Bow Rider

Bow Rider
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Cavalry Light ranged cavalry Ranged cavalry Archer
Civilization(s)	Lakota
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Corral Fort
Cost	100 Food 75 Coin 2 Population
Train time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	225
Resistance	30% Hand
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	14
Train XP	18
Kill XP	18
Ranged attack
Damage	18 Ranged
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	2.5x vs. Heavy cavalry 1.5x vs. Hand shock infantry 1.5x vs. Artillery 0.5x vs. Villager
Siege attack
Damage	10 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Bonus damage	1.5x vs. Artillery 1.5x vs. Resource enclosure* 0.5x vs. Wall
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	4.5x vs. Heavy cavalry 3.0x vs. Hand shock infantry 1.5x vs. Artillery

“	Ranged raiding cavalry. Good against cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Bow Rider is a light ranged cavalry in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that is unique to the Lakota and can be trained at the Corral.

Overview

The Bow Rider is best used against heavy cavalry units as a group of them should easily take down an enemy's group of heavy cavalry. They can also be used to fend off Heavy Infantry due to their good resistance toward hand damage and high speed.

Bow Riders can be trained at the Corral, at the Commerce Age, unlike other similar units. This encourages Rushing, despite their high food cost. It is highly recommended to accompany Bow Riders with the Lakota War Chief, as he provides a speed bonus that allows them to outrun most enemy units.

A severe drawback of this unit is that there are no shipments of Bow Riders available to a Lakota player, unlike Axe Riders and Rifle Riders. This, combined with their high food cost, means that they require close micromanagement; they shouldn't be sent into groups of enemies without a specific purpose.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Elite Bow Riders	200 wood 100 coin	Upgrades Bow Riders to Elite (+25% hit points and damage, +0.5 bonus damage against artillery)
	Champion Bow Riders	400 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Bow Riders to Champion (+25% hit points and damage); requires Elite Bow Riders
Imperial Age	Legendary Bow Riders	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Bow Riders to Legendary (+50% hit points and damage); requires Champion Bow Riders

Further statistics

As Bow Riders are unique to the Lakota, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy cavalry, hand shock infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Seminole Bowyer (+15%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Battle Anger (+2.0 multiplier vs. artillery) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0 multiplier vs. villagers) Horsemanship (+1.0 multiplier vs. Walls)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Bonepipe Armor (+10% siege resistance)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) Sarmatism (+1)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) Sarmatism (+1)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Horsemanship (-33%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Bow Riders are unique to the Lakota, 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 Bow Rider

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

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

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

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrade cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Akichita	Lakota warrior hit points +20%, but reduces their bonus damage against villager: Tashunke Prowler -0.75; Cetan Bowman, Club Warrior, Wakina Rifle, Axe Rider, and Tokala Soldier -0.33; Bow Rider and Rifle Rider -0.25
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry damage +15%
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry hit points and damage +15%
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%
Winter Counts	Unit train bounty +40%; building build bounty +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%

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4

Spanish

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

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack		10

Indians

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

Japanese

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

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Scouts	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		1

Sioux

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and damage		25
Mustangs	Cavalry cost -10%		10
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%		10

Spanish

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

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Bow Riders have 250 hit points and a ×2.0 hand and ranged multipliers against artillery.
• Bow Riders have 20 ranged damage and a x2.25 multiplier vs. heavy cavalry.

Definitive Edition

• Bow Riders have 225 hit points.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.12327, Bow Riders have a ×1.5 hand, ranged and siege multipliers against artillery, ×1.5 siege multiplier against Shrines and ×0.5 against Walls, the Elite Bow Rider upgrade gives +0.5 multiplier against artillery and, although it is not listed in the patch notes, his portrait has been updated.
• With update 13.18214, Bow Riders have a ×0.75 ranged multiplier against villager.
• With update 14.3853, Bow Riders have a ×0.5 ranged multiplier against villager and a ×1.5 siege multiplier against resource enclosures.
• With patch 15.59076, Bow Riders have 18 ranged damage and a x2.5 multiplier vs. heavy cavalry.

History

“	When forced west by the encroachment of the European colonists, the Lakota adapted to a wide-ranging, nomadic lifestyle - aided primarily by their mastery of the horse. The Lakota were known as expert horsemen and horse breeders. They developed extremely sophisticated riding tactics. When in battle, they would wrap their legs about their horse's upper body and lean over to the side opposite their foes - taking aim from beneath the horse's neck and using the animal for cover.	”
—In-game history section

Gallery

An in-game Bow Rider

An in-game Elite Bow Rider

An in-game Champion/Legendary Bow Rider

An in-game Bow Rider in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Elite Bow Rider in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Champion/Legendary Bow Rider in the Definitive Edition

Bow Rider image from the Compendium section