Cavalry Archer (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the similar unit in Age of Empires II, see Cavalry Archer (Age of Empires II).

Cavalry Archer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Cavalry Light cavalry Ranged cavalry Archer
Civilization	Ottomans Russians
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Stable Fort Galleon
Food	100
Coin	60
Training time	36 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	265
Resists	30% vs. Melee
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	14
Population	2
XP train bounty	16
XP bounty	16
Melee attack
Damage	6.5
Multipliers	x4.5 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.25 vs. Coyote Runners x2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.25 vs. Coyote Runners x2.0 vs. Artillery x0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	8
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

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

The Cavalry Archer is a mounted archer in Age of Empires III that replaces the Dragoon for the Ottomans and Russians. It can be trained at the Stable, Fort, and Galleon upon reaching the Fortress Age.

Overview

Cavalry Archers deal nearly half the damage of a Dragoon but fire 50% faster. They also move slower than a Dragoon and have a 0.61 second animation delay compared to the 0.43 of a Dragoon, meaning they are significantly less effective at hit-and-run tactics. They resist 30% melee damage as well as having more hit points, so they are more capable of fighting against some hand infantry and can take some of them down with them, though it is still not recommended to attack any hand infantry with them. They have multipliers against artillery, as well as cavalry, and paired with their high hit points, they can easily take down most cannons. Normally ranged cavalry do half damage to villagers, but the Ottomans' Irregulars Home City Card allow them to gain an attack bonus against villagers instead, making them an effective unit for slowing down the enemy's economy. They can also be used to lure enemies into a trap using guerilla tactics.

Upgrades

The Cavalry Archer starts at the Veteran level, giving them +20% hit points and attack.

If they are made available in the Commerce Age with the "TEAM Early Dragoons" Home City Card, Cavalry Archers will be automatically upgraded to Veteran once the player reaches the Fortress Age.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect	Civ.
	Guard Cavalry Archers	600 wood, 600 coin	Upgrades Cavalry Archers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack)	Ottomans
	Tatar Loyalists	1,000 wood, 1,000 coin	Upgrades Cavalry Archers to Tatar Cavalry Archers (Guard Cavalry Archer with +10% hit points and attack)	Russians
	Imperial Cavalry Archers	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Cavalry Archers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Cavalry Archers	Ottomans
	Imperial Tatar Loyalists		Upgrades Tatar Cavalry Archers to Imperial Tatars (+50% hit points and attack); requires Tatar Loyalists	Russians

Civilization differences

• As seen above, the Russians can upgrade Cavalry Archers to the Royal Guard and Imperial Guard levels.

Revolution

• Romania can ship Wallachian Horse Archers through the namesake Home City Card, which are Cavalry Archers that fires 33% faster (with 1.0 ROF instead of 1.5) and have 10% more speed but 33% less hit points.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy cavalry, light infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, ranged infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0x multiplier vs. villagers) Seminole Bowyer (+25%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Sight	Town Watch (+2) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Mass Cavalry (-35%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Westernization (grants Veteran upgrade, Russians only) Petrine Reforms (grants Royal Guard upgrade, Russians only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Cavalry Archer

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times Europeans Card Description Age HC level 5 Cavalry Archers Ships 5 Cavalry Archers 1 8 Cavalry Archers Ships 8 Cavalry Archers 1 9 Cavalry Archers Ships 9 Cavalry Archers 10 Cavalry Combat Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack 10 Riding School Cavalry train time -40% 10 Since the Cavalry Archer is only available to Ottomans and Russians, all of the cards shown above are only relevant to them. Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light 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 Ottomans Card Description Age HC level Irregulars Light cavalry get +1.0x multiplier against villagers 25 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Early Dragoons Dragoons, Cavalry Archers, Ruyters, Musket Riders, Rifle Riders, and Yabusame can be trained in the Colonial Age; Zamburak train time -15%; Ming Army and Mongolian Army train time -7% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level 7 Cavalry Archers Ships 7 Cavalry Archers 10 TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and light infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Cavalry Archers have a x3.5 melee multiplier and a x1.5 ranged multiplier against Coyote Runners.

Definitive Edition

• Cavalry Archers have a x2.25 multiplier against Coyote Runners, both melee and ranged.

Trivia

• Russian Royal Guard Cavalry Archers are named after the Tatars who are renowned for their fierce horse archers. Before the Definitive Edition, they are named after the European exonym Tartar.
  • The Loyalist part of their upgrade's name refers to the so-called serving Tatars, a class of ethnically Tatar state servants in Muscovy and Russia in the 14th-18th centuries.
• Romanian Cavalry Archers are named after the namesake region inhabited by the Vlachs who are known for employing mounted archers.
• Cavalry Archers originally cost less population than Dragoons. This can be seen in this unit's History menu section.

History

“

Nomadic cavalry archers roamed with their herds in eastern and southern Russia. They raided, traveled, and conquered into what would become Russia and eastern Europe. The Europeans called these fierce cavalrymen the Tartars, though the Tartars were only one of a conglomeration of many distinct nomadic tribes and people. Their colorful tents earned them a more poetic name, the "Golden Horde." The Golden Horde, united under Tokhtamysh, sacked Moscow, but was soon wracked by a civil war that splintered the Horde into several Khanates. The new Russian nation of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, allied with some of the splinter groups, while the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II allied with others. Cavalry Archers wore light clothes - baggy pants, vests, long coats, and furred hats. Blue and red were popular colors, and embroidery a popular decoration to garments. Soldiers carried a variety of arms, primarily bows, but also swords, spears, and later, firearms. Though the Tartars are most commonly thought of as cavalry, they were competent infantry as well.

”

Gallery

An in-game Cavalry Archer

An in-game Cavalry Archer

An in-game Royal Guard/Imperial Cavalry Archer

The Cavalry Archer's history portrait

Muscovite Cavalry Archers by Baron Sigmund von Herbertstein

See also

• Bow Rider – Lakota equivalent
• Keshik – Chinese equivalent
• Yabusame – Japanese equivalent