Explorer (Age of Empires III)

Explorer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Hero Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry
Civilization	European
Statistics
Hit points	400
Resists	10% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	18
Ability	Claim Treasures Build Town Centers and Trading Posts Train War Dogs (Spanish) Reveal stealth enemies Regeneration
Special ability	See Special abilities
XP bounty	45
Melee damage
Attack	6
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Treasure Guardian x0.25 vs. Villager
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	12
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	16
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege damage
Attack	15
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Notes
The Explorer will collapse instead of dying when his hit points reaches 0 and can be revived by having a friendly unit or building around him once he regenerates at least 100 hit points, or paying a ransom of 100 coin at the Town Center, in which case the Explorer will appear there with full hit points

“	The leader of your colony. Explores, fights, builds Town Centers and Trading Posts. Cannot die. If he falls unconscious, he can be rescued.	”
—In-game description

The Explorer is a hero in Age of Empires III. It explores uncharted areas of the map and has some special abilities to help itself and its colony. In standard random map games, all European civilizations start with an Explorer.

Overview

The Explorer can build Town Centers and Trading Posts. This allows the player a second attempt at rebuilding if their original colony was destroyed, provided that they have enough resources to build one and train Settlers (except for the Ottomans, who get them for free). He builds a Trading Post faster than regular Settlers, nearing that of a Coureur des Bois or a Settler Wagon.

The Explorer can explore and fight longer if he has a few units accompanying him. He can regenerate health, which increases as the player Ages up. Explorers are very ineffective at raiding enemy settlements early in the game, as they only deal 25% damage against villager-type units. They are also very weak against Spies and Ninja.

Unlike other units who simply die when their hit points reach 0, the Explorer will collapse. While the Explorer is in this state, the player can either pay 100 coin as ransom to whoever dealt the final blow (including Mother Nature) or help him back up on his feet with an allied unit or building (this also includes projectiles fired from friendly units); in order to rescue the Explorer, he must have at least 100 hit points.

Several "El Pollo Guapo" treasures, found on specific North American random maps, can provide additional stats such as a 20% speed boost or 20-100% hit point boost, which stacks with other treasures and technologies.

Every European civilization has a unique Home City Card for their Explorer, which improves his fighting ability and sends him a companion Explorer Dog. The Spanish Explorer, already having War Dogs of his own, does not get an Explorer Dog; instead it boosts the hit points and attack of his War Dogs.

Special abilities

File:Sharpshooter attack.png Sharpshooter Attack: The Explorer fires a single shot that does 750 ranged damage to the target treasure guardian. 60 seconds cooldown.

File:Sharpshooter attack.png Eye of the Assassin (available on the Industrial Age): The Explorer fires a single shot that does 475 (5 against Spies and Ninja) ranged damage to the target enemy infantry or cavalry. 90 seconds cooldown.

File:Spyglass.png Spyglass: The Portuguese Explorer reveals a radius of 18 (24 if the "Navigator" Home City Card is sent) centered on the target location for 5 seconds. 90 seconds cooldown (shared across all Portuguese Explorers if the "Bandeirantes" card is sent).

Hot Air Balloon (requires the "Hot Air Balloon" card in the original Age of Empires III or The Inventor Commerce Age politician in the Definitive Edition): The Explorer spawns a Hot Air Balloon that remains for 20 seconds. 240 seconds cooldown.

Swashbuckler Attack (requires the "Captain" card): The British Explorer performs a sweeping hand attack that does 100 (25 against villagers, Spies, and Ninja) melee damage to the target enemy and other enemies in a radius of 3 around the Explorer. 90 seconds cooldown.

Heal (requires the "Voyageur" card): The French Explorer restores 400 hit points to friendly units in a radius of 10 centered on the target location. 120 seconds cooldown.

Upgrades

The Explorer is automatically upgraded on each Age starting from the Commerce Age.

