Guide
Pharaoh Unit Overview
Cost: Free
Regenerates: After 90 seconds at your Town Center. Use the hotkey to cycle through heroes to find it.
Base Stats (Classical Age)
| Stat | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Damage | 14 Pierce (12 + 2 in Classical) | Double the 6.5 of a Toxote. Stands up well in early battles. |
| Range | 12 | Compared to 16 for a Slinger or 20 for a Chariot Archer. Short range, but powerful up close. |
| Hit Points | 110 | Good for a ranged unit (Toxote: 60, Peltast: 70). Cannot heal itself. |
| Armor | 15% Hack / 15% Pierce | Same hack armor as a Camel, same pierce armor as a Hersir. Needs protection. |
| Speed | 4.0 | Same speed as a Slinger. Your whole army is slow until Heroic anyway. |
| LOS | 16 | Compare to 8 LOS for a Priest. Decent for scouting, especially as Ra. |
Special Abilities
(a) x5 Damage vs Myth Units
This equates to 60 damage per second. Against an Einherjar (one of the best Classical myth units):
- 60 damage/sec - 60% pierce armor = 24 damage getting through each attack
- Einherjar has 275 HP, so 275 / 24 = ~11.4 seconds to kill
- In editor testing it took approximately 12 seconds
(b) Units Trained 30% Faster (when empowering)
- Spearmen arrive in 6 seconds instead of 9 (same speed as an Ulfsark or Camel!)
- Axemen in 7 seconds instead of 10
- Slingers in 11 seconds instead of 14
Against a Norse rusher, this can help overwhelm them.
(c) Techs Researched 30% Faster
Getting the medium spear upgrade in 14 seconds instead of 20 is a nice bonus, but hard to compute how much difference it makes in practice.
(d) Buildings Fire Arrows Twice as Fast
Example 1: Tower vs 5 Throwing Axemen attacking gold miners
Case 1 — Pharaoh and Tower fire separately:
- Pharaoh: 12 - 10% = 10.8 damage/sec
- Tower: (8×2) - 10% = 14.4 damage/sec
- Total: 25.2 damage/sec
Case 2 — Pharaoh empowers the Tower:
- Tower: ((8×2) - 10%) + ((8×2) - 10%) = 28.8 damage/sec
- Total: 28.8 damage/sec
Result: Empowering is a 12.5% improvement.
Example 2: Pharaoh empowering a Migdol vs Hippikons
Case 1 — Firing separately:
- Pharaoh: 12 - 25% = 9 damage
- Migdol: 12×3 - 25% = 25 damage
- Total: 34 damage
Case 2 — Pharaoh empowers the Migdol:
- Migdol: 12×3×2 = 72 - 25% = 54 damage
- Total: 54 damage
Result: Empowered Migdol does 37% more damage than both firing separately.
(e) Structures Built 30% Faster
Excellent for taking open settlements on the map.
- 1 Villager building a TC: 150 seconds
- 1 Villager empowered: 105 seconds
(f) Monuments Accumulate Favor 5% Faster
Generally not worth it. Empowering the Monument to Villagers gives 1.1 favor/sec instead of 0.97.
(g) Drop Sites Create 20% Extra Resources
Example: 8 farmers around your TC for 5 minutes:
- Without empowering: 300 sec × 8 farmers × 0.63 rate = 1512 food
- With empowering: 300 sec × 8 farmers × 0.76 rate = 1824 food
Result: Enough extra food for 6 additional Spearmen during the crucial 5-10 minute mark.
Time to Kill Myth Units (Classical Age)
| Myth Unit | Time to Kill |
|---|---|
| Valkyrie | 21 seconds |
| Cyclops | 18 seconds |
| Manticore | 17 seconds |
| Einherjar | 12 seconds |
| Sphinx | 12 seconds |
| Minotaur | 11 seconds |
| Anubite | 10 seconds |
| Troll | 9 seconds |
| Wadjet | 6 seconds |
Pharaoh vs Other Units (1v1)
| Opponent | Result |
|---|---|
| Toxote | Pharaoh wins (71/110 HP left) |
| Hoplite | Pharaoh wins (35/110 HP left) |
| Hippikon | Hippikon wins (39/150 HP left) |
| Throwing Axeman | Pharaoh wins (76/110 HP left) |
| Ulfsark | Pharaoh wins (72/110 HP left) |
| Raiding Cavalry | Pharaoh wins (33/110 HP left) |
| Hersir | Pharaoh wins (29/110 HP left) |
Special Technologies
Spirit of Maat
Doubles the base healing rate. Potentially very valuable for your expensive myth units later on.
Funeral Rites
The x9 bonus vs myth units is worth it in situations where you're facing large numbers of myth units (e.g., legions of Fire Giants). Keep it in the back of your mind.
City of the Dead
Increases the strength of your Pharaoh and reduces the respawn rate. A fully upgraded Mythic Pharaoh with City of the Dead:
| Stat | Calculation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| HP | 100 + 10 (Classical) + 10 (Heroic) + 10 (Mythic) + 30 (City of Dead) | 160 HP |
| Range | 12 + 6 (Heroic) + 2 (Mythic) | 20 Range |
| Attack | 12 + 1.2 (Heroic) + 1.2 (Mythic) + 2.4 (City of Dead) | 16.8 (plus armory upgrades) |
New Kingdom
Gives you two Pharaohs — one for empowering the TC at home, and one for Son of Osiris.
Tips
- Find your Pharaoh at any time using the / key (cycles through heroes)
- If you select a villager and your Pharaoh together, then shift-click to create 10 houses, your Pharaoh will empower each one as it is created
Recommended Pharaoh Usage Order
- Archaic Age: Empower the opening granary
- Transition to Classical: Either empower the gold miners (use Prosperity if Isis) or send him to pick up relics
- Classical Age: Empower the construction of barracks
- Early Classical: Empower your TC when you have 4+ farmers, and double TC fire if your gold mine is attacked
- Pre-Heroic: Empower armory construction
- Heroic Age: Empower the building of settlements
- Heroic onward: Use in battle for healing and myth unit killing (hotkeying is important for quickly focusing myth units)
- Near Migdol: Empower the Migdol for faster unit creation AND double attack