Infantry units (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 other ones being archers, cavalry, and siege weapons.

General information

Champions destroying a Siege Workshop.

Infantry units are (with a few exceptions) non-ranged foot soldiers, who in general have comparatively low armor and hit points and are relatively slow. 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 two exceptions: Huskarls can also be trained at the Barracks after researching Anarchy, and Condottieri are only available at the Barracks as a team bonus.

The Pikeman, the no. 1 cavalry counter

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

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.

Due to their low speed and no range, most infantry units will struggle against Monks.

Units that excel at battle against infantry include Hand Cannoneers, Cataphracts, Slingers, Teutonic Knights, Jaguar Warriors, and Plumed Archers.

List of infantry units

Marked with yellow background are unique units.

Infantry unit	Building	A	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	ROF	LOS	Sp	F	W	G	TT	Ci
Militia	Barracks		40	4	0	1	0	2.0	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	35
Man-at-Arms	Barracks		45	6	0	1	0	2.0	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	35
Long Swordsman	Barracks		60	9	0	1	0	2.0	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	35
Two-Handed Swordsman	Barracks		60	12	0	1	0	2.0	5	0.9	60	0	20	21	34
Champion	Barracks		70	13	1	1	0	2.0	5	0.9	60	0	20	21	27
Spearman	Barracks		45	3	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	35
Pikeman	Barracks		55	4	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	34
Halberdier	Barracks		60	6	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	27
Eagle Scout	Barracks		50	4	0	2	0	2.0	6	1.1	20	0	50	35	3
Eagle Warrior	Barracks		55	7	0	3	0	2.0	6	1.15	20	0	50	35	3
Elite Eagle Warrior	Barracks		60	9	0	4	0	2.0	6	1.3	20	0	50	20	3
Woad Raider	Castle		65	8	0	1	0	2.0	3	1.38	65	0	25	10	1
Elite Woad Raider	Castle		80	13	0	1	0	2.0	5	1.38	65	0	25	10	1
Throwing Axeman	Castle		60	7	0	0	3	2.0	5	1	55	0	25	17	1
Elite Throwing Axeman	Castle		70	8	1	0	4	2.0	6	1	55	0	25	17	1
Huskarl	Castle / Barracks		60	10	0	6	0	2.0	3	1.05	80	0	40	16	1
Elite Huskarl	Castle / Barracks		70	12	0	8	0	2.0	5	1.05	80	0	40	16	1
Samurai	Castle		60	8	1	1	0	1.9	4	1	60	0	30	9	1
Elite Samurai	Castle		80	12	1	1	0	1.9	5	1	60	0	30	9	1
Teutonic Knight	Castle		80	12	5	2	0	2.0	3	0.8	80	0	40	12	1
Elite Teutonic Knight	Castle		100	17	10	2	0	2.0	5	0.8	80	0	40	12	1
Berserk	Castle		54	9	0	1	0	2.0	3	1.05	65	0	25	14	1
Elite Berserk	Castle		62	14	2	1	0	2.0	5	1.05	65	0	25	14	1
Jaguar Warrior	Castle		50	10	1	1	0	2.0	3	1	60	0	30	20	1
Elite Jaguar Warrior	Castle		75	12	2	1	0	2.0	5	1	60	0	30	20	1
Kamayuk	Castle		60	7	0	0	1	2.0	4	1	60	0	30	10	1
Elite Kamayuk	Castle		80	8	1	0	1	2.0	5	1	60	0	30	10	1
Condottiero	Barracks		80	9	1	0	0	1.9	6	1.2	50	0	35	13	35
Shotel Warrior	Castle		40	16	0	0	0	2.0	3	1.2	50	0	35	8	1
Elite Shotel Warrior	Castle		50	18	0	1	0	2.0	3	1.2	50	0	35	8	1
Gbeto	Castle		30	10	0	0	5	2.0	6	1.25	50	0	40	17	1
Elite Gbeto	Castle		45	13	0	0	6	2.0	7	1.25	50	0	40	17	1
Karambit Warrior	Castle		30	6	0	1	0	2.0	3	1.2	30	0	15	6	1
Elite Karambit Warrior	Castle		40	7	1	1	0	2.0	3	1.2	30	0	15	6	1
Dismounted Konnik	Castle / Krepost		45	12	0	0	0	2.4	7	0.9	60	0	70	3	1
Elite Dismounted Konnik	Castle / Krepost		50	13	0	1	0	2.4	7	0.9	60	0	70	3	1
Average	N/A	N/A	59.4	9.5	0.8	1.3	0.6	2.11	4.5	1.05	53.7	2.2	28.1	16.2	21.9

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	3.05	4	1
Legionary	75	12	2	2	0	2	5	0.9
Nordic Swordsman	60	9	0	1	0	2	4	0.9
Bandit	75	10	0	0	0	2	6	0.9
Iroquois Warrior	65	8	0	1	0	2	3	?
Ninja	50	9	1	?	0	1.8	4	1.1

Technologies

Listed below are all technologies that benefit infantry units. Marked with yellow background are unique technologies. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Technology	Researched at	Age	Civilization	Effect
Tracking	Barracks	II	All	Increases Line of Sight by +2
Supplies	Barracks	II	26	Reduces Militia line cost by 15.
Squires	Barracks	III	31	Increases speed by +10%
Arson	Barracks	III	34	Increases attack vs standard buildings by +2
Forging	Blacksmith	II	All	Increases attack by +1
Iron Casting	Blacksmith	III	All	Increases attack by +1
Blast Furnace	Blacksmith	IV	31	Increases attack by +2
Scale Mail Armor	Blacksmith	II	All	Increases armor by +1/+1
Chain Mail Armor	Blacksmith	III	34	Increases armor by +1/+1
Plate Mail Armor	Blacksmith	IV	28	Increases armor by +1/+2
Herbal Medicine	Monastery	III	31	Garrisoned units heal 4x faster
Heresy	Monastery	III	22	Converted units die instead of changing color
Faith	Monastery	IV	32	Increases conversion resistance
Conscription	Castle	IV	All	Increases creation speed by +33%
Garland Wars	Castle	IV	Aztecs	Increases attack by +4
Kasbah	Castle	III	Berbers	Castle production and research is 25% faster
Royal Heirs	Castle	III	Ethiopians	Creation speed of Shotel Warriors doubled
Bearded Axe	Castle	IV	Franks	Throwing Axeman range increased by +1
Anarchy	Castle	III	Goths	Huskarls can be created at Barracks
Perfusion	Castle	IV	Goths	Creation speed for Barracks units doubled
Fabric Shields	Castle	IV	Incas	Increases Kamayuk and Eagle Warrior line armor by +1/+2
Forced Levy	Castle	IV	Malay	Militia line gold cost removed
El Dorado	Castle	IV	Mayans	Eagle Warrior hit points increased by +40
Druzhina	Castle	IV	Slavs	Infantry does Area of Effect damage
Chieftains	Castle	III	Vikings	Infantry attack against cavalry and camels increased by +5 and +4, respectively
Berserkergang	Castle	IV	Vikings	Berserk regeneration rate increased
Bagains	Castle	IV	Bulgarians	Militia line +5 armor
Tower Shields	Castle	IV	Lithuanians	Spearman line +2 pierce armor

Civilizations

A lot of civilizations rely on a strong infantry, the Aztecs, Burmese, Goths, Japanese, Slavs, and Vikings arguably have the strongest infantry of all civilizations.

The Bulgarians, Celts, Franks, Incas, Malay, Malians, and Teutons also have very prominent infantry.

On the other hand, the Persians and Tatars have the most lackluster infantry units.

The Incas are the only civilization to have access to all infantry units and technologies.

Civilization bonuses

The following civilizations have bonuses that benefit infantry units:

• Aztecs: Infantry are created 11% faster.
• Bulgarians: Militia-line units are upgraded for free; Blacksmith technologies that benefit infantry cost 50% less food.
• Burmese: Infantry units have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, and Monastery technologies that affect Infantry are 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Spearman line units are 25% cheaper.
• Celts: Infantry move 15% faster.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Infantry are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Ethiopians: The Pikeman upgrade is free.
• Goths: Infantry are 20%/25%/30%/35% cheaper in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age and get +1/+2/+3 attack against Standard Buildings in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Japanese: Infantry attack 33% faster (starting in the Feudal Age).
• Koreans: Spearmen cost 20% less wood.
• Lithuanians: Spearman-line units move 10% faster.
• 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% less gold; Technologies that benefit infantry are researched 30% faster.
• Slavs: Supplies is free.
• Spanish: Blacksmith technologies that affect Infantry cost no gold.
• Tatars: Infantry deal +25% damage when attacking from hills.
• Teutons: Barracks units get +1/2 melee armor in the Castle/Imperial Age.
• Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
• Vikings: Infantry units have +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Team bonuses

The following civilizations have bonuses that benefit infantry units:

• Bulgarians: Blacksmith technologies that affect infantry are researched 80% faster.
• Goths: Barracks work 20% faster.
• Italians: Condottiero available at Barracks.
• Lithuanians: Monastery technologies that affect infantry are researched 80% faster.
• Teutons: Infantry are more resistant to Conversion.

Gallery

All infantry units trained at the Barracks

All infantry units trained at the Castle

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