Armored Pistoleer

Armored Pistoleer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Mercenary Gunpowder infantry Musket Infantry Ranged infantry
Age	Fortress Age
Abilities	Deflection
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Saloon (Americans) Palace (Africans)
Coin	250
Training time	60 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	660
Resists	60% vs. Melee
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	16
Population	4
XP train bounty	25
XP bounty	25
Melee attack
Damage	25
Multipliers	×3.0 vs Cavalry ×2.25 vs Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	45
Range	12
Area of Effect	1
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	46
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Heavy ranged infantry mercenary from Savoy who uses his thick darkened armor to deflect some of the damage inflicted to nearby allies. Pistol attack deals area damage.	”
—In-game description

The Armored Pistoleer is a mercenary gunpowder infantry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean.

Overview

The Armored Pistoleer is a heavy ranged infantry with high hit points, melee resistance, and base attack. It is effective against cavalry and Shock Infantry, but vulnerable against Skirmishers and artillery.

Unlike other heavy infantry units, the Armored Pistoleer has more hit points and is highly resistant against melee attacks. In addition to its increased attack, which causes splash damage in ranged mode, and its melee multipliers, the Armored Pistoleer excels at defeating cavalry and shock infantry units, and is slightly effective against heavy infantry like Halberdiers or Doppelsoldners. The Armored Pistoleer also has the Deflection passive ability, which allows it to absorb some of the damage inflicted to nearby player or ally units in a radius of 12.

They take more population space, are expensive, and have slow speed and training time, but they are tanky infantry units useful to protect another units from enemy attacks. However, it is recommended to combine Armored Pistoleers with Hussars to defeat long-ranged infantry units (like Skirmishers) or artillery units, which can counter heavy infantry.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, Shock Infantry, heavy infantry
Weak vs.	Light infantry, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%; British only) Corselet (+25%; Spanish only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Second Guarantee (+15%; Mexicans only) Cree Tanning (+10%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Socket Bayonet (+20% melee attack) Paper Cartridge (+15%) New Order Infantry (+0.5× melee multiplier vs. cavalry, +0.3× vs. Shock Infantry; Ottomans only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Second Guarantee (+15%; Mexicans only) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+25% melee attack) Armatoloi (+5%)
Armor	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+10% melee/ranged resistance)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) New Order Infantry (-20%; Ottomans only) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Quechuan Diet (-10%) Akan Fontomfrom (-25%) Philhellenism (-10%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Yemeni Relations (exchanges cost for 50% coin, 50% influence; Ethiopians only) Philhellenism (-10%)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed; British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost; Germans only) Corselet (-15% speed; Spanish only) Second Guarantee (+30% train time; Mexicans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Armored Pistoleer

• Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
• Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Fencing School	Infantry train time -40%		10
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +5% speed and train time -35%		N/A

The Fencing School card is not available to Chinese, Haudenosaunee, Japanese, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans and Spanish.

The Liberation March card is available to Mexicans and Spanish

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; Hero respawn time -15%

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Musketeer/Grenadier Hitpoints	Musket Infantry and Grenade Trooper get +15% hit points		40

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	Unit train time -20%		10

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points		10

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged Infantry get +5% speed
Temenyas	Gunpowder infantry get +5% attack; Neftenya available in the Commerce Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack	Ranged infantry get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Improved Mercenaries	Mercenaries get +20% hit points and attack +3 Uhlans		10

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 LOS		10

Incas

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Infantry and civilian units get +5% speed; +1 Chasqui

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack
Savoyard Company	Ships 6 Royal Horsemen and 9 Armoured Pistoleers; costs 1,000 food, 1,000 wood, and 1,000 coin
Black Company	Ships 5 Black Rider and 5 Armoured Pistoleers; costs 500 food, 500 wood, and 500 coin
TEAM House of Savoy	Ships 4 Armored Pistoleers; costs 750 coin

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Onin War	Infantry get +33% siege attack		40
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 LOS and train units 15% faster; Banner army train time -10%; Land military unit train time -20%		25

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Center owned by the player; increases all unit hit points by 2%
Hire Armored Pistoleers	Ships 8 Armored Pistoleers; costs 1,000 coin

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Plan of Tuxtepec	[Plan] Turns all Salteadores into Soldados; Musket Infantry get +1 range and Line of Sight.
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings have their work rate increased by 400% and units have their speed increased by 10%

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints	Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points		10

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Ransack	Infantry get +50% siege attack		25
Dueling School	Infantry train time -25%		25

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 LOS		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Bernadotte	Heavy infantry get +15% hit points
German Mercenary Contracts	Mercenaries get +25% hit points and attack; Jaegers and Landsknechts can be trained at Barracks and Galleons; Black Riders can be trained at Stables and Galleons

United States

Card	Description	Age
United States Army	The General, Minutemen, and Heavy Infantry get +15% hit points and attack

Federal State

Card	Description	State
Indiana Mobilization	Ships an additional Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; all units and technologies including Age advancements train and research 10% faster; costs 250 food, 250 wood	Indiana
Land of Lincoln	Inspiring Flags LOS and AOE +70, and now also improve unit's hit points by 5% and buildings' hit points by 10%	Illinois
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units and buildings get +8 LOS; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds	Michoacán
Bustamante	The General can build Field Hospitals for free; Musket Infantry get +10% hit points; Field Hospitals can train Soldados	San Luis Potosí
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing speed increased by 200%	Estado de México
Cinco de Mayo	Forts increase the hit points and attack of friendly Infantry and Cavalry in an AOE of 26 around them by 25%	Puebla

Changelog

Knights of the Mediterranean

• Originally, Armored Pistoleers had 37 melee damage and 53 ranged damage. With update 13.10442, they have 25 melee damage and 45 ranged damage.
• With update 13.12327, the Armored Pistoleer image from the Compendium section was updated.

In-game dialogue

The Armored Pistoleer speaks French using the French Mortar's dialogue files.

Trivia

• The Armored Pistoleer wears a Savoyard style three quarter armour with a closed burgonet helm which resembles a human face.
• The Armored Pistoleer is tagged as Musket Infantry, although he does not wield a musket.
• Despite not using a musket, he is seen with one in its Compendium section image. This was corrected in update 13.12327.

History

“

During the early-modern period, one military innovation made by Franco-Italian states in particular was the use of dismounted elite infantry in instances where fighting on foot was preferable to being astride a horse. One such group, the Savoyard cuirassiers, flourished during the 17th century, fighting in full plate armor while wielding pistols and swords. The sight of these troops, particularly their peculiar burgonet helms – which resembled an otherworldly face – struck fear into even the most hardened adversaries.

”

Gallery

Updated Armored Pistoleer image from the Compendium section

Armored Pistoleer image from the Compendium section, before update 13.12327

An in-game Armored Pistoleer