Scythe Chariot

Scythe Chariot
Unit information
Introduced in	The Rise of Rome
Type	Cavalry
Civilization	See Civilizations
Age	Iron Age
Training
Trained at	Stable
Food	40
Wood	60
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	120
Attack	9 melee
Attack bonuses	+0 vs. Priests
Rate of Fire	1.5
Melee armor	1
Pierce armor	0
Speed	2
Line of Sight	4
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	Chariot

The Scythe Chariot is an Iron Age cavalry unit in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. It is an upgrade of the Chariot and is only available to a few civilizations.

The biggest advantage of the Scythe Chariot over the regular Chariot is that it can inflict trample damage, inflicting damage on units and buildings adjacent to the unit or building it is attacking. Thus they can be a nice alternative to a War Elephant, preventing enemy Villagers from fleeing to a far location and restarting their town. As with its regular counterpart, the Scythe Chariot dealt double attack towards Priests before update 38862 and was highly resistant towards enemy conversion.

Civilizations

The Scythe Chariot is an uncommon unit, and only these civilizations can train them:

• Egyptians
• Babylonians
• Hittites
• Phoenicians
• Sumerians
• Shang
• Romans
• Palmyrans

Upgrades

Tool Age

•  Toolworking: Increases attack by 2.
•  Leather Armor Cavalry: Increases armor by 2.

Bronze Age

•  Nobility: Increases HP by 15%.
•  Metalworking: Increases attack by 2.
•  Scale Armor Cavalry: Increases armor by 2.

Iron Age

•  Metallurgy: Increases attack by 3.
•  Chain Mail Cavalry: Increases armor by 2.

Note: Nobility is the prerequisite for upgrading Chariots to Scythe Chariots, so this upgrade is automatically added

Stable Tree
Tool Age Stable Scout Bronze Age Camel Rider Chariot Cavalry Iron Age Heavy Cavalry War Elephant Scythe Chariot Cataphract Armored Elephant

Civilization bonuses

• Egyptian: Scythe Chariots have 33% more HP.

Changelog

The Rise of Rome

• Scythe Chariots have 2 armor, +9 damage vs Priests, ×8 conversion resistance, and cost 1,200 wood and 800 gold to upgrade, which takes 150 seconds.

Definitive Edition

• * With update 38862, Scythe Chariots have 1 armor, no bonus damage vs Priests, ×2 conversion resistance, and cost 1,400 wood and 1,000 gold to upgrade, which takes 200 seconds.

History

“	Chariots went out of favor by the beginning of the last millennium BC in favor of cavalry. But they did not disappear completely. Some armies continued to use them and they remained a symbol of prestige. To make chariots more effective and fearsome, scythe blades were attached to the axles. As the chariot moved, the blades rotated through the air. A foot soldier facing an oncoming Scythe Chariot faced the prospect of being ridden down by the horse, shot by an arrow, stabbed by the soldier on board, or hacked by the blades. This could be a terrifying weapon against broken troops trying to flee. Against steady veteran troops, however, the Scythe Chariot was still a chariot with inherent weaknesses. If the horses could be wounded, the chariot faltered. The Persians attempted to use Scythe Chariots against Alexander the Great, but the weapon made little impression on the disciplined phalanxes.	”
—The Rise of Rome manual

Gallery

Scythe Chariot model

Scythe Chariot side view

Scythe Chariot in the Definitive Edition

Scythe Chariot render

Scythe Chariot with 4x zoom level, as seen in the Definitive Edition

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