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| This article is about the unit Age of Empires II. For the unit in Age of Empires, see Camel Rider (Age of Empires). |
"Excels at killing other mounted units."—Age of Empires II description
The Camel Rider (called Camel before the Definitive Edition) is a cavalry unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Stable once the Castle Age is reached. It is good against cavalry. Every civilization that has access to Camel Riders (except for the Cumans) can upgrade them to Heavy Camel Riders.
| Available | Unavailable |
|---|---|
Tactics 
Edit
Camel Riders are best used only against melee cavalry or to ambush groups of Cavalry Archers. Although Spearmen and Skirmishers can deal heavy damage to Cavalry Archers, only Camel Riders can force a fight with them. Due to to Camel Riders' weak armor and base attack, they are at a disadvantage against infantry and archers. They also lose their bonus against the resilient Cataphract, which has a special defense against anti-cavalry attack bonuses.
It should be noted that although Pikemen cost-effectively defeat melee cavalry, Camel Riders can successfully duel most melee cavalry, winning a battle of equal numbers. Camel Riders tend to fare better than Pikemen against cavalry by landing more attacks due to superior attack speed and hit points. However, if gold is scarce, Pikemen should be used instead.
Further statistics Edit
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Skirmishers, siege weapons, Cavalry Archers, cavalry |
| Weak vs. | Infantry, archers, Cataphracts, defensive structures |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20) Zealotry (+30, Saracens only)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Farimba (+5, Malians only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Faith Heresy
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Other | Maghrabi Camels (gives regeneration ability, Berbers only)
|
| Upgrades |  Heavy Camel Rider
|
Civilization bonuses Edit
- Berbers: Camel Riders are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Byzantines: Camel Riders are 25% cheaper.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Camel Riders are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Cumans: Camel Riders move 10%/15% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Indians: Camel Riders have +1 pierce armor.
- Tatars: Camel Riders deal 50% bonus damage from elevations.
Team bonuses Edit
- A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
- A team containing Huns: Camel Riders are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- A team containing Indians: Camel Riders have +6 attack against buildings.
- A team containing Teutons: Camel Riders are more resistant to conversion.
- A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
- A team containing Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 50% faster.
Changelog Edit
The Age of Kings Edit
- The unit is called Camel.
- Camels have a base attack of 5.
- Camels have an attack bonus against cavalry of +10.
- Camels need 29 seconds to train.
- Camels have a movement speed of 1.4.
- Camels are in the cavalry armor class, thus taking bonus damage from anti-cavalry attacks.
- The upgrade to the Heavy Camel Rider needs 125 seconds.
The Conquerors Edit
- Camels now train in 22 seconds.
- Camels now have a movement speed of 1.45.
- The cavalry armor class is removed from the Camels, so they do not take bonus damage from anti-cavalry attacks anymore. Instead, Camels are moved in another armor class along with ships, and now take bonus damage from anti-ship/anti-camel attacks. The Camels themselves also gain an attack bonus of +5 against their own class (and as such, also against ships).
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
- Saracens: Zealotry introduced.
The Forgotten Edit
- Camels now have a base attack of 6.
- Camels now have an attack bonus against cavalry of +9.
- The upgrade to the Heavy Camel now needs 105 seconds.
- Indians: Camels have +1/+1 armor.
The African Kingdoms Edit
- The ship armor class is removed from the Camel, and they receive a new armor class, against which they also gain an attack bonus of +5. Nevertheless, the Camels keep their attack bonus of +5 against ships. Anti-cavalry attacks still do not affect Camels.
- Berbers: Initially, Camels were 20% cheaper from the Castle Age on. With patch 4.8, that bonus was staggered to 15%/20% in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Rise of the Rajas Edit
- Indians: With patch 5.8, Camels have +1 pierce armor.
Definitive Edition Edit
- The unit is renamed to Camel Rider.
Trivia Edit
- The Camel Rider is one of the few units whose availability is strictly geography-based. Camels were used by different armies between the Mediterranean Sea and India from antiquity to modern day. While it is not known if the Mongols and Chinese used camels for combat, they certainly used them for transport, trade, and food.
- Since Rise of the Rajas, the Camel Rider is available to all civilizations with the Middle Eastern, African, and South Asian building styles. The East Asian building style is the only to feature both Camel Rider (Mongols, Chinese), and non-Camel Rider civilizations (Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese).
- In Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, the Byzantines are changed to the Mediterranean building style, making them the only Camel Rider civilization with this style (or any European building style, for that matter).
- In Definitive Edition, the Camel Rider is also available to the two civilizations with the new Central Asian building style, the Cumans and Tatars.
- The Mongols and Chinese would have been as likely to domesticate the two-humped Bactrian camel, native to the steppes of Central Asia, as the more common one-humped dromedary which is originally from Arabia. Both would have been ridden by Silk Road traders.
- In-game, Saracen Mamelukes are depicted riding Bactrian camels, despite this being historically inaccurate, as most Mamelukes rode horses, and the Camel-riding minority rode dromedaries. This inaccurate depiction possibly resulted from developers' needs to distinguish Arab Mamelukes from generic Camel Riders.
- Camels are one of two military land units that do not make the usual military sound when created, the others being Trebuchets.
- The Camel Rider makes the same sound effects as the Camel Rider from Age of Empires.
- The Camel Rider line units are the only common cavalry units that do not have any base pierce armor.
- Camel Riders deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same unit class as ships.
- The Cumans are the only civilization that have access to Camel Rider, but not the Heavy Camel Rider.
History Edit
"The Camel was a useful mount for warriors in desert regions of the world because it could move quickly across sand and could go long periods without water. In addition, horses shied away from the presence of camels. The Saracens made good use of camels during the Crusades; camel riders appeared out of the desert to raid Crusader outposts and caravans and then escaped back into terrain that horses could not cross."
Gallery Edit
The Camel line, with the Camel on the left
A group of Camels
Camels engaging enemy cavalry
A ceramic figure of a pack-camel (Sui dynasty, China)
A dromedary from a 13th c. northern French bestiary
A Camel Rider spearing a Snake, from Kitab al-Bulhan, late 14th c.
Camel Riders in The Age of Kings.
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