This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. For the related unit in Age of Empires III, see Eagle Scout (Age of Empires III). |
“ | Fast infantry for scouting and raiding. Resistant to conversion. | ” |
—Age of Empires II description |
The Eagle Scout is a Native American infantry unit in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten that can be trained at the Barracks once the Feudal Age is reached. When it was introduced, it took the old design of the Eagle Warrior, and the Eagle Warrior and its Elite counterpart got a new design. The Eagle Scout is considered a regional unit.
Upon its introduction in The Forgotten, the Eagle Scout was only available in the Castle Age. That was changed in The African Kingdoms to give the Native American civilizations a substitute for the Scout Cavalry in the Feudal Age.
The Eagle line replaces the cavalry for the Native American civilizations. Therefore, the Eagle Scout (Eagle Warrior in The Conquerors) is the scouting unit for them. The starting scout unit also cannot damage passive huntables like Deer, and has a special toggle-able Auto Scout ability.
Because of the lack of counters in the Feudal Age, the Eagle Scout takes 60 seconds to train. Once the Castle Age is reached, the training time is decreased to 35 seconds. The Eagle Scout also receives a +3 base attack buff, as well as +2 attack bonus against cavalry and +1 attack bonus against camels and ships.
Tactics[]
Eagle Scouts move quickly, have a long Line of Sight, conversion resistance, and an attack bonus against Monks. They also have an attack bonus against siege weapons and a small anti-cavalry bonus (in the Castle Age), however, almost every other infantry unit deals bonus damage against Eagle Scouts. Essentially, they help compensate for the Aztecs', Mayans', and Incas' lack of cavalry.
In the Dark Age, Eagle Scouts move slightly slower but have more vision than (non-Mongol-allied) Scout Cavalry and Camel Scouts. Combining both, Eagle Scouts are the best scouts in the Dark Age. They also have very good combat stats, beating the other two scouts and Villagers, if need be. This is one of the reasons why the Native American civilizations are considered great in the Dark and early Feudal Ages.
In the Feudal Age, the Eagle Scout does not gain combat advantage, unlike the Scout Cavalry, but receives +3 Line of Sight in total. They are significantly slower than the Scout Cavalry, but it is much harder to counter them, since they do not have a cheap or easy-to-produce counter unit. To curb this, Eagle Scouts train painfully slowly. Consequently, in order to perform an Eagle rush, the player will need at least two Barracks. This sounds like a lot, but costs the same as one Barracks and one Stable, which a player performing Scout rush will build anyway (except for Khmer and Cumans).
Since Native American civilizations have Eagle Scouts instead of a Scout Cavalry, exploring the map becomes different for those civilizations, as Eagle Scouts are slower, but have an extensive Line of Sight. As with all other infantry units, researching Squires is important, and Tracking is researched for free in the Feudal Age, making scouting even better.
The upgrade to the Eagle Warrior, while cheap, only offers little improvement (+5 HP, +1 pierce armor, and +0.05 speed, and +1 attack vs all mounted units). Therefore, it should be postponed in favor of training troops and researching technologies with wider use, such as Squires or Chain Mail Armor.
In The Forgotten, Eagle Scouts could only be trained in the Castle and Imperial Ages, so it was important to be careful when scouting or engaging in a combat to avoid losing it.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Scout Cavalry, Foot archers |
Weak vs. | Heavy Infantry, Heavy Cavalry |
Upgrades | |
Hit points | El Dorado (+40, Mayans only) |
Regeneration | Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle) |
Attack | Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings) Garland Wars (+4, Aztecs only) |
Armor | Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2) Fabric Shields (+1/+2, Incas only since The African Kingdoms) |
Conversion resistance | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) |
Movement speed | Squires (+10%) Couriers (+10%, Incas only in The Forgotten) |
Creation speed | Conscription (+33%) |
Upgrade | Eagle Warrior |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Aztecs: Eagle Scouts are created 11% faster.
- Incas: Eagle Scouts cost -15%/-20%/-25% food in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Team bonuses[]
- Armenians: Eagle Scouts have +2 Line of Sight.
- Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Goths: Eagle Scouts are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Squires and Arson is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Eagle Scouts are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Eagle Scouts are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Forgotten[]
- Eagle Scouts become available in the Castle Age where they take 32 seconds to train.
- The upgrade to the Eagle Warrior costs 300 food, 200 gold.
- Eagle Scouts cost 20 food, 50 gold.
- Incas: Couriers gives Eagle Scouts +10% movement speed.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Eagle Scouts become available in the Feudal Age where they train in 60 seconds (in the Castle Age, they still train in 32 seconds).
- The upgrade to the Eagle Warrior costs 200 food, 200 gold.
- Incas: Couriers gives +1/+2 armor instead of +10% movement speed.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Eagle Scouts take 35 seconds to train from the Castle Age on.
Definitive Edition[]
- Eagle Scout have -1 Line of Sight and search radius in the Dark Age only.
- Tracking removed; all infantry receive +2 Line of Sight from the Feudal Age instead.
- Incas: Couriers renamed Fabric Shields.
- Bulgarians: Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 81058, Eagle Scouts cost 25 food, 50 gold.
- Incas: With update 81058, Eagle Scouts cost -20%/-25%/-30% food in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Incas: With update 99311, Eagle Scouts cost -15%/-20%/-25% food in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Trivia[]
- The three Eagle units (along with Ghulam) are the only infantry units to cost more gold than food and, in terms of gold, are the most expensive infantry units in the game. In terms of food, however, they are by far the cheapest infantry in the game.
- There are only four infantry units that do not get an attack bonus against Eagles besides themselves, being the Kamayuk, the Militia, the Condottiero, and the Dismounted Konnik.
- Despite being introduced in The Forgotten, the Eagle Scout is shown with a The Conquerors icon in the Scenario Editor.
- Probably it is because its appearance was used by the original Eagle Warrior and Elite Eagle Warrior in The Conquerors.
- Eagle Scouts do not gain the increased attack in the Castle Age when playing with the Full Tech Tree option or if the player is playing with a non-Native American civilization (via the Scenario Editor).
- Eagle Scouts deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur because it is in the same unit class as ships.
History[]
“ | The Aztecs prized fighting skills, and soldiers earned increased status in society through distinction in combat and promotion in rank. One of the higher ranks was that of Eagle Warrior. These fighters wore great colorful headdresses made of eagle feathers and costumes that enhanced their military bearing. Because they were lightly armored and unencumbered, they were able to move quickly. They were the fast, light troops of the Aztec armies, quickly pouncing on enemies. However, they proved to be at a great disadvantage in combat against Europeans wearing steel armor and using steel weapons. The best of the Eagle warriors were promoted to Elite status. These were the champions of the Eagle Warrior formations and led the attempts to disable and capture enemies. | ” |