Cavalry unit (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the cavalry units in Age of Empires II. For the armor class, see Armor class: Cavalry. For cavalry units in other games of the series, see Cavalry.

Cavalry in Age of Empires II is one of the four combat forces on land, the other ones being archers, infantry, and siege weapons.

General information

As understood by the game, cavalry units are mounted melee soldiers. They have higher hit points than equivalent foot soldiers (infantry) and usually higher movement speed as well. They have no range (except Mamelukes and Steppe Lancers, but these are short) and are expensive. In direct combat, cavalry easily overpower archer, infantry, and siege units.

Other mounted units, such as Cavalry Archers, Ballista Elephants, Flaming Camels, and Missionaries, do not count as cavalry proper because are not "melee soldiers". Armored and Siege Elephants benefit from all technologies which benefit regular cavalry and do deal melee damage, so they are included. In-game, siege cavalry are defined as cavalry units.

Cavalry taking out enemy infantry.

Common cavalry units (except the Armored Elephant line) are trained at the Stable and first become available in the Feudal Age. Unique cavalry units are trained at the Castle with some exceptions:

• Tarkans can also be trained at the Stable after Marauders is researched.
• Camel Scouts and Imperial Camel Riders are available only at the Stable, because they are precursors or upgrades of generic units.
• Konniks can also be trained at the Krepost.
• Shrivamsha Riders are available only at the Stable.

Excluding the melee Ratha, Scout Cavalry line, and Magyar Huszars with Corvinian Army, among which the latter two cost only food, all cavalry units cost food and gold. The Ratha is trained and upgraded (except for attack) as a mounted archer, hence costs wood and gold.

All cavalry units have either cavalry armor class or camel armor class (the latter only for camel units).

Despite the many advantages of the cavalry branch, there are a few drawbacks that should be considered. Like archers, they have their own common, cheap, and easy to mass counter unit: the Spearman line. Every player frequently using cavalry is bound to meet them sooner or later. Also, cavalry units are expensive, especially heavy and siege cavalry in terms of gold, and a strong reliance on them can cause the player to lose the game if gold runs out or gold income sources are cut off. On narrow maps with lots of obstacles like cliffs or woods, cavalry units can fall prey to ranged units that can exploit their range.

Camel Riders, Mamelukes, Flaming Camels, Kamayuks, and Genoese Crossbowmen also have bonus attack against cavalry units. As most cavalry units are expensive in terms of food and gold (the latter except light cavalry units), Monks are also a powerful and commonly used counter, as successfully converting even a single Knight pays off for the expense of one Monk.

Despite not having anti-cavalry attack bonus, the Jaguar Warrior, Composite Bowman, Urumi Swordsman, Shotel Warrior, Liao Dao, Obuch, Teutonic Knight, and Berserk can be threatening to most cavalry units due to high damage output, high melee armor, unique abilities, and unique technologies that are enough to allow these units to engage them cost-effectively.

Still, since every unit only takes up exactly one population space (excluding Karambit Warriors), cavalry units fill these spaces effectively, especially if the population cap is set to a low value.

The Native American civilizations cannot build Stables and normally cannot train cavalry units. As a replacement, they can train Eagle Warriors at their Barracks. If given a Stable in the Scenario Editor or in certain game modes (like MegaRandom) or if they convert one (not possible for Maya, who do not have Redemption), they can train Xolotl Warriors, which are identical in stats to the Knights. However, as Native Americans still have no access to Stable or cavalry armor technologies, they remain of little use other than for surprise.

List of cavalry units

Marked with yellow background are unique units, and with orange background are regional units. Since Native American civilizations lack all cavalry entirely, the following list does not count them in the total. Native American civilizations are only counted for the Xolotl Warrior.

