This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For similar units in other games of the series, see Halberdier. |
ā | Anti-cavalry infantry unit. | ā |
—Age of Empires II description |
The Halberdier is an infantry unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors that can be trained at the Barracks (and also Donjons for the Sicilians) upon reaching the Imperial Age. As an upgrade of the Pikeman, it has a huge attack bonus against cavalry, particularly elephants.
Halberdiers are weak against all units except cavalry, but make up for it by being one of the cheapest military units in the game. Additionally, no gold is required to train them, making them trash units.
Availability chart[]
Available | Unavailable |
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|
- x means that the civilization gets fully upgradeable Halberdiers. A missing technology is fully offset by some civilization bonus. The technologies being considered here are Blast Furnace, Plate Mail Armor, and Squires.
- + means that the civilization gets some civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Halberdier.
- ā means that the civilization had access to Halberdiers in the past, but does not currently.
Tactics[]
Like their predecessors, the Pikemen, the main purpose of Halberdiers is countering cavalry units. The upgrade gives them +10 anti-cavalry damage, +8 anti-camel damage, and a total of +13 additional bonus damage against Elephants. This makes the upgrade almost always worth it, though the high cost of the upgrade can make it hard to justify depending on the amount of cavalry the enemy is using. Their attack bonus against cavalry of 32 is so huge that two Halberdiers can bring down even a Paladin. However, they still maintain their predecessors' inability to force a fight, so they are only suited for defending other units that would otherwise falter against cavalry. They can be paired with siege units and protect them from melee cavalry attacks. They become a lot more valuable in the late Imperial Age since at that time gold is usually running very low, often resulting in trash wars. There, Halberdiers hold an advantage against Hussars.
Halberdiers need to be massed to be effective, but they are cost-effective against all cavalry units, even Cataphracts. Ranged cavalry like Cavalry Archers can handle them, though, when micromanaged properly. Halberdiers fare poorly against all other infantry, thanks to their very low base damage and lack of bonus damage against infantry. Archers, particularly when massed, make short work of them, due to not only their low pierce armor and hit points, but also the fact that they receive bonus damage from archers.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
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Strong vs. | Cavalry |
Weak vs. | Archers, Heavy Scorpions, infantry, Elite Cataphracts |
Upgrades | |
Attack | Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings) Druzhina (gives trample damage in 0.5 tiles radius, Slavs only) Wootz Steel (attack ignores armor, Dravidians only) |
Armor | Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1, +2/+2 for the Romans) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1, +2/+2 for the Romans) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2) Tower Shields (+2 pierce armor, Lithuanians only) |
Speed | Squires (+10%) |
Conversion defense | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only) |
Creation speed | Conscription (+33%) Perfusion (+100%, Goths only) |
Regeneration | Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle) |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Armenians: Halberdiers are available in the Castle Age.
- Bohemians: Halberdiers deal +25% bonus damage.
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Halberdiers cost -50% food.
- Burmese: Halberdiers have +3 attack. Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Halberdiers are 25% cheaper.
- Celts: Halberdiers move 15% faster. Halberdiers can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Halberdiers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Dravidians: Researching Arson and Squires is 50% cheaper.
- Georgians: Halberdiers receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
- Goths: Halberdiers are 35% cheaper and have +3 attack against standard buildings.
- Incas: Halberdiers cost -25% food.
- Japanese: Halberdiers attack 33% faster.
- Lithuanians: Halberdiers move 10% faster.
- Koreans: Halberdiers cost -50% wood.
- Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
- Romans: Halberdiers receive double the effect from armor upgrades.
- Sicilians: Halberdiers take -33% bonus damage.
- Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Halberdiers cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Halberdiers provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Halberdiers deal +20% more damage from higher grounds.
- Teutons: Halberdiers have +2 armor.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Armenians: Halberdiers have +2 Line of Sight.
- Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Goths: Halberdiers are created 20% faster. Researching Squires and Arson is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Halberdiers are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Halberdiers are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- Halberdiers have a +16 attack bonus against camel units and ships.
- Franks: Initially, cannot train Halberdiers. With patch 1.0b, it was added to their technology tree.
- Goths: Halberdiers have an extra +1 attack bonus against standard buildings.
- Goths: Initially, Halberdiers are 25% cheaper. With patch 1.0b, Halberdiers are 35% cheaper.
- Halberdiers have +21 attack against Mamelukes on account of them having 11 cavalry armor, in addition to their attack bonus due to Armor class: Camel.
The Forgotten[]
- Halberdiers have a +17 attack bonus against camel units and ships.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Arson introduced.
- Malians: On release, can train Halberdiers. With patch 4.8, it is removed from their technology tree.
