Gurjaras — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Gurjaras emblem

The Gurjaras are a Cavalry and Camel civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Chakram Thrower, Shrivamsha Rider, Camel Scout. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Gurjaras tech tree.

How to counter the Gurjaras

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.

Chakram Thrower Castle Age · Castle

Gurjara unique Infantry with ranged melee attack that deals pass through damage.

Countered by

  • Hand Cannoneer hard +10 attack bonus vs. infantry, outranges
  • Knight hard Fast enough to catch it; tanks the low melee damage
  • Shrivamsha Rider UU hard Dodges the projectiles and catches it
  • Mangonel hard Blast damage vs. the fragile Chakram
  • Samurai UU hard Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)
  • Scorpion soft Bonus vs. infantry + pass-through, outranges
  • Slinger UU soft +4 vs. infantry (equal range – needs micro)
  • Crossbowman soft Cost-effective massed ranged answer

Shrivamsha Rider Castle Age · Stable

Gurjara unique fast moving Cavalry that can dodge projectiles.

Countered by

  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Monk soft Conversion
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

Elephant Archer Castle Age · Archery Range

Slow and heavy Mounted Archer.

Countered by

Heavy Camel Rider Imperial Age · Stable

Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Countered by

Siege Elephant Imperial Age · Siege Workshop

Anti-building Siege Cavalry.

Countered by

What the Gurjaras 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 Gurjaras cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Gurjaras 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.
  • Cavalry Archer — No Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position.

Melee infantry

  • Champion — No Champion — their Militia line stops one upgrade short, so their gold-free melee infantry stays a tier behind yours.

Anti-cavalry

  • Pikeman — Their Spearman line never upgrades — plain Spearmen do not stop Castle-Age cavalry, so Knights stay live against them all game. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.
  • Halberdier — Their Spearman line stops at the Pikeman — against Paladins and other heavy cavalry they never get the Halberdier's bonus damage. The Heavy Camel Rider covers the anti-cavalry role instead: it deals bonus damage to mounted units.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Arbalester — Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age.
  • Ring Archer Armor — No Ring Archer Armor — their archers keep Castle-Age armour, so your own archers and Skirmishers out-trade them in Imperial.
  • Blast Furnace — No Blast Furnace — their melee units never reach the last attack upgrade, so every melee trade goes a little further in your favour.
  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.
  • Squires — No Squires — their infantry moves at base speed, so it is easier to kite with archers and slower to reach your siege.

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.
  • 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

  • Faith — No Faith — their units stay fully open to conversion, so your Monks can pick apart the expensive ones.
  • Block Printing — No Block Printing — their Monks have to come closer to convert, which walks them into range of your archers first.

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.
  • Arrowslits — No Arrowslits — their towers hit softer at close range, so rams and infantry clear them with fewer losses.

Navy

  • Fast Fire Ship — Their Fire Ship line stops before the Fast Fire Ship — slower and weaker in exactly the close-range fights fire ships are built for.
  • Siphons — No Siphons — their Fire Ships never gain the explosive charge attack, so they close on your fleet with nothing but their standard attack.
  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Elite Cannon Galleon — Their Cannon Galleons stay at the base tier — less range and damage than the Elite version.
  • Dry Dock — No Dry Dock — their ships stay a pierce armour short, so your own warships and shore towers cut through them faster.

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

Gurjaras: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Start with 2 Forage Bushes
  • Can garrison livestock in Mills to passively produce food
  • Mounted Units deal +20/30/40% bonus damage in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Docks +5 garrison capacity

Team Bonus

Camel and Elephant Units train +25% faster

Unique Units

Chakram Thrower
Chakram Thrower · InfantryGurjara unique Infantry with ranged melee attack that deals pass through damage. Strong vs. Infantry and large groups of units. Weak vs. Cavalry and Siege Weapons.
Shrivamsha Rider
Shrivamsha Rider · CavalryGurjara unique fast moving Cavalry that can dodge projectiles. Strong vs. Ranged Soldiers. Weak vs. Spearman-line and Camel Riders.
Camel Scout
Camel Scout · CavalryGurjara unique scout. Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry. Strong vs. Mounted Units. Weak vs. Infantry, Monks and Foot Archers.

Unique Technologies

KshatriyasMilitary Units cost -25% food
Frontier GuardsCamel Riders and Elephant Archers +4 melee armor

Gurjaras Tech Tree

The full Gurjaras 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 Gurjaras 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. Camel Scout F
  2. Camel Rider C
  3. Heavy Camel Rider I
  1. Knight C
  2. Cavalier I
  3. Paladin I
  1. Shrivamsha Rider C
  2. E. Shrivamsha Rider 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. Chakram Thrower C
  2. Elite Chakram Thrower I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Kshatriyas C
  1. Frontier Guards 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 Gurjaras

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Gurjaras?

The Gurjaras field Chakram Thrower, Shrivamsha Rider, Elephant Archer, Heavy Camel Rider and Siege Elephant. Pikeman, Camel Rider and Monk counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Knight, Cavalry Archer and Champion.

What is the Gurjaras 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 Cavalry Archer — nothing they build shoots while moving, so your siege and your Skirmishers never get kited out of position. No Champion — their Militia line stops one upgrade short, so their gold-free melee infantry stays a tier behind yours.

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

Chakram Thrower: Gurjara unique Infantry with ranged melee attack that deals pass through damage. Shrivamsha Rider: Gurjara unique fast moving Cavalry that can dodge projectiles. Elephant Archer: Slow and heavy Mounted Archer. Heavy Camel Rider: Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry. Siege Elephant: Anti-building Siege Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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