Bengalis — Counters & Civilization Overview

How to play against the Bengalis — plus bonuses, unique units, unique techs and the full tech tree.

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Bengalis emblem

The Bengalis are an Elephant and Naval civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique unit is the Ratha. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Bengalis tech tree.

How to counter the Bengalis

Their unique and regional units are the part of the matchup a generic army does not prepare you for. Hard counters beat the unit decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.

Ratha Castle Age · Castle

Bengali unique Mounted Archer that can switch between melee and ranged attacks.

Countered by

Elephant Archer Castle Age · Archery Range

Slow and heavy Mounted Archer.

Countered by

Battle Elephant Castle Age · Stable

Slow but durable Cavalry.

Countered by

  • Monk hard Conversion – elephants are expensive
  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry/elephants
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Mameluke UU hard UU (Saracens) – Ranged anti-cavalry
  • Flaming Camel UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+130)
  • Genoese Crossbowman UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+5)
  • Kamayuk UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+20)
  • Scorpion hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+7)
  • Mangonel soft Area damage
  • Camel Archer UU soft UU (Berbers) – Kites elephants, no bonus damage

Siege Elephant Imperial Age · Siege Workshop

Anti-building Siege Cavalry.

Countered by

What the Bengalis are strong against

The other side of the matchup: these are the fights their own units are built to win. Walking one of these into them plays to their strengths.

What the Bengalis cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Bengalis gaps that change how a fight plays out — the economic ones are left out on purpose.

Mounted units

  • Knight — No Knight — their Stable never produces a heavy cavalry line, so the Castle Age arrives without the usual mounted threat and your Spearman line can stay small.
  • Hussar — No Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Bengalis never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.
  • Bombard Cannon — No Bombard Cannon — they have no gunpowder siege at all. Your own Bombard Cannons out-range every siege unit they can field except the Trebuchet.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Thumb Ring — No Thumb Ring — their archers fire slower and miss more, so your units take fewer hits crossing the open ground towards them.
  • Plate Mail Armor — No Plate Mail Armor — their infantry stays short on armour in the Imperial Age, so massed archers keep working against it.

Siege

  • Battering Ram — No Battering Ram — their Siege Workshop offers no ram line at all, so your walls, towers and Castles are safe from the cheapest way through them.
  • Siege Onager — Their Onagers never become Siege Onagers — no single shot that clears a whole group of your units, and no felling of your walls from range.

Monastery and conversion

  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.

Defensive buildings

  • Bombard Tower — No Bombard Tower — their towers never become gunpowder towers, so your siege can set up against a tower line instead of being shelled off it.
  • Hoardings — No Hoardings — their Castles keep base hit points, so your siege brings one down in far fewer shots.

Navy

  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Heavy Demo Ship — Their Demolition Ships stay at the base tier — no Heavy Demo Ship, so one detonation no longer wipes a group of your warships.

Everything the Bengalis do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Bengalis tech tree further down.

Bengalis: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Town Centers spawn 2 Villagers when the next Age is reached
  • Cavalry +2 attack vs. Skirmishers
  • Elephant Units receive -25% bonus damage and are more resistant to conversion
  • Monks +3 melee/+3 pierce armor
  • Ships regenerate 15 HP per minute

Team Bonus

Trade Units generate +10% food in addition to gold

Unique Units

Ratha
Ratha · Mounted ArcherBengali unique Mounted Archer that can switch between melee and ranged attacks. Strong vs. Infantry. Weak vs. Skirmishers and Camel Riders.

Unique Technologies

PaiksRathas and Elephant Units attack +20% faster
MahayanaVillagers and Monks take -10% population space

Bengalis Tech Tree

The full Bengalis tech tree in Age of Empires 2 — every unit, upgrade and technology they can research, and everything they cannot. Units are shown as their upgrade lines, followed by the technologies available at each building. Greyed-out entries are missing from the Bengalis tech tree.

