โ | Shots from our bows rarely miss their mark. | โ |
—Archers of the Eyes' dialogue in The Siege of Jerusalem |
Archers of the Eyes (sic, singularized in the Definitive Edition) is a foot archer hero in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings representing Nubian archers who were known for their expert marksmanship, letting loose showers of arrows aimed at the eyes of their enemies, hence their name. They can also be found in the Scenario Editor. Archers of the Eyes are represented by Arbalesters in-game. As heroes, they cannot be converted and can regenerate health (since The Conquerors). All archery upgrades also benefit Archers of the Eyes.
Campaign appearances
- The player starts with several Archers in the fourth scenario of the Saladin campaign, The Siege of Jerusalem.
- In the final scenario The Lion and the Demon the player starts with several of them.
- In the final Barbarossa scenario, The Emperor Sleeping, Saladin is one of the player's enemies and has several Archers of the Eyes in his army.
- In the second Yodit scenario of The African Kingdoms, The Right Partner, Archers of the Eyes are part of Raider groups that attack the player's harbor base. In addition, the Nobatia city to the west has a number of them stationed near its Castle.
Trivia
- Their arrows always hit their target, even without researching Thumb Ring or Ballistics.
- Despite representing people from present-day Sudan and southern Egypt, their character sprite depicts them with pale skin and reddish-brown hair. They are also armed with arbalests instead of their famed reflexed longbows (although crossbows were also used in Medieval Nubia).
- The first mention of "Archers of the Eyes" is from the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century, but associating Nubians with powerful archery goes back to Ancient Egypt, when the southern border was called Ta-Seti or "Land of the Bow".