| “ | Fast, with ranged attack. Ideal for hit-and-run attacks. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II original description | ||
The Heavy Cavalry Archer is a mounted archer unit in Age of Empires II that can be upgraded from the Cavalry Archer at the Archery Range once the Imperial Age is reached.
For the Khitans, the upgrade is available in the Castle Age.
Availability chart[]
 Available |  Unavailable
|
|---|---|
- x means that the civilization can fully upgrade its Heavy Cavalry Archer. The technologies being considered here are Bloodlines, Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Parthian Tactics, and Thumb Ring.
- - means that the civilization can almost fully upgrade its Heavy Cavalry Archer. The technology missed is either Parthian Tactics or Ring Archer Armor. Nonetheless, it has Bloodlines, Bracer, and Thumb Ring.
- + means that the civilization some 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. They can hit-and-run units thanks to their movement speed, and they have high durability when engaged in combat as well. Elite Skirmishers and Onagers are devastating against mounted archers. Heavy Camel Riders are also great against mounted archers, given that they are faster and deal bonus damage against all mounted units, provided they are not microed down. Halberdiers in theory can deal with Heavy Cavalry Archers, though in practice they usually will be killed before they can attack, even without micro.
Compared to its predecessor, the Heavy Cavalry Archer has +10 hit points, +1 attack, +2 anti-Spearmen attack, +1 melee armor, +30% accuracy, and -7 seconds of training time (+26% faster training). This makes it an important upgrade when facing enemy Spearmen-line units. The increase in base accuracy particularly matters for civilizations without Thumb Ring (which raises their accuracy to 100%) or if Heavy Cavalry Archers are used prior to researching Thumb Ring. The Georgians and Khmer are the biggest beneficiaries, since the former has other prominent bonuses, and the latter has otherwise fully upgradeable Cavalry Archers.
Their armor gets upgraded through the archer line but in terms of bonus damage received they count as both archers and cavalry. Additionally, 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 several civilizations. 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 to create a mobile yet devastating force. As a substitute for the Hussar, heavy cavalry units can be used if enough gold is available. That is uncommon, however, since both units have sizable gold costs.
Comparison among civilizations[]
| Civilization |  Georgians
|
 Huns
|
 Magyars
|
 Mongols
|
 Tatars
|
 Turks
|
 Vietnamese
|
Complete | Generic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 40 wood, 60 gold | 32 wood, 48 gold* | 40 wood, 60 gold | ||||||
| HP | 80 | 100 | 92 | 80 | |||||
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 1.8 | 1.44 | 1.8 | |||||
| Attack | 7+4 | 7+4 | 7+5 | 7+4 | |||||
| Attack vs Spearmen | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4/6 without/with Parthian Tactics | |||||
| Armor | 1+3/0+4 | 1+4/0+6 | 1+3/0+4 | 1+5/0+7 | 1+4/0+6 | 1+3/0+4 | 1+4/0+6 | 1+3/0+4 | |
| Range | 4+3 | 4+4 | 4+3 | ||||||
| Extras | Regenerates 15 hit points per minute Cost -15% population Receive -20% damage at elevations |
Bloodlines and Husbandry are researched 20% faster. | - | Parthian Tactics and Thumb Ring are free; +2 LOS; Deal +20% damage from elevations | Chemistry is free | Conscription is free | - | ||
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Slow melee units, foot archers (with both Parthian Tactics and Ring Archer Armor) |
| Weak vs. | Heavy Camel Riders, Elite Skirmishers, Elite Eagle Warriors, Onagers, Scorpions, Genoese Crossbowmen, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Camel Archers, Rattan Archers |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20) Sipahi (+20, Turks only)
|
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Parthian Tactics (+2 vs. Spearmen) Recurve Bow (+1, Magyars only)
|
 Range
|
Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Recurve Bow (+1, Magyars only)
|
| 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/+1, Tatars only)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
 Attack speed
|
Thumb Ring (+11%)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Steppe Husbandry (+100%, Cumans only)
|
| Other | Aznauri Cavalry (-15% population space, Georgians only)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
 Franks (+20%) Vietnamese (+20%)
|
 Regeneration
|
Georgians (15 hit points per minute)
|
| Attack |  Japanese (+2 vs. archers, except Skirmishers) Tatars (+20% from elevation)
|
| Damage resistance | Georgians (+20% from elevation) Jurchens (-50% friendly fire damage)
|
| Attack speed
|
Mongols (+25%) Jurchens (+20%)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Cumans (+15%)
|
| Resource cost | Huns (-20%) Koreans (-50% wood)
|
| Other |  Celts (can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight | Tatars (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Britons (+10%) Magyars (+25%)
|
Indirect civilization bonuses[]
Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers cost -50% food.- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Koreans: Archer armor upgrades are free.
