Daimyo

Daimyo
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry
Civilization(s)	Japanese
Age	Commerce Age (Mototada) Fortress Age (Kiyomasa and Masamune)
Training
Trained at	Shogunate (Daimyo Masamune; Daimyo Mototada and Daimyo Kiyomasa must be shipped from the Home City first)
Cost	350 Coin 4 Population
Train time	100 seconds
Train limit	1 (each Daimyo)
Statistics
Hit points	650
Resistance	30% Ranged
Speed	6.5
Line of Sight	12
Ability	Increases the attack of nearby friendly units Trains infantry and cavalry Receives Home City shipments Regeneration
Special ability	Saburau Zeal
Train XP	35
Kill XP	35
Siege attack
Damage	40 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	30 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Trample attack
Damage	20 Hand
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	Powerful Japanese lord who can train troops and receive Shipments.	”
—In-game description

The Daimyo is a melee heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Japanese and can be shipped from the Home City, after which they can be retrained at the Shogunate wonder. It is a special unit that boasts several special abilities to bolster the Japanese military might.

There are three different Daimyo in random map games, which only differs in appearance and name; Daimyo Mototada, Daimyo Kiyomasa, and Daimyo Masamune. Mototada and Kiyomasa are shipped from the Home City, while Masamune is given if the player uses the Shogunate wonder to advance into the Fortress Age or higher.

Overview

The Daimyo possesses the Saburau Zeal ability which boosts the attack of all nearby friendly units, although the effect from multiple Daimyos do not stack. They can also serve as a drop off-point for Home City shipments, allowing them to be brought to wherever he is on the map. Finally, the Daimyo can train Japanese infantry and cavalry in the field, giving the Japanese army the advantage of boosting its numbers in the middle of a fight; however, they must stand still while doing so, leaving them vulnerable.

The Daimyo are very important to win a skirmish via conquest. The preferable method is building the Shogunate, where the player can retrain killed Daimyo. The other way, the hardest, is keeping them out of battle with the help of the advance button commands, ordering him to not attack any unit.

The weakest point of the Daimyo is their ability to train units, because they must stay still while they're producing the unit. So, if one is not aware of this and leave a Daimyo alone, the Daimyo run the risk of being killed. The Daimyo don't need to stand still when a Home City shipment arrives, but if the player don't choose their cards wisely, their shipped crates of resources may drop in enemy territories!

Special ability

• Saburau Zeal (passive): The Daimyo increases the attack of friendly units in a radius of 24 around him by 10%.

Units

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.
	Yumi Archer	55 food 50 wood	1
	Ashigaru Musketeer	80 food 40 coin
	Samurai	95 food 95 coin	2
	Naginata Rider	100 food 100 coin
	Yabusame	60 food 150 coin

Upgrades

The Daimyo is automatically upgraded in every Age up starting from the Fortress Age.

• +20% hit points and damage
• +30% hit points and damage
• +50% hit points and damage

Campaign appearances

In Act I: Japan, Daimyo appear as friendly units that can be shipped from the Home City and as enemy units. The Daimyos in the Campaign are different from their Skirmish counterparts. The named Daimyos in the campaign are listed below:

• Daimyo Kato Kiyomasa (friendly)
• Daimyo Date Masamune (friendly)
• Daimyo Hosokawa Tadaoki (friendly)
• Daimyo Otani (enemy)
• Daimyo Ishida (enemy)

Further statistics

As Daimyo are unique to the Japanese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Other	Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers Daimyo Masamune if Shogunate was built for the Japanese to reach the Fortress, Industrial or Imperial Age if he has been slain in combat and not retrained at the Shogunate at the time of research)

Home City Cards

As Daimyo are unique to the Japanese, 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 Daimyo

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry damage +15%

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
Daimyo Kiyomasa	Delivers Daimyo Kiyomasa; enables Daimyo Kiyomasa to be trained at the Shogunate
Daimyo Mototada	Delivers Daimyo Mototada; enables Daimyo Mototada to be trained at the Shogunate
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa speed +5%, Line of Sight +10, training and research work rate +15%; land military train time -20%, artillery and banner army train time -10% instead
Warring States	Samurai, Daimyo, and Shogun Tokugawa hit points and damage +15%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Daimyo Kiyomasa	Ships Daimyo Kiyomasa and allows him to be retrained at the Shogunate		1
Daimyo Mototada	Ships Daimyo Mototada and allows him to be retrained at the Shogunate		10
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 Line of Sight and train units 100% faster		10
Warring States	Samurai, Daimyo, and Shogun Tokugawa gets +15% hit points and damage		25

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Scouts	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

History

“

The daimyo were the great feudal landowners of Japan. Unlike the kuge, or court nobleman, the daimyo were lords of territory and local citizenry, and as such held great power. By the twelfth century the influence of certain daimyo rivaled even the power of the emperor. The first Kamakura shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo, had been a daimyo, but upon obtaining power in 1192 CE, he established a centralized feudal system. As a result, the shogun's power quickly weakened during the bloody civil wars occurring between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the end of the sixteenth century, one daimyo was quickly growing in power and wealth, rivaling the emperor for power. His name was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Upon becoming shogun in 1603, Tokugawa once again strengthened central power.

”

Gallery

The Daimyo's history portrait, featuring Daimyo Masamune

Daimyo Masamune concept art

The generic Daimyo portrait in the campaign

In-game Daimyo Mototada

The generic Daimyo rear view

Daimyo Mototada's icon from the website

In-game Daimyo Masamune in the Definitive Edition

In-game Daimyo Kiyomasa in the Definitive Edition

In-game Daimyo Mototada in the Definitive Edition

From left to right: In-game Shogun Tokugawa, Daimyo Masamune, Daimyo Kiyomasa, and Daimyo Mototada in the Definitive Edition

Daimyo image from the Compendium section, featuring Daimyo Masamune

See also

• Regent - A similar unit available in certain regicide maps