This article is about the Age of Empires III mercenary unit. For the cheat unit in Age of Empires, see Black Rider (Age of Empires). |
“ | Heavily armed German mercenary cavalry armed with pistols. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Black Rider is a mercenary light cavalry in Age of Empires III. The Black Rider fights on horseback, wearing black armor, and wields powerful handguns.
Overview
The Black Rider is a swift unit with a reasonable long range attack which can also take a lot of hits due to their substantial armor. Like its basic version, the Dragoon, the Black Rider is a type of ranged counter-cavalry unit. It is also good for killing enemy Artillery. With 12 Missionaries (Japanese ally), Unction, all attack improvement upgrades and cards (German and Indian allies), the Spanish German Black Rider is the ranged cavalry with the highest ranged attack, 100.32.
Further statistics
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Heavy cavalry, light infantry, artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, ranged infantry, light cavalry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) |
Attack | Customized Merc Weapons (+30%, John Black's Mercenaries only) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) |
Range | Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) |
Sight | Town Watch (+2) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) |
Speed | Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%) |
Creation speed | Mass Cavalry (-50%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) File:Inca Chaquis Messengers.png Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%) |
Train cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) |
Other | Order of the Tower and the Sword (ships 11 Black Riders, Portuguese only) |
Penalties | Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) |
Home City Cards
Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Black Rider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team All
Chinese
Europeans
Germans
Indians
Ottomans
Russians
Spanish
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In-game dialogue
- Main article: Germans#In-game dialogue
- Ja? (Yes?)
- Bereit! (Ready!)
- Auftrag? (Order?)
- Jawohl! (Yes!)
- Verstanden! (Understood!)
- Wird erledigt! (It will be done!)
- Angriff! (Attack!)
- In den Kampf! (Into the fight!)
History
“ | Black Riders were also known as "devil riders" because of the blackened armor they wore. They first appeared in Germany in the sixteenth century. The Riders developed a special tactic known as "caracole," which allowed them to effectively bombard infantry units with constant weapons fire. In caracole, cavalry units created a tight formation. The units in front fired their weapons, and then quickly charged to the back to reload. The units that were just behind them fired immediately after the first row charged backwards to reload. | ” |