| “ | Expensive cavalry with high damage and a powerful charge attack. Effective against most units. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Imperial Guard is a heavy melee cavalry unit available to Zhu Xi's Legacy at the Stable in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. The Imperial Guard (along with the Yuan Raider) is unlocked only after researching Dynastic Protectors at Zhu Xi's Library.
Tactics[]
The Imperial Guard serves the role of heavy cavalry similar to a Lancer, but has much higher durability in exchange for a higher cost. It has considerably more hit points (though not as much as the Cataphract), and exceptionally high melee armor.
Their higher cost can be reduced by the Yuan Dynasty bonus, making them easier to mass before transitioning to the Ming Dynasty, which increases their damage. With Divine Charge from the Temple of the Sun Landmark, combined with the Ming Dynasty bonus, they have extremely high damage, even beating out Rus Knights and Japanese Mounted Samurai with Bannerman boosts. All these bonuses combined make them one of the most formidable units available.
Imperial Guards are still vulnerable to common heavy cavalry counters such as Spearmen and Crossbowmen. It's therefore advised to support them with Zhuge Nu or Nest of Bees against these types of units.
Unit comparison[]
 Elite Lancer
|
 Imperial Guard
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 140 food, 100 gold | 140 food, 140 gold |
| Hit points | 270 | 340 |
| Attack | 29 | 28 |
| Rate of Fire | 1.5s | 1.625s |
| Melee armor | 5 | 10 |
| Ranged armor | 5 | 3 |
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, Horsemen, siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Spearmen, Crossbowman, War Elephant, Camel Riders |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%)
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1)
|
| 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)
|
 Attack speed
|
 Dali Horses (+20%,  Zhu Xi's Legacy)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
 Regeneration
|
 Divine Vitality (2 hp/s out of combat)
|
| Attack |  Divine Charge (+20%)
|
| Creation speed |  Supervision (+150% or +300% with Regional Inspection)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Attack | +20% in  Ming Dynasty
|
| Resource cost | -10% in  Yuan Dynasty
|
Dialogue lines[]
Imperial Guards share their dialogue lines with the Lancer.
- Main article: Lancer (Age of Empires IV)/Chinese dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- With patch 9.1.370, damage was reduced from 35 to 28, hit points were reduced from 350 to 340, melee armor was increased from 6 to 10, and ranged armor was decreased from 6 to 3
- Originally, Imperial Guard attack duration was 1.5 seconds. With update 12.0.1974, this was increased to 1.625 seconds.
Gallery[]
