Ronin

The Ronin is a powerful Japanese mercenary unit in Age of Empires III.

Utility
Ronin are very strong units specializing in melee combat.

Ronins function as a vastly superior version of the Doppelsoldner, their attacks dealing AoE damage and having high multipliers against cavalry. The Ronin's siege damage is also extremely high, as they match those of an Imperial Doppelsoldner (without any upgrades).

When it comes to close combat, Ronins are almost invincible, capable of slaying any unit that comes in their path, including the strongest cavalry units such as the Mahout Lancers and other heavy infantry in mere seconds. Ronins can defeat any forms of infantry and cavalry relatively easily. Due to having very high melee damage, they can become nightmares to cavalry and infantry based armies. One of the ways to counter Ronin is to have Artillery protected in the back with Heavy Infantry or to mix Spies and Ninjas in your army as they have large bonuses against mercenaries.

Access by civilization
The Ronin are mercenary units so they can be shipped from some civilizations' Home Cities; in the original version of the game, only the Spanish, Portuguese and Ottomans can hire Ronins. This makes them the rarest mercenaries in-game, along with the Manchu.

Ronin can only be sent during the Industrial Age by these civilizations through the "Asian Mercenary Army" card, which consists of 7 Manchu and 5 Ronin. However, the Portuguese can hire them in the Fortress Age with the "Passage to Nipon" card, which sends 5 Ronin.

There are two types of Ronin: "Saloon Ronin", which come from either the Home City (typically Japan has the most Ronin cards) or the Saloon. All European civilizations have a card called "Dance Hall" which enables Ronin to be trained from the Saloon. A Ronin from the saloon costs 400 coin and shipments usually have a discount.

Hatamoto Samurai
The Hatamoto Samurai is a unique Japanese infantry unit available in the Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties expansion. An incredibly powerful swordsman that deals splash damage against multiple targets, they can only be trained from the Japanese Consulate if Japanese Isolation is chosen. An individual Samurai costs 290 Export to train and takes up four population slots. The Hatamoto Samurai's hitpoints and attack will increase with each age researched after the Industrial Age.

They use profile of the Ronins, but, as they are not a mercenary unit, they benefit from all upgrades that normal Samurai will. Another difference between Hatamoto Samurai and Ronin is that Hatamoto Samurai has a higher resistance in melee attack, which is 40%, higher than Ronin, which is only 20%.

They can be trained from the Saloon (depending on the map) after the Dance Hall card arrives; Ronin can also be trained at the Japanese Consulate when Isolationism has been selected (but their names are changed to Hatamoto Samurai instead). They are similar to Samurai, but with more HP and a much stronger attack. They also have a 3x cavalry bonus which makes them deadly against cavalry. With their area of effect attack, they are essentially powerful Samurai.

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

Portuguese

 * }

History
"Ronin were samurai who had no lord and, by extension, an uncertain role in feudal Japan. A famous group of ronin were samurai loyal to the daimyo Asano, who was disgraced and forced by the strictures of honor to commit ritual suicide, or seppuku. His death made ronin out of 47 of his samurai, who set out to avenge their master's dishonor. They killed the daimyo Kira who had lured their master into disgrace and, while admired by the people and considered heroes, these Ronin were eventually sentenced to death. They were given permission to follow their daimyo into the afterlife by commiting seppuku, rather than being executed as criminals. Ronin, as samurai, fought with a wide array of weapons: katana, nodachi, kama, jutte, and their bare hands - though the katana is iconically associated with samurai. They wore elaborate armor, enameled and richly decorated."

In-game dialogue
The Ronin's Japanese dialogue is shared with Ninjas.
 * Hai? (はい?) ("Yes?")
 * Ryoukai shimashita (了解しました) ("I understand")
 * Suguni kakarimasu (すぐにかかります) ("Immediately")
 * Youi! (用意!) ("Ready!")
 * Gomerei o? (ご命令を?) ("Your command?")
 * Souda! (そうだ!) ("It is!")
 * Kougeki! (攻撃!) ("Attack!")
 * Tatakae, tatakaunda! (戦え、戦うんだ!) ("Fight, fight!")

Trivia

 * There is a unit in the Editor called the 'Repentant Ronin'. This suggests that they were going to be available for Asian civilizations as well.
 * There is an occasional glitch in the Editor where Ronins can attack, but will be unable to deal damage to other units, including other Ronin.
 * The Hatamoto's large bonus vs Cavalry is most likely a reference to the Zhanmadao, a Chinese weapon that is the ancestor to the Katana, and was used against horses due to their long length.