Cavalry unit	B	A	HP	At	Ar	PA	RoF	LOS	Sp	Food	Gold	TT	Civs
Scout Cavalry	Stable		45	5	0	2	2	6	1.55	80	0	30	All
Light Cavalry	Stable		60	7	0	2	2	8	1.5	80	0	30	All except Teutons
Hussar	Stable		75	7	0	2	1.9	10	1.5	80	0	30	28
Winged Hussar	Stable		80	9	1	2	1.9	10	1.5	80	0	30	Lithuanians and Poles
Xolotl Warrior	Stable		100	10	2	2	1.8	4	1.35	60	75	30	3
Knight	Stable		100	10	2	2	1.8	4	1.35	60	75	30	38
Cavalier	Stable		120	12	2	2	1.8	4	1.35	60	75	30	37
Paladin	Stable		160	14	2	3	1.9	5	1.35	60	75	30	10
Savar	Stable		145	14	3	4	1.8	5	1.35	60	75	30	Persians
Camel Scout	Stable		70	4	0	0	2	5	1.45	55	60	48	Gurjaras
Camel Rider	Stable		100	6	0	0	2	5	1.45	55	60	22	13
Heavy Camel Rider	Stable		120	7	0	0	2	5	1.45	55	60	22	12
Imperial Camel Rider	Stable		140	8	0	0	2	5	1.45	55	60	20	Hindustanis
Battle Elephant	Stable		250	12	1	2	2	4	0.9	100	70	24	6
Elite Battle Elephant	Stable		300	14	1	3	2	5	0.9	100	70	24	5
Steppe Lancer	Stable		60	9	0	1	2	5	1.45	70	40	24	5
Elite Steppe Lancer	Stable		80	11	0	2	2	5	1.45	70	40	20	5
Hei Guang Cavalry	Stable				4	3	1.8		1.35	65	65	28	3
Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry	Stable				4	3	1.8		1.35	65	65	28	3
Armored Elephant	Siege Workshop		180	4	-2	140	3	4	0.6	120	95	36	4
Siege Elephant	Siege Workshop		220	4	-2	150	3	4	0.6	120	95	36	4
Shrivamsha Rider	Stable		55	8	0	1	2	5	1.6	70	30	20	Gurjaras
Elite Shrivamsha Rider	Stable		70	11	0	1	1.9	6	1.6	70	30	20	Gurjaras
Cataphract	Castle		110	9	2	1	1.8	4	1.35	70	75	20	Byzantines
Elite Cataphract	Castle		150	12	2	1	1.7	5	1.35	70	75	20	Byzantines
War Elephant	Castle		450	15	1	2	2	4	0.8	170	85	25	Persians
Elite War Elephant	Castle		600	20	1	3	2	5	0.8	170	85	25	Persians
Mameluke	Castle		80	8	0	0	2	5	1.4	55	85	23	Saracens
Elite Mameluke	Castle		90	10	1	0	2	5	1.4	55	85	23	Saracens
Tarkan	Castle Stable*		100	8	1	3	2.1	5	1.4	60	60	14/26	Huns
Elite Tarkan	Castle Stable*		150	11	1	4	2.1	7	1.4	60	60	14/24	Huns
Magyar Huszar	Castle		75	9	0	2	1.8	5	1.5	35	45	14	Magyars
Elite Magyar Huszar	Castle		85	10	0	2	1.8	6	1.5	35	45	14	Magyars
Boyar	Castle		100	12	4	2	1.9	5	1.3	60	70	15	Slavs
Elite Boyar	Castle		130	14	8	3	1.9	5	1.3	60	70	15	Slavs
Konnik	Castle Krepost		100	12	2	1	2.4	5	1.35	60	70	16	Bulgarians
Elite Konnik	Castle Krepost		120	14	2	2	2.4	5	1.35	60	70	16	Bulgarians
Leitis	Castle		100	13	1	1	1.9	5	1.4	70	50	20	Lithuanians
Elite Leitis	Castle		130	16	2	1	1.9	5	1.4	70	50	18	Lithuanians
Keshik	Castle		110	9	1	2	1.9	5	1.4	60	40	17	Tatars
Elite Keshik	Castle		140	11	1	3	1.9	5	1.4	60	40	15	Tatars
Coustillier	Castle		115	8	2	2	1.9	5	1.35	55	55	15	Burgundians
Elite Coustillier	Castle		145	11	2	2	1.9	5	1.35	55	55	14	Burgundians
Ratha (Melee)	Castle*		105	10	3	2	2	6	1.3	0	60	18	Bengalis
Elite Ratha (Melee)	Castle*		115	12	3	3	2	6	1.3	0	60	18	Bengalis
Centurion	Castle		110	13	2	3	1.9	4	1.35	75	85	24	Romans
Elite Centurion	Castle		155	15	3	3	1.9	4	1.35	75	85	24	Romans
Monaspa	Castle		70	12	3	2	1.8	4	1.4	60	45	14	Georgians
Elite Monaspa	Castle		80	14	5	2	1.8	5	1.4	60	45	14	Georgians
Iron Pagoda	Castle		115	12	1	3	1.9	5	1.4	80	55	14	Jurchens
Elite Iron Pagoda	Castle		140	13	2	3	1.9	5	1.4	80	55	14	Jurchens
Tiger Cavalry	Castle		115	11	0	4	1.9	5	1.35	60	80	15	Wei
Elite Tiger Cavalry	Castle		130	13	0	5	1.9	5	1.35	60	80	15	Wei
Cao Cao	Castle		475	14	3	3	2	5	1.3	500	500	60	Wei
Sun Jian	Castle		400	15	4	4	2	5	1.55	500	500	60	Wu

Despite being classified as cavalry, melee Rathas benefit like ranged Rathas (mounted archer units) with respect to Line of Sight, armor, and attack bonus vs Spearmen.

Scenario Editor units

Cavalry unit	HP	At	Ar	PA	RoF	LOS	Sp
Imperial Centurion (statistically an Elite Cataphract)	150	12	2	1	1.7	5	1.35
Mounted Samurai	130	14	3	5	1.75	4	1.35
Crusader Knight	100	18	4	4	2	5	1.2
Sogdian Cataphract	110	12	0	5	2	5	1.45
Qizilbash Warrior	100	8	1	1	2	4	1.45
Elite Qizilbash Warrior	140	11	1	1	2	5	1.45

Improvements

These lists do not contain unit upgrades.

Generic technologies

Technology	Researched at	Age	Effect
Bloodlines	Stable		Increases hit points by +20
Husbandry	Stable		Increases speed by +10%
Forging	Blacksmith		Increases attack by +1
Iron Casting	Blacksmith		Increases attack by +1
Blast Furnace	Blacksmith		Increases attack by +2
Scale Barding Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor of cavalry units (except Rathas) by +1/+1
Chain Barding Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor of cavalry units (except Rathas) by +1/+1
Plate Barding Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor of cavalry units (except Rathas) by +1/+2
Heresy	Monastery		Converted units die instead of changing color
Devotion	Monastery		Increases minimum and maximum conversion time by +1 seconds each
Faith	Monastery		Increases minimum and maximum conversion time by +4 seconds each
Conscription	Castle		Increases creation speed by +33% (except the Armored Elephant line)
Siege Engineers	University		Increases Armored Elephant line attack against buildings by 20%
Ballistics	University		Improves (Elite) Ballista Elephants' accuracy against moving targets

Specific to melee Rathas

Rathas do not benefit from cavalry technologies except for their attack. Instead, they benefit from equivalent mounted archer technologies.

