Lancer

The Lancer is a Spanish and Knights of St. John unique cavalry unit featured in Age of Empires III.

Overview
It is a cavalry unit that uses a lance to attack infantry and archers. It can be recruited from a Stable or a Fort in the Fortress Age, or from the Consulate (at least level 40 Japanese home city) in the Imperial Age. Unlike most cavalry which are weak against melee infantry units, the lancer has a large bonus against infantry. It is somewhat at a disadvantage when fighting other cavalry however. Its speed also makes it efficient for slaughtering enemy Settlers or Villagers who stray too far off from the Town Center, and lancers can quickly kill most explorers due to their classification as infantry.

Spanish Lancers with Unction
The unction card, ten missionaries, the Cabelleros card, stable upgrades and all Spanish cavalry cards (+30% attack and hit points) stack to allow the lancer to quickly kill all infantry. The numbers do not take into account minor civilization bonuses. Lancers are capable of using trample mode when all upgrades and shipments have been sent and when backed by missionaries using unction. It's better to only activate the mode on a handful of units rather than en masse.

The unction Lancer however can be beaten by ranged cavalry such as the Keshik or Dragoon. Though Lancers beat the Ashigaru Musketeer in combat, it is not cost effective to get into an extended confrontation with them due to the inability of the unit to ultimately come out ahead (due to cost and population effectiveness). Hit and run raids on masses of Ashigaru or other anti-cavalry infantry are best.

Upgrades
The Lancer initially starts at this level. It is the only version of the Lancer the Knights of St. John have access to, however they still possess cavalry cards capable of boosting their lancers in combat. They are generally considered more effective than Hoop Throwers in the campaign.
 * Veteran Lancer

The Industrial Age upgrade available to the Spanish. The Knights of St. John cannot progress to this Age, and thus cannot research the upgrade.
 * Garrochista (Guard)

The Imperial Age upgrade available to the Spanish. As above, the Knights cannot research this upgrade.
 * Imperial Garrochista

Compared to other Lancer Units
When fully upgraded, and accompanied by ten missionaries (with unction), the Lancer will Possess 71 attack and 4x multipliers against infantry. The Dog Soldier, when fully upgraded, with an aura from the Sioux War Chief and full fire pit doing a War Dance, will possess 96 attack and 2.5x multiplier against infantry.

This means the Lancer is stronger than Dog Soldier against infantry units, but the Dog Soldier has 2x multipliers against Artillery, which means the Dog Soldier is more versatile than the Lancer. Also Dog Soldiers gain a speed advantage from home city cards or from their Warchief so can flee from battle effectively.

Shipments
This is a list of shipments that benefit Lancers in anyway. {| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; margin-bottom:0px; margin-top:1px;" ! sab="1148"| Click for a list of Lancer related home city cards
 * - sab="1147"
 * - sab="1149"
 * sab="1150"|

Spanish

 * }

History
"Lancers were about the only cavalry that ranks of musketeers with bayonets couldn't drop. Their lances gave them better range than bayonets though they were already an archaic weapon. Though it never vanished entirely from battlefields, the Polish were responsible for the lance's rise to prominence in the nineteenth century. Lances were wooden shafts that varied from nine feet to over 15 feet long. They carried swallow-tailed banners just under the metal tips. Some Cossacks carried lances, and many dragoon regiments were armed with both lances and carbines."