Envoy (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the unit in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas, see Envoy (Age of Empires II).

Envoy
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Economic Scout Affected by villager upgrades* Sees stealth
Civilization(s)	Dutch
Age	Exploration Age
Training
Trained at	Town Center Explorer*
Cost	50 Food
Train time	15 seconds
Train limit	5
Statistics
Hit points	200
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	26
Ability	Builds Native Embassies*, military production buildings (with the "Peace of Münster" card), and Banks* (with the "Dutch East India Company" card)
Train XP	5
Kill XP	5
Hand attack
Damage	5 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	0.5x vs. Villager (until the Commerce Age) 0.5x vs. Hero (until the Commerce Age)

“	Dutch reconnaissance unit with a good line of sight. Benefits from villager upgrades.	”
—In-game description

The Envoy is a scout unit in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Dutch and can be trained at the Town Center and by the Explorer. In standard random map games, Dutch players start with an Envoy alongside their Explorer.

In-game information

“

The Envoy is a unique Dutch unit with lots of hitpoints and a very good line of sight. The Envoy has a poor attack and is designed for scouting and exploring. Once you are done exploring, you can place the Envoy on the edges of your colony or out in the wilderness to give advance warning of your enemies' movements.

”

Overview

Intended for early-game scouting, the Envoy is much like the Native Scout, having higher Line of Sight, but slower movement speed and lacking Stealth ability. Envoys are primarily used for scouting and exploration, since they are not strong military units and have a wide Line of Sight. They are useful in the start of the game, since they can be used in the first age, to explore the map and scout out enemy towns. They are not very useful later in the game, with the exception of checking up on the enemy, uncovering stealth units, and tanking damage with a high hit points/unit cost rate. Their cheap cost provides an effective early warning against impending attacks, although they will usually die in the process. Envoys also have the advantage of not costing population space.

In the Definitive Edition, Envoys get access to building Native Embassies after constructing a Trading Post in the Native settlement. After sending the "Peace of Münster" Home City Card, they can build Trading Posts, Barracks, Stables, and Artillery Foundries, and after sending the "Dutch East India Company" Home City Card, they can build Banks. This effectively makes the Envoy a second builder, freeing the already small number of Settlers from construction.

Sending the "TEAM Orangists" Home City Card grants three Envoys to the Dutch player's allies.

Envoys have temporary 0.5x damage against villagers and heroes in the Exploration Age.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Nootka Bark Clothing (+15%) Eastern Medicine (+10%; Asians only) Frontiersmen (+10%; Federal Americans only) Great Coat (+10%; Europeans only) Spirit Medicine (+10%; Native Americans only) Tribal Societies (+7%; Africans only) Apache Cactus Use (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Blunderbuss (+2; Europeans only) Eastern Medicine (+1; Asians only) Spirit Medicine (+1; Native Americans only)
Speed	Apache Cactus Use (+5%) Tribal Societies (+3%; Africans only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3) Royal Hunters (+3; Africans only) Frontiersmen (+2; Federal Americans only) Eastern Medicine (+2; Asians only) Spirit Medicine (+2; Native Americans only) Blunderbuss (+1; Europeans only)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%)

Home City Cards

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

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)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Shared

Card	Description	Age
Alpaca Wool	Villager hit points +50%, resistance +30%; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points +15%, resistance +10%, +1 Chasqui
Pioneers	Villager hit points +65%; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points +20%
Warrior Culture	Villager all ranged and melee attack damage +20, and now attack enemies automatically; unit affected by villager upgrades all ranged and melee attack damage +3

• "Alpaca Wool" is available to the Inca, and also Portuguese and Spanish upon revolting to Peru.
• "Pioneers" is available to Asians (except the Japanese), Europeans (except the Italians), Federal Americans, and Native Americans (except the Inca).
• "Warrior Culture" is available to the Mexicans (upon revolting to the Maya) and Native Americans (except the Inca).

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Delivers 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villager, healing unit, Envoy, and Disciple speed +5%
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%

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

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Orangists	Delivers 3 Envoys
Peace of Münster	Delivers 2 Envoys; enables Envoys to build Trading Posts, Barracks, Stables, and Artillery Foundries
Dutch East India Company	Enables Envoys to build Banks; Bank cost -15%, hit points +75%

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Shiftas	Villager hit points +35%; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points +10%; outlaw hit points +15%, population cost -1 (to a minimum of 1)
Ignatian Spirituality	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +5%, regeneration rate +1.0 (even in combat)

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Wanderlust	Land military and land villager hit points +5%; land villager and construction wagon speed +5% (can be sent 3 times)

• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Dambe Wrestling	Villager hit points +50%, hand attack Rate of Fire -33%, but ranged attack minimum range +8; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points +15%, hand attack Rate of Fire -33%

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Delivers 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villager, healing unit, and Envoy speed +5%

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

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	Unit all melee attack damage +15%; Rajput hand attack damage +20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Florentine Football	Settler hit points and all melee attack damage +40%, speed +25%; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points and all melee attack damage +10%, speed +5%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Jujutsu	Villager hit points +35%; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points +10%; Surgeon, Priest, Architect, Native Scout, and Envoy damage +20%; Disciple and Shaolin Master damage +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%
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Spanish

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

United States

Card	Description	Age
French Immigrants	Delivers 3 Coureurs des Bois; villager hit points +35%, ranged attack damage +100%, speed +0.5, changes hand resistance to ranged; unit affected by villager upgrades hit points and speed +10%; costs 225 wood

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM 3 Envoys	Ships 3 Envoys		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; +1 Hindu Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Spanish

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

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Envoys have a train time of 30 seconds and the in-game description is "Dutch reconnaissance unit with a good line of sight but weak attack."

Definitive Edition

• Envoys now have a train time of 15 seconds.
• With update 23511, Envoys can build Native Embassies.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.12327, Envoys benefit from villager upgrades.
• With update 13.27885, Envoys get temporary ×0.5 multipliers against heroes and villagers in the Exploration Age and the in-game description is "Dutch reconnaissance unit with a good line that benefits from villager upgrades."

History

“

Envoys are agents of a government dispatched on diplomatic missions. George Washington served as an envoy to the French with the mission of determining their military strength in the Ohio River Valley and letting the French know that the British wanted them to retreat from the area. He was leading a ragtag group of soldiers to support the construction of Fort Necessity in the valley when his command ran across a small French army. Washington's men killed 10 Frenchmen, including another French envoy carrying a message to the British. Killing an envoy was a breach of military etiquette. This brief exchange was the first in what became the French and Indian War.

”

Gallery

In-game Envoy

In-game Envoy in the Definitive Edition

Envoy image from the Compendium section

See also

• Native Scout – French and Native American equivalent
• Eagle Scout – Aztec equivalent
• Chasqui – Inca equivalent