Arquebusier

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. For the technology in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms, see Arquebus.

Arquebusier
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Light infantry* Ranged infantry Gunpowder unit Rifle infantry*
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Banner army	Territorial Army Imperial Army Black Flag Army*
Cost	85 Coin 1 Population
Train time	27 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	97
Resistance	30% Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	24
Train XP	9
Kill XP	9
Ranged attack
Damage	13 Ranged
Range	2-20
Rate of Fire	3.0
Bonus damage	2.5× vs. Light ranged cavalry 2.5× vs. Ranged shock infantry 2.0× vs. Heavy infantry 0.6× vs. Cavalry 0.6× vs. Shock infantry*
Siege attack
Damage	9 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	5 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	2.0× vs. Light ranged cavalry 2.0× vs. Ranged shock infantry 2.0× vs. Heavy infantry 0.75× vs. Cavalry 0.75× vs. Shock infantry

“	Chinese foot soldier armed with a rifle. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Arquebusier is a ranged infantry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of Territorial Army, Imperial Army, and (prior to the Definitive Edition) Black Flag Army. It functions identically to the Skirmisher.

Overview

The Arquebusier has a long range attack with a multiplier against heavy infantry and light cavalry and a good ranged resistance, but (like all Skirmishers) has low hit points and a weak hand attack.

Their base statistics are fairly unimpressive; however, they are extremely upgradable in the Fortress Age and can become one of the most powerful skirmishers in this age, while maintaining their low cost.

Combining Territorial Combat, Repelling Volley and the British Consulate passive bonus brings the total, combined boosts (alongside the default veteran upgrade) to 45% hit points and damage, comparable to Forest Prowlers.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Arquebusier	Automatically	Upgrades Arquebusiers to Disciplined (+20% hit points and damage)
	Honored Arquebusier	300 wood 300 coin	Upgrades Arquebusiers to Honored (+30% hit points and damage)
Imperial Age	Exalted Arquebusier	750 wood 750 coin	Upgrades Arquebusiers to Exalted (+50% hit points and damage); requires Honored Arquebusier

Further statistics

As Arquebusiers are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry
Weak vs.	Heavy cavalry, hand shock infantry, counter skirmishers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Smokeless Powder (+10%) Armatoloi (+5%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+25% hand attack) Somali Jile Daggers (-35% hand attack Rate of Fire) Kalthoff Repeaters (+0.1 multiplier vs. light infantry)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance)
Speed	Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Line of Sight	Schützenfest (+1)
Range	Schützenfest (+1)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost; Territorial Army and Imperial Army) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost; Territorial Army and Imperial Army)
Train time	Akan Fontomfrom (-20% Territorial Army, -10% Imperial Army) Quechuan Diet (-15%; Territorial Army and Imperial Army) Immigrants (-10%; Territorial Army and Imperial Army)
Other	Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 8/12/21 Arquebusiers if Confucian Academy was built for the Chinese to reach the Fortress/Industrial/Imperial Age respectively) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Arquebusiers are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Arquebusier

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Shared

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen	Ranged infantry damage +10%; French and Hausa-only ranged infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Senegalese Riflemen" is available to the French and Hausa.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Delivers 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villager, healing unit, Envoy, and Disciple speed +5%
10 Arquebusiers	Delivers 10 Arquebusiers
17 Arquebusiers	Delivers 17 Arquebusiers
Emperor's Army	Delivers 22 Arquebusiers and 8 Hand Mortars; costs 1,500 food
Territorial Army Combat	Changdao Swordsman and Arquebusier hit points and damage +15%
Repelling Volley	Chu Ko Nu and Arquebusier bonus damage against heavy infantry +1.0, against light ranged cavalry and ranged shock infantry +1.25
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%
Acupuncture	Unit (except monk) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5%
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%

• "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" does not stack with the Inca "TEAM Inca Bridges" card.

