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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes. For the unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean, see Winged Hussar (Age of Empires III). |
| โ | Unique to Poles and Lithuanians. Fast cavalry for scouting and raiding. Resistant to conversion. | โ |
| —In-game description | ||
The Winged Hussar is a light cavalry unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes that can be trained at the Stable once the Imperial Age is reached. It is a more powerful upgrade to the Light Cavalry which replaces the Hussar upgrade for the Lithuanians and the Poles. They are quick, have decent pierce armor and high Line of Sight as well as an innate resistance to conversion and an attack bonus against Monks and gunpowder units.
Like all other unique upgrades, the Winged Hussar does not have an Elite version.
The Winged Hussar may seem like a regional upgrade to a regular unit, but they are officially described as a unique unit available to two civilizations, the Poles and the Lithuanians, which together represent the historical Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Tactics[]
It has the same advantages as the normal Hussar, but with a bit better versatility. The upgrade also improves the other non-listed stats the Light Cavalry line has. Compared to their predecessor, Winged Hussars have an attack bonus of 14 against Monks, 4 more than Light Cavalry; secondly, Winged Hussars also have a slightly higher attack speed, attacking once every 1.9 seconds instead of every 2 seconds. Due to their faster and better attack, a Winged Hussar without Bloodlines can defeat a Light Cavalry with Bloodlines without problem. Winged Hussars also retain the increased conversion resistance of the Light Cavalry line against Monks. They need a minimum of 8 conversion cycles to convert, while other units need 4. Compared to their predecessor (the Light Cavalry) and their alternative (the Hussar), Winged Hussars have:
| Total |  Light Cavalry
|
 Hussar
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hit points | 100 | +20 | +5 |
| Melee attack | 9 | +2 | +2 |
| Melee armor | 1 | +1 | +1 |
| Attack bonus vs. Monks | 14 | +4 | +2 |
| Rate of Fire | 1.9 | -0.1 | same |
| Upgrade cost | 600 food, 800 gold, 60 seconds | N/A | +100 food, +200 gold, +10 seconds |
In addition, the Winged Hussar also has a +4 attack bonus vs. gunpowder units.
At first glance, it is easy to dismiss the Scout Cavalry line's usefulness as combat units, but the Winged Hussar's main advantages are its speed and affordability. Winged Hussars can be used to skirmish small towns and small armies before they can become a real threat, they can defend against small attacks from siege weapons, and are adept at destroying small armies of archers, since they move fast and have decent pierce armor. Winged Hussars are also the cavalry mainstays of the Poles and Lithuanians when gold is scarce. As trash units, they become especially important in the late game when players must rely on their wood and food economy. They form a classic tactical rock-paper-scissors with other trash units by countering Skirmishers and being countered by Pikemen. The Winged Hussar is great when facing gunpowder units due to its small, but useful, attack bonus.
Since this unit is only available to the Lithuanians and Poles, there are certain differences that may make its use slightly different. First of all, Polish Winged Hussars have +1 attack vs archers due to their team bonus, allowing them to kill archer units faster. However, the lack of Plate Barding Armor makes them more vulnerable against arrow-fire. They also benefit from their unique technology Lechitic Legacy which gives them blast damage, making their Winged Hussars highly effective in mass battles. Polish Winged Hussars also have access to Blast Furnace, which makes them shine in hand-to-hand battles. For the Lithuanians, despite lacking Blast Furnace, their Winged Hussars have Plate Barding Armor and Heresy, making them more resilient in general, especially against archers, and better against Monks.
Despite the Lithuanians not being a specialized Cavalry Archer civilization, they can still employ a Winged Hussar-Cavalry Archer strategy, since Cavalry Archers cost wood and gold, while Winged Hussars need food. However, this strategy will be slightly suboptimal, as the Lithuanians lack Parthian Tactics, which will not matter much when the Winged Hussars are used properly as meatshields. This is even weaker for the Poles, since they lack both Parthian Tactics and Ring Archer Armor. For the Poles, Arbalesters can be mixed in with their Winged Hussars to pick off enemy Halberdiers, while for the Lithuanians, Hand Cannoneers can be mixed to fill in the same role, albeit at the cost of food. These are suboptimal compositions, since both these units will slow down the army.
