GUIDE · TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
Wootz Steel target-selection plan
Wootz Steel lets Dravidian infantry and cavalry bypass enemy armor with their attacks, making it especially useful against heavily armored melee troops. The upgrade improves target matchups, but it does not solve the army’s access problem against ranged units.
Overview
Wootz Steel lets Dravidian infantry and cavalry bypass enemy armor with their attacks, making it especially useful against heavily armored melee troops. The upgrade improves target matchups, but it does not solve the army’s access problem against ranged units.
Plan and execution
Research Wootz Steel when the army can reliably engage Champions, Paladins, Boyars, or other armor-reliant melee targets. Use the improved damage to win the frontline, then add siege or ranged support to convert that advantage into buildings and map control. Keep the Dravidian infantry and cavalry screened while approaching archers, and use them to protect siege or contest narrow routes where the enemy cannot kite freely.
Risks and adaptation
Ignoring armor does not make the units universally strong: archers remain dangerous, and the effect is ineffective against siege armor. Do not send the upgraded force chasing ranged units across open ground or assume that extra melee damage will overcome a bad approach.
- Focus
- Armor-ignoring melee pressure
- Signature / category
- Plan and execution
- Release / context
- Age of Empires II system
- Region
- Technology strategy
- Classification
- Technology strategies