Kamandaran is a technology in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition that is unique to the Persians and can be researched at the Castle. Once researched, it changes the cost of Archer line units from 25 wood, 45 gold to 60 wood,[note 1] effectively making them trash units.
Kamandaran replaces Boiling Oil which was introduced in The Forgotten.
Strategy[]
Kamandaran is a very useful technology, as it makes the Persian Crossbowman cost only 60 wood, turning them into a trash unit. However, the Persians lack the Arbalester and Bracer technologies, which significantly holds them back. Crossbowmen excel at taking down infantry, especially in the late game, and perform much better against cavalry than Elite Skirmishers. Crossbowmen also make a good complement to War Elephants, as the food and gold can be invested on the elephants while the wood can be invested in Crossbowmen, and both units have similar movement speed. Furthermore, the Crossbowman can help War Elephants by killing Pikemen and Monks, two units War Elephants have a huge problem dealing with.
Like Supplies, the player should research Kamandaran as soon as they require more Archers and before creating them in order to have the highest possible use. Since Archers cost 45 gold, this technology starts to pay out gold-wise if 7 or more Archers are trained after researching it.
Team bonuses[]
Portuguese: Researching Kamandaran is 25% faster.
Changelog[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Initially, Kamandaran reduces the cost of Archers to 50 wood. With update 34699, they cost 60 wood.
- Initially, Kamandaran costs 200 food, 200 gold. With update 35584, it costs 400 food, 300 gold.
Trivia[]
Sassanid archers at the Battle of Vartanantz (451)
- Archers of the Sasanian Empire (the last Persian monarchy before the rise of Islam) were called Kamandaran (Persian: کماندار, lit. "archer").
