| “ | Ranged siege weapon. Good against buildings and ships. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
| “ | Siege weapon. Ranged artillery good against buildings. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Petrobolos (plural: Petroboloi) is a ranged Greek Siege Weapon trained at the Fortress from the Heroic Age.
Special ability[]
Wall Breaching (Passive): Deals area damage against walls.- Solar Flare (Passive, requires Sun Ray): Projectiles reveal the area around where they land.
Further statistics[]
General technologies[]
- Draft Horses: +20% movement speed.
- Engineers: Upgrades to Heavy Petrobolos, granting +50%, +1× damage multiplier vs. walls, and +2 range.
Myth technologies[]
- Oracle (Apollo): +5 Line of Sight.
- Sun Ray (Apollo): +10% attack. Attacks reveal enemy units for a short time. (Grants 25 Line of Sight around the target for 6 seconds)
- Dionysia (Dionysus): +5% hit points.
Relics[]
- Archimedes' Ledger: -1 population cost.
- Dwarven Calipers: -20% cost.
- Pelt of Argus: +6 Line of Sight.
- The Scarab Pendant: +20% crush attack.
Strategy[]
Petroboloi are the only ranged siege weapons available during the Heroic Age. This gives the Greeks the advantage of assaulting an enemy town from a distance, up to 28 tiles. They are similar to the Catapult but do less damage, throwing multiple small rocks at once. Petroboloi are naturally strong against buildings and have a large bonus against ships. They also do moderate damage to regular soldiers due to their pierce attack. However most units can dodge the projectiles with ease and like all siege weapons, Petroboloi should always have an escort. The small rocks are also separate projectiles and do not all land in the same place, so they will have trouble killing a small unit, even if they are stationary, unlike with most ships and buildings. In versions prior to Retold, the projectiles can also be blocked by other buildings in the way, while dealing only half damage to such unintended targets. Since Retold, projectiles always hit the target building, even when obstructed, for full damage.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- Petroboloi have a damage multiplier of 1.0× vs. Gates and towers.
- Petroboloi have 40 Line of Sight, deal 5 pierce / 11 crush damage per projectile per second, 90% crush armor, and a multiplier of 2.5× vs. ships.
- Petroboloi cost 150 wood, 200 gold and train in 19 seconds.
Tale of the Dragon[]
- Petroboloi have a damage multiplier of 3.0× against Gates and 1.5× vs. towers.
Retold[]
- Petroboloi have 10 pierce / 44 crush attack per hit per projectile (effectively half the pierce damage per second), 50% crush armor, an Area of Effect of 8, and no damage multipliers.
- With update 17.27932, Petroboloi have a damage multiplier of 2.5× vs. ships and 36 Line of Sight.
- With update 18.7603, its crush armor was increased to 65%.
Immortal Pillars[]
- With update 18.12962, it costs 125 wood, 150 gold and is trained in 15 seconds.
- With update 18.27100, its crush armor was increased again to 70%.
- With update 18.33318, Petroboloi have 10 pierce / 55 crush attack.
- With update 18.40371, its crush armor was increased yet again to 85%.
History[]
| “ | The ancient Greeks developed a catapult called a petrobolos (literally 'stone thrower'). The power of the arm was generated by traction, usually by pulling or winding down a balanced throwing arm. The best petrobolos of the age threw stones weighing around 175 pounds. Rocks of this weight hurtling towards walls, buildings, and ships were capable of inflicting devastating damage. | ” |
| —In-game help section | ||
| “ | The catapult most common in the ancient age was a traction catapult called a Petrobolos (literally "stone thrower") by the Greeks. the power of the arm was generated by traction, usually by pulling or winding down a balanced throwing arm. The best Petrobolos of the age threw stones weighing around 125 pounds. Rocks of this weight plunging down the walls and buildings were capable of devastating damage. | ” |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- Before Retold, the Petrobolos shared its icon with the Egyptian Catapult. In Retold, the models in the icons are similar but not identical.
- The name petrobolos means "Stone Thrower".
- If the Petrobolos is targeting a building and there are other buildings separating the two, some of its projectiles will strike the buildings in between the two instead. This seems to be particularly pronounced when firing from a lower elevation than the target, even applying against other units.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Catapult – Egyptian equivalent
- Onager – removed Atlantean equivalent
- Sitting Tiger – Chinese (Tale of the Dragon) equivalent
