Gbeto

"Malian unique unit. Quick infantry unit with a high ranged attack."

- Age of Empires II description

The Gbeto is the unique unit of the Malians in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms. It is a light and quick infantry unit with a high long-ranged attack. Gbetos attack by throwing knife-like weapons at the target.

Gbetos can be upgraded to Elite Gbetos in the Imperial Age.

Tactics
Gbetos are ranged infantry units, dealing melee damage at range as the Throwing Axeman, Mameluke, and the Kamayuk. They have the longest range of these units, the highest attack, and high movement speed. They are fragile by lack of any base armor and low HP, but are capable of dealing out considerable damage readouts. Since they move quite fast, they can employ hit-and-run tactics against all other infantry apart from Elite Eagle Warriors. But by using their range and high melee attack, they can defeat Eagle Warriors quickly, so in total they are effective against the entire infantry branch bar the Teutonic Knight.

Despite their good base range, Gbetos can be outranged by foot archers and are vulnerable against most ranged units. They are slaughtered by heavy cavalry, but in large mobs they can abuse their range and even wipe out a sizable army of Knights. Onagers and Heavy Scorpions can be lethal for Gbetos, but with good micromanagement, they can effectively get close to the machines and destroy them. In any case it is recommended to only use a small army for that tactic, as hits taken have devastating effect.

Gbetos are in certain ways a better alternative to Cavalry Archers when it comes to hit-and-run attacks. First, because Gbetos deal melee damage, they can easily dispose of units with high pierce armor such as Huskarls, Skirmishers, and Rams whereas Cavalry Archers will have some difficulty even when upgraded. Secondly, Gbetos do not share the former's weakness against Pikemen, and wins even if the enemy gets close. Finally, since the Malians don't have access to Bracer, a fully upgraded Elite Gbeto has more range as a fully upgraded Malian Heavy Cavalry Archer in addition to having more attack.

Gbetos are very versatile and can perform various roles effectively. For example, Gbetos upgraded with Arson can destroy unprotected bases quickly and retreat safely when the situation becomes disadvantageous. Gbetos also work well with cavalry units, because both are fast and can cover each other's weakness. Cavalry acts as meat shield and eliminates units dangerous to Gbetos (especially siege weapons), while Gbetos provide additional damage from behind and protect cavalry from Pikemen.

When Gbetos are combined with Pikemen and Skirmishers, the result is an army that is slower, but much cheaper, easier to mass, and can counter almost any kind of threat.

Further Statistics
As Gbetos are unique to the Malians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Team Bonuses

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

The African Kingdoms

 * Initially, Elite Gbetos have 14 attack. With patch 4.8, their attack is reduced to 13.

Trivia

 * The Gbeto is the second female regular trainable unit, after the female version of a Villager.
 * If a Gbeto is left idle, she will start throwing her knife vertically with one of her hands, and then catch the knife with the same hand.
 * With 30, the Gbeto (non-Elite) has the fewest hit points of all military units, tied only with the Archer, Skirmisher, and Karambit Warrior.
 * In Fon language (a language native to Benin, a small West African nation), the word gbeto means "huntress". And according to one theory, the Dahomey Amazons (an all-female military regiment of Dahomey Kingdom located in today's Benin) were formed from elephant huntresses. It is unknown why they were picked as the Malian unique unit even though historically they were not part of the Mali Empire. But it can be speculated that the reason was because both Malians and Gbeto are representing West African civilizations.