The Arrow Knight is a unique infantry effective against artillery and buildings. Arrow Knights shoot arrows at a great distance to make up for the lack of artillery for the Aztecs.
With a hidden tag not shown on UI, most artillery have ×0.5 damage multiplier against Arrow Knights, which makes it hard for artillery to kill Arrow Knights.
Enemy artillery is a problem for Aztecs. Most of their units are infantry, and most artillery units deal bonus damage to infantry units, in addition to area damage. Eliminating them is a priority for Aztecs, and for that job they have the Coyote Runner, but they are less useful when the enemy player protects his artillery with cavalry or anti-cavalry units. The Arrow Knight can attack artillery units from a distance, bypassing enemy protection.
The Arrow Knight is one of the few Light Infantry that is not strong against Light Cavalry and Ranged Shock Infantry, since its purpose is to counter artillery. Thus, it mimics the Culverin's role.
Strategies[]
One Arrow Knight's shot will deal the same damage like the artillery unit doesn't have resistances and the multiplier just is 1.25 (+ 1/4 bonus damage).
Increasing Arrow Knight range damage is a priority for Aztecs, because artillery units are too dangerous for them. Also, artillery units have mostly a 75% resistance against range damage, making them too difficult to kill quickly with a few Arrow Knights. Also, training a good number of them means a waste of population space against other units.
Is recommended to have all Aztec Knight shipments to boost Arrow Knight's damage by 30%, because, like Jaguar Prowl Knight & Eagle Runner Knight, the Arrow Knight does not have access to the Elite Upgrade which increases damage by 25%, so it weakens as the game continues while the enemy's units still progress.
Also, the 30% HP boost is very helpful against artillery damage. Despite dealing a 0.5x multiplier against Arrow Knights, this unit has the infantry unit type, which receives bonus damage multipliers. Still, the Arrow Knight takes less damage than other infantry units.
Another core card is Great Temple of Coatlicue Support, which increases all Arrow Knight base damage by 20%.
For more anti-building power, carry Scorched Earth. These will increase Arrow Knights' Siege Damage by an incredible 50%; in combination with upgrades and Aztec shipments, this will be a 175% increase, doing 99 Siege Damage to buildings. Is very helpful in times when the player needs to destroy defense buildings like a Fort, or a Trading Post during a Trade Monopoly win.
In maps with great masses of water, it is very helpful against ships, as they receive double siege damage from Arrow Knights, dealing a maximum of 188 Siege damage in each shot with all Aztec shipments.
Note that Arrow Knight's Siege damage isn't by affected by the War Song from the Fire Pit.
When commanding an Arrow Knight army to attack artillery, remember to active Separate formation and place them in form so that the last unit line can attack without breaking the formation.
Train a small army of Coyote Runners (10) and send them to wait in the flanks to ambush artillery when the enemy send their cavalry or infantry to attack the Arrow Knights.
Remember to upgrade the Coyote Runner.
Coyote Runners can also be used to attack ranged infantry which are attacking the Arrow Knights.
Arrow Knight, Eagle Runner Knight, Jaguar Prowl Knight, and Skull Knight hit points and damage +15%
7 Arrow Knights
Delivers 7 Arrow Knights
6 Arrow Knights
Delivers 6 Arrow Knights
Chichimeca Rebellion
Transforms all Puma Spearmen into Jaguar Prowl Knights, Coyote Runners into Eagle Runner Knights, and Otontin Slingers into Arrow Knights; villagers become Warriors upon death; costs 1,000 food, 1,000 wood, 1,000 coin
Arrow Knights cost 50 food, 75 coin, have 150 hit points, a speed of 3.75, give 11 XP when trained or killed, have 6 hand damage, 10 ranged damage, a ×5.0 ranged multiplier against artillery, and 36 siege damage.
With update 50830, Arrow Knights cost 55 food, 80 coin, have 160 hit points, give 13 XP when trained or killed, have 6.5 hand damage, 11 ranged damage, and 39 siege damage.
With update 14.43676, Arrow Knights have a ×0.6 ranged multiplier against cavalry and shock infantry and, although not listed in the patch notes, the Legendary Arrow Knights upgrade received a new model.
With update 15.59076, Arrow Knights have a speed of 4.0, give 14 XP when trained or killed, have a ×0.75 ranged multiplier against cavalry and shock infantry, and ×5.25 against artillery.
Trivia[]
The Arrow Knight's unnamed non-Aztec people is presumably the Huastecs (a.k.a. Téenek), a Maya people who migrated from Yucatan to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas in ancient times, and were conquered by the Aztecs in 1450. Unlike the Aztecs and Yucatan Mayans, the Huastecs cultivated archery to defend their more open homeland from Chichimec raids. The Huastecs were one of two peoples that impressed the Aztecs enough to adopt their clothing style for one of their ranks: the Cuextecatl, warriors who had taken two captives in battle. The other was the Otomi or Otontin, whose clothing was used by the Otomitl (five captives).
Despite the name, Arrow Knights do not actually fire any standardized arrow in combat, but rather utilize a type of heavy bow to launch light spears (Tlacochtli) at distant targets, known as Tequihua (Archer). In that sense they are more similar to ballistae in role than regular foot archers.
The Aztec bow is called Tlahhuītōlli, but it is a normal bow compared to the heavy bow seen in-game.
The Arrow Knight's quiver is known as Mīcomītl, which was made of animal skins.
The Arrow Knight use the same weapon as the Coyote Runner (Cuahuitl) when attacking enemies in melee, but with a darker color.
The Champion/Legendary Arrow Knight carries a Pāmitl, a type of war banner that officers or prestigious warriors carried on the back, in a similar manner to the Japaneseuma-jirushi (the same type of war banner carried by the Naginata Rider). The one carried by the Arrow Knight is the most basic signal flag.
History[]
“
The Aztec Empire incorporated many neighboring Mesoamerican cultures in a complex mix of trade and tribute. Warriors from neighboring tribes were often called to duty by the Aztec as they expanded throughout the region.
The arrow knights, not Aztec by birth, were allies or subject peoples called into service. Their primary weapon was the atlatl, a leverage device that enabled its user to accurately hurl a spear up to 150 yards.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Arrow Knight
An in-game Champion/Legendary Arrow Knight
The Arrow Knight from the in-game history section
Arrow Knights in melee mode, using the Cuahuitl.
Arrow Knight image from the Compendium section
An in-game Arrow Knight in the Definitive Edition
An in-game Champion Arrow Knight in the Definitive Edition
An in-game Legendary Arrow Knight in the Definitive Edition since update 14.43676
Champion Arrow Knights
Legendary Arrow Knights
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen
Scorched Earth
Knight Hitpoints
Knight Attack
Knight Combat
7 Arrow Knights
6 Arrow Knights
Chichimeca Rebellion
Fencing School
Temple of Coatlicue Support
Religious Unity
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
TEAM Coffee Consumption
TEAM Scout Infantry
TEAM Inca Bridges
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
TEAM Sengoku
TEAM Knights of the Round Table
TEAM Mariachi
TEAM Spanish Inquisition
TEAM House of Bernadotte
Knight Hitpoints
Knight Attack
Knight Combat
TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack
Dueling School
The WarChiefs[]
