Eagle Runner Knight

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the related unit in Age of Empires II, see Eagle Warrior.

Eagle Runner Knight
Unit information
Introduced in	The WarChiefs
Type	Shock infantry Ranged infantry Archer
Civilization	Aztecs
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Nobles' Hut
Food	75
Coin	75
Training time	37 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	180
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.0
Line of Sight	18
Population	1
XP train bounty	15
XP bounty	15
Melee attack
Damage	9
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.0 vs. Coyote Runners
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	15
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry x2.0 vs. Coyote Runners x0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	8
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Nobleman that flings javelins from an atlatl. Good against cavalry and Coyote Runners.	”
—In-game description

The Eagle Runner Knight is a ranged shock infantry in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that is unique to the Aztecs and can be trained at the Nobles' Hut.

Overview

Eagle Runner Knights are a fast ranged shock infantry unit equivalent to the European Dragoon. They are cheap and have a good attack and a decent range, but a poor siege attack. They are effective against hand cavalry and Coyote Runners. They are vulnerable to long-range infantry like Skirmishers, and heavy infantry in melee.

Note that like the Longbowman, these units attack 50% faster than most other ranged units with a reload of 1.5s.

Strategy

Eagle Runner Knights are fast units useful for assaults and rushes. It's useful to face cavalry and helps a lot to repel aggressive cavalry civilizations, like the Germans or the Sioux. The Eagle Runner cannot be used effectively for wholesale pillaging, due its very poor siege attack. This drawback makes the Eagle Runner only a support unit, while other siege units like Puma Spearmen or Arrow Knights take down enemy buildings. Also, the Eagle Runners are fairly cheap in comparison with ranged cavalry units, like the Dragoon. The best counter to Eagle Runners are heavy artillery units, such as Heavy Cannons, but that strategy not being very cost-effective, Skirmishers and other ranged infantry can be used against them. Rodeleros make an excellent counter unit as well, due to their speed being equal and having a large bonus vs Eagle Runners.

Eagle Runners can be used to counter Musketeers and other similar units at range very effectively. This is due to their high rate of fire, high damage and excellent range once the temple support card is sent. They actually have similar damage per second to Skirmishers, while possessing more hit points and speed.

Eagle Runner Knights are very population effective units once all the Home City combat cards have been sent. They are very similar to the Dutch Ruyter, but with more hit points, damage, range, and ranged resistance. These factors all combine to make the eagle knight one of the best anti-cavalry units in the game.

Differences from Eagle Warrior

Note that the Aztec Eagle Warrior available at Trading Posts on Native American settlement sites (only on the original game, as The WarChiefs expansion replaces Aztec settlements with Zapotec ones) is weaker and is more effective against infantry than cavalry.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Champion Eagle Runner Knights	400 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Eagle Runner Knights to Champion (+25% hit points and attack)
	Legendary Eagle Runner Knights	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Eagle Runner Knights to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); requires Champion Eagle Runner Knights

Further statistics

As Eagle Runner Knights are unique to the Aztecs, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, Coyote Runners
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) 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	Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%)
Other	Cinteotl Worship (ships 1 Eagle Runner Knight for every 2 minutes of the game time, up to 30 minutes) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Eagle Runner Knights are unique to the Aztecs, 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 Eagle Runner Knight

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Aztecs Card Description Age HC level 5 Eagle Runner Knights Ships 5 Eagle Runner Knights 1 9 Eagle Runner Knights Ships 9 Eagle Runner Knights 10 6 Eagle Runner Knights Ships 6 Eagle Runner Knights 10 Scorched Earth Arrow Knights, Eagle Runner Knights, and Jaguar Prowl Knights get +50% siege attack 10 Knight Hitpoints Arrow Knights, Eagle Runner Knights, Jaguar Prowl Knights, and Skull Knights get +15% hit points 10 Knight Attack Arrow Knights, Eagle Runner Knights, Jaguar Prowl Knights, and Skull Knights get +15% attack 10 Knight Combat Arrow Knights, Eagle Runner Knights, Jaguar Prowl Knights, and Skull Knights get +15% hit points and attack 25 Temple of Tlaloc Support Ships 8 Eagle Runner Knights and Eagle Runner Knights get +4 LOS and +4 range; costs 1,000 coin 10 French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and light infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• Eagle Runner Knights' ranged attack inaccuracy removed.

History

“

Aztec warriors who had captured at least four enemy soldiers became eligible for the ranks of the eagle runner knight or the jaguar prowl knights. Presumably, this emphasis on capturing enemies was to collect a pool of captives for sacrifice, but the Aztec were also known for dealing death in battle, killing with single strokes of their obsidian swords, or hurling barbed spears with atlatls. Their own warriors who caused confusion or disorder in ranks were beaten on the spot and sometimes killed. The dress of eagle runner knights incorporated feathers and a helmet resembling an eagle's head. The eagle was a symbol of the sun, the focus of Aztec worship and sacrifice. Eagle runner knights are usually depicted carrying shields and spears.

”

Gallery

An in-game Eagle Runner Knight

An in-game Champion/Legendary Eagle Runner Knight

The Eagle Runner Knight from the in-game history section

Eagle Runner Knight image from the Compendium section

Add a photo to this gallery