Barracks

  1. Militia D
  2. Man-at-Arms F
  3. Long Swordsman C
  4. Two-Handed Swordsman I
  5. Champion I
  1. Spearman F
  2. Pikeman C
  3. Halberdier I
  1. Arson F
  1. Gambesons C
  1. Squires C

Archery Range

  1. Archer F
  2. Crossbowman C
  3. Arbalester I
  1. Skirmisher F
  2. Elite Skirmisher C
  1. Cavalry Archer C
  2. Heavy Cavalry Archer I
  1. Elephant Archer C
  2. Elite Elephant Archer I
  1. Hand Cannoneer I
  1. Thumb Ring C
  1. Parthian Tactics I

Stable

  1. Scout Cavalry F
  2. Light Cavalry C
  3. Hussar I
  1. Knight C
  2. Cavalier I
  3. Paladin I
  1. Battle Elephant C
  2. Elite Battle Elephant I
  1. Bloodlines F
  1. Husbandry C

Siege Workshop

  1. Battering Ram C
  2. Capped Ram I
  3. Siege Ram I
  1. Armored Elephant C
  2. Siege Elephant I
  1. Mangonel C
  2. Onager I
  3. Siege Onager I
  1. Scorpion C
  2. Heavy Scorpion I
  1. Siege Tower C
  1. Bombard Cannon I

Castle

  1. Ratha C
  2. Elite Ratha I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Paiks C
  1. Mahayana I
  1. Hoardings I
  1. Conscription I
  1. Sappers I
  1. Spies/Treason I

Dock

  1. Fishing Ship D
  1. Transport Ship D
  1. Fire Galley F
  2. Fire Ship C
  3. Fast Fire Ship I
  1. Galley F
  2. War Galley C
  3. Galleon I
  1. Hulk F
  2. War Hulk C
  3. Carrack I
  1. Demolition Raft F
  2. Demolition Ship C
  3. Heavy Demo Ship I
  1. Trade Cog F
  1. Cannon Galleon I
  2. Elite Cannon Galleon I
  1. Fishing Lines F
  1. Medium Warships C
  2. Heavy Warships I
  1. Gillnets C

Monastery

  1. Monk C
  1. Devotion C
  2. Faith I
  1. Redemption C
  1. Atonement C
  1. Herbal Medicine C
  1. Heresy C
  1. Sanctity C
  1. Fervor C
  1. Illumination I
  1. Block Printing I
  1. Theocracy I

Blacksmith

  1. Padded Archer Armor F
  2. Leather Archer Armor C
  3. Ring Archer Armor I
  1. Fletching F
  2. Bodkin Arrow C
  3. Bracer I
  1. Forging F
  2. Iron Casting C
  3. Blast Furnace I
  1. Scale Barding Armor F
  2. Chain Barding Armor C
  3. Plate Barding Armor I
  1. Scale Mail Armor F
  2. Chain Mail Armor C
  3. Plate Mail Armor I

University

  1. Masonry C
  2. Architecture I
  1. Fortified Wall C
  1. Ballistics C
  1. Guard Tower C
  2. Keep I
  1. Heated Shot C
  1. Murder Holes C
  1. Careening C
  2. Dry Dock I
  1. Clinker Construction C
  2. Carvel Hull I
  1. Siphons C
  2. Incendiaries I
  1. Treadmill Crane C
  1. Chemistry I
  2. Bombard Tower I
  1. Siege Engineers I
  1. Arrowslits I
  1. Shipwright I

Market

  1. Trade Cart F
  1. Caravan C
  1. Coinage C
  2. Banking I
  1. Guilds I

Mill

  1. Horse Collar F
  2. Heavy Plow C
  3. Crop Rotation I

Lumber Camp

  1. Double-Bit Axe F
  2. Bow Saw C
  3. Two-Man Saw I

Mining Camp

  1. Gold Mining F
  2. Gold Shaft Mining C
  1. Stone Mining F
  2. Stone Shaft Mining C

Town Center

  1. Villager D
  1. Feudal Age D
  2. Castle Age F
  3. Imperial Age C
  1. Loom D
  1. Town Watch F
  2. Town Patrol C
  1. Wheelbarrow F
  2. Hand Cart C

D Dark F Feudal C Castle I Imperial · struck through = not available for the Bengalis

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Bengalis?

The Bengalis field Ratha, Elephant Archer, Battle Elephant and Siege Elephant. Pikeman, Camel Rider and Monk counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Knight, Hussar and Cavalry Archer.

What is the Bengalis tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Knight — their Stable never produces a heavy cavalry line, so the Castle Age arrives without the usual mounted threat and your Spearman line can stay small. No Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks. No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.

Which units do the Bengalis have that other civilizations do not?

Ratha: Bengali unique Mounted Archer that can switch between melee and ranged attacks. Elephant Archer: Slow and heavy Mounted Archer. Battle Elephant: Slow but durable Cavalry. Siege Elephant: Anti-building Siege Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

Playing against the Bengalis? Look up any of their units in the interactive app to see exactly what counters them — with bonus-damage values.

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