 Fire Galley Fire Galley
Scenario Editor-only units
Short Swordsman Chieftain · Donkey caravan aoe2DE Donkey · Clubman Explorer · Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon General · AoE2 DE priest icon High Priest · Returnofrome horse icon Horse · HeavyCavalryDE Mercenary (removed) · Penguin aoe2DE Penguin · AoE2 DE priest icon Pharaoh · 5 Light Transport Raft · Returnofrome artifact icon War Chest
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