Slingers/Alexander

Overall strategy
In Alexander, Slingers form the best long-ranged light infantry unit, being capable of lobbing rocks at a far distance, and they are second in range only to the Oxybeletai light siege machines. However, they have several problems - they have a glaring attack penalty against light infantry and horse cavalry (in fact the damage modifier is so low that it is effectively zero), and also don't perform well against enemy siege weapons, ships or buildings even if they have good rate of fire, they also deal the least damage compared to Archers.

Despite their weak stats, they are still dirt-cheap so as a result, the main task of Slingers is primarily meant as a "trash" unit, meant more for as a distraction than anything else. While some mercenary units, such as the Balearim or the mercenary Rhodioi have some perks (Balearim have no damage penalties, while Rhodioi move faster and have better fire rates) plain Slingers, available mostly to factions such as the Boii or Sabaioi, are still not very ideal for use in combat in anything other than as a last resort.

Unit summary

 * Light ranged infantry, with very good range, but poor damage and many handicaps against various targets.
 * Short of Their Targets &mdash; While they have superior attack speed and range, Slingers perform poorly if attacking anything else other than concentrations of heavy units -- against which they deal near to negligible damage.
 * Specialists &mdash; Mercenary slinger units, such as Qala'im Balearim and Sphendonetai Rhodioi often have superior tactical parameters that make them more attractive than conventional Slingers.