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	×4.5 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Coyote Runner ×2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Coyote Runner ×2.0 vs. Artillery ×0.5 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 100% 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	Upgrade Cavalry Archers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack)
	Tatar Loyalists	1,000 wood, 1,000 coin	Upgrade Cavalry Archers to Tatar Cavalry Archers (Guard Cavalry Archer with +10% hit points and attack)
	Imperial Cavalry Archers	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrade Cavalry Archers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Cavalry Archers
	Imperial Tatar Loyalists		Upgrade Tatar Cavalry Archers to Imperial Tatars (+50% hit points and attack); requires Tatar Loyalists

Civilization differences

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

Wallachian Horse Archer

Wallachian Horse Archer
Unit information
Introduced in	Definitive Edition
Type	Cavalry Light cavalry Ranged cavalry Archer
Civilization	Romania
Age	Revolution
Training
Trained at	Stable Fort Galleon
Food	100
Coin	60
Training time	36 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	180
Resists	30% vs. Melee
Speed	7.5
Line of Sight	14
Population	2
XP train bounty	16
XP bounty	16
Melee attack
Damage	6.5
Multipliers	×4.5 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Coyote Runner ×2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.0
Ranged attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Coyote Runner ×2.0 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.0
Siege attack
Damage	8
Range	6
Rate of Fire	2.0

The Wallachian Horse Archer is a variant of the Cavalry Archer unique to Romania, which fires 33% faster and have 10% more speed, but has 33% less hit points.

Wallachian Horse Archers can be obtained by sending the namesake Home City Card after revolting to Romania, where a Wallachian Horse spawns on every Outpost or Blockhouse that had been built by the player and all existing Cavalry Archers will be upgraded to Wallachian Horse Archers.

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%) Somali Jile Daggers (-35% melee attack ROF)
Armor	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% melee resistance)
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 +1.0× multiplier against villagers 25 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Early Dragoons Dragoons, Cavalry Archers, Ruyters, Musket Riders, Rifle Riders, Yabusame, and Carbine Cavalry can be trained in the Commerce Age; Eagle Runner Knight, Zamburak, Ming Army, Bolas Warrior, and Black Rider train time -15%; Mongolian Army train time -7% 1 Romania Card Description Wallachian Horse Archers Each Outpost/Blockhouse spawns a Wallachian Horse Archer (Cavalry Archer with +33% ROF and +10% speed but -33% hit points); +1 Outpost/Blockhouse Wagon; Outpost/Blockhouse build limit +1 Russians Card Description Age HC level 7 Cavalry Archers Ships 7 Cavalry Archers 10 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 Swedes Card Description Age TEAM Ranged Cavalry Combat Ranged cavalry and Eagle Runner Knights get +5% speed and +1 LOS and range

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.

The African Royals

• With update 43871, the Cavalry Archer portrait has been updated to align with his in-game appearance.

Trivia

• Cavalry Archers originally cost less population than Dragoons. This can be seen in this unit's History menu section.
• 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.

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