Technology	Researched at	Age	Effect
Fletching	Blacksmith		Increases Line of Sight by +1
Bodkin Arrow	Blacksmith		Increases Line of Sight by +1
Bracer	Blacksmith		Increases Line of Sight by +1
Padded Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+1
Leather Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+1
Ring Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+2
Parthian Tactics	Archery Range		Increases armor by +1/+2 and attack vs Spearmen by +2

Unique technologies

Technology	Age	Civilization	Effect
Paiks		Bengalis	Rathas, Armored and Battle Elephant lines attack 20% faster
Kasbah		Berbers	Castle production and research speed increased by +25% for the entire team
Maghrebi Camels		Berbers	Camel Rider line regenerates 15 hit points per minute
Stirrups		Bulgarians	Cavalry attack 33% faster
Howdah		Burmese	Increases Battle Elephant armor by +1/+1
Manipur Cavalry		Burmese	Increases attack against archers by +4
Logistica		Byzantines	Gives Cataphracts +0.5 blast radius (5 damage) and +6 attack bonus against infantry
Steppe Husbandry		Cumans	Scout Cavalry and Steppe Lancer lines created 100% faster
Medical Corps		Dravidians	Battle and Armored Elephant lines regenerate 30 hit points per minute
Wootz Steel		Dravidians	Cavalry attacks ignore armor
Royal Heirs		Ethiopians	Camel Riders receive -3 damage from mounted units
Chivalry		Franks	Stables work 40% faster
Aznauri Cavalry		Georgians	Cavalry units take 15% less population space.
Kshatriyas		Gurjaras	Cavalry costs -25% food
Frontier Guards		Gurjaras	Camel Riders have +4 melee armor
Marauders		Huns	Tarkans can be trained at Stables
Ordo Cavalry		Khitans	Cavalry regenerates 150% of max. HP per minute in combat
Tusk Swords		Khmer	Increases attack of Battle Elephant line by +3
Corvinian Army		Magyars	Magyar Huszar gold cost is replaced by additional food cost
Farimba		Malians	Increases attack by +5
Szlachta Privileges		Poles	Knight line gold cost reduced to 30
Lechitic Legacy		Poles	Scout Cavalry line deals 33% trample damage within 0.5 tile blast radius
Comitatenses		Romans	Knight line and Centurions train 50% faster and receive +5 charge attack over 20 seconds
First Crusade		Sicilians	Increases minimum and maximum conversion time by +4 seconds each
Hauberk		Sicilians	Knight line gets +1/+2 armor
Silk Armor		Tatars	Scout Cavalry and Steppe Lancer lines get +1/+1 armor
Chatras		Vietnamese	Increases Battle Elephant line's hit points by +100
Tuntian		Wei	Cavalry passively produce food
Ming Guang Armor		Wei	Cavalry get +4 melee armor

Civilization bonuses

Civilization	Effect
Aztecs	Xolotl Warriors are created 15% faster.
Bengalis	Battle and Armored Elephant lines receive -25% bonus damage and are more resistant to conversion. Cavalry units deal +2 attack against Skirmishers.
Berbers	Cavalry units are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Bulgarians	Cavalry technologies at the Blacksmith cost -50% food.
Burgundians	Cavalier upgrade is available in the Castle Age. Stable technologies are 50% cheaper.
Burmese	Devotion and Faith are 50% cheaper. Battle Elephants have +1/+1 armor.
Byzantines	Camel Rider line is 25% cheaper.
Chinese	Technologies that benefit cavalry are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Cumans	Cavalry units move 5%/10%/15% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Franks	Cavalry units have +20% hit points.
Georgians	Cavalry units receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage when fighting from higher elevation and regenerate 2/8/14 hit points per minute in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Gurjaras	Cavalry units deal +20%/+30%/+40% bonus damage in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Hindustanis	Camel Rider-line attacks 20% faster.
Inca	Xolotl Warriors cost -20/25% food in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Jurchens	Cavalry attack 20% faster starting in the Feudal Age. Cavalry receive 50% less friendly fire damage.
Khitans	Scout Cavalry-line is created and upgraded 25% faster. Forging and Iron Casting effects are doubled.
Khmer	Battle Elephant line moves 10% faster.
Lithuanians	Knight line and Leiciai get +1 attack for each garrisoned Relic (maximum +4).
Magyars	Scout Cavalry line is 15% cheaper. Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
Malay	Battle Elephant line is 25%/35% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Mongols	The Scout Cavalry line and Steppe Lancers have +20/30% hit points in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Poles	Bloodlines and Scout Cavalry-line upgrades cost -50% food.
Portuguese	Cavalry units cost -20% gold.
Saracens	Camel units have +25% hit points.
Sicilians	Cavalry units receive -33% bonus damage.
Spanish	Cavalry technologies at the Blacksmith cost no gold. Technologies that benefit cavalry provide 20 gold when researched.
Tatars	Cavalry units deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) when attacking from higher elevations.
Teutons	Cavalry units get +1/+2 melee armor in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Turks	Scout Cavalry line has +1 pierce armor and is upgraded for free.
Vietnamese	Conscription is free.
Wei	Hei Guang Cavalry have +15%/30% HP in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Wu	Hei Guang Cavalry have +2 attack in the Imperial Age.

