Arbalester

The Arbalest is a powerful ranged Archer unit available in Age of Empires II. It is the upgrade of the Crossbowman and the most powerful non-unique unit archer. Arbalests are very good at slowing down massed infantry, as well as inflicting severe damage. They are vulnerable to cavalry as they can close the distant with the fragile Arbalest before taking too much damage. As such they should be delpoyed with an escort. Arbalests are usually available to archer-based civilizations such as the Britons and Chinese.

History
Arbalests were a particularly heavy and powerful type of crossbow developed in the mid-to-late Middle Ages. Thus, naming this class of soldier an "Arbalest" is incorrect since the word denotes the weapon rather than the wielder. Meanwhile, the name "Arbalist" refers to a person that shoots a crossbow.