Scythe Chariot

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the technology in Chronicles, see Scythed Chariots.

Scythe Chariot
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
Type	Chariot
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Requires	N/A
Training
Trained at	Stable
Food	40
Wood	60
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	120
Melee attack	9
Attack bonus	0 vs. Priests
Blast radius	0.75
Reload time	1.5
Melee armor	1
Pierce armor	0
Armor class	Mounted units
Speed	1.66
Line of Sight	4
Ability	Has level 2 conversion resistance
Upgraded from
Upgraded from	Chariot

• Return
• Definitive
• Original

“	Fast mounted unit, resistant to conversion. Inflicts trample damage to all nearby units when attacking.	”
—In-game description

“	Upgrade of the Chariot. Has high resistance to conversion. Causes trample damage to adjacent enemy units.	”
—In-game description

“	Upgrade of the Chariot. High resistance to conversion; double attack against Priests. Wheels damage adjacent enemy units.	”
—In-game description

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.

Before Return of Rome, it also needed Nobility to be researched at the Government Center.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Babyloniansx+ Egyptiansx+ Hittitesx Lac Vietx+ Palmyrans Phoenicians Romansx Shangx Sumerians	Assyrians Carthaginians Choson Greeks Macedonians Minoans Persians Yamato

^x indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Scythe Chariots, i.e. gets Metallurgy and Chain Mail Cavalry.

⁺ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of their Scythe Chariots.

Gameplay

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 is twice as resistant towards enemy conversion.

Comparison among civilizations

Civilization	Fully upgraded	Babylonians	Egyptians	Lac Viet	Palmyrans Sumerians	Phoenicians
Hit Points	138	138	184	138	138	138
Attack	9+7	9+7	9+7	9+7	9+4	9+4
Armor	1+6/0	1+6/0+1	1+6/0	1+6/0	1+6/0	1+4/0
Extras				trained 25% faster

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Priests, archers, siege weapons
Weak vs.	Infantry, cavalry

Technologies
Hit points	Nobility (+15%)
Attack	Toolworking (+2) Metalworking (+2) Metallurgy (+3)
Armor	Leather Armor Cavalry (+2/+0) Scale Armor Cavalry (+2/+0) Chain Mail Cavalry (+2/+0)

Civilization bonuses
Hit points	Egyptians (+33%)
Armor	Babylonians (0/+1)
Creation speed	Lac Viet (+25%)

Team bonuses
Creation speed	Persians (+20%)

Team bonuses

• Palmyrans: Upgrades that benefit Scythe Chariots are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

The Rise of Rome

• Scythe Chariots have 2.0 blast radius, 2 armor, +7 damage vs. Priests, ×8 conversion resistance, and cost 1,200 wood, 800 gold to upgrade, which takes 150 seconds.
• Chariots can be upgraded to Scythe Chariots only if Nobility is researched.

Definitive Edition

• Scythe Chariots have 1.5 blast radius and +9 damage vs. Priests.
• With update 38862, Scythe Chariots have 1 armor, no bonus damage vs. Priests, ×2 conversion resistance, and cost 1,400 wood, 1,000 gold to upgrade, which takes 200 seconds.

Return of Rome

• Researching Nobility is no longer required to upgrade Chariots to Scythe Chariots.
• Scythe Chariots have 0.75 blast radius (affected area unchanged as tile sizes in Return of Rome are larger as well).
• Team bonuses added.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Scythe Chariots researched 30% faster.
  • Persians: Scythe Chariots are trained 20% faster.

Heroes

There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Scythe Chariot:

• Muwatalli

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

Trivia

• Despite the historical note in the The Rise of Rome manual on Scythe Chariots mentioning that the Persians used them against the Macedonians, Persians in the game don't have access to them.
• The unit has a shield in the original version, which was removed in the Definitive Edition.

Gallery

The Chariot line in Return of Rome, with the Scythe Chariot on the right

Scythe Chariots in Return of Rome

Scythe Chariot in the Definitive Edition

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

A group of Scythe Chariot, facing all possible directions

Scythe Chariot render

Another view of the Scythe Chariot render

The charge of the Persian scythed chariots at the Battle of Gaugamela, by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899)

SCYTHE CHARIOT vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition