Infantry unit (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the infantry units in Age of Empires II. For the armor class, see Armor class: Infantry. For infantry units in other games of the series, see Infantry.

Infantry in Age of Empires II is one of the four combat forces on land, the others being archers, cavalry, and siege weapons.

General information

Champions destroying a Siege Workshop.

Infantry units are foot soldiers dealing melee damage (whether at contact or at range). Generally, they have mediocre armor and hit points, are relatively slow, and non-ranged. Weak at first glance, they can be extremely important since they are the cheapest unit branch, are available very early in the game, are created quickly, and usually hold a medium to high attack.

Regular infantry units are trained at the Barracks only. The Militia is the first available unit there and the only military unit available in the Dark Age.

Unique infantry units are trained at the Castle. There are five exceptions:

• Huskarls can also be trained at the Barracks after researching Anarchy
• Serjeants and the Spearman line can also be trained at the Donjon
• Flemish Militia (after researching Flemish Revolution), Condottieri, Legionaries, and Jian Swordsmen are only available at the Barracks
• Dismounted Konniks are not trained, but spawn at the corpse of the mounted version
• Warrior Priests can be trained by the Armenians at the Fortified Church

The Pikeman, the most popular cavalry counter

All infantry units cost food and gold, with the lone exceptions being the Spearman line, which costs food and wood, the Malay Militia line (after researching Forced Levy), which only costs food, and Fire Lancers, which cost wood and gold.

While inferior in general to archers and cavalry when pitched against each other, infantry units have two advantages: Firstly, their low cost (especially in terms of gold) makes casualties more forgiving, and secondly, there is no cheap counter to easily mass against infantry as opposed to archers, which are easily countered with Skirmishers, and cavalry, which are usually countered with Pikemen.

Units that excel at battle against infantry include Hand Cannoneers, Janissaries, Cataphracts, Slingers, Teutonic Knights, Jaguar Warriors, Plumed Archers, Legionaries, and Grenadiers. Due to their low speed and no range, most infantry units will struggle against Monks. However, their low cost means that Monks will not get much value against them.

From the Feudal Age onwards, all infantry units gain +2 Line of Sight, which is the free remnant effect of the former technology Tracking.

Certain infantry units throw projectiles as a ranged attack instead of attacking only in melee range. These projectiles deal melee damage rather than pierce, and are affected by the same technologies as those which affect other infantry units. Their projectiles do not benefit from any technologies which affect archers, buildings, or any other non-infantry units, such as Chemistry, Thumb Ring, and Ballistics. If the target is moving transverse to the direction of attack, they can dodge the projectiles of these units, depending on speed and distance. The following are the projectile-shooting infantry units:

• Chakram Thrower → Elite Chakram Thrower
• Gbeto → Elite Gbeto
• Throwing Axeman → Elite Throwing Axeman

The Fire Lancer and Elite Fire Lancer are infantry units with a melee-range regular attack and a charged ranged attack, but their special attack does pierce damage, rather than melee. While the Kamayuk is also a ranged infantry unit, it is by virtue of having a longer reach on its weapon rather than using projectiles, thus never missing.

List of infantry units

In the list below, marked in yellow are the unique units, whereas marked in orange are the regional units.

