Age of Empires Series Wiki

Feel free to comment on a page! To do this, simply scroll to the bottom at type into the box.

READ MORE

Age of Empires Series Wiki
Age of Empires Series Wiki
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[]

Savar gallop

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

Toggle survival comparison details

Durability against melee damage
Durability against pierce damage
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[]

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[]

Units in Age of Empires II
Civilian Villager · Trade Cart · Fishing Ship · Trade Cog · King
Miscellaneous Transport Ship · Monk · Petard
Infantry Militia Man-at-Arms Long Swordsman Two-Handed Swordsman Champion
Spearman Pikeman Halberdier
Archer Archer Crossbowman Arbalester
Skirmisher Elite Skirmisher
Hand Cannoneer
Cavalry Archer Heavy Cavalry Archer
Cavalry Scout Cavalry Light Cavalry Hussar
Knight Cavalier Paladin
Siege weapon Battering Ram Capped Ram Siege Ram
Mangonel Onager Siege Onager
Scorpion Heavy Scorpion
Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet
Siege Tower
War ship Galley War Galley Galleon
Fire Galley Fire Ship Fast Fire Ship
Demolition Raft Demolition Ship Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon Galleon Elite Cannon Galleon
Regional
Infantry Eagle Scout Eagle Warrior Elite Eagle Warrior
Fire Lancer Elite Fire Lancer
Archer Elephant Archer Elite Elephant Archer
Cavalry Camel Rider Heavy Camel Rider
Battle Elephant Elite Battle Elephant
Steppe Lancer Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotl Warrior
Armored Elephant Siege Elephant
Hei Guang Cavalry Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry
War ship Dromon
Lou Chuan
Siege weapon Rocket Cart Heavy Rocket Cart
Traction Trebuchet
Unique
Monk Missionary · Warrior Priest
Infantry Berserk · Chakram Thrower · Condottiero · Dismounted Konnik · Flemish Militia · Gbeto · Ghulam · Huskarl · Jaguar Warrior · Jian Swordsman · Kamayuk · Karambit Warrior · Legionary · Liao Dao · Obuch · Samurai · Serjeant · Shotel Warrior · Teutonic Knight · Throwing Axeman · Urumi Swordsman · Warrior Priest · White Feather Guard · Woad Raider
Archer Arambai · Camel Archer · Chu Ko Nu · Composite Bowman · Conquistador · Genitour · Genoese Crossbowman · Grenadier · Fire Archer · Imperial Skirmisher · Janissary · Kipchak · Longbowman · Mangudai · Plumed Archer · Ranged Ratha · Rattan Archer · Slinger · Xianbei Raider · War Wagon
Cavalry Ballista Elephant · Boyar · Camel Scout · Cataphract · Centurion · Coustillier · Imperial Camel Rider · Iron Pagoda · Keshik · Konnik · Leitis · Magyar Huszar · Mameluke · Monaspa · Melee Ratha · Mounted Trebuchet · Savar · Shrivamsha Rider · Tarkan · Tiger Cavalry · War Chariot · War Elephant · Winged Hussar
Siege weapon Houfnice · Hussite Wagon · Organ Gun
War ship Caravel · Dragon Ship · Longboat · Thirisadai · Turtle Ship
Hero Cao Cao · Liu Bei · Sun Jian
Miscellaneous Flaming Camel
For different types of units, see Category:Unit types (Age of Empires II).