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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Archer.

โ€œ Ranged unit. โ€
Age of Empires II description

The Archer is a foot archer unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Archery Range. Despite having low attack, HP, and armor, it compensates for that by having a ranged attack, which can easily decimate most enemy infantry given equivalent upgrades.

Tactics[]

Archer walkanim aoe2

Archers are extremely proficient raiding units in the Feudal Age due to their ranged attack. With it, they can easily pick off enemy infantry such as Men-at-Arms or Spearmen and disrupt the enemy's economy by harassing their Villagers. However, they are extremely ineffective against all buildings, Scout Cavalry, and Skirmishers. Archers often are the Feudal Age rush unit of choice, because they are the most effective Feudal Age unit against Villagers (thanks to their range, allowing for quick kills, and negating small quick-Walls) and they do not cost food, allowing the player to stockpile food for advancing to the Castle Age. However, because they require more investment and higher numbers than Men-at-Arms or Scout Cavalry, most civilizations will open with the latter units during the early stages of the Feudal Age.

Archerrush

Archers performing a Feudal Age rush, harassing enemy Villagers

The Feudal Age counters to Archers (Scouts and Skirmishers) are quite food intensive, delaying the defending player's Castle Age advance substantially, if they are not prepared for it. Mid-sized to large groups of Archers make extremely good early harassment soldiers due to the absence of Knights on both sides. It can still be effective mid-game, but its power rapidly diminishes with the introduction of not only Knights, but also Scorpions and Mangonels. Many early rush strategies like the Tower rush can become more successful if supported with Archers as they can garrison in the attacking Towers and increase the number of arrows fired.

Their ranged attack can also prove helpful when defending from an early raid. When garrisoned inside Watch Towers or placed behind a Wall, they can be very effective.

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Infantry, Villagers
Weak vs. Skirmishers, Scout Cavalry, Eagle Scouts
Upgrades
Attack FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
ChemistryDE Chemistry (+1)
UniqueTechImperialDE Bogsveigar+ (+1, Vikings only)
Range FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Yeomen+ (+1, Britons only)
Firing rate ThumbRingDE Thumb Ring+ (+18%)
Accuracy ThumbRingDE Thumb Ring+ (increases accuracy to 100% for non-moving targets)
BallisticsDE Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor PaddedArcherArmorDE Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1)
LeatherArcherArmorDE Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1)
RingArcherArmorDE Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Pavise+ (+1/+1, Italians only since The African Kingdoms)
Conversion defense Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
HeresyDE Heresy (die upon getting converted)
UniqueTechCastle-DE First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max)+ (Sicilians only)
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)
Cost UniqueTechCastle-DE Kamandaran+ (converts cost to 60 wood, 0 gold, Persians only)
Upgrades Crossbowman-research Crossbowman+
+ means that the speed of research can be improved by +33% by researching Conscription.

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

  • Archers train in 27 seconds.
  • The Crossbowman upgrade costs 125 food, 75 gold.
  • Archers do not have a special attack bonus against Spearmen.
  • Saracens AoE2 Saracens (team bonus): Archers have +2 attack against standard buildings.

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

  • Vietnamese AoE2 Vietnamese: Initially, Archers had +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. With patch 5.8, they have +20% HP.

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

  • Bulgarians AoE2 Bulgarians: Initially, the Team Bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
  • Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith updates cost -50% food.
  • Persians AoE2 Persians: Kamandaran technology introduced in replacement for Boiling Oil, making Archers cost 50 wood. With update 34699, Kamandaran makes Archers cost 60 wood.
  • Koreans AoE2 Koreans: Initially, Archers cost -15% wood. With update 39284, they cost -20% wood.
  • Koreans: With update 42848, Archer armor upgrades are free.
  • Portuguese AoE2 Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
  • Saracens AoE2 Saracens: Initially, Archers have +3 attack bonus against standard buildings. With update 34055, Archers have +1/+2/+3 attack bonus against standard buildings in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West[]

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

  • With update 87863, Magyars lose foot archers +2 Line of Sight team bonus.
  • Chinese AoE2 Chinese: With update 87863, technologies that benefit Archers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
  • Koreans: With update 87863, Archers cost -50% wood.

Aoe2 hb Victors and Vanquished[]

History[]

โ€œ The bow remained an important military weapon after the fall of Rome, although less so in areas of Europe covered by dense forests. Archers could fight from a distance, from behind walls or other cover, and from ambush. They were usually not decisive in battle on the attack because they could not physically take ground from the enemy like infantry could. They acted mainly as defensive troops and as light troops that disrupted enemy formations prior to the decisive moment when the armies clashed hand-to-hand. If barrages of arrows could cause casualties and drain the fighting spirit of the enemy prior to the clash, friendly troops had a better chance of breaking the will of the enemy and being victorious. Archers were also very useful when both defending and attacking a castle. โ€

Trivia[]

  • In terms of wood, the units from the Archer line are the cheapest archers in the game.
  • With 30, the Archer has the fewest hit points of all military units, tied with the Skirmisher and the Karambit Warrior; the Villager is the only trainable unit with less HP (25 without Loom).
  • The Archer line units are the only common archer units that do not have any base melee armor nor pierce armor.
  • In pre-release versions of Age of Empires II, Archers and Crossbowmen were two separate lines. Archers were trash units that were cheap, fast firing, inaccurate, and weak, and consisted of the Archer itself, and the Composite Archer. Crossbowmen were expensive, cost wood and gold, slower firing, more accurate, and gave a high damage output.
    • In real life, an archer's training consumes more time and resources than a crossbowman's.

Gallery[]

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager ยท Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart ยท FishingShipDE Fishing Ship ยท Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog ยท King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia ยท Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms ยท Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman ยท Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman ยท Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman ยท Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman ยท Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer ยท Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman ยท Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher ยท Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer ยท Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry ยท Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry ยท Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight ยท Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier ยท Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider ยท Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram ยท Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram ยท Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel ยท Onager aoe2DE Onager ยท Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion ยท Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship
Galley aoe2DE Galley ยท War galley aoe2DE War Galley ยท Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley ยท Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship ยท Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft ยท Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship ยท Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon ยท Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
Regional
InfantryEaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout ยท Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior ยท EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherAoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer ยท ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryBattle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant ยท Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer ยท Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant ยท AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
War shipAoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk ยท Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower ยท CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero ยท Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia ยท GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto ยท Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam ยท HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl ยท JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior ยท KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk ยท Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior ยท AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary ยท Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch ยท SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai ยท Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant ยท Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior ยท TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight ยท ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman ยท Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest ยท WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai ยท CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer ยท ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu ยท AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman ยท ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador ยท GenitourIcon-DE Genitour ยท GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman ยท Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher ยท JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary ยท Kipchakicon Kipchak ยท LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman ยท MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai ยท PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer ยท Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha ยท Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer ยท SlingerIcon-DE Slinger ยท WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant ยท BoyarIcon-DE Boyar ยท Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout ยท CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract ยท Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion ยท Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier ยท Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel ยท ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider ยท Keshikicon Keshik ยท Konnikicon Konnik ยท Leitisicon Leitis ยท MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar ยท MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke ยท AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa ยท Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha ยท AoE2 Savar Savar ยท Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider ยท TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan ยท WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant ยท Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice ยท Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon ยท OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel ยท LongboatIcon-DE Longboat ยท Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai ยท TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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