Team bonuses

Civilization	Effect
Bulgarians	Cavalry technologies at the Blacksmith are researched 80% faster.
Franks	Knight line has +2 Line of Sight.
Huns	Stables work 20% faster.
Gurjaras	Camel and elephant units created 25% faster.
Hindustanis	Camel units and light cavalry units have +2 attack against standard buildings.
Lithuanians	Heresy, Devotion, and Faith are researched 20% faster.
Mongols	Scout Cavalry line has +2 Line of Sight.
Persians	Knight line has +2 attack against archers.
Poles	Scout Cavalry line has +1 attack against archers.
Teutons	Minimum and maximum conversion time of cavalry units is increased by 3 seconds and 1 second, respectively.
Wei	Cavalry have +2 attack against siege weapons.

Civilizations

Depending on the type of cavalry unit (which is discussed below), players may prefer different civilizations, since most civilizations are specialized for one type of cavalry unit. This is done by adding specific bonuses which do not apply to other unit lines or removing key upgrades and unit lines, or having access to regional/unique units or regional/unique upgrades. For example, Franks and Teutons are most well-known for their heavy cavalry, but they lack Hussars, Camel Riders, Steppe Lancers, and Battle Elephants; Tatars have a unique technology which only applies to their Light Cavalry and Steppe Lancer lines. Some generalists exist too, like Malians who have bonuses for light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and camel units; Magyars have stronger and discounted light cavalry units, while also having Paladins.

Persians are the most versatile cavalry civilization, having access to fully upgradeable light cavalry, heavy cavalry (with Savars replacing Paladins), and camel units at the Stable, and the strongest elephant unit at the Castle, whereas Tatars have the most number of cavalry options in two Light Cavalry lines, Cavaliers, Heavy Camels, unique medium cavalry in the Keshik, and an anti-elephant camel in the Flaming Camel, all of which are fully upgradeable, except for the Paladin upgrade itself. On the other hand, the Bohemians, Dravidians, Koreans, Malay, and Vikings have the weakest cavalry, as they lack several upgrades.

Availability grid

	= Available
	= Unavailable
	= Researched for free or fully covered by a civilization bonus if unavailable

Civilization											Regional units	Total
Armenians												7
Bengalis												6
Berbers												11
Bohemians												6
Britons												7
Bulgarians												9
Burgundians												9
Burmese												11
Byzantines												10
Celts												8
Chinese												10
Cumans												12
Dravidians												6
Ethiopians												9
Franks												8
Georgians												9
Goths												8
Gurjaras												10
Hindustanis												11
Huns												10
Italians												9
Japanese												7
Jurchens												7
Khitans												6
Khmer												10
Koreans												6
Lithuanians												9
Magyars												10
Malay												7
Malians												9
Mongols												12
Persians												12
Poles												8
Portuguese												8
Romans												8
Saracens												10
Shu												6
Sicilians												8
Slavs												9
Spanish												10
Tatars												13
Teutons												7
Turks												11
Vietnamese												9
Vikings												5
Wei												8
Wu												9

Types of cavalry

For camel units, see here.

