Janissary (Age of Empires II)

For the related Age of Empires III unit, see Janissary (Age of Empires III).

The Janissary and its upgrade the Elite Janissary is the Turkish unique unit. It can be created in the Castle Age from the Castle, and it is the only gunpowder unit that any civilization (excluding the Spanish) can create early at that particular age. Janissaries, especially their Elite version, are superior to Hand Cannoneers in attack and range.

Overview
Janissaries play similarly to Hand Cannoneers but with superior statistics. They are fragile but have a devastating attack. In groups they can send out a volley that will kill or severely injure enemy units that are too close. They are especially strong against infantry. They can do a lot of damage to archers and cavalry as well but archers can retaliate due to their ranged attack and cavalry can close the distance due to their speed. Up close Janissaries can be killed easily due to their low hitpoints. Siege Weapons are also a threat. A single shot from a Mangonel can devastate a formation.

Upgrades

 * Ballistics increases accuracy at moving targets
 * Padded Archer Armor increases both normal defence and piercing defence by 1
 * Leather Archer Armor further increases both normal defence and piercing defence by 1
 * Ring Archer Armor further increases both normal defence by 1 and piercing defence by 2
 * The Jannissary can be upgraded to Elite Janissary

Trivia

 * Along with Villagers, Trade Carts and Monks, Janissaries are the only units in Age of Empires II to have two skins: one, a fair-skinned man with a tall white top hat, and the other, a dark-skinned man with no hat and a conspicuously longer hand cannon.