Persians — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Persians emblem

The Persians are a Cavalry civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the War Elephant, Savar. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Persians tech tree.

How to counter the Persians

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.

War Elephant Castle Age · Castle

Persian unique Cavalry that deals trample damage.

Countered by

  • Monk hard Conversion – elephants are expensive and valuable
  • 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)
  • Mangonel soft Area damage on the slow elephant
  • Camel Archer UU soft UU (Berbers) – Kites elephants, no bonus damage
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

Savar Imperial Age · Stable

Persian unique all-purpose Heavy Cavalry.

Countered by

Heavy Camel Rider Imperial Age · Stable

Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Countered by

What the Persians 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 Persians cannot answer

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

Melee infantry

  • Two-Handed Swordsman — Their Militia line stops at the Long Swordsman — no Two-Handed Swordsman, no Champion.

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.
  • Bracer — No Bracer — their archers, Skirmishers and towers keep Castle-Age range and attack, so fully upgraded archers of your own out-range them.

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.
  • 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.
  • Atonement — No Atonement — their Monks cannot convert yours, so your Monks win the Monastery duel by default.
  • Illumination — No Illumination — their Monks recover slowly after a conversion, so the second one never comes quickly.
  • Sanctity — No Sanctity — their Monks keep base hit points, so a single volley from your archers takes them off the field.

Defensive buildings

  • Keep — No Keep — their towers stay at Guard Tower strength, so your siege takes a tower line down noticeably faster.
  • Fortified Wall — No Fortified Wall — their walls stay at Stone Wall strength, so rams and Petards get through faster.
  • 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

  • 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 Persians do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Persians tech tree further down.

Persians: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Start with +50 wood and +50 food
  • Town Centers and Docks +100% HP and work +5/10/15/20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
  • Parthian Tactics available in Castle Age
  • Can build Caravanserai in Imperial Age

Team Bonus

Knight-line +2 attack vs. Ranged Soldiers

Unique Units

War Elephant
War Elephant · CavalryPersian unique Cavalry that deals trample damage. Strong vs. buildings and units at close range. Weak vs. Spearman-line and Monks.
Savar
Savar · CavalryPersian unique all-purpose Heavy Cavalry. Exceptionally strong vs. Ranged Soldiers. Weak vs. Spearman-line, Camel Riders, and Monks.

Unique Technologies

KamandaranArcher-line gold cost replaced by additional wood cost
CitadelsCastles +4 attack, +3 vs. Rams, +3 vs. Infantry and receive -25% bonus damage

Persians Tech Tree

The full Persians 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 Persians 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 C

Stable

  1. Scout Cavalry F
  2. Light Cavalry C
  3. Hussar I
  1. Knight C
  2. Cavalier I
  3. Savar I
  1. Camel Rider C
  2. Heavy Camel Rider 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. War Elephant C
  2. Elite War Elephant I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Kamandaran C
  1. Citadels 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

Caravanserai

  1. Caravanserai I

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Persians?

The Persians field War Elephant, Savar and Heavy Camel Rider. Monk, Flaming Camel and Halberdier counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Two-Handed Swordsman, Arbalester and Bracer.

What is the Persians tech tree missing in AoE2?

Their Militia line stops at the Long Swordsman — no Two-Handed Swordsman, no Champion. Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age. No Bracer — their archers, Skirmishers and towers keep Castle-Age range and attack, so fully upgraded archers of your own out-range them.

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

War Elephant: Persian unique Cavalry that deals trample damage. Savar: Persian unique all-purpose Heavy Cavalry. Heavy Camel Rider: Fast moving anti-cavalry Cavalry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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