| “ | Powerful all-purpose cavalry. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Cavalier is a heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires II that can be upgraded from the Knight to be trained at the Stable once the Imperial Age (Castle Age for the Burgundians) is reached. The Cavalier builds on the strengths of its predecessor with a 20% increase in both attack and hit points. Only the Saracens cannot upgrade their Knights to Cavaliers.
Availability chart[]
 Available |  Unavailable
|
|---|---|
|
- x means that the civilization can fully upgrade its Cavaliers. A missing technology is fully offset by some civilization bonus. The technologies being considered here are Bloodlines, Husbandry, Blast Furnace, and Plate Barding Armor, and not the upgrade to the Paladin.
- + means that the civilization gets some civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Cavalier.
Tactics[]
Cavaliers are a powerful and versatile addition to almost any army composition. Their high attack and speed make them great for raiding and flanking, coupled with high hit points and damage resistance to provide a perfect meatshield for ranged units and siege on the frontline.
As an upgrade, the Cavalier gives +20 hit points and +2 attack. With its cheap cost, this makes it a great upgrade to pick up early on.
Also suffering from the same pitfalls as the Knight, Cavaliers are hard countered by Halberdiers and Heavy Camel Riders, and are vulnerable to conversion by Monks.
Although some civilizations can upgrade to Paladins, the Cavalier is often a more cost-effective choice; especially in 1v1 matches where the supply of gold is limited. If the player's army composition is not weighted towards heavy cavalry, Cavaliers with Bloodlines and Plate Barding Armor should suffice. However, their durability against ranged attacks is still notably inferior to even Byzantine Paladins (who lack Bloodlines, but have Plate Barding Armor). For instance, 35 Arbalester shots or 28 Heavy Cavalry Archer shots are enough to kill one, which make Cavaliers overall a weaker counter to archers in general, but with enough numbers, they can still last enough to reduce the larger number of archers that threaten them.
Some civilizations that lack the Paladin upgrade have either a civilization bonus or unique technology that improves the combat strength or cost-effectiveness: the Portuguese Cavalier costs -20% gold and the upgrade, as well the Blacksmith technologies affecting them, are researched 25% faster, being able to be deployed and upgraded in a reasonable time. The Berber Cavalier is 20% cheaper, which helps create more of them. Despite lacking Plate Barding Armor, the Poles can get Cavaliers costing only 60 food, 30 gold with the Szlachta Privileges technology, essentially making them a viable option when gold starts to run out and still allowing them to overwhelm enemies in melee combat. The Burmese Cavalier gets extra attack against archers by researching Manipur Cavalry, making it a strong counter to archer units (and compensating for the Burmese having some of the worst Skirmishers in the game). The Malian Cavalier, despite lacking Blast Furnace, gets +5 attack by researching Farimba, which puts them at the second strongest Cavalier in melee combat (it gets one more attack than a fully upgraded generic Paladin).
The Bulgarian Cavalier attacks 33% faster, thanks to Stirrups, making it the strongest Cavalier in melee combat and giving it the highest potential damage per second among the cavalry units in the game (excluding elephants), even outperforming Lithuanian Paladins with 4 Relics collected (11.85 vs 10.53). The Roman Cavalier is the fastest-trained one in the game, thanks to Comitatenses, which decreases their training time by 50% and also grants them with a charge attack of 5. They are even faster to train than Frankish ones, while also having good damage potential. The Georgian Cavalier takes 15% less damage fighting at higher elevation, regenerates 15 hit points per minute, and takes 0.85 population space thanks to Aznauri Cavalry, making them very useful in certain terrains, enhancing their durability, and making them better at taking population space in the late game.
The Sicilian Cavalier absorbs 33% of incoming bonus damage and can get higher conversion resistance and +1/+1 armor more than a Paladin, thanks to the First Crusade and Hauberk technologies respectively, making it the best against the regular counters of Cavalry (Monks, Halberdiers and Heavy Camel Riders) and much better against Archers and in raiding. However, it has the advantage of +1 melee armor only in melee combat, which does not mean much. Hence, both Malian and Bulgarian Cavaliers perform similarly in melee combat to generic Paladins while being cheaper to upgrade and sharing the effect with other Cavalry units as well, and Sicilian Cavaliers perform similarly to generic Paladins against Archers and in raiding. The Persians can upgrade the Cavalier to the Savar instead, which specializes as an anti-archer heavy cavalry.
Among Paladin civilizations, the Burgundians are a particular case, as they can research the Cavalier upgrade in the Castle Age and 50% cheaper. However, they lack Bloodlines, which can be a useful power-spike for early Castle Age, while also allowing an easy transition to the Paladin in the early Imperial Age. In the Castle Age, they are equal in strength to Lithuanian Knights with two Relics, having the advantage of guaranteed +2 attack by researching the Cavalier upgrade, the while Lithuanians need to invest in map control and Monks to get the benefit. However, the Relic bonus can scale up better in longer games, as with three Relics, Lithuanian Knights are stronger.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry, Villagers, siege weapons, light cavalry, Plumed Archers, Elite Skirmishers |
| Weak vs. | Boyars, Halberdiers, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Teutonic Knights, Mamelukes, Heavy Camel Riders, Monks, War Elephants, Elite Battle Elephant |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Farimba (+5, Malians only) Manipur Cavalry (+4 vs. archers, Burmese only) Comitatenses (+5 charge every 20 secs, Romans only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2) Hauberk (+1/+2, Sicilians only)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
|
 Attack speed
|
Stirrups (+33%, Bulgarians only)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Resource cost | Szlachta Privileges (-60% gold, Poles only)
|
| Population cost | Aznauri Cavalry (-15%, Georgians only)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Chivalry (+40%, Franks only) Comitatenses (+50%, Romans only)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
 Franks (+20%)
|
 Regeneration
|
 Georgians (14 hit points per minute)
|
| Attack |  Lithuanians (+1 per Relic garrisoned, max +4) Tatars (+20% from elevation)
|
| Armor |  Teutons (+2/0)
|
| Damage resistance | Georgians (-20% from elevation) Sicilians (-33% bonus damage)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Cumans (+15%)
|
| Resource cost |  Berbers (-20%) Portuguese (-20% gold)
|
| Other |  Burgundians (available in the Castle Age; upgrade from Knight and to Paladin costs -50%) Chinese (upgrade from Knight costs -15%)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Persians (+2 vs. archers)
|
| Conversion resistance | Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight | Franks (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Huns (+20%)
|
| Other | Huns (upgrade from Knight and to Paladin/Savar is 20% faster) Portuguese (upgrade from Knight and to Paladin/Savar is 25% faster)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies that benefit Cavalier cost -50% food.- Burgundians: Researching Husbandry is 50% cheaper.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Cavaliers can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Cavaliers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
- Poles: Bloodlines costs -50% food.
