The Area of Effect, often abbreviated to AoE, is a gameplay element featured in the Age of Empires series. It describes attacks that can affect multiple targets within a specified area. It is often perceived to have types like Blast Damage, Trample Damage, Splash Damage, etc.
Area of Effect damage usually refers to properties of units which helps them attack multiple targets at once. When projectiles of units help units attack multiple targets at once, it can be called pass-through damage, which is seen with Scorpion type units.
Overview[]
The area of effect determines the size of area and amount of damage an attack will inflict. Units that deal attacks with an area of effect attribute can damage multiple units, particularly massed groups of targets. Some area of effect attacks also affects trees, damaging or destroying them.
Trample damage[]
- Main article: Trample damage
Specific units can deal AoE damage that only affects enemy units, but not buildings.
In Age of Empires III, some hand cavalry units (such as the Cuirassier) and the Howdah have an Area of Effect to their melee attack.
Moreover, all hand cavalry can enter Trample mode to gain an AoE.
Siege damage[]
Certain siege weapons deal AoE damage on both land combat units and buildings. While a number damage their own units, some do not. In Age of Empires III, siege damage typically refers to damage inflicted by units on buildings.
Blast Damage in the Genie Engine[]
Examples used are from Age of Empires II, since it has a greater variety of examples. All units have two properties which define how this blast attack works:
Blast Attack Level[]
This controls the units affects by blast attack.
- 0 - damages resources also
- 1 - damages trees also - unique for Onagers, Siege Onagers, Trebuchets, and Ballista Elephants
- 2 - damages nearby units
- 3 - damages only targeted units - blast attack off
- 4 - removes friendly fire for projectile units - used for Bombard Towers, visible with Greek Fire
- Additional
These can be combined with the above parameters for more complete picture.
- 0 - equal damage in all directions and distance
- 64 - tapering effect - unique to Demolition Raft line and Flaming Camels - works only for melee units (Bombard Cannon, Cannon Galleon, and Mangonel lines show the same behavior, which is hardcoded for them)
- 128 - damage in the direction of attack - unique to Ghulams
Blast Damage[]
This controls the amount of blast attack received by non-targetted unit.
- If ⇒
- If ⇒
Examples:
- -5 - pure 5 damage - default value for non-ranged infantry units; Cataphracts also have this property.
- 1 - 100% effect - like Siege Rams against buildings
- 0.5 - 50% effect - unique to War Elephants, Ghulams, Urumi Swordsmen
- 0.33 - 33% effect - unique to Scout Cavalry and Armored Elephant lines
- 0.25 - 25% effect - unique to Battle Elephants and Bombard Towers with Greek Fire
All units have their blast attack level set. Unique technologies only modify the blast radius. A Cataphract in its natural state possesses the ability to do 5 pure damage, but it does not have any blast radius. Researching Logistica twice (hypothetically), would make it do 5 damage in a 1 tile radius, not 10 damage in a 0.5 tile radius. Rams also possess the ability to clear out buildings, even if it does not seem to be happening in a normal Battering Ram. This can be verified by Battering Rams with Torsion Engines.
Friendly fire[]
In Age of Empires and in Age of Empires II, area of effect attacks from projectile units can also damage the player's own allied units if in vicinity of targeted enemy units if not turned off explicitly with Blast Attack Level flag 4. This is usually the case with allied melee units, which are very close to the enemy usually. Common examples are Mangonels, Bombard Cannons, Cannon Galleons, Dromons, Turtle Ships, and Warwolf Trebuchets. Before update 87863, Greek Fire Bombard Towers also caused friendly fire damage. In older versions of the game, Druzhina affected ranged infantry units like Throwing Axemen and Gbetos by increasing their blast radius, making giving them friendly fire, which was unintended. To avoid this, these units are given blast attack level of 3 and Druzhina is modified to not affect them.
Accuracy[]
When ranged units with blast widths attack an area, accuracy determines the number of units taking damage. Depending on RNG, each unit goes through a test whether it will take the damage or not. This is a rare phenomenon since most ranged units with blast attacks have 100% accuracy.
Before the Definitive Edition, the Bombard Cannon had 92% accuracy, due to which some units escaped its attack. Notwithstanding the blast attack, the increase in accuracy does not change anything since Bombard Cannon projectiles did not miss at all.
When a unit has multiple projectiles, like Mangonels and Fire Towers, the attack and accuracy of secondary projectiles are determined by statistics of the projectile unit, whereas the blast attack is determined by the unit.
Fire Towers have 0% accuracy, due to which their primary projectiles do no area of effect damage. They also have 2 secondary projectiles with 100% accuracy and no attack, which deal the area of effect damage.
Anomalous behavior[]
Siege Rams when attacking buildings do not attack nearby cavalry units, even with their 4 melee attack. Nearby buildings are affected. Moreover, a Siege Ram does not affect nearby cavalry units even when attacking one of them. This effect is also hardcoded.
The blast attack of Urumi Swordsmen only triggers when using its charged attack. This is by design of the unit.
Unique implications[]
Villagers have blast attack level 0 so that they can "attack" resource piles to collect resources.