For elephant units, see here.

Unlike archer units, which all fill the same role of ranged support units (or anti-archer for Skirmishers and Rattan Archers) and benefit from different set of technologies, different types of horse cavalry units benefit from the same set of technologies, but fill different roles.

Horse cavalry units are classified in the following types (officially and unambiguously since update 141935):

Light cavalry units

These units are characterized by negligible gold cost, mediocre hit points, best mobility, and low attack, no base melee armor, and decent base pierce armor.

Units

• Scout Cavalry → Light Cavalry → Hussar/ Winged Hussar
• Magyar Huszar → Elite Magyar Huszar
• Steppe Lancer → Elite Steppe Lancer
• Shrivamsha Rider → Elite Shrivamsha Rider

Strengths

Light cavalry units are specialized for raiding. Their cheap cost and high mobility is what makes them suitable for this, which also makes them good for sniping siege, Skirmishers, and low number of archers. They are low-value units, which makes them one of the lowest priorities for conversions. As cheap units, they can be excellent filler units (meatshield/cannon fodder) between high-value ranged units and enemy units.

The Scout Cavalry line also possesses good Line of Sight which makes them a good scout unit, natural conversion resistance, and a large attack bonus vs Monks.

Light cavalry units can effectively fight light infantry units (excluding Pike-line), viz Karambit Warriors, Eagle Warriors, Ghulams, Gbetos, and Chakram Throwers.

Weaknesses

Light cavalry units cannot take down Castles and are still weak at taking down Town Centers and Towers. They are not meant for open field combat - that is, they are not meant to fight infantry or cavalry.

They are hard-countered by the Spearman line, camel units (except maybe Camel Archers), heavy infantry, and heavy cavalry.

Notable civilizations

Magyars are the most well-known light cavalry civilization on account of having the cheapest Light Cavalry until mid-Castle Age, and a much stronger light cavalry unique unit after building a Castle, which beats all other light cavalry units and specializes against siege. Turks are another popular light cavalry civilization, on account of having naturally good light cavalry and free upgrades across the game, which resist ranged attacks better than all other civilizations except Tatars. The Tatars also have good light cavalry units in the form of the Scout Cavalry line, which equal the Turks against ranged units and are stronger than them in melee combat with their unique technology, as well as the Steppe Lancer, which is affected by the same upgrades. Mongols have the best early-game Scout Cavalry on account of superior economy and Line of Sight, as well as most all-round light cavalry units in the Castle Age due to extra hit points. Their units fall off rather quickly against ranged units in the Imperial Age due to lacking Plate Barding Armor, but are still good in melee combat in the late game. They are joined by the Poles, who share a similar fate, but to a lesser degree, with their Scout Cavalry killing archers sooner, and their Winged Hussars having extra attack and trample damage, but lacking Plate Barding Armor too. Lastly, Gurjaras are known for their unique light cavalry unit, which can be created in the first minute of reaching the Castle Age, as well as resisting missile attacks, the quickest speed, as well as decent damage output. Their Scout Cavalry line does not shine in the early game, and lacks Blast Furnace in the late game, but their light cavalry units can become the cheapest in the game with their unique technology. Everything about Gurjara light cavalry units makes them ideal at raiding.

Civilizations which have good light cavalry units in the support role are Berbers, which are cheapest among fully upgraded, but have no combat advantage; Bulgarians, which attack faster; Malians, which have extra attack; Cumans, which are created very fast and move slightly faster; and Lithuanians, which have extra melee armor (like Tatars), +5 hit points and +4 attack vs gunpowder units. The Sicilians' Scout Cavalry also shines in the early game, on account of being much harder to counter. All light cavalry units available to players allied with the Hindustanis deal more damage against buildings, which is most beneficial for breaking through Palisades in the Feudal Age and Hussar raids in the lategame.

