| “ | Fast melee unit with high ranged armor and bonus against ranged. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Freeborn Warrior is a melee infantry unit in Age of Empires IV available to the Malians that was introduced in the Season Nine update 12.0.1974. It can be trained at the Barracks and Farimba Garrison once unlocked at the latter landmark starting in the Castle Age.
Tactics[]
The Freeborn Warrior is a relatively fast anti-ranged infantry unit with significant pierce armor and high hit points. Being not classified as either light or heavy infantry, they avoid bonus damage from both Archers and Crossbowmen, making them very resilient to almost all ranged units.
In turn, they have no melee armor, making them weak to melee damage. This means that, aside from certain special units, they are best countered using Men-at-Arms and Knights.
This weakness can be compensated by mixing them with Musofadi Warriors, which have the same movement and attack speed, and are instead weak against ranged units, but strong against heavy units. As an additional bonus, since both units are melee infantry, they camouflage each other, making it more difficult to pick out the Musofadi Warriors using Archers.
Care has to be taken since both unit types are weak against Springalds. To overcome this, the Malian will for usual split his army into multiple groups and attack from multiple sides. The resulting lower army sizes make it difficult to protect the Springald against both the stealth of the Musofadi, as well as the army's high movement speed.
Freeborn Warriors excel at raiding enemy economies: Their high movement speed and strong resistance to arrows make them valuable assets against Town Centers and towers.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ranged infantry |
| Weak vs. | Heavy melee infantry, Heavy melee cavalry, Springalds |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Elite Army Tactics (+15%)
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1) Elite Army Tactics (+15%)
|
| Armor |  Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee) Insulated Helm (+1 melee) Master Smiths (+1 melee) Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged) Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged) Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%)
|
| Ability |  Siege Engineering (Can build Battering Rams and Siege Towers)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Siege Festival (+50% fire for 90 seconds)
|
| Damage resistance |  Wall Defense (-25% ranged, -50% siege)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Farima Leadership (+15%)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Festival (+100% for 90 seconds)
|
| Ability |  Huntress Stealth (Gain stealth)
|
Dialogue lines[]
The Freeborn Warrior uses the same dialogue lines as the Donso.
- Main article: Donso/Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, the Freeborn Warrior had 165/190 hit points per upgrade level. With patch 12.1.2454, it has 175/205 hit points.
- Originally, Freeborn Warriors cost 90 food. With update 15.1.6970, they cost 80 food.
Gallery[]
