Horse Archer (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the unit in Age of Empires IV, see Horse Archer (Age of Empires IV).

Horse Archer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Cavalry Archer
Civilization	See table
Age	Iron Age
Training
Trained at	Archery Range
Food	50
Gold	70
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	60
Pierce attack	7
Reload time	1.5
Range	7
Projectile speed	8
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	1
Armor class	Archers Mounted units
Speed	1.91
Line of Sight	9
Upgrades to
Upgrades to	Heavy Horse Archer
Upgrade cost	1,750 food, 800 gold
Upgrade time	150 seconds
Upgrade requires	N/A

“	A fast archery unit with strong attack strength and range.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Horse Archer is a ranged cavalry/mounted archer unit in Age of Empires that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Iron Age is reached.

Civilizations

Available	Unavailable
Assyrians Babylonians Carthaginians Choson Hittites Lac Viet Macedonians Palmyrans Persians Shang Sumerians Yamato	Egyptians Greeks Minoans Phoenicians Romans

Gameplay

The Horse Archer is a fast ranged cavalry that can be made during the Iron Age in the Archery Range. Horse Archers are one of the more expensive archer units, but their decent attack, good range and, most importantly, high speed makes them one of the best units of the Iron Age.

Although only having a tenth of an Elephant Archer's hit points, the Horse Archer has more than double its speed. Having this key ability allows them to outmaneuver most units in open terrain. Under ideal conditions in one on one combat, horse archers dominate the field. As a result, this makes them a great choice in guerilla warfare. However, due to their fragility, their attacking potential becomes less powerful the more they are bunched together on the battlefield where they can be prime targets for siege weaponry that does area of effect damage. The Horse Archer can be upgraded to the more powerful Heavy Horse Archer.

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Slow and non-ranged units, Priests
Weak vs.	Composite Bowmen, Elephant Archers, Ballistae, Camel Riders

Upgrades
Hit points	Nobility (+15%)
Attack	Alchemy (​+1 pierce)
Range	Woodworking (+1) Artisanship (+1) Craftsmanship (+1)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor	Leather Armor Archers (​+2 melee / ​+0 pierce) Scale Armor Archers (​+2 melee / ​+0 pierce) Chain Mail Archers (​+2 melee / ​+0 pierce)
Other	Heavy Horse Archer (upgrade)

Civilization bonuses

• Assyrians: Horse Archers fire 33% faster.
• Hittites: Horse Archers have +1 attack.
• Lac Viet: Horse Archers are trained 25% faster and have +2 armor.
• Macedonians: Horse Archers are four times more resistant to conversion.
• Yamato: Horse Archers cost -15%. Upgrading Horse Archers to Heavy Horse Archers costs -30%.*

Team bonuses

• Palmyrans: Upgrading Horse Archers to Heavy Horse Archers and researching technologies that benefit Horse Archers are 30% faster.
• Phoenicians: Horse Archers have +2 Line of Sight.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Horse Archers have 2 pierce armor and 7 frame delay.
• Horse Archers can be upgraded to Heavy Horse Archers only if Chain Mail Archers is researched.
• Assyrians: Horse Archers fire 36% faster (but stated 40%).
• Yamato: Horse Archers cost -30% but move 20% slower.

The Rise of Rome

• Yamato: Horse Archers cost -25% and move at normal speed.

Definitive Edition

• Horse Archers have 1 pierce armor and 30 frame delay.
• With update 9, Yamato Horse Archers cost -20%. With update 38862, the discount was further reduced to -15%.
• Assyrians: Horse Archers fire 33% faster (but stated 25%).

Return of Rome

• Team bonuses added:
  • Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Horse Archers are researched 30% faster.
  • Phoenicians: Horse Archers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Yamato: Upgrading Horse Archers to Heavy Horse Archers costs -30%.
• Researching Chain Mail Archers is no longer required to upgrade Horse Archers to Heavy Horse Archers.

Heroes

There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Horse Archer:

• Prince Shotoku

History

“

Horse archers started to gradually replace chariot archers on the ancient battlefields from the Iron Age on. Two ranged cavalrymen had the firepower of a single Chariot Archer and could move faster on the battlefield. Also, a loss on the battlefield was of only one horse and the archer in contrast to the loss of a chariot, of the men on the chariot and often, of the horses. The horse archers' use was gradually limited when many cultures, such as the Greeks made increasing use of heavy cavalry (such as the Companion cavalry), and skirmishing troops. The Chinese also built the Great Wall to protect themselves against these cavalrymen and other armies from the western steppes.

”

Gallery

Horse Archers in Return of Rome

A Horse Archer in the Definitive Edition

A group of Horse Archers in the original game

Horse archers can be deadly if used properly in large numbers

Concept art of a Horse Archer

Unused icon, possibly for an unlocking technology

Front and back view of a Parthian Horse Archer making the eponymous Parthian Shot

Technology tree

		Requires Barracks
	➞		➞			➞
								➞
				Requires Improved Bow	➞
				Requires Wheel