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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. For other uses, see Keshik. |
| “ | Tatar unique cavalry unit that generates gold when fighting other units. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Keshik is the first unique unit of the Tatars in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It is a cavalry unit which slowly generates gold while attacking enemy units.
Keshiks can be upgraded to Elite Keshiks in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
Keshiks are an interesting case: a medium cavalry unit similar to a Tarkan with an economic quirk. Their high attack and hit points and ability to generate gold while attacking make them excellent raiding units. Additionally, their relatively low cost makes them more cost-efficient than other heavy cavalry units (such as the Paladin), despite their weaker stats.
Keshiks should be preferred over Knights in the early Castle Age for a rush if the player starts with a Castle, as they are much cheaper while also generating gold. However, they are not strong enough compared to Knights to justify making a Castle early. They can make a great difference in the late Imperial Age, especially in 1vs1 or FFA games, as their gold generation may help to sustain late game gold economy and delay the "trash wars" a bit (but the player should still take Relics and support Keshiks with trash units).
The Keshik is slightly faster than a Knight, but this speed advantage allows them to keep up with all mounted archers, which should be the ideal composition for Tatars in late-game in presence of gold. The Keshik being a medium cavalry is still slower than both Camel Riders and Light Cavalry. The Elite Keshik upgrade, despite being expensive, comes in extremely fast, in just 40% of the time of the Cavalier upgrade. As such, it can turn the tide of the game in the early Imperial Age.
The Keshik also fills a design-hole of the technology tree. Tatars lack even Chain Mail Armor for their infantry. As such, their Swordsman-line is almost useless. The Keshik can be used to counter Eagle Warriors due to its decent armor and attack, fast speed, and cheap cost. While certainly usable, Tatar Knights do not have anything going for them in the long run. All other units in the Tatar technology tree range from holding their own but not being true a counter (such as Hussars) to getting hard countered (such as Heavy Cavalry Archers).
While the melee fight of a Cavalier and Keshik can go either way, the player should prefer the Keshik because of its higher HP and pierce armor, making it more durable in a variety of situations, most importantly raiding. This is ignoring the facts that it is cheaper in gold as well as generating gold. Another factor favoring the Keshik is the extra Line of Sight over non-Frank Cavaliers', equaling non-Frank Paladins'.
The Elite Keshik has the same pierce armor as the Paladin, meaning that it is supposed to be good vs archers. However, the Tatar light cavalry units have Silk Armor, which lifts their pierce armor to that of Keshiks and Paladins.
The Elite Keshik faces a lot of competition in the Tatar technology tree. At the Stable, they have Hussars (which have the same armor as Keshiks due to a unique technology), Elite Steppe Lancers, Heavy Camel Riders, and Cavaliers. At the Castle, the superior Tatar Trebuchets demand work time to be created. The player should use their judgement to decide which units need to be created, since the Trebuchets can be replaced by perfectly viable Siege Rams at close range.
The specific drawback of Keshiks compared to Paladins is the lower melee attack, which makes it harder for them to defeat an enemy army. Thankfully, the Tatars have great Cavalry Archers to aid them in this role.
Even being a very cost-effective cavalry unit, they quickly fall to any anti-cavalry unit or stronger units like Paladins, Teutonic Knights, Samurai, Boyars, Konniks, Leitis, Battle Elephants and War Elephants, making the use of other units to protect Keshiks a must. Keshiks are extremely vulnerable to conversion due to lacking both Faith and Heresy. As a result, using Tatars' excellent Hussars to kill Monks is also essential.
On release, the Keshik was a heavy cavalry unit similar to the Paladin. It compared rather poorly, however, as it has less durability and only compensated for its gold generation. As a result, it was generally better to use Hussars thanks to their lower cost.
The comparison tables below mark the differences between all horse cavalry units available to the Tatars, sorted in increasing order of "heaviness", along with the next upgrade of the Knight line. The comparison of the (Standard/Elite) Keshik with the Cavalier/Paladin is used for highlighting the differences between medium and heavy cavalry.
Ability[]
The (Elite) Keshik's gold generation works similar to the Feitoria, but only when it attacks units. The gold generation works on all units equally, but not buildings. The gold generation of both forms is same and is directly proportional to Resource 213, more specifically, per second. Since the gold generation is dependent on time spent attacking, not the attacks themselves, micromanaging attacks can generate less gold than normal, even if damage inflicted is the same. It also means that the gold generation is more when time taken to kill the enemy unit is more, which means that attack upgrades and Elite upgrade (since it provides +3 attack) reduce the amount of gold generated per unit.
It is a continuous trickle of resources; hence, it is independent of completion of the attack (1.9 seconds), completion of the attack animation (1.4 seconds), and death of the unit (seen with infantry with Chieftains against Villagers, Monks, or Trade Carts).
Comparison in the Castle Age[]
 Light Cavalry
|
 Steppe Lancer
|
 Keshik
|
 Knight
|
 Cavalier
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 80 food | 70 food, 40 gold | 60 food, 40 gold | 60 food, 75 gold | 60 food, 75 gold |
| Hit Points | 60 | 60 | 110 | 100 | 120 |
| Attack | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| Attack speed | 2 | 2 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Armor | 0/2 1/3 with Silk Armor |
0/1 1/2 with Silk Armor |
1/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
| Movement speed | 1.5 | 1.45 | 1.4 | 1.35 | 1.35 |
| Training time | 30 s | 24 s | 17 s | 30 s | 30 s |
| Line of Sight | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Upgrade Cost and Time |
500 food, 600 gold 50 s |
900 food, 550 gold 55 s |
700 food, 900 gold 40 s |
300 food, 300 gold 100 s |
1,300 food, 750 gold 170 s |
| Other | Conversion resistance +10 vs Monks |
+1 range | Generates gold when attacking units |
Comparison in the Imperial Age[]
 Hussar
|
 Elite Steppe Lancer
|
Elite Keshik
|
Cavalier
|
 Paladin
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 80 food | 70 food, 40 gold | 60 food, 40 gold | 60 food, 75 gold | 60 food, 75 gold |
| Hit Points | 75 | 80 | 140 | 120 | 160 |
| Attack | 7 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| Attack speed | 1.9 | 2 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Armor | 1/3 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 2/2 | 2/3 |
| Movement speed | 1.5 | 1.45 | 1.4 | 1.35 | 1.35 |
| Training time | 30 s | 20 s | 15 s | 30 s | 30 s |
| Line of Sight | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Other | Conversion resistance +12 vs Monks |
+1 range | Generates gold when attacking units |
Further statistics[]
As Keshiks are unique to the Tatars, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry, archers, Villagers, siege weapons, Light Cavalry |
| Weak vs. | Boyars, Pikemen, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Teutonic Knights, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Monks, War Elephants, Knights, Samurai |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite Keshik
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Tatars: Keshiks deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Keshiks are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Keshiks are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Initially, Keshiks cost 50 food, 80 gold. With update 34055, they cost 50 food, 40 gold. With update 44725, they cost 60 food, 40 gold.
- Initially, (Elite) Keshiks have 100 (130) hit points and 12 (14) attack. With update 34055, they have 110 (140) HP and 9 (11) attack.
- Initially Keshiks were trained in 23 (20) seconds. With update 36202, they train in 16 (14) seconds.
- With update 36906, Keshiks of other civilizations (either by conversion or using the Scenario Editor) correctly generate gold.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 81058, training time is increased to 17 (15) seconds.
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Keshik:
History[]
Kheshig means "blessed" in Mongolian. They were initially founded by Genghis Khan and selected from elite Mongol warriors to serve as his personal bodyguards. As the Mongol Empire expanded, the Kheshig were drawn from many different ethnic groups and would serve as elite troops, bodyguards for various Mongol nobles and royalty, as well as dignitaries of other Mongol-influenced states.
Trivia[]
- Before release, the Keshik carried his spear vertically, and it was significantly larger than its current version, similar to that borne by the Steppe Lancer. The larger one still appears in the icon.
- The Keshik's horse also lacked the golden armor on its head.
- The Keshik's ability to generate gold is likely inspired by the punitive expeditions and raids made by the Golden Horde, one of the successor khanates of the Mongol Empire against the Kievan Rus principalities and vassal states of eastern Europe in order to collect tributes, as well as by the bloody Timurid invasions.
- It is very similar to the ability of the Pixiu in Age of Mythology.
- Keshik were the initially bodyguards for the Mongolian Royal Family from Genghis Khan and his Mongol and Tatar successors. The bodyguards of the Mughal Emperors of India (themselves descended of the Tatars) were also called Keshiks. The Hishigten, a Southern Mongol ethnic group living in Inner Mongolia are believed to be the descendants of the Keshiks.
- At release, the Keshik was considered as one of the worst designed unique units due to having the same attack as a Paladin in the Imperial Age while also having less HP and melee armor, plus needing Castles to be created and costing more gold than Knights. Their much higher attack at release was a penalty for their gold generation at fighting, because they killed units too fast to get reasonable gold amount, leading to several changes and buffs; however, the food cost was increased in update 44725, due to their spamming potential, as several competitive players considered the unit among the best in the game and too cheap for what it does in combat.
- The Keshik has the lowest gold cost of all medium cavalry units in the game, with only 40. It is also the cheapest medium cavalry unit in the game, costing only 100 resources. It is even better when gold is scarce, because the costs of the Coustillier and the Tarkan comprise of 50% gold, while the Keshik has only 40% reliance on gold.
- The "Too Lame To Tame" achievement can be earned when looting 500 gold with Keshiks.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
