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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. For the unit in Age of Empires III, see Conquistador (Age of Empires III). |
| “ | Spanish unique unit. Mounted Hand Cannoneer. Powerful close attack, but inaccurate at range. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II original description | ||
The Conquistador (literally "Conqueror") is the Castle unique unit of the Spanish in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. It is a mounted gunpowder unit with high armor.
Conquistadors can be upgraded to Elite Conquistadors in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
Conquistadors are ranged cavalry with a high attack strength and are essentially mounted Hand Cannoneers. Conquistadors have the advantage in mobility and durability over Hand Cannoneers, but lose the attack bonus against infantry. Similar to Hand Cannoneers, the Conquistador is a ready-to-use unit, due to having fewer technologies affecting it. An early rush with Conquistadors is difficult to stop if the enemy is not prepared. Although they are the shortest ranged gunpowder unit and unlike Cavalry Archers do not benefit from range increases, their increased mobility makes them far more formidable and very heavy hitting. While ideally all technologies must be researched, Husbandry alone is enough to make them a great force at raiding and against non-ranged units.
Conquistadors shine when using hit-and-run tactics, their short range and relative mobility often force them into this position when being chased down by infantry or cavalry. In groups, they can release a devastating volley that will severely damage enemy formations. While Elite Skirmishers are effective against them, they are not nearly as effective as against Cavalry Archers, because the Conquistador's attack overpowers the Skirmisher's pierce armor. Moreover, siege weapons can be handled easily if the Conquistador player can micromanage their units. Monks are one of the biggest foes of Conquistadors; one might think that the Conquistadors being ranged can deal with Monks, but the Monks can get in enough conversions before dying to make this a bad trade, especially since Conquistadors are expensive. As such, they should be paired with Light Cavalry which can handle these units. Conquistadors in turn provide great damage output to deal with other types of units. However, Camel Riders and Mamelukes are a large threat to both units.
Other than the aforementioned units, Halberdiers can also hurt Conquistadors badly, provided they can catch them. While only the Skirmisher is mentioned, all archers with available technologies researched can deal with Conquistadors cost-effectively. With the Imperial Age technologies researched, archers can win even population-efficiently with good micromanagement.
Further statistics[]
As Conquistdors are unique to the Spanish, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry |
| Weak vs. | Monks, archers, Camel Riders, Mamelukes |
| Conditional matchups | Cavalry, siege weapons |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Armor |  Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1) Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1) Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
| Movement speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Creation speed |  Turks (+25%)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Conquistadors cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Conquistadors provides 20 gold each.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching archer armor upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion, Faith, and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Conquistadors are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- (Elite) Conquistadors do not receive damage from anti-cavalry archer attacks.
- (Elite) Conquistadors have a projectile speed of 5.5.
- Non-Elite Conquistadors have 2 pierce armor.
Definitive Edition[]
- (Elite) Conquistadors receive damage from anti-cavalry archer attacks.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- With update 51737, (Elite) Conquistadors have a projectile speed of 7.5.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 81058, non-Elite Conquistadors have 1 pierce armor.
Heroes[]
There are two heroes in the game with the appearance of a Conquistador:
History[]
| “ | Spanish adventurers who set off to conquer the New World became known as Conquistadors. These men were an assortment of disposed sons of the nobility and soldiers of fortune looking for adventure and loot. Most were soldiers without employment. They arrived in the New World with a great technical advantage in weapons over the natives who could not stand up to steel swords, firearms, and mounted lancers. The horse was particularly terrifying to the first natives who encountered it. Mounted men were thought to be some sort of new creature, half man and half four-legged beast. Thanks to the spread of European diseases before them and advantageous use of native allies on occasion, ridiculously small armies of Conquistadors conquered with relative ease the two great American civilizations, the Aztecs and the Incas. Within the ranks of the European adventurers who invaded the New World there were soldiers of superior ability and determination who became the Elite Conquistadors. These were the men who lead the charges against seemingly insurmountable odds and triumphed due to their superior weapons and grim resolve. |
” |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
