Arsonist

Arsonist
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Siege unit Ranged infantry Grenade trooper* Mercenary
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Saloon (Americans) Palace (Africans) Lombard (Italians)
Population	3
Coin	250
Training time	50 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	250
Resists	50% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	25
XP bounty	25
Melee damage
Attack	15 (deals Siege damage)
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	28 (deals Siege damage)
Multipliers	×0.4 vs. Cavalry and shock infantry ×0.25 vs. Cavalry and shock infantry (Rocketeer)
Range	0-12 12-20 (Rocketeer)
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	3.0 4.0 (Rocketeer)
Siege damage
Attack	140
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Mercenary light artillery that throws fire bombs to destroy buildings. Also good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Arsonist is a mercenary ranged heavy infantry unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties.

Overview

Available for certain civilizations from the Home City, Arsonists can sometimes be trained from the Tavern (or equivalent building). The Arsonist costs only coin, and has a powerful ranged attack with good area effect. The Arsonist also has a high siege attack making it strong against buildings being able to level bases in short seconds.

Essentially a powerful mercenary version of the Grenadier, the Arsonist is weak against heavy cavalry, artillery, ranged cavalry, and being a mercenary, is weak against all spy units, such as the Spy and Ninja.

The Arsonist is similar to the Hoop Thrower, available in the Age of Empires III Act 1 campaign.

The "Rocketeers" Home City Card enables Arsonists to upgrade to Rocketeers, which receive increased attack range at the expense of increased Rate of Fire and damage penalty against cavalry and shock infantry. It also enables Castles to train Rocketeers. The Rocketeers Home City Card does not affect siege attack.

Their ability 'Burning Damage' affects their target with a burning effect dealing 1 siege damage per second for 10 seconds, which can stack with multiple hits. It deals full damage when applied to buildings, and half damage to cavalry and shock infantry. Note that the effect is only applied by their siege, melee and rocket attacks. Their default ranged attack does not apply any burning damage.

Special Abilities

• Burning Damage (Passive): Burning damage inflicts further damage after the target was hit.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry in groups, buildings
Weak vs.	Cavalry, shock infantry, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Armatoloi (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+25% hand attack) Incendiary Grenades (+15% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings and +1 ranged attack Area of Effect)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance) Hualcana (+5% resistance; Inca only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only) Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Standing Army (-25%) Akan Fontomfrom (-20%) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Philhellenism (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Philhellenism (-10%) Yemeni Relations (exchanges cost for 50% coin, 50% influence; Ethiopians only)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost; Germans only)

Home City Cards

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

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time
Fencing School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -40% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Villager for the Indians)
Outlaw Combat	Outlaws and mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack (also upgrades Filibusters to Veteran for Baja California; costs 750 coin for Baja California, Hungary, and Revolutionary Mexicans)

• "Liberation March" is available to the Mexicans and Spanish.
• "Fencing School" is available to the Europeans (except the French, Maltese, Ottomans, and Spanish) and Indians.
• "Outlaw Combat" is available to the Mexicans upon revolting to Baja California and Europeans upon revolting to the Barbary States, Hungary, and Mexico.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Improved Grenades	Grenade troopers get +20% attack and +25% siege attack		40
TEAM Grenadier Guards	Musket infantry and grenade troopers gets +15% hit points		10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Siege Hitpoints	Artillery and Flamethrowers get +15% hit points; grenade troopers get +20% hit points		10
Siege Attack	Artillery and Flamethrowers get +15% attack; grenade troopers get +20% attack		10
Siege Combat	Artillery get +15% hit points and attack; Flamethrowers and grenade troopers get +20% hit points and attack		25
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%		10

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +10% hit points; Dutch-only infantry get +15% hit points instead		10
Dutch States Army	Mercenary train time -15% and shipments arrive time -20%, and get +7% speed (except Napoleon Guns and Li'l Bombards); enables training of Highlanders at Barracks, Royal Horsemen at Stables, and both at Tavern; Pikeman, Halberdier, Skirmisher, Hussar, and Ruyter cost +10%		N/A

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged infantry get +5% speed
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15%; "TEAM 4 Zenata Rider", "Recruit Xebec", "Recruit Xebecs", and "15 Berber Allies" cost no coin
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed

• "Loyal Warriors" is available to the Italians, Maltese, Ottomans, and Portuguese upon revolting to the Barbary States.
• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen	Ranged infantry get +10% attack; French and Hausa-only ranged infantry get +15% attack instead		10
Royal Fencing School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -40%; +3 Royal Musketeers		N/A

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Improved Mercenaries	Mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack; +3 Uhlans		10

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Ships 1 Native Scout; infantry get +8 Line of Sight		10

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Sahelian Kingdoms	Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack; mercenaries and outlaws get +10% hit points and attack

