Bow Rider

Bow Rider
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Cavalry Light cavalry Ranged cavalry Archer
Civilization	Lakota
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Corral
Food	100
Coin	75
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	225
Resists	30% vs. Melee
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	14
Population	2
XP train bounty	18
XP bounty	18
Melee attack
Damage	10
Multipliers	x4.5 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.0 vs. Artillery x3.0 vs. Coyote Runners
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	20
Multipliers	x2.25 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.0 vs. Artillery x1.5 vs. Coyote Runners
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	10
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

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

The Bow Rider is a mounted archer 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 melee damage and high speed.

Unlike other ranged cavalry, Bow Riders lack the 0.5 multiplier against Villagers, so they are among the best at harassing an enemy's economy, third only to Apache Cavalry (with Apache Raiders) and to Cavalry Archers with the "Irregulars" Home City Card. They should be escorted with Tokala Soldiers and/or Axe Riders, who can attack ranged infantry units, while also assisting at killing the Villagers.

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 accompagny 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, meant to balance the lack of a 0.5 multiplier against Villagers, 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 attack)
	Champion Bow Riders	400 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Bow Riders to Champion (+25% hit points and attack); requires Elite Bow Riders
	Legendary Bow Riders	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Bow Riders to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); 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, Coyote Runners, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, ranged infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Horsemanship (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Bonepipe Armor (+1.0x multiplier vs. artillery) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0x multiplier vs. villagers) Seminole Bowyer (+15%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Sight	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light 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 attack 25 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Lakota 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 attack 25 Mustangs Cavalry costs -10% 10 Riding School Cavalry train time -40% 10 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Bow Riders have 250 hit points.

Definitive Edition

• Bow Riders now have 225 hit points.

History

“	When forced west by the encroachment of the European colonists, the Sioux adapted to a wide-ranging, nomadic lifestyle - aided primarily by their mastery of the horse. The Sioux 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