Khmer — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Khmer emblem

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

How to counter the Khmer

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.

Ballista Elephant Castle Age · Castle

Khmer unique Siege Cavalry with ranged pass through attack.

Countered by

  • Monk hard Conversion – expensive and effective
  • Light Cavalry hard Fast – siege weapons have almost no melee armor
  • Battering Ram hard Attack bonus vs. siege weapons (+40)
  • Bombard Cannon hard Attack bonus vs. ballista/chariots (+40)
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+9)
  • Flaming Camel UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+130)
  • Kamayuk UU hard Attack bonus vs. elephants (+20)
  • Magyar Huszar UU hard Attack bonus vs. siege weapons (+5)
  • Mameluke UU hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+9)
  • Mangonel hard Attack bonus vs. ballista/chariots (+40)
  • Eagle Warrior hard Attack bonus vs. siege weapons (+5)
  • Mangudai UU hard Attack bonus vs. siege weapons (+5)
  • Halberdier hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry (+32)
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

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

What the Khmer 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 Khmer cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Paladin — Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial.

Gunpowder

  • 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.

Melee infantry

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

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.
  • 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

  • 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.
  • Atonement — No Atonement — their Monks cannot convert yours, so your Monks win the Monastery duel by default.
  • 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

  • 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.
  • Shipwright — No Shipwright — their warships cost more and build slower in the Imperial Age, so a replaced fleet comes back later than yours.

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

Khmer: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • No buildings required to advance to the next Age or to unlock other buildings
  • Farmers don't require Mills or Town Centers to drop off food
  • Villagers can garrison in Houses
  • Battle Elephants move +10% faster

Team Bonus

Scorpions +1 range

Unique Units

Ballista Elephant
Ballista Elephant · Siege CavalryKhmer unique Siege Cavalry with ranged pass through attack. Can destroy trees. Strong vs. Infantry and Ranged Soldiers. Weak vs. Cavalry and Siege Weapons.

Unique Technologies

Tusk SwordsBattle Elephants +3 attack
Double CrossbowBallista Elephants and Scorpions fire an additional projectile

Khmer Tech Tree

The full Khmer 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 Khmer 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. 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. 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. Ballista Elephant C
  2. Elite Ballista Elephant I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Tusk Swords C
  1. Double Crossbow 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 Khmer

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Khmer?

The Khmer field Ballista Elephant and Battle Elephant. Monk, Camel Rider and Flaming Camel counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Bombard Cannon and Champion.

What is the Khmer tech tree missing in AoE2?

Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial. 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. No Champion — their Militia line stops one upgrade short, so their gold-free melee infantry stays a tier behind yours.

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

Ballista Elephant: Khmer unique Siege Cavalry with ranged pass through attack. Battle Elephant: Slow but durable Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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