| “ | Effective at taking out high value targets at long range. Fires after quickly setting up. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Springald is a siege engine produced at Siege Workshop in Age of Empires IV. It is available to every civilization.
Tactics[]
The Springald functions as an anti-siege unit, thanks to its long range and high attack bonus against siege units. This bonus also works against other Springalds, since the Springald itself is a siege units.
One unusual use of Springalds is against ships. They have +70 attack against ships, just like against siege units, and can also outrange them (even the Warship). This makes them perform especially well and cost-effective against ships, provided they are being micromanaged properly. This tactic is useful when player is locked out of water and wants to reclaim it. The only demerits are that Springalds can not move on water, and they are very squishy.
Aside from its uses against siege units, the Springald does not fare well against other units. It deals low damage to buildings and infantry alike. Their low hit points means that a few Spearmen can kill them quickly, let alone cavalry units, which also have an attack bonus against them.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Melee units |
| Conditional matchups | Ranged units |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Hit points |  Siege Works (+20%); Improved: (+30%,  Mongols)
|
| Range |  Roller Shutter Triggers (+2); Improved: (+3 Mongols only) Banded Arms (+0.5,  Rus only)
|
| Armor | Siege Works (+10 ranged); Improved: (+15 ranged, Mongols)
|
| Attack speed | Roller Shutter Triggers (+25%); Improved: (+35% Mongols only) Siege Crews (+25% while garrisoned  Ottomans)
|
| Movement speed |  Greased Axles (+15%); Improved: (+20% Mongols)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%); Improved: (+53%, Mongols) Efficient Production (+100%, requires Scholar garrisoned in the Siege Workshop,  Delhi Sultanate)
|
| Ability |  Siege Carpentry (Grants Structural Reinforcements ability,  Ayyubids)
|
| Other |  Siege Engineering Improved (Can be built by infantry in the field, Mongols)
|
| Abilities and enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Hit points |  Atabeg Supervision (+20%, Ayyubids)
|
| Regeneration |  Divine Vitality (2 hp/s out of combat,  Zhu Xi's Legacy)
|
| Attack |  Buddhist Conversion (+20% for 20 seconds,  Japanese) Kurultai Aura (+20%, Mongols) Saint's Blessing (+2, or +3 with Fervor, Rus)
|
| Armor |  Structural Reinforcements (+20 melee, +10 fire armor for 10 seconds, Ayyubids only) Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols) Mehter Melee Armor Drums (+2 melee/fire, Ottomans) Mehter Ranged Armor Drums (+1 ranged, Ottomans) Saint's Blessing (+1 melee and ranged armor, Rus)
|
| Attack speed |  Network of Castles (+15%, or +30% with Network of Citadels,  English) Valorous Inspiration (+35% for 20 seconds,  Jeanne d'Arc) Mehter Attack Drums (+15%, Ottomans)
|
| Line of Sight |  Set up Camp (+30%, English)
|
| Movement speed |  Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship,  Byzantines) Nehan Conversion (+25% for 20 seconds, Japanese) Maneuver Arrow (+33% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols) Mehter Speed Bonus (+15% when in formation with Mehter, requires Mehter Drums, Ottomans)
|
| Resource cost |  Golden Age Tier 4 (-20%, Ayyubids only) Consecrate (-25%, requires Ordinance Company, Jeanne d'Arc) High Armory Bonus (-20%, Rus)
|
| Creation speed |  Golden Age Tier 3 (+20%,  Abbasid Dynasty and Ayyubids)  Conscriptio Influence (+20% per Cistern water level, Byzantines) Supervision (+150% for  Chinese; +150% for Zhu Xi's Legacy or +300% with Regional Inspection) Yorishiro Bonus (+200%, Japanese) Military Festival (+50% for 60 seconds,  Malians) Blacksmith/University Influence (+30%/40% in Castle/Imperial Age, +100% with Istanbul Observatory, Ottomans)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Hit points | Chinese (+10% in  Ming Dynasty) Chinese (+50% from Astronomical Clocktower)
|
| Resource cost | Zhu Xi's Legacy (-10% in  Yuan Dynasty)
|
| Creation speed | English (+100% from  The White Tower)
|
| Other | Abbasid Dynasty and Ayyubids (Can be built by infantry in the field) English (Available at Keeps)
|
Dialogue lines[]
Springalds use the standard ranged siege engine dialogue lines
- Main article: Siege engine#Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, the Banded Arms upgrade from the Rus gave +1.5 tiles. In a later update, this was changed to +0.5 tiles.
- Originally, Springalds cost 200 wood, 200 gold, have +20 damage vs siege engines, have 60 base damage, and have a move speed of 4. With patch 9369, they cost 250 wood, 250 gold, have +90 damage vs siege engines, have 30 base damage, and have a move speed of 3.75. With the Season Two Update 17718 their attack bonus vs siege engines was reduced to +70. With patch 9.2.628, their attack bonus was decreased to +60. With update 10.0.576 the attack bonus was increased to +65.
- Originally, Springalds had a move speed of 1 tile per second. With patch 11009, this was reduced to 0.88 tiles per second
- Originally, Springalds dealt no bonus damage to Ships. With path 11009, they dealt +90 bonus damage to ships. This was reduced to +70 along with their bonus vs siege engines in update 17718.
- Originally, Springalds were constructed in the field in 30 seconds. With the Season One Update, constructing them in the field now takes 80 seconds (base).
- Originally, regular Springalds had 200 hit points and 8 ranged armor, while Clockwork Springalds had 300 hit points and 8 ranged armor. With Season Two Update 17718, regular Springalds have 125 hit points and 20 ranged armor, while Clockwork Springalds have 190 hit points and 20 ranged armor. The ranged armor was reduced back down to 10 with patch 9.1.370.
- Originally, Springalds had an attack rate of 4.125 seconds. With patch 9.2.268, it was reduced to 3.125 seconds
Campaign version[]
Because the original four campaigns have not been rebalanced since the release of the game, Springalds have the following differences in those campaigns:
- They cost 200 wood, 200 gold and take 30 seconds to train
- They have 250 hit points, move at 1 tile per second, deal 75 ranged damage every 4.12 seconds, and have no attack bonus vs siege. This makes them much stronger against most types of units.
Gallery[]
