 |
This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Camel Rider. |
| “ | Fast anti-cavalry unit. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
| “ | Excels at killing other mounted units. Attack bonus vs. cavalry. | ” |
| —In-game 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.
For Gurjaras, the Camel Scout is upgraded to the Camel Rider for free upon reaching the Castle Age, but they are still considered scout units, thus having a special toggle-able Auto Scout ability, and also being unable to attack timid huntables like Deer, which before an update[When?] was a restriction only on the starting Camel Scout. These do not apply to Camel Riders of other civilizations.
Availability chart[]
 Available |  Unavailable
|
|---|---|
- ✝ means that the civilization had access to Camel Riders in the past, but has lost access to it.
Tactics[]
The Camel Rider has an attack of 15 against cavalry (before armor), which is notably high for a Castle Age unit. Camel units are the third fastest land unit type in Age of Empires II, only superseded by light cavalry and Shrivamsha Riders. Cavalry can more easily escape from Pikemen than they can from Camel Riders because of their speed, meaning that whilst Pikemen can often just scare cavalry away, Camel Riders can pursue them and finish them off. Using Camel Riders against civilizations that revolve around mounted units, such as Berbers, Franks, Mongols, Persians, and Saracens often lands great results. Upgrading to Heavy Camel Rider in the Imperial Age helps them keep pace.
Camel Riders are best used only against melee cavalry or to ambush groups of mounted archers. Although Pikemen and Elite Skirmishers can deal heavy damage to mounted 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 foot 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.
Comparison among prominent civilizations[]
| Civilization |  Byzantines
|
 Saracens
|
 Hindustanis
|
 Berbers
|
 Gurjaras
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 41 food, 45 gold* | 55 food, 60 gold | 55 food, 60 gold | 47 food, 51 gold* | 41 food, 60 gold* |
| Hit Points | 100 | 145 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 2 | 1.67 | 2 | 2 |
| Attack bonus vs Cavalry | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 12 |
| Attack bonus vs Camels and Ships | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| Extras | +2 vs standard buildings | Trained 25% faster |
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Elite Skirmishers, siege weapons, mounted archers, cavalry |
| Weak vs. | Infantry, foot archers, Cataphracts, defensive structures |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1, +2 for the Khitans) Iron Casting (+1, +2 for the Khitans) Blast Furnace (+2) Farimba (+5, Malians only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2) Frontier Guards (+4/+0, Gurjaras only)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Train cost |  Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only)
|
| Other | Maghrebi Camels (regenerates 15 hit points/min, Berbers only) Royal Heirs (-3 damage from mounted units, Ethiopians only)
|
| Upgrades |  Heavy Camel Rider
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Berbers: Camel Riders are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.- Byzantines: Camel Riders are 25% cheaper.
- Cumans: Camel Riders move 10%/15% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Gurjaras: Camel Riders deal +30%/+40% bonus damage in the Castle/Imperial Age. Camel Riders placed at start of the game have the option of auto-scout.
- Hindustanis: Camel Riders attack 20% faster.
- Khitans: Camel Riders receive double the effect from melee attack upgrades.
- Saracens: Camel Riders have +25% Hit Points.
- Tatars: Camel Riders deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies are researched 80% faster.
- Gurjaras: Camel Riders are created 25% faster.
- Hindustanis: Camel Riders have +2 attack against standard buildings.
- Huns: Camel Riders are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Camel Riders are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Camel Riders are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- The unit is named 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 have 4 Line of Sight.
- 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[]
- Camels train in 22 seconds.
- Camels have a movement speed of 1.45.
- Camels are removed from the cavalry armor class, and put in the ship armor class (henceforth called the ship and camel armor class). Hence, they take new anti-ship (bonus damage from ships and defensive structures) and anti-camel attacks, the latter of which is almost half of anti-cavalry attacks. Camels also gain an attack bonus of +5 against this class.
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
- Saracens: Zealotry introduced in the Imperial Age. It gives Camels +30 hit points.
The Forgotten[]
- Camels have a base attack of 6.
- Camels have an attack bonus against cavalry of +9.
