Archer units (Age of Empires)

Archers in Age of Empires are one of the four combat forces on land, the other ones being infantry, cavalry, and siege weapons. Archers are ranged soldiers, either on foot or mounted.

General information
Apart from the Slinger (who is available at the Barracks), all archers are trained at the Archery Range.

Armor upgrades are available at the Storage Pit and range upgrades at the Market, whereas Alchemy and Ballistics are both researched at the Government Center, along with the Nobility technology, which affects (among others) ranged cavalry units.

Technologies
Listed below are technologies that benefit archers. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Civilizations

 * The Egyptians, Hittites, Minoans, and the Yamato are the only civilizations to have available all technologies that benefit exclusively archer units, whereas the Persians are the only ones to have all available archer unit available.
 * On the other hand, the Greeks, Minoans and Romans lack all ranged cavalry lines.
 * Civilizations with prominent archers include the Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittites and Persians. The Minoans also boast the best foot archers, despite lacking all three ranged cavalry lines.

Civilization bonuses

 * Assyrians : +40% Archery Range unit fire rate
 * Egyptians: +33% Chariot, Chariot Archer, and Scythe Chariot hit points
 * Hittites: +1 Archery Range unit damage
 * Minoans: +2 Composite Bowman range
 * Persians: War Elephant, Armored Elephant, Elephant Archer move 50% faster
 * Phoenicians: -25% War Elephant, Armored Elephant, and Elephant Archer cost
 * Yamato: -25% Horse Archers, Scout, Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, and Cataphract cost

Trivia

 * All three civilizations that lack 3 out of 4 Archery Range unit lines are located in Europe. This is partially justified, as neither Greeks nor Romans were renowned for mounted archery traditions.
 * About the Minoans on the other hand, it is unknown whether they practiced archery on the first place, as most details concerning their warfare are shrouded in mystery.