| “ | A sea serpent that breathes steam. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Jormun Elver (named Jormund Elver before Retold) is a Mythic Age naval myth unit in Age of Mythology. It is available to the Norse if the player chooses to worship Tyr. Their name indicates them to be the spawn of Jörmungandr.
Special ability[]
Wake of Destruction (Charged): Thrashes around with its tail, creating waves that damage and displace enemies. (since Retold)
Further statistics[]
Myth technologies[]
- Freyr's Gift (Freyr): +10% hit points. (since Retold)
- Thurisaz Rune (Bragi): +10% movement speed and +0.25 hit points per second regeneration.
- Rampage (Hel): -95% training time.
Age bonuses[]
- Wonder Age: +100% hit points, +100% damage, +20% movement speed.
Relics[]
- Pandora's Box: -20% favor cost.
- Pelt of Argus: +6 Line of Sight.
- Shen of Nekhbet: 2× attack.
- Scales of a Catoblepas: -15% pierce vulnerability.
- Scales of Echidna: -15% cost except favor.
Strategy[]
Due to their really high ranged attack and low cost, Jormun Elvers are a good choice as a light and cheap naval myth unit, being able to sink enemy ships quickly. They are a useful support for ships, and can be also combined with the Kraken to smash non-hero ships.
They have some flaws, one of them being their low armor, which makes them quite easy to kill. For this reason, Jormun Elvers need to stay in groups of 3-4 or more. Their main weakness (excluding heroes) are Hammer Ships, which have a strong hack attack. However, Hammer Ships also have low pierce armor, so Jormun Elvers should be supported with Arrow Ships. Another threat is other naval myth units with strong hack attack and high hit points, like War Turtles and Krakens. Nereids are also a big problem for Jormun Elvers, due to having not only a decent hack attack, but also a large attack bonus against myth units. However, if the serpents are in a good number or with adequate naval support, they can kill them before they get near. Also, even though the pierce armor of Jormun Elvers is higher than their hack armor, it is still poor, and a large number of Arrow Ships (or just one hero ship) can be a problem. War Salamanders, Dragon Turtles, and Azure Dragons can also be problematic to Jormun Elvers due to their higher pierce armor, especially as the Azure Dragon can use its special attack to deal heavy damage to a Jormun Elver, even more so with Nezha's Defeat researched. A Carcinos dying too close to a Jormun Elver can deal massive damage to it or even kill it instantly due to the high hack damage that its blood deals, although the Jormun Elver can safely kill a Carcinos from a distance with adequate support.
Another weakness is their limitation to only pierce attack, which makes them unsuitable for destroying buildings. For this reason, they cannot be used for wrecking enemy Docks and must be supported with naval units with high crush or hack attack if used to besiege them; their main role for this is destroying enemy fleets and Fishing or Transport Ships while Siege Ships or Krakens destroy the enemy Docks. Jormun Elvers are also ineffective at defending Docks, so it is better to use Krakens, as they have more bulk and sinks ships faster.
Unusual for a naval myth unit, the Jormun Elver can attack flying units, thanks to their ranged attack. This can be useful against units like Rocs, especially if they are transporting enemies. The ranged attack also allows them to hit ground enemies near the shore. In this way, ground units without ranged attack are unable to respond and are forced to flee or hope that the Jormun Elver gets close enough to the shore. However, other flying units like the Stymphalian Bird and especially the Vermilion Bird, as well as the two myth units with ranged instant kill attacks (Mummy and Medusa), are dangerous to a Jormun Elver.
Overall, Jormun Elvers are powerful offensive units that can work well with a good support, and a good reason to worship Tyr as a final minor Norse god.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- Jormund Elvers are only available to worshippers of Tyr.
- Jormund Elvers have 40 pierce attack, 20 range, 800 hit points, 20% hack armor, 30% pierce armor, 24 Line of Sight, take 3 population, and train in 5 seconds.
Extended Edition[]
- With patch 1.5, Jormund Elvers have a ×3 multiplier vs. myth units and ×0.25 vs. heroes.
Retold[]
- Jormun Elvers can now be trained by all Norse gods.
- Jormun Elvers have 60 pierce attack, 16 range, 1,200 hit points, 45% hack armor, 60% pierce armor, 22 Line of Sight, take 4 population, and train in 10 seconds. They have a special charged ability which allows them to thrash ships away.
- With update 17.36100, Jormun Elvers have a ×2 multiplier vs. myth units.
Mythology[]
| “ | Scientific name -- Megaherpeton midgardii Size -- about 60' long (but their father was about 7900 miles long!) Diet -- whales, large fish The original Jormundgard, of which these creatures are just the elvers (another word for baby eels), was a monstrous sea serpent and the offspring of Loki and the giant Angrboda. Odin threw the serpent into the seas of Midgard when it was small, but it grew so large that it could surround the earth by biting its own tail. During Ragnarok, Thor was fated to finally slay the serpent, but he would drown in the dying serpent's venom. |
” |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- Despite the word "elver" meaning "little eel", the mythical Jormungand is more accurately described as a serpent and not a serpentine fish, as would be his offspring.
- Before Retold, the Jormun Elver was the only naval myth unit available to three major gods.
- Despite their father being a sworn enemy of the god Thor, they can be trained even by players worshipping him.
- Their father Jormungand appears on the picture frames of the game if the player has chosen Loki as major god in that match.
- The Jormun Elver was originally going to be called Jormund Brood, analogous to the Fenris Wolf Brood.
- The Jormun Elver has the highest basic attack of all naval myth units, if all kinds of attacks are considered equal. This means it also has the highest base pierce attack.
- The Jormun Elver was invented for the game; in Norse mythology, Jormungand isn't known to have progeny. Jormungand himself would have been too big as a unit, being as long as the circumference of the Earth.
- Jormungand also was not known to attack by breathing steam, but poison instead. At most, steam could be a nod to how it would flood the earth during Ragnarok, while other natural disasters like volcano eruptions would certainly create a lot of steam.
- The Jormun Elver was the last trainable unit created for Age of Mythology, and was not present in its Multiplayer Alpha. This is supported by its lack of animation assets compared to other water myth units, such as bored, flail, and birth animations. Its older models and textures can still be found in the files. Its original appearance was more serpentine (instead of the final moray eel-like design) and was rendered for its icon.
Gallery[]
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