Arbalester

"Stronger than Crosbowman. Quick and light."

- Age of Empires II description

The Arbalest is an archer unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Imperial Age is reached. It is the final tier in the Archer line.

Tactics
Arbalest works better in large groups as they can fire arrow volleys at the opponents' units. 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 distance with the fragile Arbalest before taking too much damage. As such they should be delpoyed with an escort.

Pairing Arbalests with Halberdiers works especially well since the Halberdier can cover the Arbalests main weakness that is cavalry. Pairing the Arbalest with other melee units can also protect them from siege units.

If playing defensively, Arbalests can become a good tool to protect a walled area as they can attack enemy units from behind the wall at a relatively safe distance, even protecting themselves from melee cavalry. However, they do almost no damage to Rams.

Further Statistics
Civilizations Bonuses=
 * Aztecs: Arbalests are created 20% faster. Researching Thumb Ring is 20% faster.
 * Britons: Arbalests have +2 range.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Arbalests are 20% cheaper.
 * Ethiopians: Arbalests fire 15% faster.
 * Mayans: Arbalests are 30% cheaper.
 * Portuguese: Arbalests cost 15% less gold.
 * -|Team Bonuses=
 * A team containing Britons: Arbalests are produced 20% faster.
 * A team containing Magyars Arbalests have +2 LOS.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Saracens: Arbalests have +1 attack against buildings.
 * A team containing Teutons: Arbalests are more resistant to conversion.

History
"The arbalest was an advanced crossbow made of steel. The greater tensile strength of steel gave the weapon greater power."

Trivia

 * Arbalests were a particularly heavy and powerful type of crossbow developed in the mid-to-late Middle Ages. The naming this class of soldier an "Arbalest" is incorrect since the word denotes the weapon instead of the wielder. It would be more correctly referred to with the name "Arbalist", which refers to a person that shoots the crossbow.