Age of Empires 2 Unique Unit Counters

Age of Empires 2 Unique Unit Counters

How do you counter unique units in Age of Empires 2?

Identify which armor class the unit carries, because that is what the counter follows. The Cataphract carries 12 armor in the cavalry class so anti-cavalry bonuses shrink, the Mameluke is a camel rather than an archer, and the Hussite Wagon's 7 to 10 pierce armor makes arrows pointless. Monks work against all of them — every unique unit costs gold.

Unique units break the standard counter rules in exactly one of three ways: they carry an unexpected armor class, they carry armor inside a class to blunt its bonus, or they have a lopsided armor value that makes one damage type useless. Once you know which, the counter is ordinary.

• Some carry armor inside a class. The Cataphract has 12 armor in the cavalry class, cutting a Halberdier's +32 to +20 and a Heavy Camel's +18 to +6. The Elite Boyar has 8 melee armor, so base damage nearly disappears while bonus damage still lands.
• Some are not the class they look like. The Mameluke is a camel, not an archer, so the Skirmisher's archer bonus does not apply. The Conquistador carries the mounted archer class rather than a gunpowder class — there is no gunpowder armor class in the game.
• Monks convert all of them. A Monk costs 100 gold. A Hussite Wagon costs 110 wood + 70 gold, a Cataphract 70 food + 75 gold, an Organ Gun 80 wood + 70 gold. Conversion is the one counter that scales with how expensive the unit is.
• Siege ignores most special rules. Mangonel damage counts as melee-type, so pierce armor of 7, 10 or even 140 never applies. Against a Hussite Wagon the Mangonel also carries a +40 bonus against the wagon class.

Which unique units are elephants, and where are they covered?

Two: the War Elephant (Persians) and the Ballista Elephant (Khmer). Both carry the elephant armor class rather than the cavalry class, so a Halberdier's +28 applies and a camel's +18 does not. All elephants — including the regional Battle Elephant, Elephant Archer and Siege Elephant — have their own guide.

Elephants are the largest single counter topic in the game and follow rules that no other unique unit shares, so they live on a separate page: exact bonus damage, armor values and hit counts for all ten elephant units. See the Elephant Counters guide linked in the intro above and in the navigation.

• The short version. Halberdier +28 (33 damage per hit, 14 hits for a 450 HP War Elephant), Pikeman +25, Kamayuk +20. Monks convert a 255-resource Elite War Elephant for 100 gold. Mangonel damage is melee-type and ignores elephant pierce armor.
• What to avoid. Camels and archers. Elephants do not carry the cavalry class, so a Heavy Camel Rider deals 6 damage per hit to a Battle Elephant, and an Arbalest deals 4.

How do you counter Cataphracts in AoE2?

Halberdiers still work, camels do not. The Cataphract carries 12 armor in the cavalry class, which cuts a Halberdier's +32 to +20 (24 damage per hit, 5 hits) and a Heavy Camel Rider's +18 to +6 (11 damage per hit, 10 hits). Monks are the cleanest answer at 100 gold against 145 resources.

The Byzantine Cataphract is the game's designated rule-breaker: 110 HP, 9 attack, 2/1 armor and 1.35 speed, with a +9 bonus against infantry (Elite +12) and that 12-point armor value inside the cavalry class. It is built to beat the units that normally beat cavalry, and the Elite version at 150 HP and 12 attack does it decisively.

• 
  Monk Hard Counter
  70 food + 75 gold converted for 100 gold. Conversion ignores armor classes entirely, which is exactly why it is the answer to a unit designed around them. Keep the Monk behind something, since the Cataphract's infantry bonus is aimed at whatever is protecting it.
• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  Reduced but still the best melee option: 4 base damage through 2 melee armor plus 20 of the +32 bonus = 24 per hit, so 5 hits for a Cataphract and 7 for the Elite version. Use numbers — the Elite Cataphract deals 24 damage per hit back with its +12 infantry bonus.
• 
  Arbalest Hard Counter
  The Cataphract has only 1 pierce armor, so an Arbalest deals 5 damage per hit — 22 hits for the base version and 30 for the Elite. Slow, but the Cataphract has no answer to it at range, and Byzantine civilization bonuses do not help here.
• 
  Heavy Camel Rider Soft Counter
  Weak against this unit: the 12 armor in the cavalry class cuts the +18 bonus to +6, leaving 11 damage per hit — 10 hits per Cataphract and 14 for the Elite version. Use Halberdiers or Monks instead.

