Dragoon

Dragoons are a type of ranged counter-Cavalry unit in Age of Empires III. Dragoons can be trained in the Stable once Fortress Age is reached. Exceptions are made when the TEAM Early Dragoons card is used by the Portuguese at an earlier age.

Overview
The Dragoon works as a ranged counter-Cavalry Cavalry unit. It is strong against most, if not all types of Cavalry, but is weak to Infantry, such as Light Infantry and has no resistance to melee attacks. The Dragoon is often not considered to be the most useful type of Cavalry, due to its limited use and the fact that it is available in a later age than the Hussar. Several civilizations replace dragoons with Cavalry Archers, while the Dutch use Ruyters and the Germans use War Wagons and Black Riders.

If playing as the Portuguese, Dragoons are available in the Colonial Age. Portuguese Dragoons are also more useful than other civilizations' as they can be upgraded to royal guard, and have the Dragoon Combat card, giving them an advantage in attack and hit points (unction Dragoons have better attack but fewer hit points) compared to other civilizations. The Portuguese can also give them the advantage in range if the right cards are used. Dragoons are also good against heavy infantry using guerrilla tactics. Skirmishers can also be engaged if the dragoons are put into melee mode. Overall, Dragoons are a formidable unit that is especially good against hand cavalry when used correctly.


 * The Outlaw Rider treasure guardian type is a weaker version of the dragoon with no multipliers vs cavalry.
 * The Russians can't train Dragoons but can send nine Kalmuchs (Dragoons) from their church when the Royal Decree shipment has arrived.

Upgrades
Dragoons can be upgraded into a Veteran Dragoon, a Guard Dragoon and an Imperial Dragoon depending on the age reached. They can further be improved with home city shipments, minor civilization upgrades, unique Church upgrades and Arsenal upgrades (especially when using the "Advanced Arsenal" card).

Arsenal

 * Counter Infantry Rifling increases attack.
 * Ranged Cavalry Caracole increases range and attack by 10%.

Normal Upgrades
Veteran Dragoons are slightly better than ordinary Dragoons with higher hit points and better attack. Veteran Dragoons are the lowest rank and the first upgrade of the Dragoon. Once researched, the attack and hit points increases by 10%. They are available at the Stable once Fortress Age is reached.


 * Hit Points: 240
 * Ranged Attack: 26
 * Siege Attack: 10
 * Cost: and

Guard Dragoons are better than Veteran Dragoons in terms of the amount of hit points and the amount of damage it inflicts on a certain unit. Once researched, the attack and hit points increases by 30%. The upgrade is available at the Stable once Industrial Age is reached.


 * Hit Points: 300
 * Ranged Attack: 33
 * Siege Attack: 13
 * Cost: and

The Imperial Dragoon is the final and strongest form of the Dragoon and is the successor of the Guard Dragoon. Imperial Dragoons have the highest amount of hit points and deals the most damage out of all types of Dragoons in the game due to their high rank. Once researched, the attack and hit points increases by 50%. The upgrade is available at the Stable once the Imperial Age is reached.


 * Hit Points: 480
 * Ranged Attack: 52
 * Siege Attack: 20
 * Cost: and

Royal Guard Dragoons
Some civilizations have access to Royal Guard Dragoons which are stronger than Guard Dragoons. Royal Guard Dragoons are available once the Industrial Age is researched.


 * Cost: and

Some civilizations can upgrade Royal Guard Dragoons into Imperial Guard Dragoons which are stronger than Imperial Dragoons. Imperial Guard Dragoons are available once the Imperial Age is researched.


 * Cost: and

Shipments
This is a list of shipments that benefit Dragoons in any way.

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

Portuguese

 * }