Foot archer unit (Age of Empires II)

Foot archers are a branch of archer units in Age of Empires II. They are non-siege ranged units on foot.

General information

Many different foot archer units firing over an enemy wall.

Skirmisher, the no. 1 archer counter

While being comparatively frail, foot archer units possess a ranged attack, giving them an edge over non-ranged units. Foot archer units are trained at the Archery Range or Castle, and become available in the Feudal Age.

Most foot archer units cost wood and gold, but some cost food. All foot archer units have the Archer armor class only besides the standard armor classes. Foot archers excel at massed battles against infantry units, and in battles in narrow passages and densely developed areas, like forests and towns. There, they can use their range to fire over each other, while non-ranged units have to 'dig' themselves through an army of foot archers. In battles with few units, though, foot archers have trouble holding ground. Their matchup with cavalry units depends on numbers, technologies, and micromanagement.

Foot archers in general are superior to infantry and Monks, and can effectively eliminate Villagers, though not as much as mounted archers. They struggle heavily against siege units, which deal Area of Effect damage (especially the Mangonel) and can eliminate entire armies of foot archers in one shot. Battering Rams are also a useful supportive semi-counter against large mono-archer armies, especially for players using archers themselves. While Rams deal little to no damage to archers on their own, they can be sent close to the archers, drawing automatic fire, which they resist thanks to their high pierce armor, allowing other ranged units to quickly dispatch the distracted enemy archers. This tactic forces the opponent to use intense micromanagement. Cavalry are also quite effective against archers in low numbers, since they can close the gap quickly and have high pierce armor. But the easiest counter against archers is the Skirmisher, a trash unit that is cheap, easy to mass, and does both resist archer attacks and deal bonus damage against archers.

Other notable counters are Huskarls, Eagle Warriors, Ghulams, Rattan Archers, Genitours, and War Wagons, the latter three being archers themselves.

Despite being foot soldiers and having ranged attacks, the following are not considered foot archer units, since they are not archers:

• Hand Cannoneer
• Janissary
• Throwing Axeman
• Gbeto
• Chakram Thrower
• Grenadier

List of foot archer units

Foot archer unit	B	Age	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	RoF	FD	Ac	LOS	Sp	Food	Wood	Gold	TT	Civilizations
Archer	Ar. Range		30	4	0	0	4	2	15	80	6	0.96	0	25	45	35	All
Crossbowman	Ar. Range		35	5	0	0	5	2	15	85	7	0.96	0	25	45	27	All except Bulgarians and Spanish
Arbalester	Ar. Range		40	6	0	0	5	2	20	90	7	0.96	0	25	45	27	27
Skirmisher	Ar. Range		30	2	0	3	4	3	19	90	6	0.96	25	35	0	26	All
Elite Skirmisher	Ar. Range		35	3	0	4	5	3	19	90	7	0.96	25	35	0	22	All except Turks
Imperial Skirmisher	Ar. Range		35	4	0	5	5	3	19	95	7	0.96	25	35	0	22	Vietnamese and allies
Longbowman	Castle		35	6	0	0	5	2	10	70	7	0.96	0	35	40	18	Britons
Elite Longbowman	Castle		40	7	0	1	6	2	10	80	8	0.96	0	35	40	18	Britons
Chu Ko Nu	Castle		45	8* +3*	0	0	4	3	19	85	6	0.96	0	40	35	16	Chinese
Elite Chu Ko Nu	Castle		50	8* +3*	0	0	4	3	19	85	6	0.96	0	40	35	13	Chinese
Plumed Archer	Castle		50	5	0	1	4	1.9	15	80	6	1.2	0	55	55	16	Maya
Elite Plumed Archer	Castle		65	5	0	2	5	1.9	15	90	7	1.2	0	55	55	16	Maya
Slinger	Ar. Range		40	5	0	0	5	2	14	90	7	0.96	40	0	40	25	Inca
Genoese Crossbowman	Castle		45	6	1	0	4	2	15	100	8	0.96	0	45	40	14	Italians
Elite Genoese Crossbowman	Castle		50	6	1	0	4	2	15	100	8	0.96	0	45	40	14	Italians
Rattan Archer	Castle		40	6	0	4	4	2	23	80	6	1.1	0	50	45	16	Vietnamese
Elite Rattan Archer	Castle		45	7	0	6	5	2	23	90	6	1.1	0	50	45	16	Vietnamese
Composite Bowman	Castle		40	4	1	0	4	2	12	100	7	0.96	0	35	45	12	Armenians
Elite Composite Bowman	Castle		45	4	2	0	4	2	12	100	7	0.96	0	35	45	10	Armenians
Fire Archer	Castle		35	4	0	0	5	3.5	10	80	10	0.96	0	45	45	17	Wu
Elite Fire Archer	Castle		40	5	0	0	6	3.5	10	85	11	0.96	0	45	45	17	Wu

Units marked with * have an additional 0 melee attack as well

The following foot archer units are only available in the Scenario Editor:

Foot archer unit	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	ROF	FD	Ac	LOS	Sp
Amazon Archer	45	5	0	1	4	1.9	5	80	6	1.1
Heavy Crossbowman	50	10	1	4	6	4.2	15	90	8	0.9

Improvements

These lists do not contain unit upgrades.

Generic technologies

Technology	Researched at	Age	Effect
Thumb Ring	Archery Range		Increases Rate of Fire and accuracy (the latter to 100%)
Fletching	Blacksmith		Increases range and attack by +1
Bodkin Arrow	Blacksmith		Increases range and attack by +1
Bracer	Blacksmith		Increases range and attack by +1
Padded Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+1
Leather Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+1
Ring Archer Armor	Blacksmith		Increases armor by +1/+2
Ballistics	University		Tracks moving targets
Chemistry	University		Increases attack by +1
Heresy	Monastery		Converted units die instead of changing color
Faith	Monastery		Increases conversion resistance
Conscription	Castle		Increases creation speed by +33%

Unique technologies

Technology	Age	Civilization	Effect
Atlatl		Aztecs	Skirmishers +1 attack and range
Kasbah		Berbers	Castle production and research speed increased by +25%
Yeomen		Britons	Increases range by +1
Kshatriyas		Gurjaras	Skirmishers cost -25% food
Andean Sling		Inca	Removes minimum range of Slingers and Skirmishers Increases Slinger attack by 1
Fabric Shields		Inca	Increases Slinger armor by +1/+2
Lamellar Armor		Khitans	Skirmishers reflect 25% non-projectile damage at attackers
Tower Shields		Lithuanians	Skirmishers have +2 pierce armor
Hul'che Javelineers		Maya	Skirmishers throw additional javelin
Kamandaran		Persians	Archer line gold cost replaced by additional wood cost
Bolt Magazine		Shu	Archer-line fires two additional arrows
First Crusade		Sicilians	Increases conversion resistance
Bogsveigar		Vikings	Increases Archer-line attack by +1
Red Cliffs Tactics		Wu	Fire Archers deal fire damage to ships and buildings

Civilization bonuses

Civilization	Effect
Aztecs	Foot archers are created 15% faster.
Bohemians	Chemistry is available in the Castle Age.
Britons	Foot archers (except Skirmishers) have +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age.
Burmese	Faith is 50% cheaper.
Byzantines	Skirmishers are 25% cheaper.
Chinese	Technologies that benefit foot archers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Dravidians	Skirmishers attack 25% faster.
Ethiopians	Archer line fires 18% faster.
Georgians	Foot archers receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage when fighting from higher elevation.
Inca	Foot archers cost -20%/-25%/-30% food in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Italians	Foot archers (except Skirmishers) have +1/+1 armor. Ballistics and Chemistry are 33% cheaper.
Jurchens	Foot archers receive -50% friendly fire damage.
Khitans	Skirmishers are created and upgraded 25% faster.
Koreans	Archer armor upgrades are free. Foot archers cost -50% wood.
Lithuanians	Skirmishers move 10% faster.
Maya	Foot archers (except Skirmishers) are 10%/20%/30% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Portuguese	Foot archers cost -20% gold.
Shu	Technologies that benefit foot archers at the Archery Range and Blacksmith (except Elite Skirmisher upgrade) are 25% cheaper.
Sicilians	Foot archers receive -40% bonus damage.
Spanish	Blacksmith technologies that benefit foot archers don't cost gold. Technologies that benefit foot archers provide 20 gold.
Tatars	Foot archers deal +20% (+50% instead of +25%) damage when attacking from higher elevation. Thumb Ring is free.
Turks	Chemistry is free.
Vietnamese	Foot archers trained at the Archery Range have +20% hit points. Conscription is free.

Team bonuses

Civilization	Effect
Britons	Foot archers trained at the Archery Range are created and upgraded 10% faster.
Bulgarians	Blacksmith technologies that benefit foot archers are researched 80% faster.
Lithuanians	Heresy and Faith are researched 20% faster.
Malians	Ballistics and Chemistry are researched 80% faster.
Portuguese	Technologies that benefit foot archers are researched 25% faster.
Saracens	Foot archers have +3 attack against standard buildings.
Shu	Foot archers (except Skirmishers) have +2 Line of Sight.
Teutons	Minimum and maximum conversion time of foot archer units is increased by 3 seconds and 1 second, respectively.
Vietnamese	Imperial Skirmisher upgrade available in Imperial Age (except for Turks).

Civilizations

Though every civilization has access to at least two foot archer units, only a relative few stand out as having strong foot archers from the Feudal Age to the Imperial Age. These most notably include the Britons, Ethiopians, Maya, and Vietnamese.

Civilizations that have useful foot archer bonuses in the Feudal and/or early Castle Age, but not indefinitely, include the Bohemians, Cumans, Koreans, and Portuguese. In contrast, civilizations whose foot archers only become prominent later include the Chinese, Italians, Persians, and Vikings.

Availability grid

	= Available
	= Unavailable
	= Researched for free or fully covered by a civilization bonus if unavailable

Civilization								All
Armenians
Aztecs
Bengalis
Berbers
Bohemians
Britons
Bulgarians
Burgundians
Burmese
Byzantines								X
Celts
Chinese								X
Cumans
Dravidians								X
Ethiopians								X
Franks
Georgians
Goths
Gurjaras
Hindustanis
Huns
Inca								X
Italians								X
Japanese								X
Jurchens
Khitans
Khmer
Koreans								X
Lithuanians
Magyars								X
Malay								X
Malians
Maya								X
Mongols
Persians
Poles
Portuguese								X
Romans
Saracens								X
Shu								X
Sicilians
Slavs
Spanish
Tatars
Teutons
Turks
Vietnamese								X
Vikings
Wei
Wu

Trivia

• Excluding Rattan and Plumed Archers, all foot archers move at a uniform speed of 0.96. The only foot archer that can have its speed increased is the Lithuanian Skirmisher, thanks to the civilization bonus.
• Slingers are described as Skirmishers, which may explain why they cost food, have minimum range, and low attack. However, they play an anti-infantry role, instead of the Skirmisher's anti-archer role.
• Foot archers are unaffected by infantry speed technologies/bonuses like Squires or the Celtic civilization bonus. However, their mounted counterparts are affected by Husbandry and many civilization bonuses and technologies, such as the Georgian regeneration bonus and Aznauri Cavalry.
• Among the 79 unique units in the game, nine are foot archers.
• Excluding Genoese Crossbowmen, all foot archers have at least +1 bonus damage against the Spearman armor class.

Gallery

All trainable foot archer units in the game