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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India. For other uses, see Siege Elephant. |
| “ | Anti-building cavalry unit. Resistant to most ranged attacks. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Siege Elephant is a mounted siege unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India that is exclusive to the South Asian civilizations and takes the place of the Battering Ram line. As such, they are regional units. They are also an elephant unit. They are the Imperial Age upgrade to the Armored Elephant.
Despite being trained at the Siege Workshop, they are also classified as cavalry units alongside as siege. As such, they benefit from Blacksmith upgrades, can be healed by Monks (instead of repaired), and can be converted by Monks without researching Redemption. In this way, they are very similar to Ballista Elephants. However, Monks can convert them only at melee range like rams.
Tactics[]
The Siege Elephant has +40 hit points, +30 anti-building attack, +10 anti-siege attack, +10 pierce armor, +3 cavalry armor, and +3 elephant armor over its predecessor. It also gains a blast radius of 1.5, which the Armored Elephant lacks.
The Siege Elephant functions very similarly to the Capped Ram and the Siege Ram. They are great at taking down massed buildings and at absorbing enemy pierce attacks.
Comparison to the Capped and Siege Rams[]
In-game, the Armored and Siege Elephants are considered cavalry with attack bonus vs buildings, not siege units. This has many implications.
Firstly, rams cost wood, while Siege Elephants cost food. This matters, since food is harder to mass. Next, Siege Rams can garrison archer and infantry units for their protection. Garrisoned infantry units increase the speed of rams by 0.05 tiles/s/unit, taking them from 0.6 tiles/s to 0.9 tiles/s, capping their speed to that of a Militia without Squires. Siege Elephants, on the other hand, are capped at 0.66 tiles/s. The infantry units also provide +10 attack vs buildings to rams, which means the upper limit of the attack bonus of Capped Rams vs buildings is 240. This is only relevant for the Dravidians, however, as the other three civilizations with access to the Siege Elephant have poor infantry. Even then, the Dravidians will usually be fine without needing to garrison their infantry. Rams are repaired by villagers, but Siege Elephants are healed by Monks. Besides being free, healing by Monks can be done from a safety of 4 tiles away. It also has a convenience factor of not having to bring a Villager to front line and risk losing it. This mechanic is specially useful on Arena, where Monk-siege pushes are very common.
Rams have -3 melee armor, making them take extra damage from melee units, and are especially weak to low-melee attack units like Chu Ko Nu, Scorpions, Kipchaks, Fire Galleys and Villagers. Siege Elephants have -2 melee armor, though this is increased by 2 or 3 by Cavalry Armor upgrades at the Blacksmith, thus improving their melee durability, especially against low-melee-attack units. However, they will take considerably more damage from Halberdiers and other anti-Elephant units. The Siege Elephant has the exact same blast radius as that of a Capped Ram (which is 25% less than that of a Siege Ram). Rams, when attacking, only affect buildings and siege units in their blast radius. Siege Elephants, on the other hand, attack every unit and building with 33% force.
Against buildings, Siege Elephants deal approximately the same amount of damage per second as Siege Rams without factoring armor, though their lower attack means they are more affected by armor than the Siege Ram. They will do more damage than Capped Rams, however (unless the building has more than 60 building armor, which is impossible in standard play). The Siege Elephant is worse against mass buildings than either ram, due to its lower blast radius damage.
Monks do not need Redemption to convert Siege Elephants. They do, however, need to be in the proximity of the Siege Elephant. This is dangerous, since Siege Elephants have blast damage, and Monks have no armor to resist the low melee attack of the Elephant.
The difference in pierce armor only matters against Trebuchets. Siege Elephants take bonus damage from anti-cavalry and anti-elephant units, some of which is reduced. Siege Elephants attack every 3 seconds, while rams attack every 5 seconds. This means that Siege Elephants have almost 66% better damage output than shown (before taking armor into consideration). Siege Elephants can also be garrisoned inside Castles and in ally Kreposts, unlike rams or any other Siege Workshop unit.
Siege Elephants also target non-siege units on their own, while rams do not. If Siege Elephants are not micro-managed, they may chase other, faster units, or fight units they are not effective against. Rams, on the other hand, don't have this problem, and thus require less attention when given an attack command.
Similarities[]
Both units cost almost the same amount of total resources (215 for Siege Elephant vs 235 for Capped Ram), benefit from Siege Engineers, and are trained in the exact same time. Despite having slightly different counters, they share weaknesses in Mangudai, Huszars, Eagles, Onagers, heavy cavalry, and heavy infantry. Despite being usable against regular units, Siege Elephants prioritize attacking buildings, just like rams.
Comparison table[]
| Units |  Capped Ram
|
 Siege Ram
|
Generic (Hindustani)  Siege Elephant
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 160 wood, 75 gold | 120 food, 95 gold | |
| Hit points | 200 | 270 | 220 |
| Melee attack | 3 | 4 | 4+4 |
| Rate of Fire | 5 | 3 | |
| Armor | -3/190 | -3/195 | -2+4/150+4 |
| Attack vs buildings | +180 | +240 | +126 |
| Attack vs siege | +50 | +65 | +35 |
| Blast Radius | 1.5 tiles with 100% effect against buildings and siege weapons none against units |
2 tiles with 100% effect against buildings and siege weapons none against units |
1.5 tiles with 33% effect against all units and buildings |
| Class | Siege weapon Ram (+1) |
Siege weapon Ram (+2) |
Cavalry (+10) War elephant (+20) Siege weapon Ram |
- Similarities
- Speed - 0.6
Much like other regional units, each civilization with access to the Siege Elephant has an unique set of bonuses and technologies, leading to the four civilizations' Siege Elephants each having distinct capabilities. Hindustani Siege Elephants are fully upgraded, yet do not benefit from any bonus or unique technology. As such, they are an ideal candidate to compare other civilizations' Siege Elephants to.
