Teutonic Knight

"Teutonic unique unit. Infantry with effective armor and slow but powerful attack."

- Age of Empires II description

The Teutonic Knight is the unique unit of the Teutons in Age of Empires II. It is a slow, heavily armored infantry unit with powerful attack.

Teutonic Knights can be upgraded to Elite Teutonic Knights in the Imperial Age.

Tactics
The Teutonic Knight is the most powerful infantry unit in the game. Fully upgraded, they have 100 HP, 21 attack, 13 armor, and 6 pierce armor. They can defeat fully upgraded Paladins more effectively than fully upgraded Pikemen, but the latter are still much more cost effective against cavalry.

Teutonic Knights are tough enough to beat almost every unranged unit in a one-on-one fight, but even with their high melee armor, many hit points, and powerful attack, they prove to be vulnerable to units such as the War Elephant, Battle Elephant, and Cataphract, as well as double-teaming from infantry who have bonuses against them, such as Samurai or Jaguar Warriors, both of which can defeat Teutonic Knights in mass battles.

But their biggest disadvantage is their extremely slow speed due to the large amount of armor they wear, giving them a disadvantage against ranged units, as almost all of them can hit-and-run them. Their slow speed also makes them weak against Monks. However, the Teutons' team bonus makes it harder for enemy Monks to convert their units.

Teutonic Knights pair well with Paladins since they have no trouble with archers at all. But probably the best partner for them are siege weapons. With their increased bulk due to Ironclad, they can support the Teutonic Knights against almost any kind of threat. Scorpions and Mangonels tackle archers, and Rams can provide shelter and distract enemy units. Also Bombard Cannons work well against longer-ranged enemy units. The biggest threat to that combination are siege weapons on the other side, especially other Bombard Cannons and long-ranged Onagers, because they hit the entire army very hard and can also hit approaching Teutonic Knights before being reached due to their slow speed.

Further Statistics
As Teutonic Knights are unique to the Teutons, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Teutonic Knights 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: Teutonic Knights are more resistant to conversion.

The Age of Kings

 * Teutonic Knights move at a speed of 0.65.
 * Teutonic Knights train in 19 seconds.
 * Non-Elite Teutonic Knights have 70 HP.

The Conquerors

 * Teutonic Knights now train in 12 seconds.
 * Heresy introduced.

The Forgotten

 * Non-Elite Teutonic Knights now have 80 HP.

The African Kingdoms

 * Arson introduced.
 * With patch 4.8, Teutonic Knights now move at a speed of 0.7.

History
"At the height of the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land, German crusaders formed an order of warrior monks called the Teutonic Knights. This order gave up crusading in the Eastern Mediterranean and turned its attention to Eastern Europe. Through conquest they brought Christianity to the Baltic region and forests of what became Prussia. They built castles from which they could control the surrounding countryside. The Teutonic Knights were committed warriors who carved out an empire that lasted into the twentieth century."

- Age of Empires II manual

Trivia

 * The Teutonic Knights are based on Crusaders. However, unlike their real life counterpart, they don't carry a shield.
 * The Teutonic Knight appears to be a wearing a mail hauberk (under a surcoat and a cloak). Chain mail was very good at deflecting blows from bladed weapons (especially the curved swords used by Middle Eastern civilizations) but could easily be pieced by arrows and stabbing weapons (and eventually firearms when these became available). This might explain why the Teutonic Knight is highly resistant to melee attacks but weak against arrows and hand cannons.