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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. Like most other heavy cavalry, Savars are strong and agile. They are considered to be one of the strongest and most effective units in the game.

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.

Unit comparison[]

With Paladin[]

The Paladin been compared here is the Persian Paladin before The Mountain Royals, which was generic except for the team bonus.

Paladin aoe2DE Paladin AoE2 Savar 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[]

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. Paladins only 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[]

CivIcon-Sicilians Sicilians' Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier with Hauberk AoE2 Savar 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[]

Unit 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
Upgrades
Hit points BloodlinesDE Bloodlines (+20)
Attack Forging aoe2de Forging (+1)
IronCastingDE Iron Casting (+1)
BlastFurnaceDE Blast Furnace (+2)
Armor ScaleBardingArmorDE Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1)
ChainBardingDE Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1)
PlateBardingArmorDE Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
Conversion resistance Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Movement speed HusbandryDE Husbandry (+10%)
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals 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 moderately archer-resistant.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager · Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart · FishingShipDE Fishing Ship · Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog · King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia · Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms · Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman · Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman · Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman · Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman · Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
Eaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout · Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior · EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer · Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman · Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher · Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer · Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
Aoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer · ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry · Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry · Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight · Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier · Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider · Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
Battle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant · Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer · Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant · AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram · Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram · Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel · Onager aoe2DE Onager · Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion · Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship · Galley aoe2DE Galley · War galley aoe2DE War Galley · Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley · Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship · Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft · Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship · Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon · Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
AoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk · Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower · CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero · Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia · GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto · Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam · HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl · JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior · KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk · Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior · AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary · Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch · SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai · Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant · Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior · TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight · ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman · Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest · WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai · CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer · ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu · AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman · ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador · GenitourIcon-DE Genitour · GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman · Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher · JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary · Kipchakicon Kipchak · LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman · MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai · PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer · Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha · Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer · SlingerIcon-DE Slinger · WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant · BoyarIcon-DE Boyar · Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout · CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract · Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion · Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier · Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel · ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider · Keshikicon Keshik · Konnikicon Konnik · Leitisicon Leitis · MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar · MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke · AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa · Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha · AoE2 Savar Savar · Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider · TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan · WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant · Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice · Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon · OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel · LongboatIcon-DE Longboat · Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai · TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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