Slinger (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the similar unit in other games of the series, see Slinger.

Slinger
Unit information
Introduced in	The Rise of Rome
Type	Infantry
Civilization	All except Assyrians and Hittites
Age	Tool Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks
Food	40
Stone	10
Training time	35 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	25
Attack	2 pierce
Attack bonuses	+2 vs foot archers +4 vs mounted archers
Rate of Fire	1.5
Range	4
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	2
Speed	1.2
Line of Sight	6

The Slinger is a light ranged unit featured in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome that can be trained at the Barracks once the Tool Age is reached. It hurls stones at its enemies, and can be used to fight and defend a civilization against early archer attacks.

Tactics

Slingers have an attack bonus of +2 against archers and also have 2 pierce armor. Since the Definitive Edition, they also have a higher attack bonus of +4 against mounted archers. They have a small increased attack against walls and towers, but it is only +0.6 so not that relevant for the game. Ships, infantry (assuming the Slingers do not run for it), and cavalry can all take them out very easily. They are easily overpowered by Bronze Age units and are often obsolete by that time. The Assyrians and Hittites do not have Slingers.

Upgrades

•  Bronze Shield increases pierce armor by 1.
•  Iron Shield increases pierce armor by 1.
•  Tower Shield increases pierce armor by 1.
•  Alchemy increases attack by 1.
•  Stone Mining increases attack and range by 1.
•  Siegecraft further increases attack and range by 1.

Note: Slingers do not benefit from armor upgrades.

Changelog

Rise of Rome

• Slingers are introduced.
• Slingers take 24 seconds to train.
• Slingers have +2 attack against all archers.

Definitive Edition

• Slingers have higher bonus attack (+4) against mounted archers (bonus against foot archers unchanged).
• After CU9, Slingers take 28 seconds to train. With update 38862, they take 35 seconds to train.
• Slinger damage dealt to walls and towers reduced by ~50%.

History

“	Slingers were light troops who threw stones at the enemy, causing casualties and disrupting formations. A barrage of heavy stones could cause wounds and bone fractures. The stone was held in a cloth sling and swung in a vertical loop to build centrifugal force. One end of the sling was released, launching the stone. Slingers were an alternative to archers and javelin men. They threw stones of different weights, depending on the range to the target. Roman art shows slingers throwing rocks the size of grapefruit, probably at short range. Specially shaped stones could be thrown accurately to a respectable distance. The best known slinger of antiquity was David, who slew the Philistine champion Goliath in single combat with a shot to the head. A contingent of Rhodesian slingers were part of the 10,000-man mercenary force whose march home from Persia is described by Xenophon in his book Anabasis.	”
—The Rise of Rome manual

Trivia

• The Slinger is the only unit at the Barracks that does not have an upgrade.
• The Slinger is the only unit in the entire Age of Empires series that costs stone.
• The unofficial Rome Returns mod for Age of Empires II: The Conquerors introduces an Elite upgrade to the Slinger.

Gallery

A render of the Slinger