Highwayman

Highwayman (Rider)
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Cavalry Light ranged cavalry Ranged cavalry Gunpowder cavalry Outlaw
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Lombard (Italians)
Population	4
Coin	115
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	155
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	7.25
Line of Sight	20
Ability	Can dismount its horse to became an infantry unit in 4 seconds
Special ability	Viper Eye
XP train bounty	23
XP bounty	23
Melee damage
Attack	6
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Hand cavalry ×2.2 vs. Hand shock infantry ×2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	16
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Hand cavalry ×2.25 vs. Hand shock infantry ×2.0 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege damage
Attack	10
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Mounted Outlaw armed with a pistol. Can also use a deadly charged rifle attack and dismount from his horse. Good against Cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Highwayman (Rider) is a European outlaw in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean. It is available on the Alps, Archipelago, Corsica and Sardinia, Courland, England, Finland, France, Ireland, Low Countries, Pyrenees, Scandinavia, Scotland, Spain and Wales maps.

Overview

The Highwayman is an outlaw effective against cavalry. It is similar to the Ruyter, having a reduced attack but slightly more hit points and speed. Like other outlaws, it costs only coin and takes more population spaces.

As an outlaw, it is more useful in the Commerce Age and becomes weaker as the game progresses, due to being outclassed by upgraded standard light cavalry and mercenaries.

Special abilities

• Dismount: Dismount its horse to become an infantry unit. Takes 4 seconds.
• Viper Eye (automatically activated when attacking, with a cooldown of 60 seconds): Fires a single shot from a rifle, which deals 36 damage and has a maximum range of 16.

Dismounted

Highwayman
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry Musket infantry Outlaw Pistolero
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Population	4
Statistics
Hit points	155
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	4.25
Line of Sight	20
Ability	Can mount its horse to became a cavalry unit in 4 seconds
Special ability	Outgunning
XP train bounty	23
XP bounty	23
Melee damage
Attack	15
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry ×2.4 vs. Shock infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged damage
Attack	12
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.3
Siege damage
Attack	20
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Outlaw armed with two pistols. Can mount a horse to turn into ranged cavalry. Good against Cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Highwayman has the ability to dismount its horse to become an infantry unit similar to the Pistolero, moving slower and changing its ranged resistance for hand resistance. In comparison, the Highwayman has slightly less speed, ranged and siege attack, reduced multipliers against cavalry and Shock Infantry, and takes an additional population space, but has a faster Rate of Fire and larger Line of Sight.

Since Highwaymen are always trained as a cavalry units, players must use its "Dismount" ability manually if they want to turn them into heavy infantry.

As an outlaw, it is more useful in the Commerce Age and becomes weaker as the game progresses, due to being outclassed by standard heavy ranged infantry like Musketeers, and mercenaries.

Special abilities

• Mount: Mount his horse to become a cavalry unit. Takes 4 seconds.
• Outgunning (automatically activated when attacking, with a cooldown of 60 seconds): Fires both of his pistols simultaneously.

Further statistics

• Rider
• Dismounted

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Hand cavalry, hand shock infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Tar Kilns (+5%) Compunction (+20%; Asians only) Folk Heroes (+20%; Europeans only)
Attack	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Carabinieri (-10% ranged attack ROF; Italians only) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Wind Horses (-10% ROF) Compunction (+20%; Asians only) Folk Heroes (+20%; Europeans only)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Train time	Mass Cavalry (-35%) Immigrants (-10%) Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only) Carabinieri (-10%; Italians only) Philhellenism (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Cost	Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Philhellenism (-10%)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only)

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, shock infantry
Weak vs.	Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Corselet (+25%; Spanish only) Tar Kilns (+5%) Compunction (+20%; Asians only) Folk Heroes (+20%; Europeans only)
Attack	Socket Bayonet (+20% hand attack) Paper Cartridge (+15%) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Armatoloi (+5%) Compunction (+20%; Asians only) Folk Heroes (+20%; Europeans only)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost; Germans only) Corselet (-15% speed; Spanish only)

Home City Cards

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

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
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Villager for the Indians)

• "Cavalry Combat" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, Ottomans, Russians and Spanish.
• "Riding School" is available to Europeans (except the Maltese and Spanish) and the Indians.

Asians

Card	Description	Age
Atonement	The Monastery can train Iron Troopers/Jat Lancers/Yojimbo and outlaws use -2 population (also +1 Villager for the Indians)

British

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Grenadier Guards	Musket infantry and Grenade Trooper get +15% hit points
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	The player's infantry get +15% hit points; allied infantry get +10% hit points
Buckriders	Ships 3 Highwaymen, reduces their population cost by 1* and coin cost by 10%, and enables them to be trained in Stables and Taverns; costs 500 coin

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Theaters	Upgrades the Tavern to the Theater which can train Ronin and outlaws use -2 population
Outlaw Combat	Outlaws and mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack (costs 750 coin for Mexico)
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed

• "Outlaw Combat" is available upon revolting to the Barbary States, Hungary, and Mexico.
• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and the Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen	Ranged infantry get +15% attack

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	The player's heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack; allied cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10%
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed +4 Uhlans
Witch Hammer	Ships 3 Inquisitors; Inquisitors can be trained at Tavern/Mercenary Camps, Town Centers, Church and Outposts; outlaws use -2 population; +2 Uhlans

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 Line of Sight; +1 Native Scout

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Infantry, Villagers, Healer units, and Envoys get +5% speed; +1 Chasqui

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack; +1 Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack

Japanese

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

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
Akincis	Light cavalry get +100% multiplier against villagers; Cavalry Archer train time -15%

Portuguese

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

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight
Ransack	Infantry get +50% siege attack

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
Peninsular Guerrillas	Ranged infantry get +20% attack, Musket infantry get +10% attack instead; Skirmishers now see the Line of Sight of enemies they attacked for 3 seconds
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight; +1 Inquisitor

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Ranged Cavalry Combat	Ranged cavalry get +15% attack and hit points
TEAM House of Bernadotte	Heavy infantry get +15% hit points

Treasure guardian

• Gunman
• Brigand

Gunman
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Treasure guardian
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	280
Resistance	30% Ranged
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	20
XP kill bounty	18
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Range	1.5
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	36 Ranged
Range	2-10
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	24 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

The Gunman is a treasure guardian variant of the Highwayman. It uses slightly modified stats from the base unit.

Brigand
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Treasure guardian
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	240
Resistance	20% Ranged
Speed	8.0
Line of Sight	16
XP kill bounty	16
Resource bounty	16 coin
Hand attack
Damage	9.5 Hand
Range	1.5
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	19 Ranged
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	25 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

The Brigand is a treasure guardian variant of the Highwayman. It uses slightly modified stats from the base unit.

Changelog

Knights of the Mediterranean

• Originally, the Highwayman uses 5 population spaces, has 20% hand resistance, 7.5 speed, 12 ranged attack, and a ×2.2 attack multiplier against hand shock infantry in its Mounted mode; 20% ranged resistance, 12 hand attack, ×2.0 attack multiplier against cavalry and ×1.6 against shock infantry in its Dismounted mode. With update 13.27885, the Highwayman uses 4 population spaces, has 20% ranged resistance, 7.25 speed, 16 ranged attack, and a ×2.25 attack multiplier against hand shock infantry in its Mounted mode; 20% hand resistance, 15 hand attack, ×3.0 attack multiplier against cavalry and ×2.4 against shock infantry in its Dismounted mode.

In-game dialogue

The Highwayman speaks Dutch using the Dutch Culverin's dialogue files.

Trivia

• The Highwayman is one of three cavalry units that can dismount its horse to become an infantry unit, the others being the Cossack Daredevil and the Mounted Infantry.
• The Highwayman wears an attire consisting on a tricorn, face cover and duster or long coat, and it has been portrayed in many popular culture media, such as novels, books, movies, and videogames.
• The Highwaymans's Dutch speech could be a reference to the Buckriders.

History

“

In early modern Europe, brigands came from various backgrounds. While some were mere groups of bandits, others were the dying remnants of unsuccessful movements against unpopular government. In isolated, poorly administered areas, highwaymen, deprived of basic necessities, would prey upon helpless travelers by extorting them for money, typically by force. Occasionally, these resulted in targeted assassinations. Though typically seen as only a petty nuisance, the threat of brigandage would occasionally factor into the evolution of government reform, such as the unification of Italy in the 1860s.

”

Gallery

Highwayman image from the Compendium section

In-game Highwayman

In-game Gunman guarding treasure