The Jaguar Prowl Knight is a very powerful and fast infantry unit of the Aztec civilization with a lot of hit points and attack and is very effective against heavy infantry and heavy cavalry units. They also have the stealth ability, which makes them slower (half speed) but completely invisible to most enemies.
These units are extremely powerful. Their biggest weaknesses are Skirmishers and artillery, which Coyote Runners should take care of. They have multipliers against most melee units, making them extremely good as meat shields against cavalry, as well as melee infantry such as Samurai. Grenadiers are very vulnerable in melee (due to heavy infantry classification) but a fair counter at range. Skirmisher units and artillery are extremely dangerous if they attack at range, but will fall if they get too close.
Jaguar Prowl Knights make an excellent counter to Heavy Infantry focused armies, and a decent counter to Cavalry focused armies. Melee infantry is very dangerous to Aztec armies, due to their multipliers against both Eagle Runner Knights and Coyote Runners, making Jaguar Prowl Knights an important unit vs civilizations that focus on melee units, such as Spanish Rodeleros. When exclusively against melee cavalry of all types, Eagle Runners, Puma Spearmen, or Skull Knights are superior in damage, but Jaguar Prowl Knights have very high hit points and take only a single population space, making them very good at blocking units. Utilizing stealth can also enable them to catch out Ranged Cavalry and artillery, which often have low hitpoints and fall very fast to Jaguar Prowl Knights.
It can be thought of as a Halberdier/Skirmisher hybrid.
Units and structures that can see invisible units are hard counters for Jaguar Prowl Knights, as they allow enemy units to attack them, especially artillery and ranged infantry. Also, a lot of the strategies are based on stealth.
To reduce this impact, place a few Jaguar Prowl Knights or Coyote Runners on stealth (the latter with the Silent Strike Card sent) at different points far from the army, to know where they are in the enemy formations.
Use some Coyote Runners to kill one of them, as they are fast enough to reach them and have good damage.
For buildings, use Arrow Knights and/or Puma Spearmen; both have excellent siege damage options.
A few Jaguar Prowl Knights can be used as sentinels near the enemy’s colony to know what they are doing.
Try to keep a short distance between each one’s LOS to create a view chain.
Remember that Explorers, War Chiefs, Spies and Ninjas can reveal units stealth units when they are near them. The same occurs with Town Centers, Outposts, Forts, War Huts, and other such defensive structures.
Use the deny effect to know how much LOS the enemy has, by simply seeing where the unit starts to enter stealth.
The stealth Jaguar army should march in front.
Move a few of them in the flanks of the big army, to ambush unprotected enemy artillery or ranged units.
Beware of units that are protecting, especially those ones that can reveal stealth.
Jaguar Prowl Knights don't lose their unit collision on stealth, and in big formations, enemy players can note their presence more easily. Also, they can receive damage from area attacks.
In an Arrow Knight or Otontin Slinger composition, it is recommended to maintain the Jaguar Prowl Knight’s stealth and place them around the ranged units, waiting for enemy melee infantry or melee cavalry attack.
With Eagle Runner Knights, Skull Knights, or Coyote Runners, the strategy can be used to attract and ambush enemy artillery or ranged infantry when they are chasing the Eagle Runner Knight, Skull Knight or Coyote Runner Army when it retreats.
Works better with Eagle Runner Knights as they allow the player to hit & run, becoming more attractive to chase by enemy infantry or cavalry.
Despite having multipliers against cavalry and Shock Infantry, it is recommended to use Eagle Runner Knight or Puma Spearman to deal with those, especially the latter, which has a better speed and damage against all cavalry and Shock Infantry units, and 10% resistance against range damage, letting Jaguar Prowl Knights deal with heavy infantry with more hit points.
When protecting, activate “In cover” formation on Jaguar Prowl Knights to receive half damage from both ranged and artillery attacks.
Use Otontin Slingers and Eagle Runner Knights to support them against heavy infantry and melee cavalry, because in this formation mode they lose half damage.
Enemy units with only the infantry tag, and not also the heavy infantry tag, such as Urumis, are difficult to kill, as they don’t receive bonus damage from Jaguar Prowl Knight’s attacks.
Jaguar Prowl Knights have 230 hit points and 18 melee damage.
Jaguar Prowl Knights have a x2.0 multiplier against Light infantry.
Jaguar Prowl Knights cost 120 food, 30 coin and have 4.50 speed.
Definitive Edition[]
Jaguar Prowl Knights now have 240 hit points and 20 melee damage.
With update 9476, Jaguar Prowl Knights now have a x1.6 multiplier against shock infantry.
The African Royals[]
With update 50830, Jaguar Prowl Knights cost 90 food, 30 coin, have 205 hit points, 4.75 speed, and 16 melee damage.
Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with update 50830, the Jaguar Prowl Knight portrait has been updated.
Trivia[]
The Jaguar Prowl Knight has the same siege damage (36) as the Arrow Knight.
The Jaguar Prowl Knight uses an obsidian sword known by the Aztecs as Macahuitl. The same weapon is also used by the Aztec War Chief.
History[]
“
Aztec warriors who had captured at least four enemy soldiers became eligible for the ranks of the eagle runner knights or the jaguar prowl knights. Presumably this emphasis on capturing enemies was to collect a pool of captives for sacrifice, but the Aztecs were well-known for dealing death in battle, killing with single strokes of their obsidian swords or hurling atlatl-driven flights of barbed spears. Warriors who caused confusion or disorder in the ranks were beaten on the spot and sometimes killed.
The dress of jaguar prowl knights incorporated bright colors and spots to evoke the imagery of a jaguar. The jaguar was a symbol of the night, a prowler and a predator, an appropriate model for an elite warrior. Jaguar prowl knights are usually depicted carrying shields and obsidian swords.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Jaguar Prowl Knight
An in-game Champion/Legendary Jaguar Prowl Knight
The Jaguar Prow Knight from the in-game history section
Jaguar Prowl Knight model
Champion/ Legendary Jaguar Prowl Knight model
Jaguar Prowl Knight concept art
Jaguar Prowl Knight image from the Compendium section