Chu Ko Nu (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the Age of Empires III unit. For other uses of the term, see Chu Ko Nu.

Chu Ko Nu
Unit information
Introduced in	The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Archer
Civilization	Chinese
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Fires three shots in a quick succession on each attack
Training
Banner army	Old Han Army Standard Army
Food	85
Training time	24 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	90
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	20
Population	1
XP train bounty	9
XP bounty	9
Melee attack
Damage	6
Multipliers	x2.0 vs. Heavy infantry, Light cavalry and Eagle Runner Knight x0.75 vs. Cavalry and Coyote Runner
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	5 * 3 (15 total)
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	16
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	3 * 3 (9 total)
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Archaic Chinese crossbow that fires at an extremely fast rate. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Chu Ko Nu is an archer in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and trained as a part of the Old Han Army and Standard Army. It is similar to the Crossbowman, but fires in bursts of three shots like its counterparts in previous games.

Overview

Chu Ko Nu is the best option for the Chinese to counter heavy infantry and light cavalry although they are not a best option against ranged cavalry such as War Wagons, Howdahs, or Yabusame due to their shorter range.

The Chu Ko Nu is relatively cheap, costing only 85 food, and are available since Colonial Age. Due to their fast firing speed, the Chu Ko Nu's arrows deal only 5 damage, less than a Crossbowman, but fires three shots simultaneously and has bigger multipliers; 2.0x against heavy infantry and light cavalry. Also, they can be upgraded to Honored/Guard and Exalted/Imperial levels while the Crossbowmen can't (except for the Portuguese with their Guard-esque Besteiros), which allows them to be used in Fortress Age and beyond. They fall quickly to hand cavalry as they are fairly weak, with only 90 hit points.

The Repelling Volley Home City Card increase their multipliers against heavy infantry and light cavalry into 3.0x, although they have a multiplier of 0.75x against cavalry, making them particularly weak against heavy cavalry units such as Spahi and Cuirassier.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Chu Ko Nu	100 wood, 50 coin	Upgrades Chu Ko Nu to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack)
	Honored Chu Ko Nu	300 wood, 300 coin	Upgrades Chu Ko Nu to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Chu Ko Nu
	Exalted Chu Ko Nu	750 wood, 750 coin	Upgrades Chu Ko Nu to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Chu Ko Nu

Further statistics

As Chu Ko Nu are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights
Weak vs.	Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0x multiplier vs. villagers) Seminole Bowyer (+25%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-12%, Standard Army)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Chu Ko Nu are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Chu Ko Nu

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese Card Description Age HC level 8 Chu Ko Nus Ships 8 Chu Ko Nu 1 13 Chu Ko Nus Ships 13 Chu Ko Nu 1 21 Chu Ko Nus Ships 21 Chu Ko Nu 10 Standard Army Hitpoints Chu Ko Nu and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points 10 Mandarin Duck Squad Ships 8 Chu Ko Nu and 1 Flamethrower; costs 500 food 25 New Army Turns all Chu Ko Nu into Arquebusiers and Qiang Pikemen into Changdao Swordsmen; costs 200 food 40 Old Han Reforms Chu Ko Nu and Qiang Pikemen get +100% hit points and attack but Old Han Army and Standard Army costs +50%; costs 1,000 food 40 Repelling Volley Chu Ko Nu and Arquebusiers get +10% attack and +1.0x multiplier agains heavy infantry and light cavalry 10 Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Banner School Banner army train time -23% 10 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Archaic Soldier Training Pikeman, Crossbowman, Longbowman, Macehualtin, Aenna, Cetan Bow, and Yumi Archer train time -50%; Old Han Army, Standard Army, and Ming Army train time -25% 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

History

“

The Chinese chu ko nu repeating crossbow was known for its simple design and incredible rate of fire. It held a magazine of 10 bolts with steel tips, which it shot in succession, and was operated by grasping the stock in the left hand and working the lever with the right. In that swift movement, a bolt would drop into place, the string would be strung, and then the bolt would be fired, with another bolt dropping in to take its place. The weapon was specifically designed to fire rapidly and be turned on groups of enemy troops at a distance of no more than 150-250 feet. It was especially effective against cavalry. Horses provided large targets for the generally inaccurate chu ko nu, and when the animal was wounded it usually lost control and sowed pandemonium in the surrounding ranks. Stories of the chu ko nu date back to 250 BCE, when legend has it that the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang used the weapon to shoot sharks for sport. Most accounts, however, have the creation of the chu ko nu occurring during the Chinese Han Dynasty, around the year 200 CE.

”

Gallery

An in game Chu Ko Nu.

The Chu Ko Nu's history portrait