Heavy cavalry units

Heavy units are also called "all-purpose". They are generally characterized by high gold cost, high hit points, good base melee armor, and good base pierce armor. They are meant for open-field combat, as they beat all units (except direct counters) population-efficiently.

Units

• Knight → Cavalier → Paladin/ Savar
• Hei Guang Cavalry → Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry
• Xolotl Warrior (though the lack of Blacksmith and Stable upgrades makes them a gimmick unit)
• Boyar → Elite Boyar
• Cataphract → Elite Cataphract
• Centurion → Elite Centurion
• Coustillier → Elite Coustillier
• Iron Pagoda → Elite Iron Pagoda
• Keshik → Elite Keshik
• Konnik → Elite Konnik (only mounted)
• Leitis → Elite Leitis
• Monaspa → Elite Monaspa
• Ratha (Melee) → Elite Ratha (Melee)
• Tarkan → Elite Tarkan
• Tiger Cavalry → Elite Tiger Cavalry

Strengths

While they can perform all roles which light cavalry units perform (except anti-Monk), doing so will cost a lot of gold which is better utilized elsewhere. Their high pool of hit points (except Hei Guang Cavalry and Monaspas) and armor (except Tarkan) makes them very effective in fighting all kinds of infantry and cavalry (except direct counters), while also being good against foot archers. In good numbers, they perform really well against defensive structures.

Heavy cavalry units are very commonly used against Eagle Warriors, because they can force (unlike heavy infantry) and win (unlike light cavalry) engagements.

Boyars are the most heavily armored heavy cavalry unit, having both high melee and pierce armor, as well as the same offensive power as Paladins, being able to perfectly counter even the strongest Paladins in the game. They are also good against archers, as well as not being too hard to mass in the Imperial Age with Slavic Castles that cost less stone after Detinets. Despite not having the same level of armor, Centurions are also very competent heavy cavalry unit overall, especially with Comitatenses researched.

Cataphracts are the strongest heavy cavalry unit against infantry and camels due to their anti-infantry attack and good amount of cavalry armor.

Leiciai are very strong against other heavy cavalry units, because of their high attack (that can be further improved by each garrisoned Relic, up to +4), ability to ignore armor (which heavy cavalry tends to have the most), and cheap gold cost (which no other heavy cavalry except Monaspas can keep up with). They are also exceptionally good against infantry units, including Halberdiers, that they can kill in three hits with two Relics (making Leiciai cost effective in such match ups), but are still outperformed by the Cataphract in those situations.

Monaspas, despite starting with less hit points, can scale up to 22 attack if massed at groups of 29. Combined with their higher melee armor, better speed, ability to regenerate hit points, taking less damage when fighting uphill, taking less population space after Aznauri Cavalry, and low cost, it makes them almost as good as Leiciai in melee combat and cost-effectiveness, even against other heavy cavalry and infantry.

Konniks are the best heavy cavalry unit that can be the earliest to deploy because of the Krepost, that cost less than a Castle, allowing the player to build numbers much earlier than other civilizations. With the ability to still keep fighting as dismounted, makes them the best when dealing with most anti-cavalry units, coming over the top against Camel Riders and Pikemen and being able to keep up cost-effectively against Paladins in straight-up melee fights (only after Stirrups).

Tarkans are often used by Huns as archer-resistant units, since their damage output and pierce armor is very similar to Sicilian Cavaliers, but have even more hit points.

Keshiks are the strongest option for the Tatars in general combat, considering that they are much better than Tatar Cavaliers, and since Keshiks are cheap in gold, the Tatars have no problem sustaining production.

