Siege Engineers

This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II. For the technology in Age of Empires IV, see Siege Engineering.

Siege Engineers
Availability
Introduced in	Age of Empires II
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Research
Researched at	University
Food	500
Wood	600
Research time	45 seconds
Effect
Ranged siege units +20% bonus attack against buildings, +1 range Melee siege units +20% bonus attack against buildings Suicide units +40% bonus attack against buildings Rams and Siege Towers +1 Line of Sight

Siege Engineers is a technology in Age of Empires II that can be researched at the University once the Imperial Age is reached. Once researched, it increases the bonus attack of siege units (including Ballista Elephants and siege ships) against buildings by 20%, and that of suicide units by 40%. It also increases the range of all such ranged units by 1.

In addition, Siege Towers and rams have their Line of Sight increased by +1.

Availability chart

Available	Unavailable
Aztecs Bengalis Berbers Bohemians Britons Bulgarians Burmese Celts Ethiopians Franks Georgians Hindustanis Inca Japanese Jurchens Khitans Khmer Koreans Magyars Malay Mongols Poles Portuguese Romans Saracens Shu Sicilians Slavs Tatars Teutons Vietnamese Vikings	Armenians Burgundians Byzantines Chinese Cumans Dravidians Goths Gurjaras Huns Italians Lithuanians Malians Maya Persians Spanish Turks Wei Wu

Further statistics

Civilization bonuses
Resource cost	Jurchens (-75% wood)
Research speed	Jurchens (+100%)
Other	Jurchens (available in the Castle Age)

Team bonuses
Research speed	Malians (+80%) Portuguese (+25%)

Other similar bonuses and technologies

Some civilizations have either bonuses or unique technologies that increase the range of a type of siege unit:

• The Khmer team bonus gives +1 range for Scorpions, and they have access to Siege Engineers; as a result, they and their teammates (with Siege Engineers) have the Scorpions with the longest range at 9.
• The Koreans have Shinkichon, which increases the range of Rocket Carts by 1, and access to Siege Engineers; as a result, they have Heavy Rocket Carts with the longest range at 10.
• The Tatars have Timurid Siegecraft, which increases the range of Trebuchets by 2, and access to Siege Engineers; as a result, they have the Trebuchets with the longest range and the unit with the longest range in the game at 19.
• Despite lacking Siege Engineers, Turk Elite Cannon Galleons and Bombard Cannons have the longest range at 17 and 14, respectively, due to Artillery, which gives +2 range.

Despite lacking Siege Engineers, Burgundian Bombard Cannons deal more damage than other Bombard Cannons with Siege Engineers (except the Houfnice), since the Burgundian civilization bonus granting +25% attack to gunpowder units applies to all attacks (not just attack vs. buildings).

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Siege Engineers does not benefit Cannon Galleons.
• Siege Engineers benefits just armor class 11.

The Forgotten

• Magyars: Cannot research Siege Engineers.

Rise of the Rajas

• Magyars: With patch 5.5, Siege Engineers was added to their technology tree.

Definitive Edition

• Portuguese: With update 42848, Siege Engineers is researched 30% faster.

Dawn of the Dukes

• Poles: Upon release, cannot research Siege Engineers. With update 56005, Siege Engineers was added to their technology tree.

Dynasties of India

• With update 66692, Siege Engineers benefits Armored Elephants.
• When the Flaming Camel's attack bonus vs. buildings was doubled in update 61321, the effect of Siege Engineers was left unchanged, which made the effect equal to 20%, unlike the 40% of Petards. This bug was fixed with update 73855.

Return of Rome

• Siege Engineers benefits Cannon Galleons.
• With update 87863, Siege Engineers benefits Turtle Ships.
• With update 99311, Siege Engineers benefits all building classes.

Victors and Vanquished

• With update 111772, Siege Engineers benefits the Demolition Raft line.

History

“	Men who specialized in designing, building, and operating siege weapons were called siege engineers. These weapons were marvels of their age and complicated to operate. Hitting a narrow stone wall from a distance with a plunging stone shot was a difficult problem. Kings prized men who could solve it.	”
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual