Projectile duplication is a game mechanic present in the Genie Engine, although it did not appear in the original Age of Empires or its expansion.
When a unit or building releases multiple projectiles instead of one, it is possible that only one of its projectiles will do damage according to the attacking unit's stats, while the rest of the projectiles will deal damage according to the projectile's own attack stats, which can be upgraded (or not upgraded) by relevant technologies. Because of this, discrepancies exist between displayed attack and actual damage dealt by projectile duplicating units or buildings.
The way projectiles work is either all projectiles fired are primary projectiles, or only one projectile is primary projectile while others are secondary. Only the primary projectile is affected by hill and cliff bonuses. Primary projectiles carry the attack of the unit, whereas secondary projectiles have their own attack stats, and always belong to the player, even if the unit is converted. Explaining the last point in other words, a converted Watch Tower can fire Keep-strength projectiles if the player has Keep researched; or a converted Keep can fire Watch Tower-strength projectiles if the player does not have Guard Tower researched.
Units and buildings using duplicated primary projectiles[]
Bombard Tower - While not noticeable with other civilizations because it fires one less projectile than calculated, the phenomenon is observed with Teutonic Bombard Towers garrisoned with Hand Cannoneers, Chu Ko Nu, or Janissaries.
Organ Gun
Dromon
- Note: To achieve this behavior, set secondary projectile as -1. It does not work with setting secondary projectile the same as primary projectile.
Buildings using almost the same projectile[]
These buildings have base attack of the secondary projectile the same as the primary one, but have different attack bonuses.
Units and buildings using different projectiles[]
- Chu Ko Nu and Kipchak - They fire 2 additional projectiles which deal 3 pierce and 0 melee attack.
- Elite Kipchak - The extra 3 additional projectiles deal 3 pierce and 0 melee attack.
- Elite Chu Ko Nu - They fire 4 additional projectiles which deal 3 pierce and 0 melee attack.
- Mangonel → Onager → Siege Onager - The extra projectiles have no damage. Hence they deal the minimum damage when not using attack ground. The Mangonel, Onager, and Siege Onager fire five, seven, and nine additional projectiles respectively.
- Skirmisher → Elite Skirmisher → Imperial Skirmisher and Genitour → Elite Genitour - With Hul'che Javelineers, the Skirmisher line gains an extra projectile which deals 1 pierce attack.
- Galley → War Galley → Galleon - The Armenian Galley line fires an additional projectile which deals 1 attack vs ships and camels. Hence, it deals 1 damage to these units in all cases, and 1 damage to units and buildings other than these if not a mishit.
- Harbor and Longboat → Elite Longboat - Uses the same projectile as the Galley line, but fires three additional projectiles instead of one.
- Scorpion and Ballista Elephant → Elite Ballista Elephant - With Double Crossbow researched, they gain a secondary projectile which deals 6 pierce attack, +3 vs elephants, and +1 vs buildings, in addition to pass-through damage.
- Heavy Scorpion - With Double Crossbow researched, Heavy Scorpions gain a secondary projectile which deals 8 pierce attack, +4 vs elephants, +2 vs buildings, and +1 vs rams, in addition to pass-through damage.
- Hussite Wagon - Hussite Wagons fire five additional projectiles which deal 4 pierce attack, +3 vs buildings, and +3 vs rams.
- Elite Hussite Wagon - Elite Hussite Wagons fire five additional projectiles which deal 6 pierce attack, +3 vs buildings, and +3 vs rams.
- Thirisadai - The Thirisadai fires four additional projectiles which deal 1 pierce attack.
- Note: As a coincidence, these projectiles do not benefit from any attack upgrades.
Special cases[]
The Town Center and Fortified Church do not fire any primary projectile. All of their projectiles are secondary. They share the same projectile, which deals 5 pierce attack, +5 vs buildings, +5 vs ships, and +1 vs camels. These projectiles are affected by attack upgrades. They can fire maximum 10 (15 for Teutons) and 5 projectiles respectively.
Notes[]
In the context of the above:
- Buildings refers to Armor class: Building
- Ships refers to both Armor class: Ship and Armor class: Fishing Ship
- Rams refers to Armor class: Ram
