Camel Archer

"Berber unique unit. Cavalry archer with an attack bonus vs. cavalry archers."

- Age of Empires II description

The Camel Archer is the first unique unit of the Berbers in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms. It is a mounted archer with an attack bonus against Cavalry Archers.

Camel Archers can be upgraded to Elite Camel Archers in the Imperial Age.

Tactics
The Camel Archer fits nicely in the cavalry based army of the Berbers. Due to their high attack and speed, they can support the heavy cavalry (Cavalier and Heavy Camel) against all kinds of ranged units and are also a good choice if enemy Halberdiers overwhelm the army, since they can perform hit-and-run tactics against them. As far as utility is concerned, they are a versatile unit, as apart from being a hard counter against other mounted archers, they can also serve as a solid anti-infantry unit, and even directly engage against most foot archers.

Camel Archers are quite tough for a cavalry archer, boasting good HP, regeneration (with Maghrabi Camels), and more endurance against common vulnerabilities of cavalry, because they do not take damage from anti-cavalry attacks but from anti-camel attacks, which in general is much lower. E.g., Camels deal much less bonus damage (5 instead of 9) and Mamelukes deal no bonus damage at all, making them struggle against massed Camel Archers. Furthermore, their armor bonus also somewhat diminishes the effectiveness of cavalry archer counters, such as Genitours, and Elite Skirmishers, although they still remain highly cost-effective against them (see Counters).

It should also be noted that thanks to Kasbah and Conscription, Camel Archers train in only 12.6 seconds, much faster than a generic Heavy Cavalry Archer. They are a better alternative to Cavalry Archers in almost any way, save for cost and the fact they are not available at Archery Ranges.

It is noteworthy that the Berbers lack Parthian Tactics, which makes their post-imperial Camel Archers slightly less resilient against most attacks, while also causing less damage against Spearmen than fully upgraded Heavy Cavalry Archers. However, they generally fare better against units with high anti-cavalry attack bonuses, like the Heavy Camel, thanks to being in the camel armor class and having slightly higher hit points. They also have a lower frame delay, making them more effective in hit-and-run tactics.

If gold is scarce or the enemy heavily relies on foot archers, the Camel Archer can be replaced by the Genitour.

Counters
Camel Archers can be countered with Skirmishers, Light Cavalry and, when massed, with Mangonels and Scorpions. Heavy cavalry also works well against Camel Archers.

Genitours receive bonus damage from Camel Archers and lose in one-on-one combat, but are still cost effective when used against them. In fact, they are a good choice, because they can retreat if melee cavalry arrives to support the Camel Archers (as opposed to Skirmishers).

Despite having their anti-camel bonus nullified, Eagle Warriors remain a decent choice against Camel Archers, as they have good pierce armor and more speed than Huskarls and Halberdiers, coupled with a reliable attack.

Comparison to the Mangudai

 * The attack and range are the same, but the attack rate of the Mangudai is higher, so the damage output of the Mangudai is higher. Also, the Mangudai gets an attack bonus of +2 against Pikemen because of Parthian Tactics.
 * The Camel Archer holds an advantage of +5 hit points, can regenerate, and has one more pierce armor.
 * The Camel Archer is in the camel armor class rather than the cavalry armor class, resulting in less damage taken from anti-cavalry units such as Camels and Pikemen.
 * The Mangudai moves slightly faster.
 * The Camel Archer is cheaper by 5 wood and gold. Its Elite upgrade is also cheaper.
 * The Mangudai holds an attack bonus against siege weapons, the Camel Archer against Cavalry Archers.
 * All in all, the Mangudai is faster and holds a stronger attack, but the Camel Archer is more durable because of the slightly higher hit points, regeneration ability, and armor.
 * In one-on-one combat, the Camel Archer easily wins.

Further statistics
As Camel Archers are unique to the Berbers, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Team bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Camel Archers are created and upgraded 25% faster, and Conscription, Kasbah, and Maghrabi Camels are researched 25% faster.
 * A team containing Britons: Researching Thumb Ring is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Indians: Camel Archers have +5 attack against buildings.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Camel Archers are more resistant to conversion.

The African Kingdoms

 * Camel Archers have +1 attack against infantry.
 * Berbers: Initially cannot research Ring Archer Armor. With patch 4.8, it was added to their technology tree.

Rise of the Rajas

 * With patch 5.3, Camel Archers no longer have an attack bonus against infantry.

Trivia

 * Although the technology tree states that the Elite Camel Archer upgrade costs food and gold, it actually costs wood and gold.
 * Camel Archer is the only Castle unique unit that does not make usual sound when created. Instead, it produces Camel sound like Camel-line unit in Stable.

History
Historically, the Berbers were well-known for raiding deserts. They rode camels because they were ideal for moving quickly in the sand. Using bows while riding camels would immensely help with raiding.