Dravidians — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Dravidians emblem

The Dravidians are an Infantry and Naval civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Urumi Swordsman, Thirisadai. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Dravidians tech tree.

How to counter the Dravidians

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.

Urumi Swordsman Castle Age · Castle

Dravidian unique Infantry with a charged blast attack.

Countered by

Thirisadai Imperial Age · Dock

Dravidian unique Warship with high durability.

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 Dravidians 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 Dravidians cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Dravidians 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.
  • Elite Battle Elephant — Their Battle Elephants stay at the base tier — fewer hit points and less attack, so your Halberdiers and Monks handle them with fewer losses.
  • Bloodlines — No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.
  • Plate Barding Armor — No Plate Barding Armor — their Imperial cavalry stays two pierce armour short, so Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers 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 Engineers — No Siege Engineers — their siege has one range less and hits buildings softer, so your towers and Castles out-range it.

Monastery and conversion

  • Redemption — No Redemption — their Monks cannot convert your siege or your buildings, so a Trebuchet parked outside their base is safe from the Monastery.
  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Illumination — No Illumination — their Monks recover slowly after a conversion, so the second one never comes quickly.
  • Fervor — No Fervor — their Monks move at base speed, so any cavalry you have runs them down before they reach your army.

Defensive buildings

  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

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

Dravidians: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Fishermen and Fishing Ships carry +15
  • Receive +200 wood when advancing to the next Age
  • Skirmishers and Elephant Archers attack +25% faster
  • Barracks technologies cost -50%
  • Siege Weapons cost -33% wood

Team Bonus

Docks provide +5 population space

Unique Units

Urumi Swordsman
Urumi Swordsman · InfantryDravidian unique Infantry with a charged blast attack. Strong vs. buildings and units at close range. Weak vs. Ranged Soldiers at long range.
Thirisadai
Thirisadai · WarshipDravidian unique Warship with high durability. Strong vs. most Warships. Weak vs. Fire Ships.

Unique Technologies

Medical CorpsElephant Units regenerate 30 HP per minute
Wootz SteelInfantry and Cavalry attacks ignore armor

Dravidians Tech Tree

The full Dravidians 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 Dravidians 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. Urumi Swordsman C
  2. Elite Urumi Swordsman I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Medical Corps C
  1. Wootz Steel 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. Thirisadai 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 Dravidians

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Dravidians?

The Dravidians field Urumi Swordsman, Thirisadai, Elephant Archer, Battle Elephant and Siege Elephant. Monk, Scorpion and Pikeman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Knight, Hussar and Elite Battle Elephant.

What is the Dravidians 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. Their Battle Elephants stay at the base tier — fewer hit points and less attack, so your Halberdiers and Monks handle them with fewer losses.

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

Urumi Swordsman: Dravidian unique Infantry with a charged blast attack. Thirisadai: Dravidian unique Warship with high durability. 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 Dravidians? Look up any of their units in the interactive app to see exactly what counters them — with bonus-damage values.

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