Drummer

This article is about the House of Hanover unit. For the Unknown map unit, see Flag Bearer.

Drummer
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry* Native warrior
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Trading Post or Tambo on a House of Hanover palace Native Embassy
Cost	150 Food 150 Coin 1 Population
Train time	30
Train limit	3 per House of Hanover palace
Statistics
Hit points	250
Resistance	10% Hand
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	24
Ability	"Cadence Aura" "Cadence Support"
Special ability	Inspiring Flag
XP train bounty	30
XP kill bounty	30
Ranged attack
Damage	20 Ranged
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	10 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Military musician who can inspire military units to move and attack faster.	”
—In-game description

The Drummer is a ranged infantry native warrior in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean that can be trained at a Trading Post built on a House of Hanover palace.

Overview

The Drummer is a ranged infantry unit similar to the Zouave, with high hit points, ranged attack, and a large Line of Sight, but is expensive, lacks of any type of multiplier, and has a low build limit. It is vulnerable against cavalry and artillery. Even other ranged infantry units can defeat it, as the Drummer does not have ranged resistance.

However, Drummers are not intended to fight the enemy. Instead, they are support units due to their passive abilities. The first one, Cadence Aura, increases their speed for each nearby unit, while their second ability, Cadence Support, increases the movement speed of nearby units and reduces their Rate of Fire, but these effects will not stack, which means that only one Drummer's aura will benefit the player's units speed and Rate of Fire. Players should protect Drummers if they want to make use of their benefits, although training just one Drummer should be enough unless they are massing a large army.

Due to being infantry units, they are more vulnerable against hand cavalry and artillery; melee heavy infantry like the Pikeman or the Halberdier are useful against cavalry, but ranged cavalry like Dragoons could be more useful due to their multipliers against both cavalry and artillery.

Special abilities

• Cadence Aura: The Drummer get +4% speed for every friendly military unit in a radius of 34 (up to +22.23%).
• Cadence Support: The Drummer grants +10% speed and -5.25% Rate of Fire to friendly units in a radius of 34. Does not stack.
• Inspiring Flag (requires Acts of Union): The Drummer plants an Inspiring House of Hanover Flag at the target location which increases the attack of nearby military units (except Artillery) and military buildings in 10%. The Inspiring Flag has an Area of Effect and Line of Sight of 14 which increases by 10 in every Age. Also, it will spawn one Irish Brigadier, one Highlander and one Harquebusier. 360 seconds cooldown.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Hanoverians	125 wood 125 coin	Upgrades Totenkopf Hussars and Drummers to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Royal Guard Hanoverians	350 wood 350 coin	Upgrades Totenkopf Hussars, Drummers and Black Brunswickers to Royal Guard (+40% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Hanoverians
	Legendary Native Warriors Exalted Natives	1,500 food 1,500 wood	Upgrades native warriors to Legendary/Exalted/Imperial (+50% hit points and attack)

• The Legendary Native Warriors technology is available in the Capitol for European civilizations and the Mexicans, the State Capitol for the United States, and the Town Center for Asian (as Exalted Natives) and Native American civilizations.
• For African civilizations, native warriors are upgraded automatically and for free.

Civilization differences

• The Germans can train Drummers from the Royal Embassy after sending the "Prince-Electors" Home City Card and choosing the House of Hanover as ally, also allowing them to train Totenkopf Hussars and Black Brunswickers. The Drummers take 2 population instead of 1, have a build limit of 6, and can be upgraded to Veteran and Royal Guard level.
• If the player picks The Black Duke for aging up into the Imperial Age with the British, the player will receive 6 Drummers.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry
Weak vs.	Ranged infantry, heavy cavalry, shock infantry, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Paper Cartridge (+15%) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Armatoloi (+5%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+25% hand attack)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance) Hualcana (+5%; Inca only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Cherokee War Dance (+20%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only) Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Cree Kinship (-45%) Standing Army (-25%) Akan Fontomfrom (-20%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Philhellenism (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Cost	Philhellenism (-10%) Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Acts of Union (can use the "Inspiring Flag" ability) Yoruba Herbalism (regenerates hit points when close to a tree or Berry Bush) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost; Germans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Drummer