If a unit has a blast attack level of 3, blast radius and the amount of blast attack does not mean anything. Jarls, archer units and ranged infantry units are given blast attack level 3 to completely avoid the possibility of friendly fire in the Scenario Editor. Mamelukes, however, still possess friendly fire abilities.
List of abilities and units[]
Marked with a * are units that cause friendly fire.
Age of Empires[]
- War Elephant → Armored Elephant - 100% effect
- Scythe Chariot - 100% effect
- Stone Thrower* → Catapult* → Heavy Catapult* - tapering effect
- Catapult Trireme* → Juggernaut* - tapering effect
Age of Empires II[]
- Mangonel* → Onager* → Siege Onager* - tapering effect
- Bombard Cannon* → Houfnice* (the latter Bohemians only) - tapering effect
- Battering Ram with Torsion Engines (Ethiopians only) → Capped Ram → Siege Ram - 100% effect against buildings and siege units only
- Battle Elephant → Elite Battle Elephant → 25% effect
- Siege Elephant - 33% effect
- Trebuchet with Warwolf (Britons only)* - tapering effect
- Petard - 100% effect
- Demolition Raft → Demolition Ship → Heavy Demolition Ship - tapering effect
- Cataphract → Elite Cataphract (Byzantines only) - pure 5 damage with Logistica only
- War Elephant → Elite War Elephant (Persians only) - 50% effect
- Turtle Ship* → Elite Turtle Ship* (Koreans only) - 100% effect
- Flaming Camel (Tatars only) - tapering effect
- Ghulam → Elite Ghulam (Hindustanis only) - 50% effect; triggers only in the direction of attack
- Melee Ratha → Melee Elite Ratha (Bengalis only) - 20% effect
- Urumi Swordsman → Elite Urumi Swordsman (Dravidians only) - 50% effect; triggers only with charge attack
- Dromon* - 80% tapering effect (with Greek Fire - +0.2 blast radius)
- Byzantines' Bombard Tower with Greek Fire - +0.5 blast radius
- Poles' Scout Cavalry → Light Cavalry → Winged Hussar - 33% effect with Lechitic Legacy only
- Slavs' Infantry units with Druzhina - pure 5 damage
- Non-standard units
- Fire Tower - 1 tile - ?
- Saboteur - 2.5 tiles - 100% effect
- Cobra Car* - 1 tile - 100% effect
- Alfred the Alpaca - 1 tile - 100% effect
- Sharkatzor* - 1 tile - 100% effect
- Abraha Elephant - 0.5 tile - 100% Effect
- Tsar Konstantin - 1 tile - 100% Effect
Age of Mythology[]
- Units targeting a gate spread AoE damage across the gate and nearby walls
- Titan
- Various god powers - Lightning Storm, Earthquake, Meteor, Tornado, Forest Fire, Shockwave, Implode, Uproot, Barrage, Great Flood, and Geyser
- The special attacks of Chimeras, Fire Giants, Azure Dragons, and Dragon Turtles
- Battle Boar, War Turtle, and Heka Gigantes' special attacks that knock multiple units away
- Phoenix, Fire Giant, Nidhogg, and Vermilion Bird regular attacks
- Lampades, Scarab, Carcinos, and Terracotta Warrior deal AoE damage on death. In contrast, Qilin AoE heals allied units on death.
- Shennong's Sitting Tigers and Fire Lances deal AoE damage
Age of Empires III[]
- Artillery units in Age of Empires III and its expansions. They do not deal damage to friendly units and typically have an AoE range of 1 to 4.
- Cuirassier
- Sipahi
- Lakota War Chief and Tashunke Prowler in The WarChiefs
- Flamethrower and Iron Flail in The Asian Dynasties
- Akan Ankobia in The African Royals
- Armored Pistoleer, Giant Grenadier, Royal Horseman, and Winged Hussar in Knights of the Mediterranean
- Heavy melee infantry:
- Doppelsoldner
- Maceman
- Samurai
- Skull Knight
- Akan Tufohen
- Hospitaller
- Aztec War Chief with the "Smoking Mirror" Home City Card
- Inca War Chief with the "Son of Inti" Home City Card
- Landsknecht with the "Oberhau" charged attack
Damage Cap[]
The Damage Cap is a gameplay element and hidden attribute for units that can deal AoE damage.
Its purpose is to limit the sum of damage by AoE attacks, to make it so that these units cannot harm the game balance. To most units, the damage cap is twice (triple with trample and barrage attacks) the normal attack damage. The calculation for the damage cap is applied before the calculation of multipliers.
Flamethrowers have ×7.0 damage cap.
The following units have different trample attack damage cap rates:
- Jat Lancer: 1.3
- Raider: 1.36
- Elmetto: 1.44
- Steppe Rider: 2.5
- Kanya Horseman: 2.35
- Cossack: 2.66
- Naginata Rider : 3.75
- Cuirassier, Sipahi, Meteor Hammer, Iron Flail, Winged Hussar, Saxon Cuirassier, and Royal Horseman: 4.0
- Mahout Lancer: 5.6
- Tokala Soldier: 6.0
Age of Empires IV[]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |