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
Population	2
Food	100
Coin	60
Statistics
Hit points	265
Resists	30% vs. Melee
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	14
XP train bounty	16
XP bounty	16
Melee damage
Attack	6.5
Multipliers	x4.5 vs. Heavy cavalry x3.5 vs. Coyote Runner x2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	13
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry x1.75 vs. Coyote Runner x2.0 vs. Artillery x0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege damage
Attack	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 Ottomans and Russians and can be trained at the Stable, Fort, and Galleon once the Fortress Age is reached.

Overview

Cavalry Archers do considerably less damage than a Dragoon but attack faster, resist 30% melee damage as well as having more hit points, so they are more capable of fighting against 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 is automatically upgraded to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack) at 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
	Tartar Loyalists	1,000 wood 1,000 coin	Upgrades Cavalry Archers to Tartar 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 Tartar Loyalists		Upgrades Tartar Cavalry Archers to Imperial Tartar Loyalists (+50% hit points and attack); requires Tartar Loyalists	Russians

Civilization differences

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

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 (-50%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) File:Inca Chaquis Messengers.png 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 gets +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 gets +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 gets +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 gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Trivia

• Russian Royal Guard Cavalry Archers are named after the Tatar people (also known as Tartar, after the Tartary region where the Tatars came from) who are renowned for their fierce horse archers.
  • The Loyalist part of their upgrade's name refers to the Golden Horde from which the majority of Tatar khanates later conquered by the Russian Empire originates, as the in-game history section states.
• Cavalry Archers would originally cost less population than Dragoons. This feature can be seen in the History menu of this unit.

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