Jian Swordsman

Jian Swordsman
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms
Type	Infantry
Civilization	Wu
Age	Castle Age
Pronunciation	jiyen
Training
Trained at	Barracks
Food	45
Gold	50
Training time	27 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	70
Regeneration	20 HP/min 30 HP/min
Melee attack	8 (Shielded) 10 (Shielded) 11 (Unshielded) 13 (Unshielded)
Attack bonus	+4 vs Archers +2 vs Standard buildings
Reload time	2
Melee armor	3 (Shielded) 0 (Unshielded)
Pierce armor	5 (Shielded) 2 (Unshielded)
Armor class	Infantry Shock infantry (+1) Unique unit
Speed	1 (Shielded) 1.1 (Unshielded)
Line of Sight	6
Ability	Automatically switches between shielded and unshielded versions when crossing 45 HP

“	Wu unique Shock Infantry that gains movement speed and attack but loses armor when a damage threshold is reached.	”
—In-game description

The Jian Swordsman is the second unique unit of the Wu in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms. It is a heavy infantry unit that can be trained at the Barracks once the Castle Age is reached. It does not have an Elite upgrade.

Ability

It changes its form once below 45 hit points, gaining speed and attack but losing armor. If its hit points increase to be equal to or more than 45 again, it regains armor but loses speed and attack. Formally, it loses 3/3 armor, and gains +3 attack and +10% speed when its hit points fall below 45.

Unique interaction with Obuchs

The attacks of Obuchs reduce armor by 1 melee and pierce. The transformation of the Jian Swordsman does not reset the armor, but maintains the loss. As an example, if the Jian Swordsman were damaged to 0/2 armor before the transformation, the transformation further reduces the armor by 3 to -3/-1. The Obuch's attacks do not strip the armor further once it reaches 0 or negative values after transformation. Attacking the shielded form till its armor is completely stripped and then forcing the unit to transform then could reduce its armor to a minimum of -3/-3.

Further statistics

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Archers especially Elite Skirmishers, Pikemen, Camel Riders, buildings, Battering Rams, Huskarls
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry like Long Swordsmen, heavy cavalry especially Cataphracts, Hand Cannoneers, Slingers

Technologies
Attack	Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 against standard buildings)
Armor	Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
Conversion resistance	Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Movement speed	Squires (+10%)
Creation speed	Conscription (+33%)

Team bonuses
Attack	Khitans (+2 vs archers)
Conversion resistance	Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
Line of Sight	Armenians (+2)
Creation speed	Goths (+20%)

Changelog

The Three Kingdoms

• Originally, the Jian Swordsman did not have the unique unit armor class. With update 144358, it was fixed.

Trivia

• The two forms of the unit are named "shielded" and "unshielded" in the graphic files. These terms are not seen in-game.
• While there is no formal Elite upgrade for the unit, it gains +2 attack and +10 HP/min regeneration upon reaching the Imperial Age, both of which are due to its civilization's bonuses.

Gallery

Views of the Jian Swordsman above 45 hit points

Views of the Jian Swordsman below 45 hit points

Promotional image

How good are Jian Swordsmen? (AoE2)

JIAN SWORDSMAN vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT (Total Resources) - The Three Kingdoms - AoE II- Definitive