In the vanilla game using chariots was incredibly OP and no fun at all to use. But in Dei I had a lot of trouble at first using them effectively. So I searched the forum for any hints in using them. And if they even were a unit worth recruiting.
Well.. Every single post or mention about the effectiveness of chariots in Dei were either saying don't use them they're worthless or they considered them to be a less successful substitute of your ordinary shock cavalry. Using them as your hammer. Generally people simply said Don't use them.
But I'm a stubborn guy and just as I would use the phalanx when I'm a hellenic faction, use horse archers when I'm a nomadic faction and would use Elephants when I'm an Eastern faction. I wanted to use chariots when I was a Britannic faction or if was playing as the Seleucids, Egypt, Pontus etc.
So I used them nonetheless and after a whole bunch of trial and error. Seeing that they were indeed nothing more then a type of Shock Cavalry that needed a whole lot of more micro-managing then the ordinary ones. I finally found a way that I could use them in their own unique way. And in my own opinion they were more effective to me then your standard shock cavalry and also way more fun to use.
They do need a lot of micro but as I will show with the screenshots that I'll include this is my way in which I could demoralize the enemy way more then any type of shock cav could and also rack up way more kills. You can even drive them manually if you don't have to worry about managing the rest of your army for a minute which was is also a lot of fun.
What I would do is I would use my infantry to pin the army down and use the chariots to flank my enemy and hit them in the rear. Not going straight into the enemy mass but driving them through and chipping of the edges of the infantry that is then fully engaged with my own infantry.
Cause if you would flank and just drive them straight through they will get stuck and will all be gone before you know it. But by like I said chipping away bits and pieces making sure they don't get stuck they are almost always the winning factor that makes sure I gain a decisive or heroic victory.
What sets them apart from your average shock cavalry is the devastating effect on the enemy morale they can deliver if properly utilized.
Anyways I hope this will help out some people who at first faced the same issues as me and are able now to start using them in their arsenal.
Because in my opinion contrary to what I read from other people on the site chariots can be very useful not as your typical hammer bashing against the anvil but more as using the hammer to to give the sword its form and edges while the iron is still hot. The sword symbolizing the enemy. And again using them solely as your hammer or In conjunction with other cavalry I found them to be a crucial part of my army's composition.