Pikeman (Age of Empires III)

For other uses of Pikeman, see the disambiguation page.

Pikeman are basic foot soldiers armed with a long pike in Age of Empires III. Pikeman in can be recruited in the Barracks, Galleon, Fort and shipped from the player's Home City. They are archaic infantry and very useful at taking out cavalry or destroying buildings. Their speed is not as fast as cavalry and because of this the unit may have difficulty chasing down cavalry so should be used mainly in a defensive role. They can be countered by light Infantry and Artillery. In the Colonial Age they are useful for destroying buildings since most civilizations lack artillery at that stage.

Archaic units usually cannot be upgraded beyond Veteran level but the Spanish are able to do so with Pikemen, able to be upgraded up to the Imperial Tercio level. This makes them quite powerful in melee combat and useful past the Colonial Age. Pikeman are useful as a front line defense for ranged units to hide behind. Using them with Crossbowman is an effective combo early in the game as they can take out infantry at long range while the Pikemen defeat any cavalry that get too close. However this formation is vulnerable to artillery so should be escorted with cavalry.

Upgrades
The overall stats for Pikeman can be improved by investing resources on technologies found in the Arsenal. After the Discovery Age, players have the option to upgrade Pikeman to the next level.

Veteran Pikeman
Veteran Pikeman is the first upgrade for Pikeman. It is available for 200 Coin and 200 Wood once Fortress Age is reached. Since both Musketeers and Halberdiers are available at the Veteran level during the same age and are better than Pikeman, players often ignore the upgrade and invest resources on other units instead. However it is recommended for the Spanish since they can upgrade them further other civilizations and lack the Halberdier.
 * Hit Points: 144
 * Hand Attack: 9
 * Siege Attack: 38