Bolas Warrior

This article is about the Inca unit in the Definitive Edition. For the related native warrior in Age of Empires III, see Quechua Bolas Warrior.

Bolas Warrior
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Ranged infantry Musket infantry*
Civilization(s)	Inca Peru
Age	Fortress Age
Internal name	deBolasWarrior
Training
Trained at	Kallanka Stronghold Fort American Citadel
Cost	75 Food 45 Coin 1 Population
Train time	30 seconds seconds
Statistics
Hit points	140
Resistance	20% Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	14
Ability	Ranged attack snares the target
XP train bounty	12
XP kill bounty	12
Ranged attack
Damage	15 Ranged
Area of Effect	2
Range	2-12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Bonus damage	Same as melee
Siege attack
Damage	19 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	8 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	×2.0 vs. Heavy cavalry ×1.6 vs. Hand shock infantry ×1.25 vs. Light ranged cavalry ×1.25 vs. Ranged shock infantry ×1.0 vs. Shock infantry ×0.8 vs. Rifle Rider ×0.8 vs. Mounted Granadero ×0.5 vs. Infantry

“	Ranged warrior who hurls bolas for a wide area of effect. The bola slows down enemies. Good against cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Bolas Warrior is a heavy ranged infantry in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition that is unique to the Inca and can be trained at the Kallanka and Stronghold. It hurls the namesake bolas which causes AoE damage and snares the enemies.

Overview

While visually similar to its native warrior predecessor Quechua Bolas Warrior, the Bolas Warrior's stats are closer to those of a Dragoon or Eagle Runner Knight, and as such, it is more effective against cavalry than infantry.

Bolas Warriors are specialized in rending enemy cavalry in massed battles. Combined with its snare effect, allied melee heavy infantry can catch up with enemy cavalry easily. With multiplier penalties against infantry, they are not useful against infantry.

Being tagged as heavy infantry, they are weak vs. light infantry and artillery.

Upgrades

The Bolas Warrior starts at the Elite level, giving them +25% hit points and attack, and +1 Line of Sight and range.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Champion Bolas Warriors	400 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Bolas Warriors to Champion (+25% hit points and attack)
	Legendary Bolas Warriors	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Bolas Warriors to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); requires Champion Bolas Warriors

Civilization differences

• The Portuguese and Spanish can train Bolas Warriors at the Stronghold upon revolting to Peru when the "Machu Picchu" card is sent. These Bolas Warriors do not have the Elite level and are automatically upgraded to Champion.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, shock infantry
Weak vs.	Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Corselet (+25%; Spanish only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+10% hand attack) Armatoloi (+5% ranged attack)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance) Hualcana (+5%; Inca only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Standing Army (-25%) Akan Fontomfrom (-20%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Corselet (-15% speed; Spanish only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Bolas Warrior

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
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

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

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

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Ships 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villagers, healing units, Envoys, and Disciples get +5% speed

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

Dutch

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

Ethiopians

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

Haudenosaunee

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

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Ranged Infantry Attack	Jungle Bowmen, Bolas Warriors, and Huaracas get +15% attack
8 Bolas Warriors	Ships 8 Bolas Warriors
16 Bolas Warriors	Ships 16 Bolas Warriors
7 Bolas Warriors	Ships 7 Bolas Warriors
Ranged Infantry Hitpoints	Jungle Bowmen, Bolas Warriors, and Huaracas get +15% hit points
Road Building	Land military units get +10% speed
Couriers	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry train time -45%
TEAM Inca Bridges	Ships 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed
Tupac Rebellion	Turns all villagers into Revolutionaries, Plumed Spearmen into Guard Musketeers, Chimu Runners into Guard Hussars, Jungle Bowmen into Guard Skirmishers, Bolas Warriors into Veteran Dragoons, Huaracas into Guard Grenadiers, and Macemen into Guard Soldados; costs 1,500 food, 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin
Colla Support	Ships 22 Bolas Warriors; Bolas Warriors get +35% hand attack; costs 1,500 coin

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

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

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

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
Fencing School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -40%

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
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
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Bernadotte	Heavy infantry get +15% hit points

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• Originally, Bolas Warriors had a ×1.6 ranged multiplier against shock infantry. With update 3552, they have a ×1.6 ranged multiplier against hand shock infantry and ranged shock infantry and the ×1.6 ranged multiplier against shock infantry was removed. Although it is not listed in the patch notes, since update 20322, they have a ×1.5 ranged multiplier against ranged shock infantry.
• Originally, Bolas Warriors had 3.5 ranged Rate of Fire. With update 5208, they have 3.0 ranged Rate of Fire.
• Originally, Bolas Warriors cost 2 population and had 12 range. With update 9476, they cost 1 population and have 14 range.
• Originally, Bolas Warriors have a speed of 4.0. With update 20322, they have a speed of 4.25.
• With update 23511, Bolas Warriors are tagged as musket infantry.
• Bolas Warriors cost 35 food, 65 coin, have a ×1.5 ranged multiplier against light ranged cavalry, a ×0.67 ranged multiplier against Rifle Rider, and no multiplier against infantry and Mounted Granadero.

The African Royals

• With update 47581, Bolas Warriors cost 65 food, 45 coin and have 12 range. Although it is not listed in the patch notes, now they have a ×1.25 ranged multiplier against light cavalry and ranged shock infantry, a ×0.8 ranged multiplier against Rifle Rider and Mounted Granadero, and a ×0.67 ranged multiplier against infantry.
• With update 61213, Bolas Warriors cost 75 food, 45 coin and have a ×0.5 ranged multiplier against infantry.

History

“	The standing army of the Inca was formed primarily by nobles, but the Sapa Inca could raise an army of able-bodied men from the general populace at will. Military discipline was strictly enforced when the troops were on the march and the army, although variously specialized, was extremely well trained. They wore cloth armor that breathed well, allowed for free movement, and dissipated the force of blows. Battles tended to open with a hail of projectile weaponry before the forces closed in melee combat. One such projectile was the bolas, a relatively short-ranged weapon consisting of a pair of stone or metal weights joined by a chain or rope that entangled itself around the limbs of a target, injuring it while wrapping tightly to hamper movement. Once snared, the victim was left defenseless and vulnerable to a deadly blow.	”
—In-game history section

Trivia

• Since update 23511, the Bolas Warrior is tagged as musket infantry, despite not wielding a musket.

Gallery

Bolas Warrior image from the Compendium section

An in-game Bolas Warrior

An in-game Elite Bolas Warrior

An in-game Champion/Legendary Bolas Warrior