Catapults: targets, durability and how many to send
Every tribe's catapult side by side, what catapults can aim at by Rally Point level, which building they hit, what makes buildings harder to destroy, and how to work out a wave.
Updated 13 September 2026
Catapults destroy buildings and resource fields. They fire only in a normal attack, never a raid, and they fire after the fight - so they need an escort, or better, an attack in front of them that has already cleared the defence. On their own they have little attack and die to almost anything.
Every tribe has one, built in a Workshop of level 10 once researched in an Academy of level 15.
Every tribe's catapult
| Unit | Attack | Attack, Smithy 20 | Def inf | Def cav | Speed | Cost | Crop | Training |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire CatapultRomans | 75 | 124.7 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 2,990 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
| CatapultTeutons | 50 | 96.0 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 2,760 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
| TrebuchetGauls | 70 | 119.0 | 45 | 10 | 3 | 3,130 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
| Stone CatapultEgyptians | 65 | 113.2 | 55 | 10 | 3 | 3,250 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
| CatapultHuns | 45 | 90.2 | 55 | 10 | 3 | 2,910 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
| BallistaSpartans | 50 | 96.0 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 2,750 | 6 | 2:45:00 |
| CatapultVikings | 50 | 96.0 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 2,760 | 6 | 2:30:00 |
"Attack, Smithy 20" is each catapult's attack once fully upgraded, from the same formula as every other unit - see Smithy upgrades: what they do to your units. Each catapult's own page ranks it against the others.
What they can aim at
The attacking village's Rally Point decides the choice of target:
| Rally Point | Targets |
|---|---|
| 1 | Random only |
| 3 | Adds the Warehouse and Granary |
| 5 | Adds the resource fields and the production buildings |
| 10 | Anything except the Cranny, the Stonemason's Lodge and the Trapper |
| 20 | Two targets in one attack, with at least 20 catapults; the catapults split evenly between them |
At level 20, leave the second slot empty if you want a single target. Picking the same building twice splits the catapults in two and does less damage.
Which building gets hit
- With several buildings or fields of the chosen type, the highest-level one is hit.
- If the chosen target does not exist, a random one is hit instead, and a random hit can land on anything - including the buildings that cannot be chosen.
- The Stonemason is always the last building hit.
- While a Teuton Brewery celebration runs, the attacker's catapults hit random targets only.
- Some defending artefacts turn aimed shots into random ones.
What makes a building harder to destroy
- The Stonemason's Lodge, which only a capital can build, raises the durability of every building and field in it - three times as many catapults at level 20.
- The stronger-buildings artefact multiplies durability again: four times in its own village, three times across an account, five times for the unique one.
- Smithy upgrades make catapults hit harder. The alliance Metallurgy bonus raises their attack, but not how much they destroy.
The Wonder of the World ignores both the Lodge and the artefact, and can always be aimed at.
Working out a wave
Start from the catapults a building's level needs at your catapults' upgrade level, then multiply:
- The base count. A level 20 building takes 36 catapults upgraded to level 20.
- × 3 in a capital with a level 20 Stonemason's Lodge.
- × the artefact's factor if the defender holds a stronger-buildings artefact - 4 for the small one.
36 × 3 × 4 = 432 catapults for one building. Two targets in one wave need both counts added together.
Against a Natar artefact village, 55 catapults with no upgrades aimed at the Treasury take a level 20 Treasury down.
Destroying a village
A village whose population reaches 0 disappears and its tile can be settled again. Three kinds of village survive at 0: a Wonder of the World village, a village still holding an artefact, and an account's last village - where every troop the village owns dies instead.
Worth knowing
- Catapults usually travel with rams, and a common plan is about 55 rams to 45 catapults. To break the wall first, see Rams and walls.
- Siege engines are never wounded, so a Hospital brings none back.
- In a conquest, catapults go in every wave, aimed at the administration building, so one finishing in between is knocked straight down again - see Administrators: loyalty and conquering villages.