Skirmisher (Age of Empires III)

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The Skirmisher is a rifle-wielding light Infantry unit that is effective against other Infantry units in Age of Empires III.

Overview
Skirmishers are rather easy to kill due to their low hit points, but their long-range attack makes up for this. They are excellent at countering and defeating heavy infantry, but they are weak against Cavalry and Artillery.

Some civilizations do not have Skirmishers but have other units that fulfills its role instead. Examples include the Abus Gun which act as skirmishers for the Ottomans but are much stronger, more expensive, and take up more population since they are classified as light artillery. Cassadors are a Portuguese version of the Skirmisher. They have a higher attack but lower hit points.

Civilizations

 * The French are able to research the Voltigeurs upgrade in the Industrial Age, which is more powerful than a Guard Skirmisher.
 * The Germans are able to research the Prussian Needle Gunners upgrade in the Industrial Age.
 * The Dutch Skirmishers can be trained from Colonial Age.
 * The Portuguese have unique Cassadores instead of Skirmishers.
 * The Russians have a unique Strelet instead of Skirmishers.
 * The British and Ottomans do not have Skirmishers, but have Longbows and Abus Guns, respectively, to compensate.

Upgrades
Skirmishers can be upgraded into Guard Skirmisher and Imperial Skirmisher depending on the age reached. They can further be improved with home city shipments, minor civilization upgrades, unique Church upgrades and Arsenal upgrades (especially when using the "Advanced Arsenal" card).

Arsenal
Fortress Age
 * Infantry Breastplate
 * Socket Bayonet
 * Counter Infantry Rifling

Veteran Skirmishers
Veteran Skirmishers is the next upgrade of the Skirmisher in the Fortress Age. The resistance and multipliers remains the same, with a few improvements in its stats.
 * Hit Points: 144
 * Ranged Attack: 18
 * Siege Attack: 14
 * Hand Attack: 7

Royal Guard Skirmishers
The French and Germans are the only Civilizations can upgrade skirmishers to Royal Guard level, making them the strongest out of all the civilizations. French Royal Guard Skirmishers are Voltigeurs which are available in the Industrial Age while German Royal Guard Skirmishers are Prussian Needle Gunners which are also available at the same age. Researching this upgrade improves the hit points and attack by 10%.
 * Hit Points: 192
 * Ranged Attack: 24
 * Siege Attack: 19
 * Melee Attack: 9
 * Cost: and

Imperial Guard Skirmishers
The French and Germans are the only Civilizations can upgrade skirmishers to Imperial Guard level, making them the strongest out of all the civilizations. French Imperial Guard Skirmishers are Imperial Voltigeurs which are available in the Imperial Age while German Royal Guard Skirmishers are Imperial Needle Gunners which are also available at the same age. Researching this upgrade improves the hit points and attack by 50%. This is the final upgrade which provides the most benefits, but is the most expensive available.
 * Cost: and

Shipments
This is a list of shipments that benefit Skirmishers in any way.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; margin-bottom:0px; margin-top:1px;" ! sab="1148"| Click for a list of Skirmisher related home city cards
 * The French have a Card, "TEAM Early Skirmishers", making Skirmishers available in the Colonial Age. This Card can be sent in Discovery Age.
 * The Dutch have Skirmishers available in the Colonial Age, granting them a good, but expensive, early anti-infantry unit. This problem is mitigated with Banks.
 * The British can't train Skirmishers but can send an army of twenty-six Roger's Rangers (Skirmishers) from their Church if the Glorious Revolution shipment is sent. The British also have the Longbowman, which acts like a Skirmisher.
 * - sab="1147"
 * - sab="1149"
 * sab="1150"|

Germans

 * }