- Spanish: Blacksmith technologies that benefit Cavaliers cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Cavaliers provides 20 gold each.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack technologies at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Cavaliers are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
The Forgotten[]
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Burmese: Initially, Manipur Cavalry gives Cavaliers +6 attack against buildings. With patch 5.3, the bonus is spread over the two building classes (building and standard building) equally.
Definitive Edition[]
- Bulgarians:
- With update 36906, Cavaliers benefit from Stirrups.
- With update 42848, Blacksmith technologies that benefit Cavaliers cost -50% food.
- Team bonus: Initially, Blacksmith worked 50% faster. With update 42848, this was changed to 80% faster.
- Burmese: With update 37650, Manipur Cavalry gives Cavaliers +6 attack against standard buildings and no damage against buildings.
- Cumans: Initially, Cavaliers move 10% faster. With update 34055, Cavaliers move 15% faster but Cumans lose access to Husbandry.
- Lithuanians: Lithuanians have access to Blast Furnace. Initially, Cavaliers gain +1 attack for each Relic garrisoned, with a limit of +5. With update 34055, the limit was reduced to +4.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies that benefit Cavaliers are researched 30% faster.
- Teutons: With update 36906, Cavaliers get +2 melee armor.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- Lithuanians: Lose Blast Furnace.
- Burmese: With update 56005, Manipur Cavalry gives Cavaliers +5 attack against archers.
- Sicilians: Hauberk introduced.
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 99311, the Cavalier upgrade research time reduced (100 → 80 seconds).
- Persians:
- With update 95810, Cavaliers get 5 gold for each military unit killed. With update 99311, this bonus is removed.
- The Savar upgrade is introduced. It takes 150 seconds to research. With update 99311, research time increased to 160 seconds.
Heroes[]
There are six heroes in the game with the appearance of a Cavalier:
- Alexander Nevski
- Dmitry of Moscow
- Gawain
- Kushluk (only until the HD Edition)
- Raden Wijaya
- The Black Prince
History[]
| “ | There was a hierarchy among knights based on feudal rank and fighting prowess. A lowly knight might achieve great social standing through battlefield commendation, tournament victory, or marriage. Elite knights were made members of important orders, like the Order of the Garter or of the Golden Fleece. Such elite men were known as chevaliers or cavaliers. The first cavaliers were selected for their political power and fighting prowess. As the centuries passed, the orders became more of a social elite. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- Before the Definitive Edition, the Knight line was one of only four units in the game without any attack bonus (the other being the Militia, the Boyar, and the Turtle Ship).
- His icon shows him holding his sword in his left hand while he holds it in his right hand in-game.
- In terms of attack (19), the Malian Cavalier outclasses ordinary Paladins and is the fifth highest attack of all cavalry units, being only surpassed by the Lithuanian Paladin with 4 Relics collected (20), Khmer Elite Battle Elephant (21), the Elite Leitis with 4 Relics collected (22) and the Elite War Elephant (24).
- The Bulgarian Cavalier has the fastest attack of all cavalry, as well of all melee units in the game, with a reload time of 1.35.
- Historically, cavalier (or chevalier) was a generic Gallo-Romance term for all knights.
- For historical accuracy's sake from the perspective of European knighthood, the in-game Knight may be termed "Knight Bachelor" (who fights under a higher-ranking noble's banner), while the in-game Cavalier may be termed, more appropriately, "Knight Banneret" (who fights under his own banner).
- Ironically, the English term "Cavalier" is rarely used to describe the armored knight and the term is generally remembered to describe the Royalists in the English Civil War.
- Although first available in the Imperial Age (except for the Burgundians), the Cavalier's shield resembles more the Castle Age's icon and the shield of the Castle Age's Long Swordsman.
- Before the Definitive Edition, Cavaliers used to hold their sword with one hand when running (depending on the direction they are facing) but when during their idle or attacking animation, they held it with the other hand.
- In the Definitive Edition, the Cavalier's and Paladin's mounts possess bushy legs, possibly influenced by modern heavy-weight horses; however, even the strongest Medieval warhorses, the "destriers", were drawn with short lower-leg-hair.
- The Bulgarians and Malians cannot upgrade to Paladins, but with their unique technologies researched, their Cavaliers can still defeat Byzantine and Celtic Paladins. A Lithuanian Cavalier with four Relics does not need the Paladin upgrade to defeat a Burgundian Paladin in one-on-one combat.
- The Saracens are the only civilization that can train Knights but cannot upgrade them to Cavaliers.
Gallery[]
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