| “ | War drummer than enhances units in an area, except Villagers and Traders. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Mehter is a light mounted unit in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition and is unique to the Ottomans. It cannot attack, but can influence the statistics of nearby units in various ways. It can be created from the Stable starting in the Feudal Age. It can also spawn with Mehter Drums even in the Dark Age.
Ability[]
- The Mehter can select one of three passive enhancements to generate to increase the said statistics of units within a 6-tile radius. If multiple Mehters are overlapping auras with different enhancements, they do not stack. Rather, the first buff that a unit receives will be held until that Mehter leaves the area or switches buff.
Attack Drums (Passive, toggled): Increase the attack speed by +15%.- Melee Defense Drums (Passive, toggled): Increase the melee armor by +2. For ships and siege engines, this also adds +2 fire armor.
- Ranged Defense Drums (Passive, toggled): Increase the ranged armor by +1.
- Mehter Speed Bonus (Passive, requires Mehter Drums): Increase the movement speed of other units in the same formation by 15%. Unlike most other abilities, this ability does not apply to nearby units within a specific radius, but rather units that that are in the same formation. Units can form formations either by clicking one of the three default formations (line, staggered, or wedge) or by issuing a group move command, as long as they are close enough together (within around 1 tile). If a unit is too far from the formation, it will not gain the move speed bonus until it catches up to the group, even if tasked to perform the same action. Units gain the speed boost 4 seconds after entering the formation, and maintain the bonus, even while stationary, until 5 seconds after either they or the Mehter are issued a separate command to remove them from the formation.
Tactics[]
The Mehter is a non-combat support unit similar to a Monk or Dervish. Instead of contributing directly to a fight, they boost the stats of other military units around them, either by improving Rate of Fire or armor. Their high speed allows them to keep up with army compositions of all kinds. Because the different Mehter drums do not stack, it is suggested to have all Mehter in an army set to the same buff for consistency, and to only make a small number of Mehter in case some are killed.
The Mehter bonuses (including speed) apply to all kinds of military units, even siege weapons such as the Great Bombard, although they do not apply to Villagers or Traders. While the Attack Drums are the default and can be considered the best buff to use in most scenarios, the other drums have some practical use-cases. Ranged Defense Drums are most useful when charging into battle to reduce incoming damage before switching to Attack Drums, and Melee Defense Drums can be used to protect vulnerable siege against units that manage to close on them. Mehter can swap drum buffs freely, with a 15 second cooldown after changing to a new one.
Further statistics[]
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%)
|
| Armor |  Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee) Insulated Helm (+1 melee) Master Smiths (+1 melee) Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged) Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged) Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Mehter Drums (+15%)
|
| Creation speed |  Advanced Academy (+25% from Military School)
|
| Ability | Mehter Drums (can increase speed of units in same formation by 15%)
|
| Other | Mehter Drums (spawn one Mehter from the Capital Town Center)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Armor |  Mehter Melee Armor Drums (+2 melee) Mehter Ranged Armor Drums (+1 ranged)
|
| Creation speed |  Blacksmith/University Influence (+20%/30%/40% per Age, +100% with Istanbul Observatory)
|
Dialogue lines[]
- Main article: /Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, Mehter had 180 hit points. With update 7.0.5861, it was staggered as 160/180/200 in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Trivia[]
- The Mehter doesn't change its appearance when advancing through the ages, despite improving.
- Even though they have no attacks, Mehter will still attempt to "engage" in combat like other units. They will face enemy units and even follow fleeing ones if left unattended.
- The Mehteran is the oldest recorded military marching band in the world. Their individual musicians are known as Mehters.
Gallery[]
