Obsidian Arrows was a technology in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten that was unique to the Maya and researched at the Castle. It granted Archers and their upgrades a +6 attack bonus against standard buildings, and stone defense (the latter between patches 4.8 and update 42848).
In update 44725 for the Definitive Edition, it was replaced by Hul'che Javelineers.
Strategy[]
Archer armies are usually completely dependent on siege units to deal any damage to buildings, since their overall damage is lower than melee units and buildings naturally have armor. The Mayans are particularly dependent on archers, having a limited tech tree for other unit types and no access to cavalry.
With the addition of Obsidian Arrows, a large group of Mayan Archers actually became a severe threat to buildings. As ranged units, all units in the group can be damaging the same building at the same time without having to surround it, letting them pile on the damage quicker and from a safe distance. For example, Castle Age Crossbowmen with Bodkin Arrow can outrange all Town Centers (except Lithuanians' with Hill Forts), and a group of 20 or so could take one down in a reasonable amount of time. This made them an extraordinary raiding party if paired with units to handle their counters, such as Pikemen for cavalry or Eagle Warriors for Skirmishers. Blacksmith technologies should still be prioritized since they added the same damage against units plus range while being overall cheaper. Additionally, Plumed Archers did not benefit from Obsidian Arrows. When allied with Saracens, it also added the team bonus of +2 attack bonus against standard buildings for the Archer line for a total of +8.
Changelog[]
The Forgotten[]
- Obsidian Arrows gives the Archer line +4 attack against standard buildings.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Obsidian Arrows now gives the Archer line +6 attack against standard buildings. With patch 4.8, Archers also gain +6 attack against stone defenses.
Definitive Edition[]
- With update 42848, Obsidian Arrows no longer grants double the attack bonus versus stone defenses.
Lords of the West[]
- With update 44725, Obsidian Arrows is removed and replaced by the Hul'che Javelineers technology.
Trivia[]
- At launch, the additional +6 (+4 in The Forgotten) attack against stone defenses did not trigger due to a bug. However, this was fixed with patch 4.8.
- In real life, obsidian arrows are extraordinarily sharp, but also very brittle and often aren't re-usable. Despite their sharpness, they are not well suited to destroying masonry or walls, and are in fact easily defeated by as little as a wooden board.
- Competitive players thought that having large foot archer bonuses against buildings was not healthy for the game, as archers are supposed to be stopped by buildings, and the Mayans were already considered a great civilization without this technology.
- While the technology was strong during most of its existence, it only came into attention in the Definitive Edition, as previously the Plumed Archer (which was nerfed in the Definitive Edition) was the better option for the Mayans.
- Unlike most removed technologies, which were useless for being locked behind a price tag (like Tracking and Madrasah), Obsidian Arrows was removed for being too strong.
Gallery[]
