Anti-building siege weapon. Resistant to most ranged attacks. Garrisoned infantry increase speed and attack.
”
—Age of Empires II description
The Siege Ram is a non-ranged siege weapon in Age of Empires II that can be upgraded from the Capped Ram at the Siege Workshop in the Imperial Age. The wet hides of the Capped Ram are replaced by metal roof armor for increased durability and strength. It is not only stronger than the Capped Ram, but also slightly faster, has an increased splash damage radius, and can garrison up to six foot units (infantry, archers, or Villagers), but only infantry units improve the speed and attack against buildings. Also, Siege Rams perform outstandingly against Trebuchets.
x means that the civilization has Siege Engineers, and hence can fully upgrade its Siege Ram.
+ means that the civilization gets some civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Siege Ram.
Tactics[]
The Siege Ram is a significant improvement over the Capped Ram. It boasts +70 hit points, +50 anti-building damage, +0.5 blast radius, +1 melee armor, and +1 ram armor. While the upgrade's cost of 1,000 food makes it pricey, the absence of gold requirement for a unit as expensive as the Siege Ram makes it very valuable to pick up.
The Siege Ram excels in its ability to demolish buildings and absorb damage from pierce units, surpassing other rams in effectiveness. While it is weak against melee units with -1 melee armor, its hit points are so high that it can still take a respectable 15 hits from an enemy Champion before dying. The Siege Ram synergizes very well with infantry, as it can absorb ranged attacks and tear down buildings for infantry, while the infantry can kill enemy melee units that threaten the Siege Ram.
With update 153015, Siege Ram melee armor increased from -3 to -1.
History[]
“
The ultimate battering ram was the siege ram. This was a large engine that was heavily protected and designed to hit with a powerful force. Siege rams were often prefabricated weapons that were hauled to the site of the siege and assembled on the spot.
”
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual
Trivia[]
With the Mongol unique technology Drill researched, a Mongol Siege Ram fully garrisoned with infantry units has a speed of 1.2, the same speed as a Dark Age Scout Cavalry, and thus can move faster than most foot soldiers. Such speed and high anti-building bonus will allow Mongol players to quickly devastate a defensive fortification far more swiftly than conventional Trebuchet or Bombard Cannon tactics.
Available
Unavailable
Hit points
Furor Celtica (+40%, Celts only)
Siege Engineers (+20% against buildings)
Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Heresy (die upon getting converted)
First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
Movement speed
Tatars (+20% damage {+50% instead of +25%} from higher elevation)
Georgians (-20% damage {-40% instead of -25%} on higher elevation)
Jurchens (-50% friendly fire damage)
Attack speed
Celts (+25%)
Shu (+15%)
Slavs (-15%)
Aztecs (+15%)
Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
Celts: Siege Rams can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
