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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals. For the removed hero, see Savar (hero). |
| “ | Persian unique cavalry unit. Powerful all-purpose cavalry. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Savar is a heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals available only to the Persians. The Savar is a unique upgrade of the Cavalier, replacing the Paladin and fulfilling a similar role.
Tactics[]
Savars are some of the strongest and, though not cheap, most effective units, and a large group can easily destroy any ill-prepared town or army. In one-on-one combat, Savars can slay Halberdiers, but lose in cost efficiency by a wide margin, and lose to Heavy Camel Riders in both population efficiency and cost efficiency. Savars are susceptible to enemy Monks because of their high gold cost.
Siege weapons are ineffective against Savars in most situations, but if cautiously used, Onagers can deal a great amount of damage. However, if used against ordinary infantry, archers, siege units, and unsuspecting towns, Savars dominate the field. Still, Savars should always be used with caution, as flaws in the implementation of these units can prove very costly.
Savars are significantly superior to Cavaliers, with +25 hit points, +2 melee attack, and +1/+2 armor. Compared to the Paladin it replaces, the Savar sacrifices 15 hit points in exchange for +1/+1 armor, +2 attack against archers, and a better Rate of Fire (attacking as fast as the Cavalier). Finally, Savars are significantly easier to upgrade, costing only 1,000 food, 600 gold compared to the Paladin's 1,300 food, 750 gold, and the upgrade takes 160 seconds, 10 seconds faster than the Paladin upgrade. Unlike the Paladin, a fully upgraded Savar can kill Arbalesters that lack the Ring Archer Armor upgrade in two hits instead of three (thanks to the attack bonus) and take 83 Arbalester shots instead of 60, making Savars much better at dealing with enemy archer units. However, Genoese Crossbowmen (which have a large attack bonus against cavalry) and Composite Bowmen (whose attack ignores pierce armor) can pose a major threat to the Savar.
Unit comparison[]
With Paladin[]
The Paladin being compared here is the Persian Paladin before The Mountain Royals, which was generic except for the team bonus.
 Paladin
|
 Savar
| |
|---|---|---|
| Research cost and time |
1,300 food, 750 gold 170 seconds |
1,000 food, 600 gold 160 seconds |
| Hit points | 160 | 145 |
| Armor | 2/3 | 3/4 |
| Rate of fire | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Other | +2 attack vs archers |
- Durability against melee damage
- Against units that deal 7 to 15 damage, the Savar will take more hits than the Paladin (Elite Throwing Axemen, Hussars, Elite Ghulams, etc.).
- Against units that deal 16 to 20 damage, they will take equal number of hits (most infantry and cavalry).
- Against units that deal more than 21 or 22 damage, or units that ignore armor, the Savar will die faster than the Paladin (Pikemen, Elite Kamayuks, Elite Leiciai, Elite War Elephant).
- Against Halberdiers and Heavy Camel Riders, both die in the same number of hits.
- Durability against pierce damage
- Against units that deal 8 or less damage, the Savar will take 1 damage, like the Paladin, but their lower hit points makes them less resilient (Elite Skirmishers, Elite Genitours, Fast Fire Ships).
- Against units that deal 9 to 17 damage, it will take more hits than the Paladin (Almost all other pierce damage sources, including Heavy Scorpions, Hand Cannoneers, defensive buildings, Galleons, and Elite Genoese Crossbowmen).
- Against units that deal 18 to 22 damage, it will take an equal number of hits (Elite Conquistadors, Elite Hussite Wagons, Elite Janissaries).
- Against units that deal 23 or more damage (non-existent), and attacks that ignore armor (like the Composite Bowman), it will take less hits than Paladins.
- Conclusion
The Savar's higher armor makes them more resilient than the Paladin against almost all ranged units and a lot of melee units. Even when equally or less resilient, the additional attack speed and bonus damage vs archers makes the Savar better than the Paladin in most cases. Savars will also win 1v1 against Paladins due to the attack speed difference, though the Frankish, Lithuanian with 3 to 4 Relic-boosted, and Teutonic Paladins still dominate Savars in combat. However, Paladins will outperform Savars against Heavy Camel Riders, Pikemen/Halberdiers, Elite Kamayuks, and Leitis. The Savar's lower hit points makes it weaker against trample damage from elephants, Logistica, Druzhina, and Lechitic Legacy.
With Sicilian Cavalier[]
 Sicilians'  Cavalier with Hauberk
|
Savar
| |
|---|---|---|
| Research cost and time |
700 food, 600 gold 45 seconds |
1,000 food, 600 gold 160 seconds |
| Hit points | 120 | 145 |
| Attack | 12 | 14 |
| Other | Resists anti-cavalry attack bonuses by 33% Resists conversion with First Crusade |
+4 attack vs archers Lacks Heresy |
- Common
- Armor - 6/8 after all technologies and upgrades
- Rate of Fire - 1.8
Further statistics[]
As Savars are unique to the Persians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry, archers, siege weapons, light cavalry |
| Weak vs. | Halberdiers, Heavy Camel Riders, Monks, Elite Battle Elephants, Boyars, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Teutonic Knights, Mamelukes, War Elephants |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight |  Franks (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Huns (+20%)
|
Team bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.- Huns: Researching Savar, Bloodlines, and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Savars are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Mountain Royals[]
- Originally, Savars had +3 attack vs archers. With update 99311, it was reduced to +2.
- Originally, Savars get 5 gold for each military unit killed. With update 99311, Savars no longer generate gold when killing military units.
Heroes[]
The following heroes in the game have the appearance of a Savar:
Trivia[]
- The Savar is based on the Sasanian Aswaran, which is also the basis of the Byzantine Cataphract. However, the former is archer-resistant, whereas the latter is anti-infantry and resistant to anti-cavalry attacks.
- Sprite files for the model of the Savar were initially part of the game files during the first release of the Definitive Edition, which were subsequently removed, until being re-added as this unit.
- The appearance of the Savar is similar to the Cataphract as well as the Centurion, the latter of which is also archer-resistant.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
