“ | 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 or (since the Definitive Edition) as part of the Black Flag Army.
Overview[]
Meteor Hammers are a very unique heavy cavalry available to the Chinese. They are characterized by their ranged hand attack, an attribute not shared with any other unit. Their attack is a hand attack, like any other heavy cavalry, but are able to attack a unit up to 4 tiles 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 hand 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 hand 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 hand 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[]
The Meteor Hammer is automatically upgraded to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) in 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[]
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. | Light infantry, artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, ranged shock infantry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%) |
Attack | Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) |
Resistance | Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance) |
Speed | Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5) |
Train time | Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40% Forbidden Army; -20% Black Flag Army) Quechuan Diet (-15%; Forbidden Army and Black Flag Army) Akan Fontomfrom (-10%; Black Flag Army) Immigrants (-10%; Forbidden Army and Black Flag Army) |
Cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost; Forbidden Army and Black Flag Army) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost; Forbidden Army and Black Flag Army) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards[]
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
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Purple | Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Double-Faced Armor | Iron Flails, Meteor Hammers, and Keshiks get +15% hit points and +5% ranged resistance | |
8 Meteor Hammers | Ships 8 Meteor Hammers | |
5 Meteor Hammers | Ships 5 Meteor Hammers | |
6 Meteor Hammers | Ships 6 Meteor Hammers | |
Manchu Combat | Qiang Pikemen, Changdao Swordsmen, Keshiks, and Meteor Hammers get +15% hit points and attack | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5% | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% |
French[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack |
Italians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Sengoku | Unit upgrades cost -20% |
Maltese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Knights of the Round Table | Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Mariachi | For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Double-Faced Armor | Iron Flails and Meteor Hammers get +15% hit points and +10.5% 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% hit points and attack | 25 | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | 40 | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20% | 10 | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% | 10 |
French[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | 10 |
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack | 10 |
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack | 25 |
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades | Unit upgrades cost -20% | 1 |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Scouts | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight | 1 |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Inquisition | All units get +10 Line of Sight | 10 |
Changelog[]
The Asian Dynasties[]
- Meteor Hammers cost 175 coin, have a ×2.0 multiplier against artillery, and 5 melee range.
Definitive Edition[]
- The Meteor Hammer is now trained as part of the Black Flag Army.
Knights of the Mediterranean[]
- With update 13.18214, Meteor Hammers have a ×1.34 multiplier against artillery.
- With update 14.43676, Meteor Hammers cost 180 coin and have 4 melee range.
History[]
“ | 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. | ” |
Trivia[]
- Before the Definitive Edition, Meteor Hammers, together with Iron Flails, were the only units in Age of Empires III which could receive an upgrade to their resistance: the Double-Faced Armor card.
- Meteor Hammers work very similar to the Mameluke in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings as they both are ranged melee units.