| “ | Stronger than Two-Handed Swordsman. Cheap and quick to create. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Champion is an infantry unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Barracks once the Imperial Age is reached. It is the final tier in the Militia line.
| Civilization | Unavailable |
|---|---|
|
The * indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Champions, i.e. gets Blast Furnace, Plate Mail Armor, Supplies, and Squires. Faith and Heresy are not taken into account because they only contribute to their combat strength in a very situational manner.
The ^ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Champion.
Overview and tactics[]
Champions destroying a Siege Workshop.
The Champion has an attack bonus against buildings and the Eagle-line, and is even more powerful when used in conjunction with Rams.
With additional armor for melee combat coupled with an attack rarely superseded by other infantry, the Champion is a good unit when complemented with other units (such as cavalry for tracking down ranged units, or siege units for faster razing) or in waves of units if the player has a massive replenishing stockpile of food and gold. The typical infantry shortcomings do exist, however, as they are still slow and are modest in terms of health, making them vulnerable to archers, heavy cavalry, and splash-damage siege weaponry.
Champions excel in two particular situations: early Imperial Age when their counters are not as prominent and late Imperial Age when gold is scarce. Champions are informally called 'trash busters' since they can easily defeat all the trash units (Halberdiers, Elite Skirmishers, and Hussars). The unique trash units, the Genitours and the Magyar Huszar, can stand up to most civilizations' Champions, but do not defeat them distinctly.
For some civilizations, Champions are a go-to late game deathball choice. This includes Malians with their +3 pierce armor bonus and the Aztecs and Burmese with their additional attack damage. An Imperial Age Champion rush requires a huge Farm-based economy.
On lush maps with plenty of resources (e. g. Yucatán), it is recommended to opt for another type of army (as long as the additional cost can be shouldered by the economy), as they generally tend to fare better in general combat.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Skirmishers, Genitours, Halberdiers, Camel Riders, Eagle Warriors, buildings, Light Cavalry, Huskarls, Rams |
| Weak vs. | Archers, Scorpions, Mangonels, Cataphracts, Jaguar Warriors, Paladins, Boyars, War Elephants, Battle Elephants, Hand Cannoneers, Conquistadors, Janissaries, Slingers, Teutonic Knights, Obuchs |
| Upgrades | |
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings) Garland Wars (+4, Aztecs only) Druzhina (Slavs only, gives trample damage) Chieftains (Vikings only, gives +5 attack against cavalry and +4 against camels)
|
| Armor |  Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Squires (+10%)
|
| Sight |  Tracking (+2)
|
| Conversion defense |  Faith Heresy First Crusade (Sicilians only)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Perfusion (+100%, Goths only)
|
| Train cost |  Supplies (-15 food)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
- Aztecs: Champions are created 11% faster.
- Burmese: Champions have +3 attack. Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Champions move 15% faster. Champions can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Champions are 20% cheaper.
- Goths: Champions are 35% cheaper and have +3 attack against standard buildings.
- Japanese: Champions attack 33% faster.
- Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
- Malians: Champions have +3 pierce armor.
- Portuguese: Champions cost -20% gold. Upgrades that benefit Champions are researched 30% faster.
- Sicilians: Champions absorb 50% of all incoming bonus damage.
- Slavs: Supplies is free.
- Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Champions cost no gold.
- Teutons: Champions have +2 armor.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
- Vikings: Champions have +20% hit points.
Team bonuses[]
- A team containing Goths: Champions are created 20% faster. Researching Supplies, Squires, and Arson is 20% faster.
- A team containing Teutons: Champions are more resistant to conversion.
- A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
- A team containing Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Champions have +3 attack against standard buildings.
- Champions have 0 pierce armor.
- Goths: Champions are 25% cheaper and have an extra +1 attack against standard buildings.
The Conquerors[]
- Champions have +6 attack against Eagle Warriors.
- Champions have 1 pierce armor.
- Heresy introduced.
- Aztecs: Garland Wars introduced.
- Goths: With patch 1.0b, Champions are 35% cheaper. Perfusion introduced.
The Forgotten[]
- Champions have +4 attack against standard buildings.
- Champions have +8 attack against Eagle Warriors.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Arson introduced.
- Vikings: With patch 4.8, Chieftains affects Champions. It gives Champions +2 attack against camels.
Rise of the Rajas[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Tracking removed; all infantry receive +2 Line of Sight from the Feudal Age instead.
- Supplies introduced.
- Bulgarians: Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
- Goths: With update 36202, bonus damage against standard buildings is +3. Goths lose access to Arson.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
- Teutons: With update 35584, Champions have +1 armor. With update 36906, Champions have +2 armor.
Trivia[]
- The Militia line is the only unit line in the game with more than three stages.
- Due to a minor graphical bug, the Champion may appear to be wielding two swords at once depending on the angle of unit rotation.
- In the alpha, the Champion is in a separate line to the Man-at-Arms.
- Burmese Champions are tied with Elite Jaguar Warriors with Garland Wars by having the third highest attack of all infantry units with 20 attack, being behind Aztec Champions with Garland Wars and Elite Teutonic Knights with 21 attack and Elite Shotel Warriors with 22 attack.
- Japanese Champions have the second fastest attack of all infantry units with a reload time of 1.5, being behind Samurai and Japanese Condottieri with a reload time of 1.42.
- During the Beta, the Malay had access to Champions but lacked Plate Mail Armor, and the Vietnamese lacked them.
- Despite being a civilization that lack access to the Champion upgrade, the Bulgarian Two-Handed Swordsman with the Bagains unique technology can defeat most Champions from other civilizations.
- All of the civilizations with the Western European, East Asian, and Mediterranean architecture sets have access to Champions.
History[]
| “ | Among the best swordsmen there were a few who, through their renown on the battlefield and in tournaments, achieved the status of champion. Such men became war leaders and rose in social standing thanks to abilities so highly regarded at the time. Lords kept champions on retainer for status and because staged fights between elite warriors were used on occasion to resolve disputes. Having a great champion in your pay or as a vassal was the Middle Age equivalent to having a good lawyer. Champions were professional warriors who might also be members of the nobility. A successful champion might gain a noble title through tournament victory, battle honors, or marriage. A minor knight in England named John Marshal was so successful in tournaments that he rose to become a high-ranking noble of great wealth thanks to prizes and successive marriages to admiring women of means. | ” |
Gallery[]
Video[]
CHAMPION (Britons) vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT AoE II Definitive Edition-1
CHAMPION (Hindustanis) vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT (Total Resources) - AoE II- DE
