"Heavy cavalry that does hand damage from range. Good against archers, skirmishers, and artillery."—In-game description
The Meteor Hammer is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of the Forbidden Army.
Overview 
Edit
Meteor Hammers are a very unique heavy cavalry available to the Chinese. They are characterised by their ranged melee attack, an attribute not shared with any other unit. Their attack is a melee attack, like any other heavy cavalry, but are able to attack a unit up to 5 range away. Thus, in crowded battles, they are able to fight much more effectively than other melee units. They are quite fragile, however, so should be properly guarded with other units.
Meteor Hammers are specialists at countering artillery, with a powerful multiplier and high melee damage. Coupled with the range on their attack, they are nearly impossible to block from reaching their target without a very large number of units, and can take out artillery in mere seconds.
This does not stop them from being effective in other situations. Meteor Hammers make very strong raiders. With the range on their attack, they are able to simultaneously attack the same Villager without bunching up or blocking each other, and can even attack through walls, Houses, or around huntables, berry bushes or trees that would obstruct any other cavalry.
The range on their attack also gives them the ability to fight behind |Changdao Swordsmen, forming a powerful combination able to effectively fight almost anything that comes near.
Meteor Hammers are able to be upgraded quite substantially by stacking Double Faced Armor, Manchu Combat, and Western Reforms, and additionally, 10% hit points by allying with |British at the consulate. These all combined can drastically reduce their fragility, allowing them to function as standard heavy cavalry, but with their unique ranged attack and strong attack.
Because Meteor Hammers have a range on their attack, Musketeer-type units do not engage into melee mode when attacked by them, they just shoot. Since Meteor Hammers can have 41% range resist (after Double Faced Armor), they ignore a huge portion of the damage. Sepoy, for example, do 45 melee damage to cavalry every 1.5 seconds. At range, they do 25 every 3 seconds. Factor in armor, and that is 14.75 damage every 3 seconds instead of 90. This results in less than 17% of the potential melee damage total being dealt to the Meteor Hammer. Thus, if facing Meteor Hammers with a Musketeer army, it is critical to manually set at least some of them into melee mode, otherwise the Meteor Hammers will easily win.
Upgrades Edit
The Meteor Hammer is automatically upgraded to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) at the Fortress Age.
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Honored Meteor Hammer
| 300 wood, 300 coin | Upgrades Meteor Hammers to Honored (+30% hit points and attack) |
 |  Exalted Meteor Hammer
| 750 wood, 750 coin | Upgrades Meteor Hammers to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Meteor Hammer |
Further statistics Edit
As Meteor Hammers are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ranged infantry, light infantry, artillery |
| Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Yoga (+5%)
|
| Speed |  Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost, Forbidden Army)
|
| Other |  Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As Meteor Hammers are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Meteor Hammer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Western Reforms
| All units get +8% hit points and attack | | 40 |
 Double-Faced Armor
| Iron Flails and Meteor Hammers get +15% hit points and +35% resistance |  | 25 |
 8 Meteor Hammers
| Ships 8 Meteor Hammers | | 1 |
 5 Meteor Hammers
| Ships 5 Meteor Hammers | | 10 |
 6 Meteor Hammers
| Ships 6 Meteor Hammers | | 10 |
 Manchu Combat
| Qiang Pikemen, Changdao Swordsmen, Keshiks, and Meteor Hammers get +15% attack and hit points | | 25 |
 Banner School
| Banner army train time -23% |  | 10 |
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Scouts
| Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
"Classified as a martial arts chain weapon, the meteor hammer evolved from ancient Chinese hunting weapons and basically consists of two weights connected by a rope or a chain. The “hammer” is a small ball of bronze about the size of a duck’s egg, and the chain can vary in length, from 6 to 15 feet. The meteor hammer offers an unparalleled level of speed when striking, and can be utilized in different attack styles depending on the conditions of the battlefield: thrown, swung, or whipped. The most skillful wielder can wrap the chain around a number of body parts before unwrapping it to release the hammer with a jolt of accumulated energy. This causes the hammer to shoot forward with such speed that it strikes a target with deadly force. It is this burst of speed that earned the weapon its name. If space did not allow for this kind of combat, the meteor hammer could be modified to ensnare the weapon of an enemy attacker, or to strangle an enemy from a distance."
Gallery Edit