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

All

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen	Ranged infantry get +10% damage; French and Hausa-only ranged infantry get +15% damage instead
Native Alliance	Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10% (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)
Native Warriors	Native warriors cost -25% (also +3 Uhlans for the Germans)
Native Warrior Combat	Native warriors get +15% hit points and damage
TEAM Native Weapon Trade	Native warrior train limit +20%
Blood Brothers	Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined/Veteran and Champion/Honored/Royal Guard; Native Embassies get +40% hit points and +5 build limit (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans)
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time
Fencing School	Infantry (except Warrior Priests and Skull Knights) and shock infantry train time -40% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)

• "TEAM Senegalese Riflemen" is available to the French and Hausa.
• "Native Alliance" is available to the Aztecs, Inca, Indians, and Japanese.
• "Native Warriors" is available to Europeans, the Lakota and Mexicans.
• "Native Warrior Combat" is available to the French, Haudenosaunee, and Inca, and also Mexicans upon revolting to the Maya, and British upon revolting to Haiti.
• "TEAM Native Weapon Trade" is available to the Dutch and Lakota, and also British and French upon revolting to Canada.
• "Blood Brothers" is available to the Aztecs, French, Germans, Haudenosaunee, Lakota, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish, and also British upon revolting to Canada or Haiti.
• "Liberation March" is available to the Mexicans and Spanish.
• "Fencing School" is available to Europeans (except the French, Maltese, Ottomans, and Spanish), the Aztecs and Indians.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

Asians

Card	Description	Age
Native Warrior Hitpoints	Native warriors get +30% hit points and +10% speed (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)
Native Warrior Attack	Native warriors get +30% damage and -25% train time

• "Native Warrior Hitpoints" is not available to the Japanese.
• "Native Warrior Attack" is not available to the Indians.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Delivers 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villagers, healing units, Envoys, and Disciples get +5% speed
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage
Acupuncture	All units' (except monks) train time -20%; Heavy Cannon, Flying Crow, and Summer Palace banner army spawn time -5%

• "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" does not stack with the Inca "TEAM Inca Bridges" card.

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +10% hit points; Dutch-only infantry get +15% hit points instead

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged infantry get +5% speed
Temenyas	Gunpowder infantry get +5% damage; Neftenya can be trained in the Commerce Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
4 Hanover Allies	Delivers 4 Drummers; costs 500 coin
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15%; "TEAM 4 Zenata Rider", "Recruit Xebec", "Recruit Xebecs", and "15 Berber Allies" cost no coin
Sevites	Maroons, native warriors, and villagers now regenerate hit points at a rate of 0.25% per second when idle; Yoruba Eso Rider hit point degeneration rate -60% and Militiaman hit point degeneration rate -10%, and for both stops at 25% hit points
Louverture Liberation	Delivers 6 Citizens; Citizens can be trained at Town Centers for 70 coin; Fishing Boats can be trained at Docks; native warriors get +20% hit points and +5% speed
Wanderlust	Land military units and land villagers get +5% hit points; land villagers and construction wagons get +5% speed

• "4 Hanover Allies" is available to the British, and also to the French upon revolting to Canada.
• "Mercenary Loyalty" reduces cost of "4 Hanover Allies" by 25%.
• "Loyal Warriors" is available to the Italians, Maltese, Ottomans, and Portuguese upon revolting to the Barbary States.
• "Sevites" and "Louverture Liberation" are available to the British and French upon revolting to Haiti.
• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

Federal Americans

Card	Description	Age
Indian Friendship/Chimayo Genizarios	Each different allied native tribe sends a large shipment of their respective native warriors and upgrades them to Elite and Champion; native warriors train time -10%; native warrior shipments and "Native Treaties" arrive time -50%; costs 500 food, 500 wood

• "Indian Friendship" is available to the United States and "Chimayo Genizarios" to the Mexicans.

French

Card	Description	Age
Wilderness Warfare	Coureurs des Bois, Cree Coureurs des Bois, native warriors, Skirmishers, and Settlers get +20% hit points
TEAM French Auxiliaries Combat	Native warriors get +10% hit points and damage
Royal Fencing School	Delivers 3 Royal Musketeers; infantry and shock infantry train time -40%
Cult of the Supreme Being	The player gains +10% XP from training units and other players receive -10% XP from defeating them; Sansculottes gather resources from Crates 50% faster; food from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 25% faster; wood from trees and Mango Groves and coin from mines 20% faster; food from huntable and herdable animals, Mills, Farms and coin from Estates 15% faster
Sister Republics	Delivers 15 random European native units; costs 1,500 food

• "Cult of the Supreme Being" and "Sister Republics" are available upon revolting to Revolutionary France.
• "Sister Republics" ships European native units from all Royal Houses, excepting the House of Jagiellon, House of Phanar, and House of Vasa.

