Hersir
Civilization	Norse
Age/God	Archaic Age
Unit Type	Hero
Cost	80 Food 40 Gold
Population	3
Attack	Hack	Pierce	Crush
	8	0
Range	0 meters
Hit Points	130
Armour	Hack	Pierce	Crush
	20%	15%	99%
Speed	4.2 meters/second
Line of Sight	16 meters
Train at	Temple, Longhouse
Train Time	23 seconds seconds

The Hersir is a Norse hero unit in Age of Mythology available in the Archaic Age after a Temple is constructed. Having Hersirs will provide a tiny trickle of Favor and earn bonus favor when in combat, making them crucial parts of a Norse army. Norse players have a harder time generating favor than those of other civilizations, so the bonus favor Hersirs generate, in addition to the favor they automically create, make them important in favor generation. In combat they are powerful against myth units, but are not cost-effective against human soldiers, and will be defeated by most human soldiers. Worshipping Loki gives Hersirs the bonus ability of summoning random Myth Units when in combat, making them even more valuable. Jarls largely supersede them in the Heroic Age, but Hersirs maintain the crucial advantage of being immune to the special attacks of Myth Units.

Like Pharaohs, each Hersir has a name instead of their info box reading "Hersir (Hero)". Their names are unique and different each other.

OverviewEdit

The Norse Hersir is a hero that can be trained in large numbers. They are strong against myth units, but not cost-effective against other types of human soldiers. Because they move slowly and use a hand attack, Hersirs are less effective against ranged myth units than they are against myth units that fight hand-to-hand.

The commanders of the Viking raids were not the kings or jarls, but chieftans of middle rank called hersir. These were independent landowners comparable to medieval knights in wealth and influence. A hersir had better equipment than most of his warriors, including perhaps chain mail and the ownership of his own longboat and horse (though like any good Viking, he would still dismount to fight).