+25% hit points and attack

+30% hit points and attack

+40% hit points and attack

+50% hit points

The attack increase also applies to the Explorer's special abilities.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Treasure Guardians
Weak vs.	Villagers, cavalry, Spies, Ninja
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Knighthood (+1,000) Peerage (+1,000) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Aztec Initiation (+100%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Sikh Gurus (+50%)
Attack	Paper Cartridge (+10%) Peerage (+100%) Aztec Initiation (+100%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) File:Inca Road-building.png Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Other	Carib Ambush Party (train Carib Ambushers) Loyal Nootka War Chief (train Nootka War Chief)
Penalties	Knighthood (+50 ransom cost) Peerage (+50 ransom cost) Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only)

Home City Cards

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team British Card Description Age HC level File:Captain.png Captain The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and can use Swashbuckler Attack; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 Dutch Card Description Age HC level File:Stadhouder.png Stadhouder The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and build Town Centers for 300 wood; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Europeans Card Description Age HC level Hot Air Balloon The Explorer can summon a Hot Air Balloon to explore the map for a limited time 10 French Card Description Age HC level Voyageur The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and can use Heal; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 Germans Card Description Age HC level Buergermeister The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and build Town Centers and Trading Posts 100% faster; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Ottomans Card Description Age HC level Agha The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and +1 speed; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level Navigator The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and +6 radius for his Spyglass; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 Bandeirantes Ships 1 additional Explorer 25 TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points 10 Russians Card Description Age HC level Polar Explorer The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and +2.0x multiplier against treasure guardians; also ships an Explorer Dog 1 Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 Spanish Card Description Age HC level Conquistador The Explorer gets +50% hit points and attack, and War Dogs get +20% hit points and attack 1 TEAM Explorer Combat Heroes get +20% hit points and attack 1 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• The Portuguese Explorer's Spyglass has a 120 second cooldown.
• Hot Air Balloon requires the namesake Home City Card.
• Eye of the Assassin deals 5000 damage

Definitive Edition

• The Portuguese Explorer's Spyglass now has a 90 second cooldown.
• Hot Air Balloon now requires the player to advance to the Commerce Age with The Inventor.
• Eye of the Assassin now deals 475 damage (still scales with age to be an instant kill on all but the highest HP units e.g., Mahout Lancers).

Trivia

• No in-game Explorer model resembles the Explorer's unit portrait. However, the images on each unique Home City Card for the Explorer (see Home City Cards) resemble each respective civilizations' Explorers.
• An Explorer that belongs to a non-European or campaign-exclusive civilization will receive a random hero name from Age of Mythology.
• When playing against the CPU in the original vanilla version of Age of Empires III, each of the civilizations had a set name for their explorer that represented actual historical figures. The set names were Francis Drake, Jacques Cartier, Cabeza de Vaca, Ferdinand Magellan, Peter Minuit, Alexander von Humboldt, Vitus Bering, and Piri Reis.

History

“

Explorers set out for the New World with a variety of backgrounds and missions. Some were nobles seeking fame and wealth; others were slaves forced to accompany their masters. Some wanted to claim new lands for the nations that sponsored their voyages; others wanted to explore the lands, their peoples, and the flora and fauna. Estevanico was a slave from Morocco, sold to the Spaniard Andres de Dorantes. Dorantes joined an expedition to explore the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico. The ill-fated venture ended with only eighty of the original crew floating on makeshift rafts, only two of which landed on the shores of Texas near Galveston with neither food, nor water. Dorantes and Estevanico set out on their own, traveling west and south. They were captives for five years, faith healers, and legends amongst the Native Americans of the area. They eventually reached Mexico City where the viceroy refused to allow Dorantes to search Texas for the Seven Cities of Gold. Dorantes sold Estevanico to the viceroy and left for Spain. Estevanico accompanied a missionary, Father Marcos de Niza, north ranging ahead and speaking to the Native Americans he encountered about the white men following in his wake. Estevanico had runners carry crosses back to Father Niza, their size indicating the promise of the region. Each new cross that Father Niza received was larger than the previous cross, and then he received one that was massive. Estevanico had discovered a Zuni pueblo; it is unknown whether he thought this pueblo was one of the Cities of Gold, but he spent an evening camped outside the town. In the morning, the Zuni attacked and killed him, fearing his presence was a bad omen.

”

Gallery

An in-game Spanish Explorer

Concept art for the Spanish Explorer

All Explorers, presented clockwise by nation: Spanish, British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, German, and Ottoman

Spanish Explorer stats

British Explorer model

Dutch Explorer model

French Explorer model

German Explorer model

Ottoman Explorer model

Portuguese Explorer model

Russian Explorer model

Spanish Explorer model

Swedish Explorer model

Explorers in the Definitive Edition

See also

• War Chief – fulfills the same role for Native American civilizations
• Monk – fulfills the same role for Asian civilizations
• General – fulfills the same role for the United States