Infantry unit	B	Age	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	RoF	LoS	Sp	Food	Wood	Gold	TT	Civs
Militia	Barracks		40	4	0	1	0	2	4	0.9	50	0	20	21	All
Man-at-Arms			45	6						0.96
Long Swordsman			60	9	1										All except Jurchens
Two-Handed Swordsman			65	12					5						All except Jurchens, Persians, and Romans
Champion			70	14											39
Legionary			75	12	2	2									Romans
Spearman	Barracks Donjon		45	3	0	0	0	3	4	1	35	25	0	22	All
Pikeman			55	4											All except Gurjaras and Turks
Halberdier			60	6											38
Eagle Scout	Barracks		50	4	0	2	0	2	6	1.1	20	0	50	50	Aztecs Inca Maya
Eagle Warrior			55	7		3			6	1.15				35
Elite Eagle Warrior			60	9		4				1.3				20
Fire Lancer	Barracks		65	9	1	0	0	2	7	0.96	0	40	45	32	Chinese Jurchens Khitans Koreans Vietnamese
Elite Fire Lancer			85	10	2	1			8					25
Woad Raider	Castle		70	11	0	1	0	2	3	1.38	65	0	25	10	Celts
Elite Woad Raider			85	14					5
Throwing Axeman	Castle		60	7	0	0	3	2	5	1	55	0	25	13	Franks
Elite Throwing Axeman			70	8	1		4		6
Huskarl	Castle Barracks		60	10	0	6	0	2	3	1.05	80	0	40	13	Goths
Elite Huskarl			70	12		8			5
Samurai	Castle		70	10	1	1	0	1.9	4	1	45	0	30	9	Japanese
Elite Samurai			80	12					5
Teutonic Knight	Castle		90	14	7	2	0	2	3	0.8	85	0	30	12	Teutons
Elite Teutonic Knight			110	17	10				5
Berserk	Castle		54	12	1	1	0	2	3	1.05	65	0	20	14	Vikings
Elite Berserk			62	14	2				5
Jaguar Warrior	Castle		65	15	1	2	0	2	3	1	60	0	30	20	Aztecs
Elite Jaguar Warrior			75	19	2				5
Kamayuk	Castle		70	7	1	0	1	2	4	1	65	0	30	10	Inca
Elite Kamayuk			80	8					5
Condottiero	Barracks		80	10	1	0	0	1.9	6	1.2	50	0	35	18	Italians and allies
Shotel Warrior	Castle		45	16	0	0	0	2	3	1.2	50	0	35	8	Ethiopians
Elite Shotel Warrior			50	18		1								4
Gbeto	Castle		40	10	0	0	5	2	6	1.25	50	0	40	17	Malians
Elite Gbeto			50	13			6		7
Karambit Warrior	Castle		30	7	0	1	0	2	3	1.2	25	0	15	6	Malay
Elite Karambit Warrior			40	8	1
Dismounted Konnik	Corpse of Konnik		45	12	2	2	0	2.4	5	0.9	0	0	0	3	Bulgarians
Elite Dismounted Konnik	Corpse of Elite Konnik		50	13		2
Serjeant	Donjon Castle		50	5	2	1	0	2	3	0.95	55	0	25	16/12	Sicilians
Serjeant			75	8	4	2								12
Elite Serjeant			85	11	6	3			5
Flemish Militia	Barracks		45	5	1	1	0	2	7	0.94	30	0	25	14	Burgundians
			55	8
			60	11
Obuch	Castle		80	8	2	2	0	2	3	0.9	55	0	20	12	Poles
Elite Obuch			95	10
Urumi Swordsman	Castle		55	9	1	0	0	2	3	1.05	65	0	20	9	Dravidians
Elite Urumi Swordsman			65	11
Chakram Thrower	Castle		40	3	1	0	5	2	7	1.15	65	0	30	15	Gurjaras
Elite Chakram Thrower			50	4			6		8
Ghulam	Castle		60	9	0	3	0	2	6	1.15	30	0	45	12	Hindustanis
Elite Ghulam			70	11		6				1.2
Warrior Priest	Fortified Church		80	11	1	1	0	2	3	0.85	30	0	60	30	Armenians
Liao Dao	Castle		75	9	3	1	0	2.4	3	1	40	0	40	12	Khitans
Elite Liao Dao			85	13
White Feather Guard	Castle		95	7	0	2	0	2	4	0.95	60	0	15	11	Shu
Elite White Feather Guard			100	8		3			5
Liu Bei	Castle		425	15	3	3	0	2	5	0.9	500	0	500	60	Shu
Jian Swordsman (shielded)	Barracks		70	8	2	5	0	2	4	1	45	0	50	35	Wu
Jian Swordsman (unshielded)				11	0	2				1.1

The following infantry units are only available in the Scenario Editor:

Infantry unit	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	ROF	LOS	Sp
Heavy Swordsman	75	7	0	0	0	2	4	0.95
Amazon Warrior	45	8	0	0	0	2	3	1.1
Eastern Swordsman	60	9	0	1	0	2	4	0.9
Heavy Pikeman	75	4	0	0	0	3	4	1
Imperial Legionary	75	12	2	2	0	2	5	0.9
Norse Warrior	60	9	0	1	0	2	4	0.9
Bandit	75	10	0	0	0	1	6	0.9
Iroquois Warrior	65	8	0	1	0	2	3	1.2
Ninja	50	9	1	?	0	1.8	4	1.1

Technologies

Listed below are all technologies that benefit infantry units. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Technology	Researched at	Age	Civilization	Effect
Arson	Barracks		All except Goths and Romans	Increases attack vs. standard buildings by +2
Gambesons	Barracks		24	Increases pierce armor of the Militia line by 1
Squires	Barracks		45	Increases speed by +10%
Forging	Blacksmith		All	Increases attack by +1
Iron Casting			All except Shu	Increases attack by +1
Blast Furnace			42	Increases attack by +2
Scale Mail Armor	Blacksmith		All	Increases armor by +1/+1
Chain Mail Armor			All except Tatars	Increases armor by +1/+1
Plate Mail Armor			39	Increases armor by +1/+2
Herbal Medicine	Monastery		44	Garrisoned units heal 6x faster
Heresy (die upon getting converted)			28	Converted units die instead of changing color
Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)			All	Increases conversion resistance by 15%
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)			46	Increases conversion resistance
Sanctity	Fortified Church		Armenians	Warrior Priests +15 hit points
Fervor			Armenians	Warrior Priests speed +15%
Conscription	Castle		All	Barracks and Castles create infantry units 33% faster.
Fereters	Castle		Armenians	Infantry (except Spearman-line) +30 Hit Points, Warrior Priests +100% heal speed
Garland Wars	Castle		Aztecs	Increases attack by +4
Kasbah	Castle		Berbers	Castle production and research is 25% faster
Bagains	Castle		Bulgarians	Increases Militia-line armor by +5/0
Flemish Revolution	Castle		Burgundians	All Villagers transform into Flemish Militia
Stronghold	Castle		Celts	Castles heal allied infantry in an 18 tile square aura by 30 HP/min
Wootz Steel	Castle		Dravidians	Infantry attacks ignore armor
Royal Heirs	Castle		Ethiopians	Shotel Warriors receive -3 damage from mounted units
Bearded Axe	Castle		Franks	Increases Throwing Axemen range by +2
Anarchy	Castle		Goths	Huskarls can be created at Barracks
Perfusion	Castle		Goths	Work rate for Barracks units doubled
Kshatriyas	Castle		Gurjaras	Infantry units cost -25% food
Fabric Shields	Castle		Inca	Increases Kamayuk, Eagle Warrior, and Slingers line armor by +1/+2
Lamellar Armor	Castle		Khitans	Enemy melee units attacking infantry receive 25% of the damage they deal
Tower Shields	Castle		Lithuanians	Increases Spearman-line armor by 0/+2
Forced Levy	Castle		Malay	Militia line cost +20 food, -20 gold
El Dorado	Castle		Maya	Increases Eagle Warrior hit points by +40
Comitatenses	Castle		Romans	Militia line train 50% faster and receive a charge attack
Coiled Serpent Array	Castle		Shu	Spearman line and White Feather Guards gain more HP in groups, up to +15% with 30 units in a 15 tile area
First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max)	Castle		Sicilians	Spawns 5 Serjeants per Town Center, in up to 5 Town Centers; Infantry units are more resistant to conversion
Druzhina	Castle		Slavs	Infantry does Area of Effect damage in +0.5 tile radius
Crenellations	Castle		Teutons	Garrisoned infantry fires arrows
Chieftains	Castle		Vikings	Infantry attack against cavalry and camels increased by +5 and +4, respectively Infantry generates gold when killing Villagers, trade units, and Monks
Tuntian	Castle		Wei	Infantry generate 3 food per 100 seconds

Civilizations

Many civilizations rely on strong infantry. The Armenians, Aztecs, Burmese, Dravidians, Incas, Japanese, Khitans, Romans, Slavs, and Vikings arguably have the strongest infantry of all civilizations, whereas the Goths and Malay have the cheapest, and the Malians have the most pierce-resistant.

The Bulgarians, Celts, Franks, Poles, Sicilians, Teutons, and Wu also have very prominent infantry, and the Byzantines, Koreans, and Bohemians have solid Halberdiers.

On the other hand, some civilizations have poor infantry, like the Jurchens (the only civilization that cannot research the Long Swordsman upgrade), Persians (the only civilization that cannot further upgrade their Long Swordsman), and Tatars (the only civilization without Chain Mail Armor), as well as the Turks and Gurjaras (the only civilizations without the Pikeman upgrade).

Availability grid

	= Available
	= Unavailable
	= Researched for free or fully covered by a civilization bonus if unavailable

Civilization													Regional units	Total
Armenians														12
Aztecs														11
Bengalis														11
Berbers														10
Bohemians														11
Britons														12
Bulgarians														11
Burgundians														11
Burmese														12
Byzantines														11
Celts														12
Chinese														11
Cumans														11
Dravidians														12
Ethiopians														10
Franks														12
Georgians														12
Goths														10
Gurjaras														6
Hindustanis														9
Huns														9
Inca														11
Italians														10
Japanese														12
Jurchens														8
Khitans														11
Khmer														8
Koreans														11
Lithuanians														9
Magyars														9
Malay														10
Malians														10
Maya														10
Mongols														10
Persians														10
Poles														10
Portuguese														11
Romans														10
Saracens														11
Shu														10
Sicilians														12
Slavs														12
Spanish														12
Tatars														8
Teutons														12
Turks														9
Vietnamese														11
Vikings														11
Wei														9
Wu														11

Civilization bonuses

• Armenians: Barracks units (except Man-at-Arms) are available one Age earlier.
• Aztecs: Infantry units are created 15% faster.
• Bohemians: Spearman-line deals +25% bonus damage.
• Bulgarians: Militia-line units are upgraded for free. Blacksmith technologies that benefit infantry units cost -50% food.
• Burmese: Infantry units have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Spearman-line units are 25% cheaper.
• Celts: Infantry units move 5%/10%/15%/20% faster in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit infantry units are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Fire Lancers move 5%/10% faster in Castle/Imperial Age.
• Dravidians: Barracks technologies cost -50%.
• Ethiopians: Pikeman upgrade is free.
• Georgians: Infantry units receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
• Goths: Infantry units are 15%/20%/25%/30% cheaper in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age and get +1/+2/+3 attack against standard buildings in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Inca: Infantry units cost -15%/-20%/-25%/-30% food in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Italians: Condottieri have +1/+1 armor.
• Japanese: Infantry units attack 33% faster starting in the Feudal Age.
• Jurchens: Infantry units receive 50% less friendly fire damage.
• Khitans: Spearman-line units are created and upgraded 25% faster. Infantry units receive double the effect from attack upgrades.
• Koreans: Infantry units cost -50% wood.
• Lithuanians: Spearman-line units move 10% faster.
• Malay: Infantry armor upgrades are free.
• Malians: Barracks units have +1/+2/+3 pierce armor in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
• Portuguese: Infantry units cost -20% gold.
• Romans: Infantry units receive double the effect from armor upgrades.
• Sicilians: Infantry units receive -40% bonus damage.
• Slavs: Arson and Gambesons are free.
• Spanish: Blacksmith technologies that benefit infantry units cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit infantry units provides 20 gold each.
• Tatars: Infantry units deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) when attacking from higher elevation.
• Teutons: Barracks units get +1/+2 melee armor in the Castle/Imperial Age. Herbal Medicine is free.
• Vietnamese: Fire Lancers have +20% hit points. Conscription is free.
• Vikings: Infantry units have +20% hit points starting in the Feudal Age.
• Wu: Infantry regenerate 10/20/30 hit points per minut in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Team bonuses

• Armenians: Infantry have +2 Line of Sight.
• Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies that benefit infantry units are researched 80% faster.
• Goths: Barracks work 20% faster.
• Italians: Condottiero available at Barracks in the Imperial Age.
• Khitans: Infantry units deal +2 damage against archers.
• Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
• Portuguese: Technologies that benefit infantry units are researched 25% faster.
• Teutons: Infantry units are more resistant to Conversion.

Trivia

• Since update 56005, the "put on your capes" cheat code turns all the player's infantry units into Elite Teutonic Knights.

Gallery

All infantry units trained at the Barracks

All infantry units trained at the Castle

The Militia line

The Spearman line

The Eagle Scout line

Graph showing the speeds of infantry units

All infantry unique units with Elite upgrades