Germans

Card	Description	Age
Prince-Electors	Delivers 1 Royal Embassy Wagon; choose any one German Royal House as an ally that will allow you to recruit and upgrade units at the Royal Embassy; allied units will now take population in the Royal Embassy and Home City; removes cost for Royal Houses alliances; player can choose from Hanover, Habsburg, Oldenburg, Wettin, and Wittelsbach; doubled most train limits for allied native units

• "Prince-Electors" enables Totenkopf Hussars, Drummers, Black Brunswickers, Veteran Hanoverians and Royal Guard Hanoverians at the Royal Embassy, if the player chooses to ally with the House of Hanover

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Scout Infantry	Delivers 1 Native Scout; infantry get +8 Line of Sight
Conservative Tactics	Infantry get +10% hit points and damage
Native Warrior Conscription	Native warrior cost -25% and train limit +20%
Wampum	Training units and constructing buildings grants +35% XP; unit train time -20%, siege unit and artillery train time -5% instead

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Sahelian Kingdoms	Native warriors get +15% hit points and damage; mercenaries and outlaws get +10% hit points and damage

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military units get +10% speed
Couriers	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry train time -45%
TEAM Inca Bridges	Delivers 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed

• "TEAM Inca Bridges" does not stack with the Chinese "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% all melee attack damage; Rajputs get +20% all melee attack damage instead; +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage
Zamindars	Infantry train time -20%; delivers 2 Sepoys instead of 1 Hindu Villager with each Home City shipment, including this one

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% all melee attack damage

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
Onin War	Infantry get +33% siege attack damage
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +5% speed, +10 Line of Sight and train units 15% faster; land military unit train time -20%, artillery and banner army train time -10% instead

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Moccasins	Infantry get +10% speed
Black Arrow	Native warriors train time -85%
Winter Counts	Training units grants +40% XP and constructing buildings grants +20% XP

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post build; all units get +2% hit points
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 260% faster

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Delivers Books of 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster
Bastimento	Villager train time -20%; infantry train time -25%, Revolutionary train time -50% instead
Pok Ta Pok	Infantry get +10% speed and -10% train time

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.
• "Bastimento" is available upon revolting to Rio Grande.
• "Pok Ta Pok" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
Matrakci School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -30%; Janissary, Azap, Nizam Fusilier, Abus Gunner, and Humbaraci train time -40% instead

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints	Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points

Russians

Card	Description	Age
Ransack	Infantry get +50% siege attack damage
Dueling School	Infantry train time -25%

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
Peninsular Guerrillas	Ranged infantry get +20% damage, musket infantry get +10% damage instead; Skirmishers now see the Line of Sight of enemies they attacked for 3 seconds
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

United States

Card	Description	Age
Indiana Mobilization	Delivers 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; unit train time (except Heavy Cannons), technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.

Changelog

Knights of the Mediterranean

• Originally, Drummers gave 15 XP when trained or killed. With update 13.58326, they give 30 XP, are classified as gunpowder infantry, and are selected with the "Select all military units" hotkey.
• Originally, the Drummer's aura affects artillery. With update 14.3853, the Drummer's aura no longer affects artillery.
• Originally, Drummers take no population spaces, and the Cadence Support ability reduces the Rate of Fire of nearby units by 10%. With update 14.43676, Drummers take 1 population, and the Cadence Support ability reduces the Rate of Fire of nearby units by 5%.

In-game dialogue

The Drummer speaks a variant of Middle English using the British Grenadier's dialogue files.

History

“

The House of Hanover ruled much of northwestern Germany from the 17th century up through the 20th century. However, a branch of this house also ruled in England for a few centuries. British armies were among many in Europe to make use of drummers in their armies to pace troop movement and communicate commands with various rhythms and sequences. Drummers were crucial to forces for this reason – and often became targets as a result.

”

Trivia

• There is a similar unit seen only in the cutscenes from vanilla and The WarChiefs campaigns.
  • This earlier version of the Drummer is sometimes given to each player at the start of a game on the Unknown. It has no combat capability and its boost is manual rather than passive, but can still be used as an early scout and takes up no population.
• The Drummer is the fifth unit whose racial appearance is randomized upon creation, the other four being the Settler, the State Militia, the Regular and the Guard/Imperial Carbine Cavalry.

Gallery

Drummer image from the Compendium section

In-game Drummers

A House of Hanover Inspiring Flag planted by a Drummer