Coustilliers are not often used by the Burgundians, since they are strictly worse in combat after the first few seconds and do not threaten buildings as such. However, they are useful at taking down siege weapons with the charge attack, which quickly overwhelms the low hit points of siege weapons.

A special mention to Rathas, which can switch between melee and ranged modes, thus completely changing the type of unit they are, which provides them more flexibility.

Weaknesses

Heavy cavalry units are high-value units, which is their biggest weakness on most maps, since gold is limited. Being high-value units, they are the second highest priority for conversion (just after elephants). They (except Cataphracts) struggle against the cheap Spearman line and Camel Riders. Mamelukes are another generalist unit which beat heavy cavalry (even Cataphracts).

Due to their high armor, Boyars are the slowest of the heavy cavalry units (excluding the Teutonic Paladin). This means that faster melee units can decide to not engage them in melee, and they can be easily exploited by mounted archers with hit-and-run tactics.

Archers are good against Cataphracts, Leiciai, and Monaspas when kept away from them. Cataphracts are the weakest heavy cavalry unit against archers and buildings because of their low attack and armor. However, if managing to get close, their blast attack devastates foot archers. Leiciai have bad pierce armor too, but their low gold cost and ability to two-shot most foot archers with 2 Relics somewhat offsets the weakness. Monaspas simply have much less hit points compared to heavy cavalry units.

Unique heavy cavalry units (except maybe the Leitis, Keshik, and Monaspa) are flawed in 1vs1 because by the time player gets enough Castles, gold becomes an issue. However, the Konnik is probably the easiest to deploy early, thanks to the Krepost, but Konniks at the same time have a major drawback, which is the large number of technologies they need to be fully upgraded (taking both infantry- and cavalry-related technologies), as well as having lower damage output than Knights without Stirrups.

Notable civilizations

Civilizations whose heavy cavalry dominate the battlefield better than usual are Franks, due to the bonus hit points on their Knights as well as faster creation backed by a strong economy; Teutons, for the higher melee armor Knights, which also have conversion resistance, and cheaper farming; Bulgarians, for their higher attack speed and easy-to-get Blacksmith technologies; Lithuanians, which increase attack with Relics, as well as their unique unit, which shreds heavily armored units; Malians, with their increased attack in the Imperial Age; Burgundians, which can basically get +2 attack on their Knights in the Castle Age, and Paladins very quickly in the early Imperial Age, on account of cheap upgrades and superior economy; Sicilians, which resist anti-cavalry units naturally, Monks after their first unique technology, and archers after their second unique technology, which makes their Cavaliers very hard to counter. The Berbers perform really well until mid-Castle Age, on account of a steep discount, but fall of due to lacking Paladins. The Poles can get one of the cheapest Knights with their unique technology, but lack both Paladin and Plate Barding Armor, which makes them a quantity-over-quality civilization. Sicilian Knights, along with the Bulgarian and Byzantine unique units, are difficult to counter with regular counters, which makes them versatile. Slavs and Bulgarians can opt for their unique units instead of their Cavaliers, which are much easier to get going in the late game with cheaper production buildings.

Civilizations with access to the Paladin, Husbandry (except Cumans), and Plate Barding Armor are automatically considered good heavy cavalry civilizations in the late game, since this option is still better than generic Cavaliers. Lacking Bloodlines (except for Franks and Burgundians) makes such options weaker in the mid-game though, since the Paladin upgrade comes in a bit late and is very expensive. As such, Huns, Spanish, Cumans, Magyars, Burgundians, and Lithuanians without Relics are all viable options. Given enough gold and research time, Byzantine Paladins are also viable.

Gallery

All cavalry units trained at the Stable.

The Scout Cavalry line

The Knight line

The Camel Rider line

The Battle Elephant line

The Steppe Lancer line

The Armored Elephant line - trained at the Siege Workshop

All cavalry units trained at the Castle

The Paladin, the most popular cavalry unit