Comparison among civilizations[]
Bengalis[]
The Bengali Siege Elephant is exceptionally durable, taking -25% bonus damage and resisting conversion. It also attacks 20% faster after researching Paiks, which improves its offensive power. They also have Siege Engineers, giving their Siege Elephants the highest damage output against buildings when fully upgraded.
Dravidians[]
Dravidian Siege Elephants are somewhat flawed, due to missing Bloodlines, Husbandry, Siege Engineers, and Plate Barding Armor. This makes their Siege Elephants slower and more fragile. However, they benefit from both Dravidian unique technologies. First, Medical Corps lets them slowly regenerate HP, helping them compensate for their lower HP and armor. Second, Wootz Steel lets them bypass units' melee armor when attacking. This is not enough to let them defeat most enemy units in a cost-effective manner, but it does make them better equipped at defending themselves against enemy infantry and cavalry than other Siege Elephants.
Gurjaras[]
Gurjara Siege Elephants are very good at demolishing buildings, due to dealing +40% bonus damage. They also cost less food once Kshatriyas has been researched, and are created 20% faster due to the Gurjaras' team bonus. However, Gurjara Siege Elephants lack Blast Furnace, making them less well-equipped at defending themselves than other Siege Elephants.
Comparison table[]
| Civilization |  Bengalis
|
 Dravidians
|
 Gurjaras
|
 Hindustanis(generic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 120 food, 95 gold | 120 food, 95 gold | 90 food, 95 gold | 120 food, 95 gold |
| Hit points | 240 | 220 | 240 | 240 |
| Melee attack | 4+4 | 4+4* | 4+2 | 4+4 |
| Attack vs buildings | +126 | +105 | +147 | +126 |
| Attack vs siege weapons | +35 | +35 | +49 | +35 |
| Rate of Fire | 2.5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Armor | -2+3/150+4 | -2+2/150+2 | -2+3/150+4 | -2+3/150+4 |
| Speed | 0.66 | 0.6 | 0.66 | 0.66 |
| Training time | 36s | 36s | 28.8s | 36s |
| Extras | Resists conversion -25% bonus damage |
Regenerate 0.5 HP/s Melee attacks ignore Armor |
 Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Buildings, archers |
| Weak vs. | Infantry, Flaming Camels, cavalry, Mangudai, Onagers |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Siege Engineers (+20% against buildings) Wootz Steel (attack ignores armor, Dravidians only)
|
| Firing rate |  Paiks (+20%, Bengalis only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) (Gurjaras only)
|
| Train cost | Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only)
|
| Other | Medical Corps (regenerate 30 HP per minute, Dravidians only)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bengalis: Siege Elephants take -25% bonus damage, are more resistant to conversion, and deal +2 attack against Skirmishers.
- Gurjaras: Siege Elephants deal +40% bonus damage.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Celts: Armored Elephants are created and upgraded 20% faster.
- Gurjaras: Siege Elephants are created 25% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion, Faith, and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Siege Engineers is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Siege Elephants are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Siege Elephants are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
Dynasties of India[]
- Originally, Siege Elephants did not benefit from Siege Engineers. With update 66692, Siege Elephants benefit from Siege Engineers.
- Bengalis: Originally, The bonus resistance modifier applied before the armor subtraction from the damage. With update 66692, the bonus resistance modifier applies after the armor subtraction from the damage.
- Gurjaras: Originally, Siege Elephants had +50% bonus attack. With update 66692, Siege Elephants have +40% bonus attack.
- Originally, Siege Elephants had 250 hit points, 8 Cavalry armor, 18 Elephant armor, and 2 Ram armor. With update 78174, they have 220 hit points, 10 Cavalry armor, 20 Elephant armor, and 0 Ram armor.
- Bengalis: With update 81058, Siege Elephants get +2 attack against Skirmishers.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 93001, Siege Elephant cost reduced from 130 food, 95 gold to 120 food, 95 gold.
History[]
Pre-gunpowder siege weapons were uncommon in ancient India, and battering rams were possibly never used at all. Instead, cities and forts were taken by assault by employing elephants that had been taught to batter walls and gates. This training, called nagarayanam, is mentioned in the Arthashastra treatise of governance and statecraft. The Mahabharata also calls the elephants purabhettarah ("town-breakers") for the same reason.[1]
Trivia[]
- Siege Elephant and its pre-upgraded counterpart are the only Siege Workshop units that cost Food and cannot be repaired by Villagers. Instead, they can be healed by Monks or by being garrisoned in Castles.
- Elephant heads will appear peeking out of Transport Ships loaded with 10 Siege Elephants or other elephant units.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
