| “ | Cheap cavalry effective at raiding, flanking, and countering ranged units. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Hobelar is a unique light melee cavalry unit of the House of Lancaster in Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose, which can be trained at the Stable starting in the Feudal Age. It is significantly cheaper and faster to train than a Horseman, but has more ranged armor.
Unit comparison[]
 Horseman
|
 Hobelar
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 100 food, 20 wood | 70 food, 20 gold |
| Training time | 22.5 s | 15 s |
| Hit points | 125 (Regular) 155 (Veteran) 180 (Elite) |
100 (Regular) 120 (Veteran) 145 (Elite) |
| Ranged Armor | 2 (Regular) 3 (Veteran) 5 (Elite) |
3 (Regular) 4 (Veteran) 7 (Elite) |
| Melee attack and Bonus Damage | 9 (Regular) 11 (Veteran) 13 (Elite) |
7 (Regular) 9 (Veteran) 12 (Elite) |
| Rate of Fire | 1.75 | 1.5 |
Tactics[]
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This section is most likely incomplete and may need expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Spearmen, War Elephant, Camel Riders |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%);
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1) Hill Training (+125% charge damage) Military Tactics Training (+20% bonus damage)
|
| 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%) Hill Training (+100%)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
 Lord of Lancaster Inspiration (+5% per Lord)
|
| Line of Sight |  Set up Camp (+30%)
|
| Landmark bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Upgrading |  King's College (-15% cost)
|
Dialogue lines[]
The Hobelar uses the same dialogue lines as the English Horseman:
- Main article: Horseman/English dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, the Hobelar had a melee attack time of 1.75 seconds. With update 14.0.4963, it is 1.5 seconds.
Trivia[]
The Hobelar was a form of light cavalry, named after the "Irish Hobby" horse which originally served as their mount. They originated in Ireland, and quickly spread to the British mainland. Rather than using the horse like a knight would, for charging in an open field, they acted as rangers, harriers, and scouts, often dismounting the horse to actually fight (a concept sometimes described as "mounted infantry"). Their size and style of equipment was designed to make them far more capable at navigating rough terrain (such as the woods, marshes, and hills of Ireland and Scotland) than a mail-clad knight on a heavy war horse.
Gallery[]
