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All-purpose infantry unit.
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.

Availability chart[]

Championavailable Available Championunavailable Unavailable
x means that the civilization gets fully upgradeable Champions. The technologies being considered here are Blast Furnace, Plate Mail Armor, Gambesons, and Squires.
+ means that the civilization gets some civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Champion.

Overview and tactics[]

Champions attackanim aoe2de

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.

As the final upgrade for the Militia, and the second upgrade in the Imperial Age, the Champion upgrade offers +10 hit points. While the upgrade is moderately pricy, the impact of the upgrade is worth it unless the Champion is not meant to be a mainstay of the player's army.

With additional armor for melee combat coupled with an attack rarely superseded by other infantry, the Champion is a good unit when complemented with other units (such as cavalry for tracking down ranged units, or siege units for faster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 Genitour 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, the Aztecs and Burmese with their additional attack damage, the Vikings with their +20% hit points, the Slavs with their blast damage, the Teutons with their +2 melee armor, and Japanese with their faster attack speed. 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
Weak vs. Archer units, Scorpions, Mangonels, Cataphracts, Jaguar Warriors, Paladins, Boyars, War Elephants, Battle Elephants, Teutonic Knights, Obuchs
Upgrades
Hit points UniqueTechImperialDE Fereters (+30, Armenians only)
Attack Forging aoe2de Forging (+1)
IronCastingDE Iron Casting (+1)
BlastFurnaceDE Blast Furnace (+2)
ArsonDE Arson (+2 against standard buildings)
UniqueTechImperialDE Garland Wars (+4, Aztecs only)
UniqueTechImperialDE Druzhina (gives trample damage in 0.5 tiles radius, Slavs only)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Chieftains (+5 attack against cavalry and +4 against camels, Vikings only)
UniqueTechImperialDE Wootz Steel (attack ignores armor, Dravidians only)
Armor ScaleMailArmorDE Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1)
ChainMailArmorDE Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1)
PlateMailArmorDE Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
AoE2 Gambesons Gambesons (0/+1)
Speed SquiresDE Squires (+10%)
Conversion defense Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
HeresyDE Heresy (die upon getting converted)
UniqueTechCastle-DE First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)
UniqueTechImperialDE Perfusion (+100%, Goths only)
Train cost Suplliesicon Supplies (-15 food)
Regeneration UniqueTechCastle-DE Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle)
Other UniqueTechCastle-DE Chieftains (generates gold when killing Villagers, trade units, and Monks, Vikings only)

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

  • Champions have +3 attack against standard buildings.
  • Champions have 0 pierce armor.
  • Champions upgrade research time is 100 seconds.
  • CivIcon-Goths Goths: Champions are 25% cheaper and have an extra +1 attack against standard buildings.

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

  • Champions have +6 attack against Eagle Warriors.
  • Champions have 1 pierce armor.
  • Heresy introduced.
  • CivIcon-Goths Goths: With patch 1.0b, Champions are 35% cheaper. Perfusion introduced.

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West[]

  • CivIcon-Sicilians Sicilians: Champions resist 50% bonus damage. With update 47820, First Crusade increases the conversion resistance of Champions.

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals[]

Heroes[]

There are eight heroes in the game with the appearance of a Champion:

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.

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 before the Definitive Edition.
  • 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 1.425.
  • With 100 hit points, the Armenian Champion with Fereters is tied with the Elite Teutonic Knight and the Mayan Elite Eagle Warrior with El Dorado as the foot soldier with the third highest hit points in the game.
  • 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.
  • Malian Champions are often referred as "Champskarls" due to their civilization bonus giving their Militia unit line relatively high pierce armor.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager · Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart · FishingShipDE Fishing Ship · Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog · King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia · Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms · Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman · Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman · Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman · Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman · Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
Eaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout · Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior · EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer · Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman · Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher · Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer · Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
Aoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer · ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry · Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry · Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight · Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier · Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider · Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
Battle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant · Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer · Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant · AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram · Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram · Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel · Onager aoe2DE Onager · Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion · Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship
Galley aoe2DE Galley · War galley aoe2DE War Galley · Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley · Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship · Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft · Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship · Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon · Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
AoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk · Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower · CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero · Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia · GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto · Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam · HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl · JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior · KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk · Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior · AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary · Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch · SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai · Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant · Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior · TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight · ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman · Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest · WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai · CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer · ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu · AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman · ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador · GenitourIcon-DE Genitour · GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman · Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher · JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary · Kipchakicon Kipchak · LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman · MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai · PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer · Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha · Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer · SlingerIcon-DE Slinger · WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant · BoyarIcon-DE Boyar · Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout · CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract · Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion · Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier · Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel · ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider · Keshikicon Keshik · Konnikicon Konnik · Leitisicon Leitis · MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar · MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke · AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa · Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha · AoE2 Savar Savar · Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider · TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan · WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant · Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice · Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon · OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel · LongboatIcon-DE Longboat · Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai · TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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