| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the unit in Age of Mythology, see Helepolis (Age of Mythology). |
The Helepolis is an ultimate siege unit in Age of Empires, the upgrade of the Ballista in the Iron Age.
It is built at the Siege Workshop and requires research of Craftsmanship at the Market beforehand. A cost of 1500 food and 1000 wood is needed to upgrade the Ballista to a Helepolis.
The Helepolis fires twice as fast as a 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.
The Helepolis has 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. No civilizations have bonuses for this unit, although if playing as the Hittites in the Scenario Editor, the doubled hit points still apply due the unit being classified as a siege weapon.
Civilizations
Edit
The Helepolis is an uncommon unit and can only be trained by:
UpgradesEdit
Iron Age Edit
- Alchemy increases attack by 1 point (changed to +2 in The Rise of Rome)
- Ballistics increases accuracy
- Engineering increases range by 2 points
| Siege Workshop Tree | ||
|---|---|---|
TriviaEdit
- 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 points, bumping the total up to 100 range points.
- 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 the line of sight of other units spotted the enemy. However, it may attack enemy buildings already discovered through the fog of war without the need of additional line of sight.
- Typing this code before finishing researching Engineering will grant the player an additional 2 range points. This will affect both the firing range and the line of sight.
Gallery Edit
| Units in Age of Empires | |
 Age of Empires | |
|---|---|
| Priest · Villager · Trade Boat · Merchant Ship · Fishing Boat · Fishing Ship · Light Transport · Heavy Transport | |
| Infantry | Clubman · Axeman · Short Swordsman · Broad Swordsman · Long Swordsmen · Legion · Hoplite · Phalanx · Centurion |
| Archers | Bowman · Improved Bowman · Composite Bowman · Chariot Archer · Elephant Archer · Horse Archer · Heavy Horse Archer |
| Cavalry | Scout · Cavalry · Heavy Cavalry · Cataphract · Chariot · War Elephant |
| Siege | Stone Thrower · Catapult · Heavy Catapult · Ballista · Helepolis |
| Navy | Scout Ship · War Galley · Trireme · Catapult Trireme · Juggernaught |
 The Rise of Rome | |
| Armored Elephant · Camel Rider · Fire Galley · Scythe Chariot · Slinger | |