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Ships 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack instead; +1 Hindu Villager		40
Rocketeers	Upgrades Arsonists into Rocketeers that attack units with rockets at longer range; Arsonists can be trained at Castles; +1 Hindu Villager		N/A
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25
Zamindars	Infantry train time -20%; receives 2 Sepoys instead of 1 Villager with every Home City shipment; +2 Sepoys		1
Hire Indian Arsonists	Ships 6 Arsonists; +1 Hindu Villager; costs 1,000 coin		10
Hire Indian Mercenary Army	Ships 5 Jat Lancers and 7 Arsonists; +1 Hindu Villager; costs 2,000 coin		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry and cavalry get +15% hand attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Onin War	Infantry get +33% siege attack		40
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 Line of Sight and train units 15% faster; land military units' train time -20%; Banner army train time -10%		10

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 260% faster

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster
Bastimento	Infantry train time -25%; Revolutionary train time -50%; villager train time -20%
Pok Ta Pok	Infantry get +10% speed and -10% train time

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.
• "Bastimento" is available upon revolting to Rio Grande.
• "Pok Ta Pok" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
Kuleli School	Janissary, Azaps, Nizam Fusiliers, Abus Gunners, grenade troopers, and Bashibozuks get +15% hit points and attack
Cebeci	Abus Gunners and grenade troopers get +20% hit points
Topçular	Artillery, artillery troopers, and grenade troopers get +15% hit points and attack
Matrakci School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -30%; Janissary, Azap, Nizam Fusilier, Abus Gunner, and Humbaraci train time -40% instead

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Artillery Hitpoints	Grenade troopers get +30% hit points; artillery 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
Peninsular Guerrillas	Ranged infantry get +20% attack, musket infantry get +10% attack instead; Skirmishers now see the Line of Sight of enemies they attacked for 3 seconds		N/A
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
German Mercenary Contracts	Mercenaries get +20% 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
Indiana Mobilization	Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; unit train time (except Heavy Cannons), technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.

Variants

• Campaign
• Outlaw

Arsonist (campaign)
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Siege unit Ranged infantry
Training
Population	1
Food	40
Coin	40
Training time	42 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	120
Resists	50% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	8
XP bounty	8
Melee damage
Attack	16
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	16 (deals Siege damage)
Multipliers	×0.5 vs. Cavalry and shock infantry
Range	12
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege damage
Attack	27
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Light artillery that throws fire bombs to destroy buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Arsonist in The Asian Dynasties Act III: India campaign possesses much lower hit points and siege damage than the mercenary equivalent. However, its hand damage is slightly higher and takes up only one population. This unit is also accessible in the Scenario Editor under the Units category, as "SPC YP Arsonist".

Marathan Arsonist
Unit information
Type	Infantry Siege Unit Ranged infantry Grenade trooper Outlaw
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Lombard (Italians)
Population	4
Coin	180
Training time	50 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	200
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	36
XP bounty	36
Melee damage
Attack	8
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	20 (deals Siege damage)
Multipliers	×0.5 vs. Cavalry, shock infantry, Villagers and Artillery
Range	16
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege damage
Attack	27
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	An outlaw.	”
—In-game description

The Marathan Arsonist is an Outlaw variant of the Arsonist, exclusive to Unknown maps.

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Arsonists cost 300 coin and 2 population.

Definitive Edition

• Arsonists are now tagged as grenade trooper.
• Arsonists are now affected by the Incendiary Grenades technology.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.12327, Arsonists cost 250 coin and 3 population, and all attacks inflict siege damage as well as burning damage over time.

In-game dialogue

Main article: Indians (Age of Empires III)#In-game dialogue

• आदेश [Ādeś] (command)
• तैयार [Taiyār] (ready)
• हाँ? [Hān?] (yes?)
• मैं जा रहा हूँ [Main jā rahā hūn] (I am going)
• मैं करूँगा [Main karunga] (I will do it)
• हाँ [Hān] (yes)
• युद्ध करने के लिए [Yuddh karne ke liye] (to do war – To war/To battle)
• हमला [Hamalā] (attack!)
• हाँ! [Hāṃ!] (yes!)

History

“

Before exploding into greater conflict, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence, consisted of series of smaller bouts of violence manifesting the Indian people's discontent with the British occupation and the prominent role of the British East India Company in daily life. The most common of these incidents involved arson. Several months before the rebellion ignited and united the country against the foreign occupation, a number of serious fires broke out in the areas surrounding the city of Calcutta. The arson of January 24, 1857 is often considered to be the turning point between scattered uprisings and the formation of a definitive resistance movement.

”

Gallery

From left to right: Arsonist (campaign version), Arsonist (mercenary version), Repentant Arsonist

The Arsonists history portrait

The Arsonist icon from the website

Arsonist ranged attack

Campaign version

Mercenary version

The Arsonist in the Definitive Edition