Heavy Cavalry Archer

Heavy Cavalry Archer
Unit information
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Type	Cavalry Archer
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Training
Trained at	Archery Range
Wood	40
Gold	60
Statistics
Hit points	60
Attack	7 pierce
Attack bonus	+2 vs Spearman
Rate of Fire	2.0
Frame delay	10
Range	4
Accuracy	50%
Projectile speed	7
Melee armor	1
Ranged armor	0
Armor class	Archer Cavalry archer Cavalry
Speed	1.4
Line of Sight	6
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	File:CavalryArcherIcon.jpg Cavalry Archer

“	Stronger than Cavalry Archer. Fast, with ranged attack.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Heavy Cavalry Archer is a mounted archer unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Imperial Age is reached.

Unit availability

Available	Unavailable
Berbers Britons Bulgarians Burmese Byzantines Celts Chinese Cumans^ Ethiopians Franks^ Goths Huns^ Indians* Japanese* Khmer Koreans Lithuanians Magyars*^ Malians Mongols^ Persians Saracens*^ Slavs Spanish Tatars*^ Turks*^ Vietnamese^	Aztecs Incas Italians Malay Mayans Portuguese Teutons Vikings

The * indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Heavy Cavalry Archers, i.e. gets Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Thumb Ring, Parthian Tactics, Bloodlines, and Husbandry. Faith and Heresy are not taken into account because they only contribute to their combat strength in a very situational manner.

The ^ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Heavy Cavalry Archer.

Tactics

Using Heavy Cavalry Archers is expensive as they are strong in large numbers, not in solitude. After training a dozen of Heavy Cavalry Archers, they can be used to take out infantry effectively. The player must make sure they are some feet away from infantry. This tactic does not usually work well against cavalry, unless the opponent is greatly outnumbered. Skirmishers and Onagers are devastating against Cavalry Archers. Camel Riders are also devastating against Cavalry Archers, given that they are faster and deal bonus damage against all Cavalry.

Their armor gets upgraded through the archer line but in terms of bonus damage against them they count as both Archer as well as Cavalry. Additionally, along with the Mangudai, they are also counted in a special 'Cavalry Archer' class against which Elite Skirmishers and Camel Archers deal additional bonus damage.

The most popular pairing involving Heavy Cavalry Archers is with Hussars, which is the preferred combination for the Cumans, Mongols, Huns, Saracens, Magyars, Tatars, and Turks. While a few other cavalry and/or archer based civilizations can utilize this as well, it is not as effective for them. In addition to the excellent Mongolian Hussars, their Heavy Cavalry Archers fire faster. Magyars have cheaper Hussars and a Unique Technology benefitting Heavy Cavalry Archers, while the Tatars have a Unique Technology affecting both Hussars and Heavy Cavalry Archers. Likewise, the Huns have cheaper Heavy Cavalry Archers and their Hussars are created quicker. Since the Heavy Cavalry Archers cost wood and gold, the food can be invested in Hussars which can make melee support for the Heavy Cavalry Archer army in order to create a mobile yet devastating force. As a substitute to the Hussar, the Knight can be used if enough gold is available. That is rather uncommon, however, since the gold is usually just spent on the Heavy Cavalry Archers as Knights slow down the army a little.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Slow and non-ranged units
Weak vs.	Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Skirmishers, Eagle Warriors, Onagers, Scorpions, Camel Archers, Rattan Archers
Upgrades
Hit points	Bloodlines (+20) Sipahi (+20, Turks only)
Attack	Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Parthian Tactics (+4 attack against Spearmen) Recurve Bow (+1, Magyars only since patch 5.5)
Range	Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Recurve Bow (+1, Magyars only)
Firing rate	Thumb Ring (+11%)
Accuracy	Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%) Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor	Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1) Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1) Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2) Parthian Tactics (+1/+2) Silk Armor (+1 pierce armor, Tatars only)
Speed	Husbandry (+10%)
Conversion defense	Faith Heresy
Creation speed	Conscription (+33%) Steppe Husbandry (+80% Cumans only)

Civilization bonuses

• Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Celts: Heavy Cavalry Archers can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers are 20% cheaper.
• Cumans : Heavy Cavalry Archers move 10% faster.
• Franks: Heavy Cavalry Archers have 20% more HP.
• Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are 20% cheaper.
• Mongols: Heavy Cavalry Archers fire 25% faster.
• Saracens: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +3 attack against standard buildings.
• Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers don't cost gold.
• Tatars: Heavy Cavalry Archers deal 50% bonus damage from cliffs and elevations. Thumb Ring is free.
• Turks: Chemistry is free.
• Vietnamese: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +20% hit points. Conscription is free.
• Koreans: Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 15% less Wood.

Team bonuses

• A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
• A team containing Britons: Heavy Cavalry Archers are created 20% faster. Researching Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics is 20% faster.
• A team containing Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
• A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
• A team containing Teutons: Heavy Cavalry Archers are more resistant to conversion.
• A team containing Tatars: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +2 LOS.
• A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
• A team containing Bulgarians: Researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 50% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 40 wood and 70 gold.
• Heavy Cavalry Archers move at a speed of 1.43.
• Heavy Cavalry Archers train in 34 seconds.
• Saracens: Cavalry Archers have +4 attack against standard buildings.

The Conquerors

• Heavy Cavalry Archers now move at a speed of 1.4.
• Heavy Cavalry Archers train in 27 seconds.
• Heavy Cavalry Archers receive an attack bonus of +2 against Spearmen.
• Bloodlines introduced.
• Thumb Ring introduced.
• Heresy introduced.
• Parthian Tactics introduced.
• Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are 30% cheaper.

The Forgotten

• Heavy Cavalry Archers now cost 40 wood and 65 gold.
• Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are now 25% cheaper.
• Magyars: Recurve Bow gives +1 range to Heavy Cavalry Archers.
• Turks: Sipahi introduced.

The African Kingdoms

• Heavy Cavalry Archers now cost 40 wood and 60 gold.
• Franks: Heavy Cavalry Archers have 20% more HP.
• Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are now 20% cheaper.

Rise of the Rajas

• Magyars: with patch 5.5, Recurve Bow now gives +1 range and attack to Heavy Cavalry Archers.

Definitive Edition

• Koreans: Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 15% less wood
• Saracens: Heavy Cavalry Archers now have +3 attack against standard buildings. (reduced from +4)

History

“

Cavalry archers could be a devastating force when skilled and properly used, but they were as susceptible to archery fire as their enemies. One innovation intended to make them less vulnerable was to equip them with helmets and chest armor. This created the heavy cavalry archer, which was less nimble than its unarmored counterparts but able to engage in combat while taking fewer casualties. The Byzantines made extensive use of heavy cavalry archers in the engagements with horsemen from Persia and great plains to their north.

”

Gallery

The Heavy Cavalry Archer (on the right) and its predecessor, the Cavalry Archer

The Cavalry Archer line, with the Heavy Cavalry Archer on the right.

A group of Heavy Cavalry Archers

Heavy Cavalry Archers and Hussars fighting enemy infantry

Heavy Cavalry Archers fighting in the Definitive Edition

Cavalryarcher render.png

A render of the Heavy Cavalry Archer model

Heavy Mongol Cavalry Archers in Rashid-ad-Din's Jami' at-Tawarikh; early 14th century

Western European Cavalry Archer, around 13th century