Eagle Scout

"Fast infantry with extensive sight."

- Age of Empires II description

The Eagle Scout is a Native American infantry unit in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten that can be trained at the Barracks once the Feudal Age is reached. When it was introduced, it took the old design of the Eagle Warrior, and the Eagle Warrior and its Elite counterpart got a new design.

Upon its introduction in The Forgotten, the Eagle Scout was only available in the Castle Age. That was changed in The African Kingdoms to give the Native American civilizations a substitute for the Scout Cavalry in the Feudal Age.

The Eagle line replaces the cavalry for the Native American civilizations. Therefore, the Eagle Scout (Eagle Warrior in The Conquerors) is the starting scouting unit for them.

Because of the lack of counters in the Feudal Age, the Eagle Scout takes 60 seconds to train. Once the Castle Age is reached, the training time is decreased to 32 seconds. The Eagles Scout also receives a +3 base attack buff, as well as +2 attack bonus against cavalry and +1 attack bonus against camels and ships.

Tactics
Eagle Scouts move quickly, have a long Line of Sight, conversion resistance, and an attack bonus against Monks. They also have an attack bonus against siege weapons and a small anti-cavalry bonus (in the Castle Age), however, almost every other infantry unit deals bonus damage against Eagle Scouts. Essentially, they help compensate for the Aztecs', Mayans', and Incas' lack of cavalry.

In the Feudal Age, the Eagle Scout is a very powerful military unit that excels at taking out enemy Villagers with the hit-and-run tactic. They are significantly slower than the Scout Cavalry, but it is much harder to counter them, since Spearmen are not such a threat against them and Archers do not deal a lot of damage. In order to perform an Eagle rush, however, the player needs a lot of gold and at least three Barracks, which is kind of a high effort.

Since Native American civilizations have Eagle Scouts instead of a Scout Cavalry, exploring the map becomes different for those civilizations, as Eagle Scouts are slower, but have an extensive Line of Sight. In The Forgotten, Eagle Scouts can only be trained in the Castle and Imperial Age, so it is important to be careful when scouting to avoid losing it. But that was changed in The African Kingdoms and the Eagle Scout is now available from the Feudal Age on. Also, as with all other infantry units, researching Tracking and Squires is important.

It is worth noting that the upgrade to the Eagle Warrior, while cheap, only offers little improvement (+5 HP, +1 pierce armor, and +0.1 speed). Therefore, it should be postponed in favor of training troops and researching technologies with wider use, such as Squires or Iron Casting.

Civilization Bonuses

 * Aztecs: Eagle Scouts are created 15% faster.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
 * A team containing Goths: Eagle Scouts are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Tracking, Squires, and Arson is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Eagle Scouts are more resistant to conversion.

The Forgotten

 * Eagle Scouts become available in the Castle Age.
 * The upgrade to the Eagle Warrior costs 300F/200G.
 * Incas: Couriers gives Eagle Scouts +10% movement speed.

The African Kingdoms

 * Eagle Scouts now become available in the Feudal Age.
 * The upgrade to the Eagle Warrior now costs 200F/200G.
 * Incas: Couriers now gives +1/+2 armor instead of +10% movement speed.

Trivia

 * The three Eagle units are the only infantry units to cost more gold than food and, in terms of gold, are the most expensive infantry units in the game. In terms of food, however, they are by far the cheapest infantry in the game.
 * Despite being introduced in The Forgotten, the Eagle Scout is shown with a The Conquerors icon in the Scenario Editor.
 * Eagle Scouts do not gain the increased attack in the Castle Age when playing with the Full Tech Tree option or if the player is playing with a non-Native American civilization (via the Scenario Editor).
 * Eagle Scouts deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur because it is in the same unit class as ships.

History
"The Aztecs prized fighting skills, and soldiers earned increased status in society through distinction in combat and promotion in rank. One of the higher ranks was that of Eagle Warrior. These fighters wore great colorful headdresses made of eagle feathers and costumes that enhanced their military bearing. Because they were lightly armored and unencumbered, they were able to move quickly. They were the fast, light troops of the Aztec armies, quickly pouncing on enemies. However, they proved to be at a great disadvantage in combat against Europeans wearing steel armor and using steel weapons. The best of the Eagle warriors were promoted to Elite status. These were the champions of the Eagle Warrior formations and led the attempts to disable and capture enemies."