Ashigaru Musketeer

The Ashigaru Musketeer is a ranged unit available in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. Ashigaru are built from the Barracks and can be built as early as the Colonial Age. The Ashigaru is a heavy infantry unit. They do not pack nearly the punch of Samurai but are cheaper and cost only one population. They are strong against light infantry and cavalry. These units lose quickly to artillery and can be defeated by light infantry due to those units better range and line of sight. The Ashigaru can be upgraded three times.

Single-player Campaign
In the single player campaign, the player will find themselves creating a great deal of these units. The reason for this is that they are cheap and effective. The computer AI does not present much of a challenge at all even on the hard difficulty level and thus the player will not need to do anything more than mass-produce this unit.

Skirmish and Multiplayer
In skirmish and multiplayer, the Ashigaru is the same in all respects. The only difference is in who the player is playing against. One of the extraordinary advantages of the Japanese musketeer is the stacking advantages it gets. Between the Golden Pavilion passive boost, the research-able Golden Pavilion Arsenal Techs, the regular Arsenal Techs, The Ashigaru attack card, the passive consulate boost, the Daimyo boost, and the Shogun boost, the Japanese Ashigaru Musketeers can reach high power making them almost impossible to counter.