Template:Infobox unitsThe Jormund Elver is a Mythic Age naval myth unit in Age of Mythology. It is available for the Norse if the player worships Tyr.
God bonuses and upgrades
General
Loki reduces favor cost by 10%.
Thurisaz Rune (Bragi): +12% movement speed
Attack bonuses
- Myth units x 200%
- Heroes x -75%
Strategy
Due to their really high ranged attack and the quite low cost of training, Jormund Elvers are a good choice for 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, Jormund Elvers need to stay in groups of 3-4 or more. Their main weakness (excluding heroes, who are the weakness of all myth units) are Hammer Ships, which have a strong hack attack. However, Hammer Ships also have low pierce armor, so Jormund 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 Jormund 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 if the pierce armor of Jormund Elvers is higher than their hack armor, it's still poor, and a large number of Arrow Ships (or just one Hero one) can be a problem.
Another weakness is their limitation on only pierce attack, which makes them unable to destroy buildings. For this reason, they cannot be used for wrecking enemy Docks and must be supported also with naval units with high crush of hack attack if used to siege them: their main role for this is destroying enemy fleets and Fishing or Transport Ships while Siege Ships or Krakens destroy the enemy Docks. Jormund 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 Jormund 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.
Overall, Jormund 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.
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. | ” |
Trivia
- Despite the word "Elver" means "little eel", the mythical Jormungand (so, also his sons) is properly a serpent and not a serpentine fish.
- The Jormund Elver is 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 also if the player worships him as major god.
- Their father Jormungand appears on the picture frames of the game if the player has chosen Loki as major god in that match.
- The Jormund Elver was originally going to be called Jormund Brood, analogous to the Fenris Wolf Brood.
- The Jormund 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 basic pierce attack.
- The Jormund 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.
Gallery
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