- The upgrade to the Heavy Camel needs 105 seconds.
- Indians: Camels have +1/+1 armor.
- Indians (team bonus): Camels have +5 attack against buildings.
The African Kingdoms[]
- The ship and camel armor class is split in ship armor class and camel armor class to make ships and defensive structures selectively good against ships only, but not against camels. Consequently, these attack bonuses against camels were reduced to 0 and +1 respectively.
- Berbers: Initially, Camels were 20% cheaper from the Castle Age on. With patch 4.8, the bonus was staggered to 15%/20% in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Rise of the Rajas[]
Definitive Edition[]
- The unit is renamed to Camel Rider.
- Cumans: Initially, Camel Riders move 10% faster. With update 34055, the bonus was staggered to 10%/15% in the Castle/Imperial Age and Cumans lost access to Husbandry.
- Indians (team bonus): With update 37650, Camel Riders have +5 attack against standard buildings instead, so that it is no longer negated by Masonry or Architecture. With update 42848, the bonus is reduced to +4.
- Indians: With update 42848, Camel Riders have +1/+2 pierce armor in the Castle/Imperial Age. Indians lose access to Plate Barding Armor.
Lords of the West[]
- Saracens: with update 44725, Camel Riders get +10 hit points. Zealotry gives Camel Riders +20 hit points.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, Line of Sight is increased to 5.
- Hindustanis: Originally, Camel Riders attack 25% faster. With update 73855, Camel Riders attack 20% faster.
- Saracens: Zealotry moved to the Castle Age.
- Gurjaras: Originally, Camel Riders deal +50% bonus damage. With update 66692, they deal +40% bonus damage. With update 73855, the bonus in the Castle Age is reduced to +30%.
- Ethiopians: With update 81058, Royal Heirs gives Camel Riders -3 damage from mounted units.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Persians: With update 95810, killing military units with a Camel Rider provides 5 gold per unit. With update 99311, this bonus is removed.
- Saracens: Camel Riders +10 hit points civilization bonus changed to Camel Riders +25% hit points. Zealotry removed.
Victors and Vanquished[]
- Gurjaras: With update 111772, all Camel Riders have the Auto Scout ability, rather than only the one upgraded from the starting Camel Scout.
Chronicles: Battle for Greece[]
- Chinese: With update 141935, the Chinese lose access to the Camel Rider line.
History[]
| “ | 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. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- 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 until the release of Dynasties of India, the Camel Rider is available to all civilizations with the Middle Eastern, African, and Central Asian building styles. The East Asian building style was 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 Dynasties of India, the Camel Rider is also partially available to the South Asian building style: the Hindustanis and Gurjaras have access, while the Bengalis and the Dravidians do not.
- None of the civilizations introduced in The Conquerors and The Forgotten (the latter since Dynasties of India) have access to (Heavy) Camel Riders. Lack of Camel Riders in further expansions is not notable since they are region based, rather than generic.
- The Mongols and Chinese imported domesticated Bactrian camels, native to the steppes of Central Asia, as the more common one-humped dromedary is originally from Arabia. Both would have been ridden by Silk Road traders.
- Despite the Bactrian Camel being native in the northern Caucasus region and utilized by both Georgians and Armenians for domestic and military purposes, neither civilization have access to the Camel Rider.
- 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.
- Camel Riders are one of three military land units that do not make the usual military sound when created, the others being Trebuchets and Flaming Camels.
- 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 lack Heavy Camel Rider.
- The sound effect for when Camels are killed is the same one used for when Imps are killed in Doom.
Gallery[]
A group of Camel Riders in the HD Edition
A group of Camel Riders in the Definitive Edition
The Camel Rider line in the HD Edition, with the Camel Rider on the left
The Camel Rider line in the Definitive Edition, with the Camel Rider being the second from the left
Unit sprite in the Definitive Edition
Camel Riders engaging enemy cavalry
A Camel Rider spearing a Snake, from Kitab al-Bulhan, late 14th c.
A Medieval (1237) Islamic depiction of a Berber riding a camel