- Persians: Parthian Tactics is available in the Castle Age.
- Poles: Bloodlines costs -50% food.
- Spanish: Blacksmith technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics are free.
- Turks: Chemistry is free.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
Indirect team bonuses[]
- Britons: Researching Heavy Cavalry Archer, Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics is 10% faster.
- Bulgarians: Researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 40 wood, 70 gold.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers move at a speed of 1.43.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers train in 34 seconds.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers have 50% base accuracy.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers receive standard anti-archer attack bonus from Elite Skirmishers.
- Saracens: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +4 attack bonus against standard buildings.
The Conquerors[]
- Heavy Cavalry Archers move at a speed of 1.4.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers train in 27 seconds.
- Heavy Cavalry Archers deal an attack bonus of +1 against Spearmen. With patch 1.0b, it is increased to +2.
- Cavalry Archers receive extra attack bonus (+2) from Elite Skirmishers.
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Thumb Ring introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
- Parthian Tactics introduced. With patch 1.0b, it also gives Heavy Cavalry Archers +4 attack bonus vs Spearmen.
- Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are 30% cheaper.
The Forgotten[]
- Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 40 wood, 65 gold.
- Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are 25% cheaper.
- Magyars: Recurve Bow gives +1 range to Heavy Cavalry Archers.
- Turks: Sipahi introduced.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Heavy Cavalry Archers cost 40 wood, 60 gold.
- Franks: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +20% hit points.
- Huns: Heavy Cavalry Archers are 20% cheaper.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Magyars: with patch 5.5, Recurve Bow gives +1 range and attack to Heavy Cavalry Archers.
Definitive Edition[]
- Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith technologies that benefit Heavy Cavalry Archers cost -50% food. Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
- Cumans: Initially, Heavy Cavalry Archers move 10% faster. With update 34055, they move 15% faster but Cumans lose access to Husbandry.
- Koreans: Heavy Cavalry Archers cost -15% wood. With update 39284, they cost -20% wood. With update 42848, Archer Armor upgrades are free.
- Saracens: Heavy Cavalry Archers have +3 attack bonus against standard buildings.
Lords of the West[]
- With update 44725, the attack animation duration of Heavy Cavalry Archers has been reduced from 1.3 to 1.15, reducing the overall attack delay by 11.5%.
- Saracens: With update 44725, Heavy Cavalry Archers no longer gain bonus attack against standard buildings.
- With update 50292, the attack animation duration of Heavy Cavalry Archers has been increased from 1.15 to 1.17.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 73855, the attack bonus of Heavy Cavalry Archers vs Spearmen was increased to 4 and the effect of Parthian Tactics for them was reduced to 2.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863:
- With update 93001, Heavy Cavalry Archers have 80% base accuracy.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Japanese: With update 95810, Heavy Cavalry Archers +2 attack vs. Archers. Since update 99311, this bonus excludes Skirmishers.
- Persians: With update 95810, killing military units with a Heavy Cavalry Archer provides 5 gold per unit. With update 99311, this bonus is removed.
Chronicles: Battle for Greece[]
- With update 141935, Heavy Cavalry Archer train time increased from 27 seconds to 30 seconds.
Heroes[]
There are three heroes in the game with the appearance of a Heavy Cavalry Archer:
- Osman (HD Edition only)
- Prithviraj (HD Edition only)
- Subotai (HD Edition only)
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. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- All of the new civilizations introduced in The Last Khans have access to Heavy Cavalry Archers.
- Neither of the two civilizations introduced in Lords of the West have access to the Heavy Cavalry Archer.
- The Tatar Heavy Cavalry Archer is tied with the Elite Ratha and the Gurjara Elite Elephant Archer for the highest melee armor of all archer units in the game, with a total of 6.
- All civilizations with the African, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and East Asian architecture sets have access to the Heavy Cavalry Archer.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
