Ruyter

The Ruyter is a ranged cavalry unit unique to the Dutch in Age of Empires III. It is available at the Stable once the Fortress Age is reached.

Overview
The Ruyter wields pistols in combat and functions as the Dutch version of the Dragoon. Ruyters works best in groups to eliminate groups of hand cavalry, though several set to melee are also just as good at taking out artillery. This unit is also one of the Dutch royal guard units, meaning it can be upgraded higher than other Dutch units. Compared to the Dragoon, Ruyter takes only 1 population slot, making it population effective. They're also significantly cheaper, as coin is barely an issue for Dutch players due to the presence of multiple banks.

Upgrades
Ruyters can be upgraded into a Guard Ruyter and an Imperial Ruyter depending on the age reached. They can further be improved with home city shipments, minor civilization upgrades, unique Church upgrades and Arsenal upgrades.

Normal Upgrades
A default Ruyter is in form of Veteran Ruyter with the following stats:
 * Hit Points: 168
 * Ranged Attack: 16
 * Siege Attack: 7

Carabineers, a.k.a. Carabineer Ruyters are the first available upgrade for the Ruyter and further increase hit points and attack by 10% once researched. The upgrade is available at the Stable once the Industrial Age is reached.


 * Hit Points: 224
 * Ranged Attack: 22
 * Siege Attack: 9
 * Cost: [[File:Resources wood.png]] and [[File:Icon coin.gif]]

Imperial Carabineers are the final and strongest form of the Ruyter and is the successor of the Carabineer. Imperial Carabineers have the highest amount of hit points and attack. Once researched, the attack and hit points increase by 50%. The upgrade is available at the Stable once the Imperial Age is reached.


 * Hit Points: 294
 * Ranged Attack: 29
 * Siege Attack: 12
 * Cost: [[File:Resources wood.png]] and [[File:Icon coin.gif]]

Home City Shipments and Upgrades

 * Portuguese TEAM Early Dragoons card makes Ruyters available in Colonial Age.
 * Cavalry Combat card improves Ruyters in combat, giving them +15% of both HP and attack.
 * Riding School card reduces amount of time taken for training Ruyters by 40%.
 * Comanche Mustangs upgrade increases Ruyters speed to 7.98.

History
"Ruyters were a light cavalry who used pistols as their primary weapon. These soldiers were known as "Riders," and often carried several pistols with them - even having aids or servants whose job it was to carry extra pistols - because they wouldn't have time to reload the weapons when in range. Short-range fire with pistols was often deadly, but even shots that were not immediately lethal usually killed due to infection or disease because of the state of medicine at the time. Ruyters were able to fire their relatively small arms while on the move and this mobility made them fierce combatants. Ruyters wore light armor and carried several sets of pistols. They were known to carry sabers and axes as sidearms for use when their complement of loaded pistols had been spent."

Shipments
This is a list of shipments that benefit Ruyters in any way.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; margin-bottom:0px; margin-top:1px;" ! sab="1148"| Click for a list of Ruyter related home city cards
 * - sab="1147"
 * - sab="1149"
 * sab="1150"|

Dutch

 * }