Comparison among civilizations[]
| Units | Generic Hussar
|
 Lithuanians'  Winged Hussar
|
 Poles' Winged Hussar
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Research costs and time |
500 food, 600 gold 50s |
600 food, 800 gold 60s |
600 food, 800 gold 60s |
| HP | 95 | 100 | 100 |
| Attack | 7+4 | 9+2 | 9+4 |
| Attack Bonus | +12 vs Monk | +14 vs Monk +4 vs Gunpowder |
+14 vs Monk +4 vs Gunpowder +1 vs Archers |
| Armor | 0+3/2+4 | 1+3/2+4 | 1+2/2+2 |
| Extra | Gains +0.5 tiles blast radius with 33% effect Lacks Heresy |
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, siege weapons, Monks, and gunpowder units |
| Weak vs. | Most melee units, Genoese Crossbowmen, and Spearman-line |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2, Poles only) Lechitic Legacy (33% blast damage in 0.5 tile radius, Poles only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2, Lithuanians only)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) (Lithuanians only)
|
| Movement speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
Team bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades are researched 80% faster.- Hindustanis: Winged Hussars have +2 attack against standard buildings.
- Huns: Winged Hussars are created 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Mongols: Winged Hussars have +2 Line of Sight.
- Poles: Winged Hussars have +1 attack vs archers.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Winged Hussars are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Winged Hussars are more resistant to conversion.
History[]
The Polish Hussars, or Winged Hussars, were one of the main types of Polish cavalry in Poland and in the PolishโLithuanian Commonwealth between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Modelled on the Hungarian Hussars, Poland's early Hussars were Light Cavalry units of exiled Balkan warriors who came to Poland as mercenaries in 1503. Following the military reforms of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Bรกthory (r. 1576โ1586), the Polish military adopted the Hussar unit and transformed it into a heavily-armored shock cavalry. The husaria banners and units participated in the largest cavalry-charge in history at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and ranked as the elite of Polish cavalry until their disbandment in the 1770s.
Changelog[]
- Initially, the Winged Hussars (like other members of the Scout Cavalry line and Eagle Scout line) had conversion resistance by lowering the chances of conversion from 26% to 4%. With update 56005, the conversion resistance now makes these units immune to conversion in the 4th to 7th conversion cycles, but restores the chances of conversion to normal. This eradicates the chances of early conversion.
Trivia[]
- While the in-game Lithuanian and Polish technology trees and the civilization selection screen both mark the Winged Hussar as a unique unit, it will also be accurate to categorize it as a regional unit available to two civilizations.
- The game also does treat Winged Hussar as a unique unit available to two civilizations. This is implied by Winged Hussars being available only for these two civilizations in full tech tree mode, unlike regional units which become unlocked for all civilizations.
- Like unique units that are part of generic unit trees, Winged Hussars also do not have the Armor class: Unique unit, so they do not take additional damage from Samurai. They share this characteristic with unique upgrades and the Imperial Skirmisher.
- Neither the Poles nor the Lithuanians can fully upgrade their Winged Hussars. The Poles lack Plate Barding Armor, while the Lithuanians lack Blast Furnace since update 51737.
- This was a design choice, incorporating the need for Lithuanians losing Blast Furnace due to their Relic bonus for heavy cavalry. Hence, the Winged Hussars without Blast Furnace have the same attack as Hussars with Blast Furnace.
- The Polish Winged Hussar is tied with the Burmese Halberdier for the fourth highest attack of all trash units (with 13 attack), being beaten by the Elite Magyar Huszar with Corvinian Army, the Malian Light Cavalry with Farimba (both with 14 attack), and the Malay Two-Handed Swordsman with Forced Levy (with 16 attack).
- Internally, the game treats the Winged Hussar as an upgrade to the Hussar, just like how Hussars are also an upgrade to Scout Cavalry. Researching Winged Hussar upgrades all Hussars to Winged Hussars, but not vice versa. Since neither civilization has access to the Hussar, it is more of a Scenario Editor thing. All Hussar bonuses (like Turk +1 pierce armor and Mongol +30% HP) affect Winged Hussars too, so campaign creators can mix and match.
- All in-game "hussar" units have ornamental wings.
- The Winged Hussar's attack bonus vs gunpowder units is a nod to the victory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Vienna, in which the former charged a contingent of Winged Hussars against the gunpowder Ottoman Empire.
Gallery[]
