Overview
Ever wondered if elevation has any impact on the game? Well, it does! And this guide is here to explain how.
Introduction
Did you know that you have a tactical advantage when your forces are located on a hill or behind a cliff? Well, you do! Here’s the secret:
Elevation gives a ~25% bonus to attack and defense vs. enemies at a lower elevation
Wait, don’t go yet, it’s not actually that straightforward. I’m going to give some examples to explain, but before we get started it’s important to know that hills and cliffs do not work the same way.
Hills
Hills provide an approximate damage boost of 25% when fighting against opponents at a lower elevation than you. It doesn’t matter what the height difference is, the bonus is the same. Why do I say approximately? Take a look at this picture:
The Cataphract is obviously at a lower elevation than the tower, so the damage bonus definitely applies.The tower deals 18 pierce damage, and the Cataphract has 5 pierce armor…so the standard damage dealt would be 13. When the damage bonus is applied, however, it’s not the same for every shot. The tower actually dealt damage in the same repeating sequence: 17, 16, 16, 16, 17….
It appears that the game tries to get as close to 25% as it can, even if it needs to do so by varying the damage of each shot. Instead of dealing a flat +3 damage (which would be a boost of 23%) or +4 damage (which would be a boost of 31%), it averages it out. Look at it this way:
5 shots x 13 dmg/shot = 65 dmg
This would be the standard damage.
(2 shots x 17 dmg/shot) + (3 shots x 16 dmg/shot) = 82 dmg
So there’s 17 total bonus damage being done (82 – 65), which is a bonus of 26%.
Hills also provide a defensive bonus. Take a look at this picture:
The Bombard Cannon deals 237 damage per shot against the house on the same elevation, but does only 178 damage per shot against the house on the hill. That’s a 25% damage reduction! The same is true for units – all damage taken is reduced by 25% against attackers at a lower elevation.
It is definitely to your advantage to position yourself on the high ground as your forces will both kill enemies faster and live longer.
Cliffs
Cliffs behave a little differently from hills.
If you’re behind a cliff, you receive the approximately 25% damage bonus. In my tests I saw the actual bonus range from 20% to 33% based on the normal damage output. The rule appears to be that you have to deal a minimum of 2 damage to receive the bonus. Arrows receive no bonus against rams, for example.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t receive a higher bonus if you’re on a “higher” cliff. The tower in the screenshots below receives the same bonus.
Unlike with hills, there is no damage reduction for being behind a cliff.
The Arbalest in this screenshot is doing full damage against the Kamayuk.
Conclusion
There you have it. Elevation gives a tactical advantage. I hope this was helpful!
If you’ve got questions about other combat basics, check out my other guides!