Griot

Griot
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals
Type	Infantry* Healing unit
Civilization(s)	Hausa
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	University
Cost	150 Coin 2 Population
Train time	40 seconds
Train limit	5
Statistics
Hit points	260
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	18
Ability	Intimidates enemy units, increasing their Rate of Fire by 40%, and halving their healing rate (2 siege damage, range 2-16, 1 Area of Effect) Inspires allies and enhances building work rates (see article)
XP train bounty	15
XP kill bounty	15
Healing
Healing	10/s
Range	16
Hand attack
Damage	15 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	3.0x Treasure guardian

“	Griot. Inspiring musician and storyteller who can increase the work rate of buildings and speed of nearby units. Uses instruments to intimidate enemies which slows their attack speed.	”
—In-game description

The Griot is a healer in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals that is unique to the Hausa and can be trained at the University once the Commerce Age is researched. It can heal injured units, inspire nearby allies, buff building construction and working speed, and intimidate enemies from range by using musical instruments to make them attack and move slower.

The Griot's inspire ability has an Area of Effect of 32 around it, increasing the speed of allied units by 5%.

When a Griot is tasked to buff a building, it applies the following effects:

• The building is constructed 75% faster.
• Town Centers work 10% faster.
• Docks train Fishing Boats/Canoes 10% faster, train warships 30% faster, and research technologies 50% faster.
• Other buildings work 50% faster.

The inspire effect does not stack if a single unit is in the AOE of multiple Griots.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Treasure guardians
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Mission Fervor (+50%; Europeans and Mexicans only) Medical Science (+35%; United States only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Yoga (+5%)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance) Hualcana (+5% resistance; Inca only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only) Medical Science (+15%; United States only) Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%)
Train time	Quechuan Diet (-15%)
Other	Mission Fervor (+50% healing rate; Europeans and Mexicans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Griot

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time

• "Liberation March" is also available to the Mexicans and Spanish.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Ships 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villagers, healing units, Envoys, and Disciples get +5% speed
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack

• "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" does not stack with the Inca "TEAM Inca Bridges" card.

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +10% hit points; Dutch-only infantry get +15% hit points instead

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
African Roots	Ships a random selection of 6 West Africa units and allows to ally with the Akan or Yoruba in the Native Embassy; Akan infantry, Yoruba infantry and Maroons can now use Stealth mode; costs 1,000 food

• "African Roots" is available to the British and French upon revolting to Haiti.

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Scout Infantry	Ships 1 Native Scout; infantry get +8 Line of Sight

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Jukunawa	Ships 5 Villagers and 5 Griots; Griot train limit +5
University of Timbuktu	Ships 1 Griot and 1 University Builder; University build limit +1
Maguzawa	Griots get +50% attack and their intimidation have +1.5 Area of Effect and are 50% more effective
Dodo Cult	Griots get +65% hit points, +15% speed, and +5 train limit
4 Griots	Ships 4 Griots
8 Griots	Ships 8 Griots
TEAM Marabout Network	Ships 2 Griots; reveals all treasures and enemy Trading Posts and fortifications

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Ships 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed

• "TEAM Inca Bridges" does not stack with the Chinese "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack instead; +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry and cavalry get +15% hand attack

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Moccasins	Infantry get +10% speed

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster
Pok Ta Pok	Infantry get +10% speed and -10% train time

• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.
• "Pok Ta Pok" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Patriarchy	Healing unit cost and train time -50%; Healer, Warrior Priest, and Priestess train time -15% instead

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Changelog

The African Royals

• Originally, Griots cost 120 coin. Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with hotfix 39346, Griots cost 150 coin.
• Originally, the Griot's intimidate ability affects a single target. With update 43871, Griot's intimidate ability has an Area of Effect of 1.
• With update 50830, Griots are tagged as infantry.
• The Griot's intimidate ability increases enemy Rate of Fire by 50%.
• Griots have 360 hit points and use 1 population.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.10442, Griot's intimidate ability increases enemy Rate of Fire by 40%.
• With update 13.27885, Griots have 260 hit points and take 2 population.

History

“

The griot, a keeper of oral tradition responsible for entertaining and educating his people with tales and epics, was a key figure among several rural and nomadic groups in West Africa. In telling their epics, Griots praised and memorialized influential figures such as Sundjata Keita and Mansa Musa for posterity.

”

Gallery

Griot image from the Compendium section

An in-game Griot

See also

• Priest – European counterpart
• Imam – Ottoman counterpart
• Missionary – Spanish counterpart
• Healer – Haudenosaunee and Lakota counterpart
• Warrior Priest – Aztec counterpart
• Priestess – Inca counterpart
• Abun – Ethiopian counterpart