| “ | Mobile cavalry effective at raiding and flanking. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Gilded Horseman is a light melee cavalry unit in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend, available to the Order of the Dragon. It can be trained at the Stables starting in the Feudal Age. It is the gilded version of the Horseman.
Just like all gilded units, Gilded Horseman cost 100% more resources and population, are trained 20% slower, and have +8 torch attack. The Gilded Horseman has +100% hit points, 54 to 67% more melee attack and attack bonus vs ranged units, and +50% attack bonus against siege engines.
Tactics[]
The Horseman is a light melee cavalry unit with high speed, low attack, and no melee armor. Due to its pierce armor, attack bonus, and relatively cheap cost, its main role is as a cost-effective counter to all ranged units, including ranged cavalry and siege units.
Even with the attack bonus, they do less damage than heavy cavalry, but the latter are much more expensive and are susceptible to Crossbowmen. In the Feudal Age, for civilizations without access to early Knights, Horsemen also function as the primary raiding unit due to their high mobility. They don't have the armor or hit points to survive Town Center fire for very long at this stage, so they are more useful for catching isolated Villagers off guard. They can continue performing this raiding role later in the game as well, but get outclassed by heavy cavalry due to their lower attack and lack of charge attack bonus making it more difficult to hit-and-run, and their lower survivability under defensive building fire.
The Mongols have access to Horsemen in the Dark Age, making them one of the most aggressive civilizations. This enables them to start raiding their opponents in the Dark Age. This is especially effective against the English, who lack access to the Spearman in the Dark Age.
As a cavalry unit, it is weak to the Spearman and the Camel Rider, both of which receive an attack bonus against cavalry units. Heavy units such as Lancers or Men-at-Arms can also overpower the Horseman by brute force, but the Horseman can avoid combat due to its mobility.
In practice, Horsemen are only a light counter against ranged infantry (in comparison to e.g. the Spearman, which heavily counters cavalry). This is due to multiple shortcomings of the unit: For one, its small range and large unit size can significantly limit the amount of Horsemen which can attack an archer mass at a time, especially if the enemy uses the terrain to their advantage. Another problem is that while it trades well against ranged units, it does less so against melee infantry units, and even if it wins, it takes a significant amount of time. As such, mixing in just a few melee units into an archer mass, especially Spearmen, makes Horsemen fare significantly worse. So, while melee cavalry can avoid an unfavorable matchup against Spearmen due to their mobility, ranged infantry can avoid an unfavorable matchup against Horsemen using terrain and protection by melee units.
However, Horsemen are still excellent at soaking up damage from ranged units, especially once Crossbowmen begin to appear, and can heavily punish positioning mistakes.
Once population efficiency starts to matter more than cost, the Horseman is usually replaced by heavy cavalry, as its higher base damage makes it less susceptible against melee infantry mixed into an archer mass, and its much higher hit points let it survive longer when under attack, even with Crossbowmen in the enemy army.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ranged units, siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Spearmen, heavy units, Camel Riders |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%)
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1)
|
| 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%)
|
| Auras and enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Inspiration Bonus (+15%)
|
| Armor | Inspiration Bonus (+1 melee/ranged)
|
Dialogue lines[]
- Main article: Horseman/Holy Roman Empire dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, Gilded Horsemen had 0.29 range. With update 11.0.782, they have 0.38 range.
- With update 12.0.1974, Gilded Horseman torch damage was increased in the Castle and Imperial Ages from 24/28 to 25/29.
- Originally, Elite Gilded Horsemen had 4 ranged armor. With update 12.0.1974, Elite Gilded Horsemen have 5 ranged armor.
- Originally, Gilded Horsemen had a flat +15 attack bonus against siege at all ranks. In update 12.0.1974, this was changed to +15/+18/+20 to match their bonus against ranged units.
Gallery[]
