Template:Infobox units There are different types of Shade unit. Hades Shades are free units in Age of Mythology that are only available to Hades followers. Each time a human soldier dies, there is a 20% chance that it will rise again as a Hades Shade at the player's starting Temple. These Shades gain hit point and attack bonuses in the Classical, Heroic and Mythic Ages. By the Mythic Age, they have 130 HP and an attack of 9.6.
Hades Shades may be weak, but, like Militias, they only cost one population slot and are strong in numbers. Of course, this means that the player will have to have done a lot of fighting and lost a lot of units. This may happen naturally, but it is generally not worth deliberately seeking out such a strategy.
Other Shade units
In the Fall of the Trident campaign, 'Shades' appear in one of the scenarios. They are similar to Hades' Shades, but are invisible to enemies and help the player. Similarly, Shades of Olympus appear in a The Titans campaign scenario. These shades are able to kill Myth Units in a single hit, but disappear after attacking.
On the Erebus random map, another type of Shade (confusingly also called a Hades Shade) appears as a neutral unit. These shades do not upgrade and have 90 HP rather than 100.
History
The dead of Greek mythology became shades, empty ghost-like shadows of their former selves. Hades' land of the dead was not necessarily a horrible place to be, but it was without honor or glory. If anything, shades were pitied more than they were feared.
