Heavy Scorpion — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

Siege Weapon with ranged pass through attack, but cannot attack at close range.

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The Heavy Scorpion is countered by Mangonel, Hussar and Paladin. It is a siege unit of the Scorpion.

Heavy Scorpion
Class
Siege
Line
Scorpion
Available to
All civilizations
Cost
Wood 75 Gold 75

Heavy Scorpion stats

Hit points 60
Melee attack 0
Pierce attack 14 / 3.6s
Range 7 (min. 2)
Melee armour 1
Pierce armour 8
Speed 0.65
Line of sight 9
Training time 30s

What counters the Heavy Scorpion?

The Heavy Scorpion is weak against Siege Weapons and units at close range.

Hard counters deal bonus damage against this unit — they beat the Heavy Scorpion even at a cost disadvantage. Soft counters win the fight through cost-efficiency or mobility, without a dedicated bonus.

CounterTypeWhy it works
Mangonel hard Outranges Scorpion + area damage
Hussar hard Fast – siege weapons have almost no melee armor
Paladin hard Fast – siege weapons have almost no melee armor
Elite Mangudai hard UU (Mongols) – Attack bonus vs. siege
Monk soft Conversion
Bombard Cannon soft Outranges Heavy Scorpion (12 vs. 8) – but slow & inaccurate

What does the Heavy Scorpion counter?

The Heavy Scorpion is strong against large groups of units.

Unit lines the Heavy Scorpion has a damage bonus against

Civilizations that improve the Heavy Scorpion

20 civilizations have a bonus or unique technology that affects this unit.

Britons

  • Warwolf (unique tech): Trebuchets deal blast damage and are more accurate

Bulgarians

  • Blacksmith and Siege Workshop technologies cost -50% food

Celts

  • Siege Weapons attack +25% faster
  • Furor Celtica (unique tech): Siege Weapons +40% HP

Chinese

  • Rocketry (unique tech): Scorpions, Rocket Carts and Lou Chuans +25% attack; Lou Chuans fire rockets

Cumans

  • Siege Workshop and Battering Ram available in Feudal Age; Capped Ram available in Castle Age

Dravidians

  • Siege Weapons cost -33% wood

Ethiopians

  • Torsion Engines (unique tech): Siege Workshop Units' blast radius increased

Huns

  • Trebuchets fire more accurately at units and small targets

Japanese

  • Kataparuto (unique tech): Trebuchets attack and pack/unpack faster

Jurchens

  • Siege Engineers available in Castle Age
  • Siege and Fortification upgrades cost -75% wood and research +100% faster

Khmer

  • Double Crossbow (unique tech): Ballista Elephants and Scorpions fire an additional projectile

Mongols

  • Drill (unique tech): Siege Workshop Units move +50% faster

Romans

  • Scorpions cost -50% gold
  • Ballistas (unique tech): Scorpions attack +33% faster; Galley-line +2 attack

Saracens

  • Counterweights (unique tech): Trebuchets and Mangonel-line +15% attack

Shu

  • Siege Weapons and Siege Warships move +10/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Age

Slavs

  • Siege Workshop Units cost -15%

Tatars

  • Timurid Siegecraft (unique tech): Trebuchets +2 range

Teutons

  • Ironclad (unique tech): Siege Weapons +4 melee armor

Wei

  • Traction Trebuchets and Lou Chuans cost -25%

Wu

  • Sitting Tiger (unique tech): Traction Trebuchets and Lou Chuan trebuchet weapons fire additional projectiles

The Scorpion

For the strategy behind these matchups — when to build counters, how to mix them and which civs do it best — see the Siege Counters guide.

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