“ | Ranged anti-archer unit that cannot attack at close range. Trainable by Vietnamese and their allies. | ” |
—Age of Empires II description |
The Imperial Skirmisher is the second unique unit of the Vietnamese in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. It can be trained at the Archery Range once the Imperial Age is reached. As an upgrade of the Elite Skirmisher, it is an anti-archer ranged unit.
The Imperial Skirmisher is a shared unique unit, i.e. it is available to any player allied with the Vietnamese (except for the Turks, who cannot train Elite Skirmishers) as their team bonus. Unlike most unique units, Imperial Skirmishers do not have an Elite version, as they are already a final unique upgrade.
Tactics[]
Skirmishers are very weak to everything except archers, some gunpowder units like Hand Cannoneers and Conquistadors, and Pikemen (to a degree). With a weak and slow attack, as well as a minimum range, they deal almost no damage to infantry and cavalry. Nevertheless, their attack bonus against archers can make them valuable against any archer-using opponent, especially if the player's civilization bonuses benefit Skirmishers.
Compared to its predecessor, Imperial Skirmishers have +1 attack, +1 pierce armor, +1 bonus damage against archers, and +1 bonus damage against cavalry archers. This is a notable increase against Arbalesters, where they take half the damage and deal out ~28.5% more damage. As Imperial Skirmishers cost no gold, they are trash units, and as such they become especially important in the late game when gold becomes scarce. The Imperial Skirmisher also have a +4 attack bonus against Pikemen, allowing groups of them to quickly take out approaching Pikemen, but their minimum range and low melee armor make them somewhat vulnerable.
As the team bonus for the Vietnamese, Imperial Skirmishers can only be trained if the player has a Vietnamese ally or is playing with the Vietnamese in the same fashion Condottieri and Genitours are trained. However, unlike the other shared units, it must be researched for each allied player at the Archery Range. It is also a trash unit, making it less useful in a team-game environment than a 1v1 environment. As the Elite Skirmishers counts as a generic unit, it is unaffected by the Samurai's attack bonus.
Unfortunately, the Turks cannot use the Imperial Skirmisher because it is an upgrade of the Elite Skirmisher, which the Turks have no access to. In contrast, other civilizations can put these units to great use, especially the Aztecs, Britons, Byzantines, Incas, Koreans, Lithuanians, and Mayans; the first in particular, having somewhat lackluster Arbalesters, whereas Atlatl-boosted Imperial Skirmishers are superior to most domains, including cost efficiency, training time, and bonuses.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Archers, Spearman line |
Weak vs. | Melee units, siege units |
Upgrades | |
Attack | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Atlatl (+1, Aztecs only) Hul'che Javelineers (Extra spear, Mayans only) |
Range | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Atlatl (+1, Aztecs only) Yeomen (+1, Britons only) Andean Sling (eliminates the minimum range, Incas 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) Tower Shields (+2 pierce armor, Lithuanians only) |
Conversion defense | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) (allies only) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only) |
Creation cost | Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only) |
Creation speed | Conscription (+33%) |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Aztecs: Imperial Skirmishers are created 11% faster.
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Archers cost -50% food.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Imperial Skirmishers are 25% cheaper.
- Celts: Imperial Skirmishers can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Imperial Skirmishers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Dravidians: Imperial Skirmishers attack 25% faster.
- Georgians: Imperial Skirmishers receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage on higher elevations.
- Incas: Imperial Skirmishers cost -25% food.
- Italians: Researching Ballistics and Chemistry is 33% cheaper.
- Koreans: Imperial Skirmishers costs -50% wood. Armor upgrades are free.
- Lithuanians: Imperial Skirmishers move 10% faster.
- Sicilians: Imperial Skirmishers take -33% bonus damage.
- Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Imperial Skirmishers cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Imperial Skirmishers provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Imperial Skirmishers deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from cliffs and elevations. Thumb Ring is free.
- Vietnamese: Imperial Skirmishers have 20% more HP. Conscription is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Britons: Imperial Skirmishers are created 10% faster. Researching Thumb Ring is 10% faster.
- Bulgarians: Researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion, Faith, and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Ballistics and Chemistry is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Imperial Skirmishers are researched 25% faster.
- Saracens: Imperial Skirmishers have +3 attack against standard buildings.
- Teutons: Imperial Skirmishers are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
Rise of the Rajas[]
- In games where the Post-Imperial Age is set as the starting Age, Imperial Skirmisher is researched for the Turks, since the condition of research of Elite Skirmisher is skipped.
Definitive Edition[]
- Turks: Imperial Skirmisher is disabled in the technology tree, which prevents it to be researched entirely.
- Bulgarians: Initially, Team Blacksmiths work 50% faster. With update 42848, researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith costs -50% food, and Team Blacksmiths work 80% faster.
- Koreans: Imperial Skirmishers cost -15% wood. With update 39284, they cost -20% wood. With update 42848, Archer armor upgrades are free.
- Lithuanians: With update 36906, Tower Shields grants +2 pierce armor instead of +1.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, as a civilization bonus, technologies that benefit Imperial Skirmishers are researched 30% faster.
Lords of the West[]
- Mayans: With update 44725, Hul'che Javelineers is introduced to replace Obsidian Arrows; Hul'che Javelineers improves Imperial Skirmishers by making them throw a second projectile.
Dynasties of India[]
- Incas: With update 61321, the new team bonus gives Imperial Skirmishers +2 Line of Sight.
- Portuguese: With update 73855, as a team bonus, technologies that benefit Imperial Skirmishers are researched 25% faster.
- Incas: With update 81058, the team bonus is replaced and, as a new civilization bonus, Imperial Skirmishers cost -30% food.
- With update 81058, Imperial Skirmishers receive a new Skirmisher armor class.
Return of Rome[]
- Chinese: With update 87863, technologies that benefit Imperial Skirmishers are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Koreans: With update 87863, Imperial Skirmishers cost -50% wood.
The Mountain Royals[]
- With update 95810, Imperial Skirmisher bonus attack vs. spearman armor class increased from 3 to 4.
- Incas: With update 99311, they cost -25% food.
Trivia[]
- The Lithuanian Imperial Skirmisher has the highest pierce armor of any non-siege unit in the game, with a total of 11.
- Skirmishers are the second cheapest of all military units, tied with the Spearman line, costing only 60 resources and no gold, only behind the Karambit Warrior (which costs 40 resources but is not a trash unit).
- With update 44725, all Native American civilizations have a Castle Age unique technology that benefits the combat strength of Skirmishers.