How do you counter Mamelukes in AoE2?

Halberdiers and Champions — not Skirmishers. The Mameluke is a camel, so a Halberdier's camel bonus (+26) and its Mameluke bonus (+7) both apply for 39 damage per hit and 3 hits. It has 0 pierce armor, so an Arbalest deals 6 per hit; but the Elite Skirmisher's archer bonus does not apply, because the Mameluke is not in the archer class.

The Saracen Mameluke is a camel that throws its weapon: 80 HP, 8 attack, 0/0 armor, 1.4 speed and 3 tiles of range, with +9 against cavalry (Elite +12). It counters cavalry from outside melee reach, which makes it feel unanswerable — until you notice it has no armor of any kind and costs 55 food + 85 gold, the most gold of any camel.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  The Mameluke carries both the camel class and its own Mameluke class, so +26 and +7 both land on top of 6 base attack = 39 damage per hit, 3 hits per Mameluke. It costs no gold against their 85.
• 
  Champion Hard Counter
  14 attack against 0 melee armor = 6 hits, and the Mameluke's +9 bonus is against cavalry, so it has nothing extra against infantry. Champions cost 50 food + 20 gold against 55 food + 85 gold.
• 
  Arbalest Hard Counter
  0 pierce armor means the full 6 damage per hit, so 14 hits, from 5 range against the Mameluke's 3. The Mameluke cannot answer an Arbalest line at all.
• 
  Hussar Soft Counter
  1.5 speed closes the 3-tile gap quickly and it costs no gold, but the Mameluke's +9 cavalry bonus means it deals 17 damage per hit to the Hussar's 75 HP. Send Hussars only to finish stragglers or to reach the Monks behind them.

How do you counter Huskarls in AoE2?

Melee and siege, never archers. The Huskarl has 6 pierce armor (Elite 8) and a +6 (Elite +10) bonus against the archer class, so an Arbalest is worse than useless. A Champion deals 14 damage per hit for 5 hits, a Knight 10 for 6, and a Mangonel 40 for 2.

The Gothic Huskarl is an anti-archer unit with 60 HP, 10 attack and 0 melee armor, rising to 70 HP, 12 attack and 8 pierce armor for the Elite version. Goths also produce infantry cheaply and quickly, so the real problem is volume: plan for area damage rather than favourable one-on-one trades.

• 
  Champion Hard Counter
  14 attack against 0 melee armor = 5 hits per Elite Huskarl. The Huskarl's own +10 bonus targets archers, so it has nothing special against infantry — this is a straight fight your unit wins.
• 
  Mangonel Hard Counter
  40 melee-type damage completely bypasses 8 pierce armor: 2 shots per Huskarl, and Gothic armies arrive in exactly the dense formations area damage is built for. An Onager deals 50.
• 
  Knight Hard Counter
  10 attack against 0 melee armor = 6 hits, 7 against the 70 HP Elite version, and 100 HP with 2 pierce armor shrugs off the Huskarl's 12 attack better than infantry does. Goths also lack the Halberdier's stronger counterparts in some ages, so cavalry pressure is safer than usual.
• 
  Monk Soft Counter
  At 75 food + 35 gold the Huskarl is one of the cheapest unique units, so conversion value is low — but Goths mass them, and converting the front rank breaks the formation. Situational.

How do you counter Conquistadors in AoE2?

Close the distance. A Conquistador has 55 HP, 2 melee and 1 pierce armor — a Champion kills one in 5 hits, a Knight in 7 — and it is not in a gunpowder armor class, so no unit has a bonus against it. Elite Skirmishers work at 4 damage per hit thanks to that 1 pierce armor, but slowly, at 14 hits.

The Spanish Conquistador is mounted gunpowder: 16 attack (Elite 19) at 6 range and 1.3 speed, with a 2.9-second reload and 65% accuracy. It kites infantry and deletes buildings, and its bonus of +4 (Elite +6) is against rams and Trebuchets. Its weakness is its 55 HP and the fact that it has no bonus against anything you would send at it.

