War Elephant (Age of Empires III)

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

War Elephant
Unit information
Introduced in	The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Melee cavalry Hand elephant Native warrior
Age	Colonial Age
Training
Trained at	Trading Post on a Sufi Mosque settlement Native Embassy
Food	200
Wood	80
Training limit	6 per Sufi Mosque settlement
Statistics
Hit points	425
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	6
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	28
XP bounty	28
Melee damage
Attack	20
Multipliers	x1.5 vs. Infantry x0.67 vs. Heavy infantry
Area of Effect	2
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege damage
Attack	36
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Indian Heavy War Elephant powerful in close combat. Inflicts area damage. Good against archers and skirmishers.	”
—In-game description

The War Elephant is a heavy cavalry native warrior in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that can be trained at a Trading Post built on a Sufi Mosque settlement.  The Indian civilization can also receive this unit via the Hire 8 War Elephants infinite Home City Card. It functions similarly to the Indian Mahout Lancer.

Overview

The strongest native unit in the game, the War Elephant has high hit points and damage, but the lowest build limit of all native units. Like all elephant-type units in The Asian Dynasties, it is fairly strong against buildings.

They can be a helpful addition to the player's army if one needs an area damage-dealing unit. The result is a cost effective, population-free army of lightning-fast bruisers that can efficiently siege enemy bases.

One noteworthy use of War Elephants is for the Aztecs, since they do not normally have access to a powerful, splash-damage anti-skirmisher unit. Since the attack dance affects them the same as any other unit, and they have far superior hit points when compared to Coyote Runners, they can be a very powerful asset to the Aztec military.

Another use for War Elephants is to utilize them in the Colonial Age by combining them with (for example) Crossbowmen and Pikemen to form a well-rounded, complete composition. This has the advantage of entirely costing food and wood, unlike Hussars, and take 0 population instead of 2, which can save on population costs early. Of course, other civilizations can do this with their own equivalents, such as Old Han Army or Longbowmen.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Sufi Discipline Training	200 wood 150 coin	Upgrades War Elephants to Disciplined (+25% hit points and attack)
	Sufi Honor Training	400 wood 300 coin	Upgrades War Elephants to Honored (+40% hit points and attack); requires Sufi Discipline Training
	Legendary Native Warriors Exalted Natives	1,500 food 1,500 wood	Upgrades native warriors to Legendary/Exalted (+50% hit points and attack)

The Legendary Native Warriors improvement is available in the Capitol for European civilizations and in the Town Center for Native American and Asian (as Exalted Natives) civilizations.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ranged infantry, light infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Horsemanship (+10%, Sioux only) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Pillage (+25% siege attack) Bonepipe Armor (+1.0x multiplier vs. artillery, Sioux only) Yoga (+5%)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Mass Cavalry (-50%)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the War Elephant

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times All Card Description Age HC level Cavalry Combat Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack 10 Native Treaties Each different allied native tribe sends a shipment of their respective native warriors 1 Native Warriors Native warriors cost -25% 10 Native Warrior Combat Native warriors get +25% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Native Warrior Societies Native warrior train limit +30% 25 Blood Brothers Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined and Champion/Honored (if not already) 25 Riding School Cavalry train time -40% 10 The Cavalry Combat card is available to Dutch, Ottomans, Russians and Sioux (at a level 25 Home City). The Native Treaties and Native Warriors cards are available to European and Native American civilizations. The Native Treaties card ships 2 War Elephants if the player had built a Trading Post on a Sufi Mosque settlement. The Native Warrior Combat card is available to French and Iroquois. The Blood Brothers card is available to Aztecs, French, Germans, Iroquois, Portuguese, Russians, Sioux, and Spanish. The TEAM Native Warrior Societies card is available to Aztecs, Dutch, Iroquois, and Sioux. The Riding School card is not available to Aztecs, Chinese, Iroquois, and Japanese. Asians Card Description Age HC level Native Alliance Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10% (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 1 Native Warrior Hitpoints Native warriors get +30% hit points and +10% speed (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 10 Native Warrior Attack Native warriors get +30% attack and train time -25% 10 The Native Alliance card is not available to the Chinese. The Native Warrior Hitpoints card is not available to the Japanese. The Native Warrior Attack card is not available to the Indians. Chinese Card Description Age HC level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Acupuncture Unit train time -20% 10 French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack 10 Wilderness Warfare Coureurs des Bois, Skirmishers, and native warriors get +20% hit points 25 TEAM Improved Native Warriors Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack 1 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry get +15% attack 10 Spanish Riding School Cavalry get +10% speed +4 Uhlans 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 Grazing Sowars and Zamburaks generate 0.05 food every second; Brahmins, Mahout Lancers, Howdahs, Flail Elephants, Siege Elephants, and War Elephants generate 0.1 wood every second +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Hire 8 War Elephants Ships 8 War Elephants and upgrades them to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 coin 40 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and light infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Sioux Card Description Age HC level Cavalry Damage Cavalry get +15% attack 10 Cavalry Hitpoints Cavalry get +15% hit points 10 Mustangs Cavalry costs -10% 10 Black Arrow Native warrior train time -85% 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

In-game dialogue

Main article: Indians (Age of Empires III)#In-game dialogue

• आदेश [Ādeś] (command)
• तैयार [Taiyār] (ready)
• हाँ? [Hān?] (yes?)
• मैं जा रहा हूँ [Main jā rahā hūn] (I am going)
• मैं करूँगा [Main karunga] (I will do it)
• हाँ [Hān] (yes)
• युद्ध करने के लिए [Yuddh karne ke liye] (to do war – To war/To battle)
• हमला [Hamalā] (attack!)
• हाँ! [Hāṃ!] (yes!)

History

“

Often considered the natural predecessor of the modern-day tank, the elephant brought many unique elements to its role as a battlefield unit. Early successes had more to do with surprise and intimidation than battlefield effectiveness. Enemy horses or camels, whether frightened by the beast’s smell, or overwhelmed by its sheer size, proved powerless against the elephant. It trampled oncoming waves of infantry and knocked riders from their mounts, scattering ranks and causing general confusion. It had a similar effect on the human enemy, terrifying many men to the point of panic.

”

Gallery

An in-game War Elephant

A War Elephant alongside a Mahout Lancer

The War Elephant's history portrait

War Elephant stats