Hoplite (Age of Empires)

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

Hoplite
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Heavy Infantry
Civilization	All except Persians
Age	Bronze Age
Training
Trained at	Academy
Food	60
Gold	40
Training time	36 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	120
Melee attack	17
Reload time	1.5
Melee armor	5
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.87
Line of Sight	4
Upgrades to
Upgrades to	Phalangite
Upgrade cost	300 food, 100 gold
Upgrade time	90 seconds

“	A slow and heavy infantry unit with a powerful attack.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Hoplite is a heavy infantry unit in Age of Empires that can be trained at the Academy from the Bronze Age. It is the earliest and weakest of the Academy's trio of units; however, it is still one of the most powerful melee troops in Age of Empires.

Civilizations

Hoplites are available to all civilizations except for the Persians.

Gameplay

Hoplites are the earliest heavy infantry unit, and are one of the game's strongest close-range combatants; they deal even more damage than the Legionary and Cataphract, and are highly durable against melee attacks. The downsides are their lack of speed (slightly slower or faster than other infantry depending on whether the player has researched Aristocracy), and being somewhat expensive.

Heavy infantry are most effective against other melee units, particularly as a counter to expensive Cavalry. They can also break quickly through fortifications, although they need shield upgrades to withstand arrow/Ballista fire.

Like other infantry units, Hoplites struggle against archers in open terrain as, it takes them so long to reach melee range. Horse Archers and Chariot Archers in particular can run circles around them, and Ballistae can bring them down from long distances. They fare better against land Catapults than other infantry, however, as these projectiles count as melee attacks, against which Hoplite-line units are exceptionally resistant.

The biggest concern for Hoplite-line units are Priests, which can target them from long distances. After conversion, they become a potent thorn in their former owner's side. The exception is if playing as or against Macedonians, as they have high resistance to conversion and cannot field any Priests themselves. Macedonian Hoplite-line units also get a pierce armor bonus, and the Greeks' have a movement bonus, so these civilizations mitigate heavy infantry's usual weaknesses.

While Hoplite-line units are more expensive and take longer to train than other infantry, and don't benefit from Logistics, they are still easier to amass than gold-intensive Cavalry and food-intensive War Elephants. Players with a limited economy, population cap, or reinforcement urgency may be better-served by Swordsman-line units, but otherwise a set of Academies churning out heavy infantry is likely to be the best solution for melee supremacy.

Hoplites can be upgraded in the Iron Age to Phalangites by many civilizations, for a bonus to melee armor and damage. Some civilizations can further upgrade them to the Centurion, which is more durable to all damage and far more powerful, the most damaging melee unit in the game after the Fire Galley.

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, infantry, buildings
Weak vs.	Archers, Priests, siege weapons

Upgrades
Attack	Toolworking (+2) Metalworking (+2) Metallurgy (+3)
Armor	Leather Armor Infantry (+2/0) Scale Armor Infantry (+2/0) Chain Mail Infantry (+2/0) Bronze Shield (0/+1) Iron Shield (0/+1) Tower Shield (0/+1)
Movement speed	Aristocracy (+25%)
Creation speed	Conscription (+25%)
Other	Phalangite (+3 attack, +2/0 armor)

Civilization bonuses
Hit points	Carthaginians (+25%)
Armor	Macedonians (0/+2)
Conversion resistance	Macedonians (4x)
Line of Sight	Macedonians (+2)
Movement speed	Greeks (+30%)
Resource cost	Greeks (-20%)
Creation speed	Lac Viet (+25%)

Team bonuses
Creation speed	Carthaginians (+20%)

Team bonuses

• Carthaginians: Researching Aristocracy and upgrading to Phalangite is 20% faster.
• Palmyrans: Researching technologies that benefit Hoplites is 30% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Hoplites have 1.5 reload time.
• Greeks: Hoplites have +33% speed.

Definitive Edition

• Greeks: Hoplites have +30% speed and cost -20%.

Return of Rome

• Upon release, Hoplites had 2.0 reload time. With update 87863, they have 1.5 reload time again.
• Palmyrans (team bonus): Technologies benefiting Hoplites are researched 30% faster.

Heroes

There are two heroes in the game with the appearance of a Hoplite:

• Ajax
• Demetrius

History

“	Greek infantry soldiers of the Classical Age were called hoplites, from the name of their large shields, called hoplons. For battle they wore a cuirass (breastplate), helmet, and greaves. They were armed with a long spear or pike and sword. Hoplite armies fought each other hand-to-hand in the dense phalanx formation that faced the enemy with a bristling wall of spear points staggered at chest level. Fighting at close range in such a formation required acommitment to training and discipline that became a way of life. Hoplites were the best infantry units in the world for many centuries until being supplanted by the more flexible and functional Roman legionnaires.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

The Hoplite unit line in Return of Rome, with the Hoplite on the left

A Hoplite in the Definitive Edition

A group of Hoplites in the original game

Old 3D model of a Hoplite

Concept art of a Hoplite, killing an enemy soldier

Hoplite attacking sprite in Return of Rome

Video

HOPLITE vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

Tech tree

				Requires Stable
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