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry hit points +10%; Dutch-only infantry hit points +15% instead

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged infantry speed +5%

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Bonaparte	Enables Skirmisher, Cassador, Forest Prowler, Wakina Rifle, Sharpshooter, Neftenya, Imperial Army, and Territorial Army to be trained from the Commerce Age; Bersagliere from the Fortress Age; Strelet, Jaeger, Longbowman, Salteador, Otontin Slinger, Gurkha, Yumi Archer, Jungle Bowman, and Desert Archer train time -20%; Leather Cannon train time -40%

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Scout Infantry	Delivers 1 Native Scout; infantry Line of Sight +8

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Delivers 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villager, healing unit, and Envoy speed +5%

• "TEAM Inca Bridges" does not stack with the Chinese "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrade cost -20%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints	Gunpowder trooper hit points +15%

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
10 Arquebusiers	Ships 10 Arquebusiers		1
17 Arquebusiers	Ships 17 Arquebusiers		1
Emperor's Army	Ships 22 Arquebusiers and 8 Hand Mortars; costs 1,500 food		40
Territorial Army Combat	Arquebusiers and Changdao Swordsmen get +15% hit points and damage		25
Repelling Volley	Chu Ko Nus and Arquebusiers get +10% attack and +1.0 multiplier against heavy infantry and light ranged cavalry		10
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage		40
Acupuncture	All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20%		10
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%		10

Dutch

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

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack	Gunpowder trooper and archers get +15% attack		10
TEAM Early Skirmishers	Skirmishers, Cassadores, Forest Prowlers, Wakina Rifles, Imperial Army, and Territorial Army can be trained in the Colonial Age; Longbowman, Strelet, Otontin Slinger, Gurkha, and Yumi Archer train time -20%		25

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		25

Iroquois

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 Line of Sight		10

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Portuguese

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

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Dueling School	Infantry (except Skull Knights), Old Han Army, and Territorial Army train time -25%; Black Flag Army, Standard Army, Ming Army, and Imperial Army train time -12%		25

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Arquebusiers have 16 ranged damage.
• The Arquebusier is trained as part of the Black Flag Army.
• With patch 1.01, Arquebusiers have a ×2.0 ranged multiplier against light ranged cavalry and Eagle Runner Knights, and ×0.75 against cavalry and Coyote Runners.

Definitive Edition

• The Arquebusier is no longer trained as part of the Black Flag Army.
• Arquebusiers have a ×2.0 ranged multiplier against light cavalry and ranged shock infantry, and ×0.75 against cavalry and hand shock infantry.
• With update 23511, the Arquebusier is tagged as Rifle infantry.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.9057, the Arquebusier is tagged as Light Infantry.
• With update 13.58326, Arquebusiers have a ×2.5 ranged multiplier against light cavalry and ranged shock infantry, ×0.6 vs. cavalry and ×0.5 vs. shock infantry.
• With update 14.43676, Arquebusiers have 15 ranged damage.

Trivia

• Despite its name, the Arquebusier actually uses a flintlock musket rather than an actual arquebus.

History

“

The arquebus was a European matchlock gun that was adopted by Asian cultures in the sixteenth century. When Portuguese explorer, Fenrao Mendes Pinto, accidentallly landed on the small island of Tanegashima in the Japanese archipelago in 1543, he introduced members of the Shimazu clan to the arquebus, and altered Japanese warfare forever. Within ten years, Portuguese guns could be found on every battlefield in Japan. Despite the advantages of requiring smaller ammunition, and having a jarring psychological effect on its targets, the arquebus had many disadvantages. It was slow to reload, leaving its user at the mercy of archers firing at a much faster rate. It was also horribly inaccurate. Training to use the weapon was required, but this took time. However, once the training was complete, the arquebus proved to be a frighteningly lethal weapon, especially once the rate of reload was shortened by the development of volley-fire tactics. Japanese Ikko-Ikki warrior monks were the first to use controlled volley-fire in battle, unleashing 3,000 arquebusiers on the body of Oda Nobunaga's army before the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. With the strength of their new weapon, the monks were able to repel the daimyo's forces and hold the castle. It was such a stunning display that by 1592, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, the arquebusier was the primary weapon used by Japanese soldiers in the attacking army. The Chinese began to use the arquebus at about the same time as the Japanese, although it is not as well recorded. It is generally believed that early Chinese firearms were based on designs taken from the weapons used by Japanese wokou pirates, who in turn had copied the designs of the Portuguese. Once the gun was introduced to the Chinese it became a standard issue. In 1558, Chinese gunsmiths manufactured a total of 10,000 guns for the Chinese Imperial Army.

”

Gallery

An in-game Arquebusier

Icon from the website

The Arquebusier's history portrait

In-game (Disciplined) Arquebusier model

In-game Honored/Exalted Arquebusier model

Arquebusier image from the Compendium section

In-game (Disciplined) Arquebusier in the Definitive Edition

In-game Honored/Exalted Arquebusier in the Definitive Edition