Ranking the new Elephant Archer civs (AoE2)

How do all the different elephant archer civilizations stack up? In this video we'll see how they compare, and hopefully make their bonuses a little easier to remember.

0:35 The role of elephant archers
1:34 Bengalis
3:40 Dravidians
4:53 Gurjaras
6:45 Castle Age comparison vs common units
8:30 Imperial Age
10:30 Final thoughts

__________________________________________________________

Game: Age of Empires II Definitive Edition

[alg]

Balance idea: elephant archers permanently start with +1 elevation to reflect how tall they are. On even ground they'd get a bonus, plus another unit would have to be 2 tiles up on them to be at an advantage.

[rin-senpai]

Elephant Archers being classified as Cavalry Archer really hurts them. They have none of the typical advantages other CA have with good hit-and-run tactics and mobility.
Similar to how the Condottiero got a unique armor class to help balancing the unit, Elephant Archers should probably get the same.

[dembro]

I'm always pumped for an elephant-related SotL video for the possibility of Elephant Facts.

[vagabondsoul]

I wish instead of HP regen, the Dravidian UT allowed the ELE archer to garrison upto 3 more units, adding more arrows like a tower.

[Jaxck]

Things I’d like to see:

* Reduced bonus damage against Elephants from Pikes/Skirms.
* Add bonus damage from Hand Cannons (and other Gunpowder) against Elephants.
* Give the EA to at least some of the SEA civs from Rise of the Rajas.

[thefidgetspinnerofdoom]

I don't even play DE, but these analyses always tickle my number bone 😄

[pbsoccer]

The elephant archer seems useless in most situations. It's easily countered and slow. I think they were intended to function like a moveable tower almost. They should reduce the damage from skirmishers a little so they get more use. They feel too easily countered currently.

Edit:
Reduce or eliminate skirmisher bonus damage but add siege and gun powder bonus damage. Would feel more balanced and somewhat historically accurate. Elephants archers would be good against common projectile units (arrows/javelins). Just watch out for scorpions, mangonels, siege elephants, camels, pikes, and hand cannons.

[michaeltaylor]

The OG elephant archer was already easily countered and was expensive. Why on earth did the devs increase the bonus damage EAs took when that was the whole reason no one used them in the first place?

[karatekan]

I feel like elephants in general shouldn't take nearly so much bonus damage from the spear line, and skirmishers should be the primary counter. That's more true to real life, spears weren't particularly useful against massed elephants and both the Romans and the Macedonian mostly relied on light troops with javelins.

Having them countered both both trash units seems overboard

[chingamfong]

Mongol cav archer:
"Who are you?"

Dravidian elephant archer:
"I am you, but chunkier."

[lmnisop]

I'm fascinated by the decision that the civ that had elephant archers as a unique unit doesn't have them now they're a regional unit

[jayanthkn]

A few ways to buff Elephant Archers:
1. Increase their range.
There's a reason why archers mounted on elephants are deadly. They have a higher vantage point and can spot and attack enemies farther away.

2. Increase their attack.
There's a single archer who has plenty of room in the howdah to accommodate an Indian longbow with extra ammunition, so he's not restricted in his movements.

3. Give anti cavalry and anti camel bonus.
Historically, elephants were the bane of cavalry, because the elephants would spook the horses and camels. It took a great deal of courage and disciplined elite cavalry to charge elephants to kill them. Even if the cavalry got into melee with the elephants, the archers can easily bring down the cavalrymen from above.

4. Let them only take bonus damage from skirmishers, and have some melee armour.
Elephant archers usually had decently armoured animals as mounts. Plus the elephant's hide is quite thick, you can wound and infuriate elephants but you would need a lot of arrows to bring down an elephant. Javelins on the other hand penetrate quite well, so skirmishers can dispatch elephants easily.

[chrisl]

The biggest problem with elephants in general is that they're expensive, slow, and easily countered by cheap trash units. If the extra bonus damage that these units get against elephants were to be removed, they would be a lot more viable.

[swimteamizzle]

It feels a bit silly that the elephant itself isn't really contributing to the attack with these units. It would be really cool to see a Battle Elephant that controls as a melee unit but also does passive ranged damage like a tower.

[DCdabest]

Dravidian Elephant Archers are like contemporary armour support vehicles.

You use a core of them to support your infantry tactics and they can really mow down other units trying to get close to them.

A group of Elephant Archers are like a tanky core that can be used like a bunch of mobile towers to help you lockdown sections of the battlefield.

[HazmanFTW]

2:16 that monk is like, aight, i'mma head out now

[RubenVianna]

I've always loved the way cavalry archers fired on the move in Rise of Nations. Wish AOE had a similar approach

[JarlFrank]

"The elephant archer takes the same slot as the cavalry archer" - ok but what if you play with All Techs active?

[CornBredCrusader]

Good analysis, IMO Elephant archers will never be anything but a meme unit, as their cost is prohibitive, and their only niche is countering xbow/arbs once you have massed ele archers. The issue with this is that a player that already has gone into xbow/arb will have a way easier time transitioning into skirms than the elephant archer player will have transitioning into ele archers

[satyakisil]

Parthian tactics affecting elephants never ceases to be amusing.