| “ | Gurjara unique light cavalry unit which can dodge projectiles. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Shrivamsha Rider is one of the three unique units of the Gurjaras in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India. It can be trained at the Stable once the Castle Age is reached. It is a speedy cavalry unit that can "dodge" enemy projectiles, which is represented as a second, regenerating health bar which has to be depleted below a certain level before the unit itself takes damage. The second health bar regenerates even during combat, but only protects from projectile attacks - melee attacks bypass it completely. It is strong vs. archers and weak vs. Pikemen and Camel Riders.
Shrivamsha Riders can be upgraded to Elite Shrivamsha Riders in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Shrivamsha Rider's dodge mechanic is its main selling point. Each projectile that it avoids consumes a portion of its shield gauge (20% for non-Elite, approx. 14% for Elite); if the Shrivamsha Rider does not have a sufficient amount of its shield gauge and takes a ranged hit, the attack will damage the Shrivamsha Rider. Otherwise, no matter how strong the projectile is, the damage is outright negated. This applies to projectile attacks that deal either pierce damage or melee damage, but does not apply against non-projectile ranged attacks, like those of Kamayuks or Steppe Lancers. When faced against large numbers of ranged units, the Shrivamsha Rider's dodge mechanic can be overwhelmed by sheer volume of projectiles, but a large group of riders will still do very well against most ranged units. Chu-Ko-Nu and Kipchaks, which fire multiple projectiles, can quickly overwhelm the dodge mechanic, especially if said units are massed.
If unable to utilize its dodge mechanic, however, the Shrivamsha Rider is underwhelming due to its mediocre stats for its cost. Camel Riders are their worst enemy, and Halberdiers are very cost-effective against them, so the Shrivamsha Rider should avoid fighting these units whenever possible. They are also counted as a unique unit, so Samurai will deal bonus damage to them. They also lose cost-effectively against Knights, but the Gurjaras' Camels can make short work of them. In general, melee units should be avoided by Shrivamsha Riders due to their mediocre stats and lack of base melee armor. Thankfully, due to their high speed, they can easily outrun just about anything they do not wish to fight.
Thanks to their dodge mechanic and acceptable damage output (despite lacking Blast Furnace), Shrivamsha Riders give the Gurjaras another good raiding unit. The Shrivamshas won't need to worry that much about defensive towers, though Town Centers and Castles could overwhelm their dodge mechanic due to multiple projectiles.
The Shrivamsha Rider is the second fastest land unit (only outsped by Imperial Age Cuman Scout Cavalry), giving it a huge edge when running away from unfavourable fights, raiding, chasing fleeing Cavalry Archers, and (most notably) catching up with Trade Carts.
Comparison table[]
 Scout Cavalry line
|
 Shrivamsha Rider line
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 80 food | 70 food, 30 gold |
| Speed | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Armor | 0/2 | 0/1 |
| Train time | 30s | 20s |
| Other | Cannot be converted before 8 seconds | Takes attack bonus from Samurai |
 Castle Age
|
 Light Cavalry
|
Shrivamsha Rider
|
| Hit points | 60 | 55 |
| Line of Sight | 8 | 5 |
| Melee attack | 7 | 8 |
| Attack bonus | +14 vs Monks | - |
| Other | - | Can dodge 5 projectiles in 20 seconds |
| Upgrade cost and time |
500 food, 600 gold 50 seconds |
850 food, 500 gold 45 seconds |
 Imperial Age
|
 Hussar
|
 Elite Shrivamsha Rider
|
| Hit points | 75 | 70 |
| Line of Sight | 10 | 6 |
| Melee attack | 7 | 11 |
| Attack bonus | +17 vs Monks | - |
| Other properties | - | Can dodge 7 projectiles in 20 seconds |
Further statistics[]
As Shrivamsha Riders are unique to the Gurjaras, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, siege weapons, Villagers, Gbetos, Throwing Axemen, Chakram Throwers, Mamelukes, Trade Carts |
| Weak vs. | Most melee units |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Resource cost |  Kshatriyas (-25% food)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Upgrading | Conscription (+33% faster)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Hindustanis (+2 against standard buildings)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Creation speed |  Huns (+20%)
|
| Upgrading | Huns (+20% faster) Portuguese (+25% faster)
|
Team bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies are researched 80% faster.- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Shrivamsha Riders are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
Dynasties of India[]
- Upon release, (Elite) Shrivamsha Riders could dodge 5 (7) projectiles in 15 seconds. With update 66692, they can dodge 5 (7) projectiles in 20 seconds. As a bug fix, (Elite) Shrivamsha Riders can now dodge the nearby blast damage of projectiles.
- Upon release, the Elite Shrivamsha Rider upgrade cost 800 food, 600 gold. With update 66692, it costs 850 food, 500 gold.
- With update 73855, Shrivamsha Riders cannot block splash damage of nearby units anymore.
- Upon release, (Elite) Shrivamsha Riders cost 70 food, 20 gold. With update 81058, they cost 70 food, 30 gold.
- Upon release, (Elite) Shrivamsha Riders have 1.75 reload time. With update 81058, they have 2 (1.9) reload time.
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Shrivamsha Rider:
Trivia[]
- With 1.76 speed when Husbandry is researched, the Shrivamsha Rider is practically the fastest (theoretically the second fastest) land unit in the game.
- The "dodge" mechanic of the Shrivamsha Rider is very similar to the "shield" mechanic of the Protoss units from Starcraft and shielded units in Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, where the unit absorbs incoming damage with a separate health bar before it takes actual damage once the separate health bar is depleted.
- The Shrivamsha Rider's weapon is a bhuj or Indian axe-knife.
- The Shrivamsha Rider's shield is an Indian dhal (shield), which can be found in the Gurjara civilization icon.
- Originally, when combining the Gurjara civilization bonus of 50/40% attack bonus for mounted units and the Hindustani team bonus of +2 attack bonus on Light Cavalry and Camel units, the civilization bonus is applied first, so the calculation is or [not or ].
- Now since the bonus is staggered starting in the Feudal Age, the team bonus applies first, but since the attack increase per Age is less than 0.5, the attack never increases.
History[]
The special 'Shrivamsha' breed of horses was gifted by a Gurjara chief to the Gurjara-Pratihara King Mihira Bhoja, and was described as being able to easily cross seas of sand.[1]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
