This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms. For the unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, see Arquebusier. |
Arquebus is a technology in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms that is unique to the Portuguese and can be researched at the Castle once the Imperial Age is reached. Once researched, it provides Portuguese gunpowder units with the same accuracy boost that arrow-using units gain by having Ballistics researched, i.e. they aim at moving targets as accurately as at non-moving targets. Arquebus also increases the speed of the projectiles.
Researching Ballistics is not necessary to make Arquebus work. Bombard Towers gain the effect of Ballistics with just Arquebus researched as well.
Strategy[]
Arquebus is the cornerstone of the Portuguese army in the Imperial Age. It is highly useful if the player favors the use of Hand Cannoneers and Organ Guns due to it increasing the accuracy of those units at longer ranges. This lets them neutralize incoming melee units more effectively, thus remedying one of their major weaknesses. It also benefits Bombard Cannons, Bombard Towers, and Cannon Galleons, making them more effective when dealing with moving targets, which helps them defending a location.
Team bonuses[]
- Portuguese: Researching Arquebus is 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The African Kingdoms[]
- Arquebus increases the projectile speed of Bombard Cannons and Bombard Towers by 0.5.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Arquebus now has a smaller effect on gunpowder units, the speed modifier is reduced by 75%.
- With patch 5.2, the speed modifier for Bombard Cannons and Bombard Towers is removed.
- With patch 5.7, the speed modifier for Bombard Cannons and Bombard Towers is now +0.2.
History[]
An arquebus is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Mediterranean during the Renaissance, and was one of the first type of hand-held firearms to see widespread use in combat. The term arquebus was applied to many different forms of firearms from the 15th to 17th centuries, but it originally referred to "a hand-gun with a hook-like projection or lug on its under surface, useful for steadying it against battlements or other objects when firing". These "hook guns" were in their earliest forms of defensive weapons mounted on German city walls in the early 15th century. The addition of a shoulder stock, priming pan, and matchlock mechanism in the late 15th century turned the arquebus into a handheld firearm and also the first firearm equipped with a trigger. Arquebuses were used as early as 1472 by the Portuguese at Zamora. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier.
Despite the reduced powder load, the arquebus was indeed more accurate than the hand cannons it replaced; this was primarily due to the fact that its matchlock mechanism allowed the weapon to be aimed with both hands and the attention of the gunner to be focused upon the target, not on priming their weapon.
Trivia[]
- Bombard Towers already benefit from regular Ballistics, however they can still easily miss, as their cannonballs travel quite slowly. The additional projectile speed increase from Arquebus is nigh unnoticeable and does not help much.
- The Arquebus effect on projectile speed is relatively minute:
- For the Cannon Galleon, projectile speed is increased by 17% (3 → 3.5 tiles per second) (compared to 7 t / sec for the Spanish Cannon Galleon projectile);
- For the Bombard Tower, projectile speed is increased by 6.7% (3 → 3.2 t / sec);
- For the Bombard Cannon, projectile speed is increased by 5% (4 → 4.2 t / sec);
- For other gunpowder units, projectile speed is increased by 6.7% (7.5 → 8 t / sec).