Hero Units

Hero units are central to your strategy in Age of Mythology, offering unique advantages over standard military units. They are essential for combating Myth Units, converting enemy buildings (for certain civilizations), and providing powerful aura effects. Understanding how to effectively use and protect your heroes is paramount to victory.

General Hero Strategies

Myth Unit Counter: Heroes deal bonus damage to Myth Units. Always prioritize engaging enemy Myth Units with your heroes to minimize casualties among your regular forces.
Relic Collection: Heroes are the only units capable of picking up and returning Relics to your Temples. Relics provide various global bonuses, so securing them early and safely is a high priority. Scout with your starting hero to locate nearby Relics.
Exploration: Your starting hero is an excellent early game scout. Their higher line of sight and combat prowess allow them to explore safely and uncover resources, enemy positions, and Relics.
Protection: Heroes are valuable and often irreplaceable. Keep them protected behind your main army, especially ranged heroes. Retreat them if their health drops too low.
Healing: Many civilizations have access to healing abilities or units (e.g., Egyptian Priests, Norse Hersir's healing aura). use these to keep your heroes in the fight.

Civilization-Specific Hero Breakdown

Greek Heroes

Greek heroes are powerful individual units with strong combat stats. They are typically trained from the Town Center or Fortress.

Ajax: A formidable melee hero with high health and attack. Excellent for tanking damage and engaging multiple Myth Units.
Odysseus: A ranged hero, effective at picking off Myth Units from a distance. Keep him behind your front lines.
Chiron: Another ranged hero, often with a faster attack rate than Odysseus, making him great for sustained Myth Unit damage.
Heracles: A powerful melee hero, often with an area-of-effect attack that can clear groups of weaker units.
Theseus: A balanced melee hero, good for general combat and Myth Unit engagement.
Prometheus (Atlantean): While not strictly Greek, Atlantean heroes function similarly. Prometheus is a strong all-around hero.
Kastor (Atlantean): A powerful melee hero with good stats.
Arkantos (Campaign): The primary hero of the Greek campaign, Arkantos is a versatile unit who gains new abilities and upgrades throughout the story.
Amanra (Campaign): An Egyptian hero who joins Arkantos. She excels at ranged combat and has unique abilities.
Brokk & Sindri (Campaign): Norse Dwarven heroes who aid Arkantos. They are excellent builders and gatherers, but also capable in combat.

Strategy Tip: Greek prioritize upgrading their heroes at the Armory to enhance their combat effectiveness against all unit types, especially Myth Units.

Egyptian Pharaohs

The Egyptian Pharaoh is a unique hero unit available from the start. Unlike other heroes, you only have one Pharaoh at a time, but they can be re-trained from the Town Center if killed.

Empower Ability: The Pharaoh's most crucial ability is "Empower," which significantly boosts the gathering rate of nearby villagers or the production speed of buildings. Always keep your Pharaoh empowering a key resource drop-off (Gold Mine, Farm) or a critical production building (Barracks, Temple).
Healing Aura: Pharaohs passively heal nearby friendly units, making them excellent support for your army during engagements.
Building Conversion: Pharaohs can convert enemy buildings to your control, though this is a slow process and leaves them vulnerable. Use this strategically on undefended structures.
Myth Unit Combat: While not as individually powerful as Greek heroes, Pharaohs still deal bonus damage to Myth Units. Use them in conjunction with your Priests and military.

Strategy Tip: In the early game, empower your Gold Mine to accelerate your economy. As you advance, empower your Barracks or Migdol Stronghold to rapidly produce military units.

Norse Hersir

Norse Hersir are trained from the Longhouse and are unique in that you can train multiple Hersir. They are crucial for generating Favor and combating Myth Units.

Favor Generation: Hersir generate Favor by fighting enemy units, particularly Myth Units. The more Hersir you have in combat, the faster your Favor income.
Healing Aura: Hersir also possess a healing aura, making them valuable support units for your raiding parties and main army.
Myth Unit Combat: Like other heroes, Hersir excel against Myth Units. Massing Hersir is a common Norse strategy to counter Myth Unit rushes.
Raiding: Their speed and combat prowess make Hersir excellent for early game raiding against enemy villagers.

Strategy Tip: Early game, train 2-3 Hersir to quickly generate Favor for your chosen God Powers and Myth Units. Use them to scout and harass enemy villagers, forcing them to react.

Atlantean Heroes

Atlantean citizens can be converted into heroes at any time by right-clicking the "Heroize" button in their command panel. This is a powerful and flexible mechanic.

Flexibility: The ability to heroize any citizen means you can instantly create a hero where needed, whether for defense, offense, or Relic collection.
Cost: Heroizing a citizen costs a significant amount of resources (Food and Gold), so use it wisely.
Strong Combatants: Atlantean heroes are generally very strong combat units, comparable to Greek heroes.
No Regeneration: Unlike other heroes, Atlantean heroes do not regenerate health naturally. You'll need to rely on healing Myth Units or God Powers to keep them alive.

Strategy Tip: In the early game, heroize a citizen to collect a nearby Relic. In later stages, heroize citizens near an impending battle to quickly reinforce your hero contingent against Myth Units.