- Ethiopians: The Halberdier upgrade is free.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- With patch 5.7, Halberdiers have a +26 attack bonus against camel units.
- With patch 5.8, the attack bonus was reduced to +16 by replacing Mamelukes' Armor class: Cavalry with a new armor class.
- Ethiopians: With patch 5.7, the Halberdier upgrade is no longer free.
Definitive Edition[]
- Halberdiers have a +11 attack bonus against Mameluke armor class.
- Tracking removed; all infantry receive +2 Line of Sight upon reaching the Feudal Age.
- Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Halberdiers cost -50% food.
- Bulgarians: Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
- Goths: With update 36202, Halberdiers have a +3 attack bonus against standard buildings. Goths lose access to Arson.
- Koreans: Initially, Halberdiers cost -15% wood. With update 39284, Halberdiers cost -20% wood.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, as a civilization bonus, technologies that benefit Halberdiers are researched 30% faster.
- Tatars: Initially, cannot train Halberdiers. With update 35584, Halberdiers are added to their technology tree.
- Teutons: With update 35584, Halberdiers have +1 melee armor. With update 36906, Halberdiers have +2 melee armor.
Dynasties of India[]
- Hindustanis: Originally, had Halberdier. With update 66692, the Halberdier upgrade is no longer available.
- Sicilians: With update 66692, Halberdiers resist only 33% bonus damage.
- Portuguese: With update 73855, as a team bonus, technologies that benefit Halberdiers are researched 25% faster.
- Incas: With update 81058, Halberdiers cost -30% food.
- Malay: With update 81058, infantry armor upgrades are free.
- Sicilians: With update 81058, Donjons can now train Halberdiers.
Return of Rome[]
- Chinese: With update 87863, technologies that benefit Halberdiers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Koreans: With update 87863, Halberdiers cost -50% wood.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Incas: With update 99311, they cost -25% food.
History[]
ā | The Halberd was a pike weapon invented in the Middle Ages for use against armored men, especially on horseback. It consisted of a six-foot shaft with an axe head at the front, a spear point at the top, and thin point at the rear. The spear was used to ward off cavalry. The thin rear point could be chopped down on an armored man to penetrate the strongest armor. The axe head brought down with both hands could chop through armor, arms, and helmets. Wielding the Halberd left the soldier exposed momentarily, so it was best used in formation with other men at hand for protection. | ā |
Trivia[]
- The Spearman line units are the second cheapest of all military units, tied with the Skirmisher line, costing only 60 resources and no gold, only behind the Karambit Warrior (which costs 40 resources but is not a trash unit).
- If civilization bonuses are taken into account, the Gothic Halberdier is the cheapest military unit in the game, costing only 39 resources and no gold.
- Halberdiers deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same armor class as ships.
- The Spearman line units are the only trash units and also only common infantry units that do not have any base pierce armor.
- The Halberdier in the alpha version of The Age Of Kings costs gold and is known as the "Halberdman".
- Halberdiers deal 133 total bonus damage against units with 0 base armor (such as Ornlu the Wolf).
- The Burmese Halberdier is tied with the Polish Winged Hussar 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).
- Teutonic Halberdiers, alongside Teutonic Scout Cavalry, have the highest melee armor among trash units, with 5 melee armor.
- After update 35584, Tatars have access to Halberdiers, making it available to all civilizations introduced in the The Last Khans expansion.
- Since then Franks and Tatars are the only civilizations that have received access to the Halberdier in post-launch updates.
- Civilizations that have direct bonuses or unique technologies to their Camel Rider (i.e. Malians, Saracens, Gurjaras, Berbers, and Hindustanis after update 66692) do not have access to Halberdiers. The Byzantines and Ethiopians are the only exceptions, mainly because they are missing Bloodlines and another important Blacksmith upgrade for their Heavy Camel Rider (Blast Furnace for the former and Plate Barding Armor for the latter).
- Before update 66692, and after patch 4.8 the Hindustanis were the only civilization that had access to strong Camel Riders and to Halberdiers, which brought some criticism regarding the civilization's balance, as they had two extremely effective anti-cavalry units. The access to Halberdiers was likely to give a tool to deal with Imperial Camel Riders in mirror matches, as the Hindustanis lack the Arbalester. The Malians before patch 4.8 used to also have access to both Halberdiers and Heavy Camel Riders with a bonus and unique technology that improved the combat strength. It was removed because Halberdiers with extra pierce armor made Skirmishers way less effective, while also being too strong at raiding and making the Malian Heavy Camel Rider with extra attack overshadowed, plus also making the Malians' tech tree less diverse in the Imperial Age. Hindustanis and Malians are now the only civilizations that have lost access to the Halberdier in later updates.