Archer units (Age of Empires II)

Archers in Age of Empires II are one of the four combat forces on land, the other ones being infantry, cavalry, and siege weapons.

General Information
While being being comparatively frail, all archer units possess a ranged attack, giving them an edge over unranged units. Most archers are foot soldiers, but there are also mounted variants. Cavalry Archers set themselves apart from foot archers by having an above average speed, making them able to hit-and-run enemy foot soldiers without casualties.

Archer units are trained at the Archery Range and become available in the Feudal Age.

Unique archer units are trained at the Castle. There are two exceptions: The Genitour and the Slinger are trained at the Archery Range.

Most archer units cost wood and gold, but some also cost food.

Archers excel at massed battles against unranged units, and in battles in narrow passages and densely developed areas, like forests and towns. There, they can use their range to fire over each other, while unranged units have to 'dig' themselves through an army of archers. In battles with few units, though, archers have trouble to hold ground.

Archers in general are superior to infantry and Monks, and can very effectively eliminate Villagers. But they struggle heavily against siege units, which deal Area of Effect damage and can eliminate entire armies of archers quickly. Cavalry is also quite effective against archers, since they can close the gap quickly and have high Pierce Armor. But the no. 1 counter against archers is the Skirmisher, a Trash Unit that is cheap, easy to mass and does both resist archer attacks and deal bonus damage against archers.

Other notable counters are Huskarls, Eagle Warriors, and War Wagons.

List of Archer Units
Marked with yellow background are unique units.

Technologies
Listed below are all technologies that benefit archer units:

Civilizations
The Britons, Ethiopians, Italians, Mayans, and Saracens arguably are the best archer civilizations because of their bonuses and unique technologies.

The Indians, Japanese, and Saracens are the only civilizations with access to all archer units and technologies.

Civilization Bonuses
The following civilizations have bonuses that specifically benefit archer units:
 * Britons: Foot archers have +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Byzantines: Skirmishers are 25% cheaper.
 * Ethiopians: Archers fire 15% faster.
 * Huns: Cavalry Archers are cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Italians: Hand Cannoneers are 15% cheaper.
 * Mayans: Archers are 10%/20%/30% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Mongols: Cavalry Archers fire 20% faster.
 * Saracens: Cavalry Archers have +3 attack against buildings.
 * Spanish: Hand Cannoneers and Conquistadors fire 15% faster.
 * Turks: Chemistry is free.

Team Bonuses
The following civilizations have bonuses that specifically benefit archer units:
 * Berbers: Genitour available at Archery Ranges.
 * Britons: Archery Ranges work 20% faster.
 * Magyars: Foot archers have +2 Line of Sight.
 * Saracens: Foot archers have +1 attack against buildings.
 * Turks: Gunpowder Units are created 20% faster.