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This article is about the unit in the PC game. For the unit in the handheld video game, see Roc (Age of Empires: Mythologies). |
| “ | Myth unit. A flying transport that cannot attack, but can only be attacked by ranged units. | ” |
| —In-game description in Retold | ||
| “ | Myth unit. This Roc has temporarily landed to load or unload units, and is now vulnerable to any attack. | ” |
| —In-game description for a landed Roc in Retold | ||
| “ | A flying transport. Has no attack. | ” |
| —In-game description before Retold | ||
The Roc is an Egyptian flying transport in Age of Mythology, available to those that choose Sobek (Hathor before Retold) as their Heroic Age god.
Ability[]
Land (Active): Can land to load or unload units. When landed, the Roc can be attacked by melee units as well.
(Takes 2 seconds to land/fly. When landed, it is vulnerable to ground-based god powers like Earthquake, Frost, Meteor, Tempest etc.). (since Retold)- Fly (Active): Can take off and fly to transport units. If the Roc is shot down, garrisoned units will take damage from the fall. (falling occupants lose almost half their hit points). (since Retold)
- Divine Immunity (Passive): Cannot be targeted by enemy god powers.
- Transportation (Passive): Units can enter and be transported. (Mobile ground units other than Titans can be loaded into the Roc while it is landed).
Further statistics[]
Age bonuses[]
- Mythic Age: +20% hit points.
- Wonder Age: +100% hit points, +20% movement speed.
Relics[]
- Jade Hare: +5% movement speed.
- Pandora's Box: -15% favor cost.
- Pelt of Argus: +6 Line of Sight.
- Scales of a Catoblepas: -15% pierce vulnerability.
- Scales of Echidna: -15% cost except favor.
Strategy[]
They can transport fifteen land units. Although it has low defense and hit points, its winged nature makes it harder to kill than many transports, as flying prevents melee units from attacking it. Players may consider keeping a Roc near a group of Laborers gathering resources away from their town so that they can evade an attack from raiding melee units.
It can be used to circumvent walls and terrain, saving time. This makes them effective for ambushing enemy towns, especially when transport slow moving siege units like Catapults. However, in addition to ranged units, defensive structures can attack them. Their weak armor means they will die quickly if under a concentrated attack.
In Retold, when they are killed while carrying units, occupants fall down and lose about 50% hit points, instead of dying. If the Roc dies over water but near the shore, the units appear at the nearest shoreline. If the Roc dies over water away from the shore, any units within it die. When garrisoned with other transports (such as Siege Towers), their contents also count towards the Roc's.
In versions before Retold, when they die, any units within will be killed as well. While they can transport only fifteen units, units which can garrison units inside them are also considered as one unit when inside a Roc. Therefore, a player can fill up units like Siege Towers (or allied Helepoleis) with a large number of units and transport all of them at once. For example, the player can simultaneously transport 15 Siege Towers plus 75 units garrisoned inside the Siege Towers using a single Roc.
Changelog[]
Age of Mythology[]
- Rocs are available to the minor god Hathor. They cost 150 gold, 15 favor, their population cost is 3, and they have 350 hit points, 0% hack resistance, a movement speed of 4.8, a Line of Sight of 1620, and a garrison capacity of 15.
- Rocs can be targeted by god powers which target particular units.
- Rocs can load and unload units instantly while itself being airborne.
- Occupants of other garrison units loaded in a Roc do not count towards the Roc's carry capacity.
Tale of the Dragon[]
- With patch 2.0, Rocs have a movement speed of 4.6.
Retold[]
- Rocs are available to the minor god Sobek, who replaces Hathor. They cost 150 gold, 5 favor, their population cost is 2, and they have 600 hit points, 0% hack resistance, a movement speed of 4.8, a Line of Sight of 16, and a garrison capacity of 20.
- Rocs can no longer be targeted by any god power which targets a particular unit.
- Rocs need to land to load or unload units, and take to the skies to be able to move. They take 3 seconds to land or take off.
- Occupants of garrison units inside a Roc count towards the Roc's own carry capacity.
- Rocs gain +20% hit points in the Mythic Age. They further gain +100% hit points and +20% speed in the Wonder Age.
- With update 17.27932, Rocs have a movement speed of 5 and take 2 seconds to land or take off.
- With update 17.30764, the Roc is no longer classified as a military unit. It can now use the Patrol command.
Immortal Pillars[]
- With update 18.12962, Rocs cost 100 gold, 5 favor and have 700 hit points. The update also intended to increase its movement speed to 5.3, but the change was not implemented.
- With update 18.15886, the Roc's movement speed was increased from 5 to 5.3, as intended in the previous update.
Mythology[]
| “ | Scientific name -- Aepyornis maximus Size -- 100' wingspan Diet -- carnivore, rumored to eat elephants Reports of the Roc, a giant bird, come to us from the Arabian Nights and the reports of Marco Polo. Sinbad describes the Roc as being enormous with 16 yard long wings and a bulky body. In one tale, a roc carries Sinbad to safety after a shipwreck and in another, rocs destroy ships by dropping huge boulders on them. Marco Polo tells of rocs from Madagascar and how an envoy from there presented a huge Roc feather to the Chinese court. A very large flightless bird may actually have survived on the island until the 16th century before going extinct. |
” |
| —In-game help section | ||
Trivia[]
- The Roc was originally planned to use a ranged attack and didn't have the ability to transport units. While the method of ranged attack isn't known, it is possible that it was planned to drop rocks or pick up enemies and throw them (similar to the Cyclops' special attack).
- The original Roc texture resembled the Alpha Hawk texture.
- As pointed out in the History section, the Roc is not actually part of Egyptian Mythology, but rather Arabian and Persian, and could have been ultimately derived from the Indian Garuda.
- The scientific name given to the Roc, Aepyornis maximus, is the name of Madagascar's elephant bird in reality. The Roc was strongly associated with Madagascar from at least the High Middle Ages, when Middle Eastern sailors visited the island and heard of the elephant bird from the natives. Unlike the Roc in myth and the game, which is a giant raptor, the elephant bird was a flightless vegetarian.
- The Roc's carriage is available as a Scenario Editor building as the Roc Tent.
- Due to an oversight, the Roc is the only flying unit that is affected by He Bo's Geyser god power.
Gallery[]
A flying Roc in Retold
A landed Roc in Retold
Roc over grass
Roc over desert
Kemsyt being carried away by a Roc
Roc as seen in the sky while carrying Kemsyt
An older design of the Roc
The original design of the Roc, bearing some similarity to the Hawk from the Beta and Age of Empires II
Concept art in an issue of Computer Gaming World magazine
An illustration of the Roc by Edward Julius Detmold
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