• 
  Champion Hard Counter
  12 damage per hit through 2 melee armor = 5 hits per Conquistador. The catch is reaching it at 0.96 against 1.3 speed, so use Champions where the Conquistador is committed or cornered.
• 
  Knight Hard Counter
  8 damage per hit = 7 hits, but 100 HP and 1.35 speed means it actually arrives. The most reliable answer on open ground.
• 
  Elite Skirmisher Soft Counter
  4 damage per hit against 1 pierce armor including its +2 mounted-archer bonus, so 14 hits — cheap but slow. Note the reason: the Conquistador carries the mounted archer class, not a gunpowder class.
• 
  Monk Soft Counter
  70 food + 60 gold converted for 100 gold, and a converted Conquistador is a 16-attack ranged unit on your side. Needs the Conquistador to be unescorted, which its 1.3 speed makes rare.

How do you counter unique cavalry — Boyar, Konnik, Leitis and Keshik?

Halberdiers, in every case, because all of them carry the cavalry class and none carries armor inside it the way the Cataphract does. The Elite Boyar is the durable one at 130 HP and 8 melee armor — a Halberdier still deals 33 damage per hit and needs 4, while an Arbalest needs 43.

Unique cavalry differs mainly in how it resists the two ordinary answers, arrows and anti-cavalry bonuses. Armor values decide which one fails.

• Boyar (Slavs) 100 HP and 4 melee armor, Elite 130 HP and 8 melee with 3 pierce. That armor kills ordinary melee damage — a Champion deals 6 per hit against the Elite version — but a Halberdier's +32 bonus is unaffected and lands for 33, so 4 hits. Do not use archers: 3 damage per hit, 44 hits.
• Konnik (Bulgarians) 100 HP, 12 attack, 2/2 armor, and it dismounts into a foot unit when killed, so every kill takes two engagements. Halberdiers deal 36 damage per hit to the mounted form; keep enough of them alive for the second round.
• Leitis (Lithuanians) 100 HP, 13 attack, 1/1 armor, 1.4 speed, and its attack ignores enemy armor — which makes armor-based counters like the Teutonic Knight or Elite Boyar pointless against it. Answer it with the bonus-damage route instead: a Halberdier deals 37 damage per hit, 3 hits.
• Keshik (Tatars) 120 HP (Elite 145), 1.4 speed, and it generates gold when it fights, so drawn-out battles pay the enemy. Halberdiers deal 37 per hit, 4 hits for the Elite version — kill it quickly or disengage entirely.
• Shrivamsha Rider (Gurjaras) 55 HP, 8 attack, 0/1 armor and 1.6 speed — the fastest cavalry in the game, with no attack bonus of any kind. Its shields absorb whole projectiles, so it beats archers and loses to melee: a Champion deals 14 per hit, 4 hits.

How do you counter gunpowder unique units — Organ Gun, Hussite Wagon and Arambai?

Siege for the armored ones, melee for the fragile ones. A Mangonel has a +40 bonus against the wagon class, so it deals 80 damage per shot to a Hussite Wagon — 2 shots, while an Arbalest's 6 attack against 7 pierce armor is reduced to minimum damage. The Organ Gun and Arambai both have around 50 to 65 HP and die to anything that reaches them.

Gunpowder unique units cluster at the extremes of pierce armor: the Hussite Wagon at 7 (Elite 10) is the most arrow-proof unit in the game outside of rams, while the Organ Gun and Arambai are ordinary glass cannons with unusual damage patterns.

• Hussite Wagon (Bohemians) 160 HP and 7 pierce armor, Elite 230 HP and 10, at 0.8 speed with 6 range. Arrows are pointless. It carries the wagon class, which the Mangonel (+40), Onager (+50) and Bombard Cannon (+40) all have a bonus against — a Mangonel deals 80 per shot, 2 shots per wagon.
• Organ Gun (Portuguese) 50 HP (Elite 70) with 4 to 6 pierce armor, 7 range and a 1-tile minimum range, firing several projectiles per shot. Its 0.85 speed and 3.4-second reload are the weakness: a Champion deals 12 damage per hit for 5 hits, and cavalry reaches it inside the minimum range where it cannot fire.
• Arambai (Burmese) 60 HP (Elite 65), 12 to 14 attack at 5 range and 1.3 speed — but only 20% accuracy (Elite 30%). Spread your units out so the misses stay misses, then close: a Champion needs 5 hits, a Knight 6.
• Janissary (Turks) 35 HP (Elite 40), 17 to 22 attack at 7 to 8 range with 50 to 65% accuracy and a 3.4-second reload. It out-ranges everything you could shoot back with, so cavalry is the answer — a Knight deals 9 per hit and needs 4.

AoE2 unique unit stats — HP, armor and speed

Which unique units break which rule?

Which unique units are worth converting with a Monk?

Summary — Counter Cheat Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions