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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the armor class, see Armor class: War elephant. For the unit in other games of the series, see War Elephant. |
| “ | Persian unique unit. Slow and powerful cavalry. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The War Elephant is a unique unit of the Persians in Age of Empires II. It is a slow yet very powerful and resilient cavalry unit with an attack bonus against buildings. It is also an elephant unit. War Elephants deal trample damage.
War Elephants can be upgraded to Elite War Elephants in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
War Elephants are one of the most durable units in the game with 620 hit points when fully upgraded (over three times the hit points of a Paladin), as well as high melee attack (24) and trample damage. These factors combined make the unit the most population-efficient in the game. However, they move slowly and are vulnerable to units that deal damage at long range as a result. Even against melee units, they often struggle to force an engagement, as even infantry can run away from War Elephants. They are also one of the most expensive units in the game, with a very high training time for a Castle unit. Enemy Pikemen can defeat them cost-efficiently, though it will take a large group to take them down. Their slow speed also makes them vulnerable to Cavalry Archers, though it will take a while for the archers to kill them due to their high health and decent pierce armor. Mamelukes, with their high speed and anti-cavalry bonus, are an effective method of fighting War Elephants.
Because they are big, move slowly and only have melee attack, siege weapons can be effective. Scorpions particularly do +6 (+8 for Heavy) bonus damage to War Elephants. Mangonels are effective against them, because the massive Elephants can hardly dodge the projectiles. The War Elephant has enough durability to sometimes make it to the siege, so said siege should always be backed by Pikemen. They can be converted by enemy Monks, and the Persians do not have access to Heresy, so they should always be deployed with ranged units or Light Cavalry. Kamayuks will also trade cost-effectively with War Elephants. Further, Flaming Camels deal bonus damage for a total of 200 damage (before armor and blast distance are taken into account) against Elephant units, and are thus extremely lethal against packed groups of War Elephants.
All of these factors make the War Elephant one of the most situational unique units in the game. However, if the specific units required to counter them are dealt with, War Elephants are virtually unbeatable. This, coupled with their high durability, makes them excellent for pitched battles. It also aids them in knocking down buildings and defenses which they are virtually immune to.
Comparison in the Castle Age[]
 War Elephant
|
 Battle Elephant
| |
|---|---|---|
| Training Cost | 170 food, 85 gold | 100 food, 70 gold |
| Training Time | 25 seconds | 24 seconds |
| Hit Points | 450 | 250 |
| Attack | 15 | 12 |
| Attack Bonus | +30 vs Buildings
+30 vs Stone Defenses |
+4 vs Buildings
+4 vs Stone Defenses |
| Blast radius | 0.5 - 50% effect | 0.4 - 25% effect |
| Line of Sight | 7 | 7 |
| Speed | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Upgrade Cost and Time |
1350 food, 800 gold 75 seconds |
1100 food, 700 gold 100 seconds |
Similarities[]
- Rate of Fire: 2
- Armor: 1/2
- Conversion Resistance: +2/+2 min/max conversion intervals
Comparison in the Imperial Age[]
 Elite War Elephant
|
 Elite Battle Elephant
| |
|---|---|---|
| Training Cost | 170 food, 85 gold | 100 food, 70 gold |
| Training Time | 25 seconds | 24 seconds |
| Hit Points | 600 | 300 |
| Attack | 20 | 14 |
| Attack Bonus | +30 vs Buildings
+30 vs Stone Defenses |
+7 vs Buildings
+7 vs Stone Defenses |
| Blast radius | 0.5 - 50% effect | 0.4 - 25% effect |
| Speed | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Line of Sight | 8 | 8 |
Similarities[]
- Rate of Fire: 2
- Armor: 1/3
- Conversion Resistance: +2/+2 min/max conversion intervals
Further statistics[]
As War Elephants are unique to the Persians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Buildings, melee units |
| Weak vs. | Pikemen, Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Mamelukes, Cavalry Archers, Monks, Mangonels, Scorpions, Flaming Camels |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite War Elephant
|
Team bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies are researched 80% faster.- Gurjaras: War Elephants are trained 25% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Devotion and Faith are researched 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit War Elephants are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: War Elephants are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- War Elephants cost 200 food, 75 gold and train in 31 seconds.
- Only Elite War Elephants deal trample damage.
- (Elite) War Elephants have 7(10) attack vs buildings and stone defenses.
The Conquerors[]
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Mahouts introduced.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Both non-Elite and Elite War Elephants now deal trample damage.
Lords of the West[]
- With update 50292, War Elephants cost 170 food, 85 gold and train in 25 seconds.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863, (Elite) War Elephant Line of Sight increased from 4 (5) to 7 (8).
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 95810,
- Mahouts removed. War Elephant speed increased by 33% (from 0.6 to 0.8). (slightly more than Mahout's effect).
- (Elite) War Elephant attack vs buildings and stone defenses increased from 7 (10) to 30.
- War Elephants get 5 gold for each military unit killed.
- Elite War Elephant upgrade cost reduced from 1,600 food, 1,200 gold to 1,350 food, 800 gold.
- With update 99311, War Elephants no longer generate gold when killing military units.
Victors and Vanquished[]
- With update 125283, (Elite) War Elephant conversion resistance increased from 0 to 2, increasing minimum/maximum conversion times by +2.5 in-game seconds.
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of an Elite War Elephant:
History[]
| “ | The last civilization in the Middle East to employ war elephants was Persia, who got their elephants from India. The war elephant was a powerful complement to an army, especially against troops with no experience against them. They were very difficult to kill, but remained difficult to control also. If they could be directed into an enemy formation, the enemy troops almost always fell back in disarray. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- At 620, Elite War Elephants have by far the highest hit points of all units.
- At 24, Elite War Elephants have the strongest attack of all units outside of the siege and gunpowder section.
- This version of the War Elephant (as well as the Armored Elephant line) is the only one which does not have a rider in the entire series.
- The unit's icon has a gaping void in the fabric of the "jhul" on its back.
- After update 37650 of the Definitive Edition, elephant heads will appear peeking out of Transport Ships loaded with 10 War Elephants or other elephant units.
- The Persian Empire did not use war elephants at the time of the Saladin and Barbarossa campaigns. However, it is true that the Khwarezmian army deployed war elephants against the Mongols when they invaded Samarkand; the Mongols defeated them using catapults.
- Historically, war elephants were used mostly by the Sassanid Persians, but their use died in the region with the Muslim conquest. Usage was nearly nonexistent outside of India and southeast Asia, and only a few Persianate states during the middle ages (such as the Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Khwarezmians, and Timurids) used them in very specific cases, such as the Battle of Ankara.
- Despite the manual's claim that the Persians "got their elephants from India", the unit itself appears to depict an African elephant, as indicated by the large ears and a sloping forehead which does not give its crown a dome-shape appearance. African elephants have larger ears than Indian elephants. This is either an oversight by the developers, or an intentional design decision, since African elephants are more recognizable to most American gamers than Asian elephants.
- In the mod version preceding Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten, the sprite for the Indians's own Elephant Archer is modified from the Persian War Elephant, but it gets a unique sprite (based on an Asian elephant) from the HD Edition version.
- Although African elephants (which War Elephants are based on) are larger than Asian elephants, the Asian elephant-based units (Battle Elephant and Ballista Elephant) are roughly the same size as War Elephants.
- As can be seen in this video, War Elephants have a collision size of 0.25, the same as that of the Knight.
- The Elite War Elephant upgrade was the most expensive upgrade in Age of Empires II from the original release of Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings until the release of The Mountain Royals. With update 95810, the most expensive upgrade is now the Siege Onager.
- The War Elephant is a very effective unit in terms of population space (also called population-efficiency), as the unit is individually stronger than any other unit in the game, which is really important in very late games (especially team games), where most players are at a population of more than 100 Villagers, which leaves the space for counter units much more limited. To defeat the Elite War Elephant, it is necessary to greatly outnumber it (fully upgraded Elite War Elephants can slay Halberdiers in three hits).
- Although it cannot occur in normal gameplay, War Elephants are affected by several unique technologies that affect Battle Elephants such as Wootz Steel, Chatras, Tusk Swords, Howdah, and Medical Corps.
Gallery[]
Video[]
