Stone Thrower

Stone Thrower
Unit information
Type	Siege unit
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Bronze Age
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	180
Gold	80
Training time	60 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	75
Attack	50 melee
Attack bonuses	+140 vs. Buildings +50 vs. Towers +10 vs. Fire Galley
Blast radius	0.5
Rate of Fire	5.375
Frame delay	11
Range	10
Minimum range	3
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.8
Line of Sight	13
Unit evolution
Upgrades to	Catapult
Upgrade cost	300 food, 250 wood
Upgrade time	100 seconds

The Stone Thrower is the first siege unit available in Age of Empires. It is the only siege unit that can be built at the Siege Workshop during the Bronze Age. They are the very first siege unit to appear in Age of Empires series and are the predecessor of the Mangonel in Age of Empires II.

Strategy

As a stone throwing siege weapon, Stone Throwers deal 28 bonus damage against buildings (to a total of 38 damage, since buildings in Age of Empires have 80% resistance to all attacks). However, against towers, Stone Throwers deal only 10 bonus damage (to a total of 20 damage).

From the Iron Age, it can be upgraded into the Catapult, then the Heavy Catapult.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Buildings
Weak vs.	Ships, Ballistae
Upgrades
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Engineering (+2)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Upgrades	Upgrade to Catapult

Civilization bonuses

• Hittites: Stone Throwers have +50% hit points.
• Sumerians: Stone Throwers have -30% reload time.
• Macedonians: Stone Throwers cost -25% and are four times more resistant to conversion.

History

The stone thrower was an artillery weapon based on the principle of the lever. The stone thrower fired a heavy missile, usually a large stone or stone wrapped in burning oily rags. The missile was placed in a large basket at the end of the throwing arm. Tension was built up on the other end of the arm while the throwing basket was held taut against a fulcrum. When released, the throwing arm swung up and forward until checked, throwing the missile. Stone throwers were used primarily against fixed positions, especially cities and fortifications. Stones were used to knock down walls to open the way for an infantry assault. Fireballs set wood rubble on fire, burning out the defenders. Small stone throwers were also used on the battlefield to disrupt massed enemy formations, although the enemy rarely offered easy targets within range. The stone thrower was invented around 400 BC by Greeks seeking to capture an island fortress off the coast of Sicily.

Gallery

A group of Stone Throwers

A Stone Thrower in the Definitive Edition

Siege Workshop Tree
Bronze Age Siege Workshop Stone Thrower Iron Age Catapult Ballista Heavy Catapult Helepolis