| โ | Scouts are good at exploration but weak in combat. | โ |
| —In-game description | ||
The Kataskopos (plural: Kataskopoi) is a scout cavalry unit in Age of Mythology only available to the Greeks. All Greek players start the game with one Kataskopos, but no more can be trained; it is supplanted entirely by Pegasi. In most respects, it is very similar to the Scout in Age of Empires and the Scout Cavalry in Age of Empires II.
Before Retold, though mounted, the Kataskopos was not considered a cavalry unit, but only a human soldier and a scout.
Special ability[]
Auto Scout (Toggled): Enables the unit to automatically explore the map. (Autocast disabled by default)- Lifesteal (Passive, requires Thracian Horses): Regenerates 30% of damage dealt to enemy units.
Further statistics[]
General technologies[]
- Copper Armor, Bronze Armor, Iron Armor: -10% hack vulnerability
- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields, Iron Shields: -10% pierce vulnerability
Myth technologies[]
- Lord of Horses (Poseidon): +4 Line of Sight, regenerate +0.5 hit points per second (30 per minute)
- Spirited Charge (Hermes): +10% speed and attack
- Oracle (Apollo): +5 Line of Sight
- Thracian Horses (Dionysus): Regenerate 30% damage dealt to units
- Dionysia (Dionysus): +5% hit points
Relics[]
- Dwarven Horseshoes: +5% movement speed.
- Feather of Bifang: +0.2 attack multiplier vs. buildings.
- Pelt of Argus: +6 Line of Sight.
- Thundercloud Shawl: -5% pierce vulnerability.
- Tusk of the Iron Boar: +10% hit points.
- Harter's Folly: +2 Line of Sight. (Before Retold)
Tactics[]
Kataskopoi are fast, have a reasonable line of sight and superb pierce armor. This makes them very good at scouting, but as they have less attack than almost all other units and few hit points, this is their only use. They are also one-shot units. If a player's Kataskopos dies early, it can be replaced by Pegasi, which can be trained once a Temple has been built. Pegasi are better scouts than Kataskopoi in most respects, but they are very vulnerable to attack from defensive buildings. Hence it is wise to keep the Kataskopos alive as long as possible.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- The Kataskopos is defined as a scout, a military unit, and a human soldier, but not a cavalry unit. It has 2 hack attack, 14 Line of Sight, and occupies 2 population space. It does not automatically attack enemies.
Retold[]
- The Kataskopos is also classified as a cavalry unit. It has 1 hack attack, 16 Line of Sight, and occupies 1 population space. It automatically attacks nearby enemies.
History[]
| โ | The Greek Kataskopos is fast and has a good line of sight, but is weak in actual combat. Although you cannot train additional Kataskopoi, better scouts, such as Pegasi, are available later. The name of this unit is found in Ancient Greek sources such as Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, and interpretation of its meaning vary among 'explorer', 'spy', and 'scout'. One of the most salient connotations of the term is of a scout who explores foreign lands in preparation for upcoming conquests. |
โ |
| —In-game help section | ||
| โ | The name of this unit is found in the Bible and the interpretations of its meaning vary from explorer, spy, and scout. The Greeks used the word to refer to Romans exploring Greek lands, perhaps in preparation of the coming Roman conquest. | โ |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- According to the Proto/Protox file, the Kataskopos costs 75 food.
- According to Alpha screenshots for Age of Mythology, the Kataskopos was going to be trained at the Town Center.
- During the alpha and late beta stages, the Egyptians and Norse were also going to get Scout Cavalry units. However, due to design changes, they were cut, and the main scout function was replaced with the Priest and Berserk, respectively.
- As the in-game history section indicates, the Greek word kataskopos (ฮบฮฑฯฮฌฯฮบฮฟฯฮฟฯ) has various meanings, including 'scout' or 'spy'. Appropriately, one the Byzantine Scout's dialogue lines in Age of Empires IV has the unit refer to itself by this name.
- Despite being classified as cavalry since Retold, Kataskopoi are unaffected by the Medium Cavalry line of technologies.
- Despite also being defined as a military unit in Retold, it is not selected by the idle military button or hotkey.
