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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires IV. For units in other games, see Keshik. |
| “ | Mobile cavalry effective at raiding and flanking. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Keshik is a "medium" melee cavalry unit in Age of Empires IV, introduced with update 7.0.5861 replacing the Lancer. It can be trained at Stables starting in the Feudal Age by the Mongols and Golden Horde.
While the Keshik replaced Mongol Lancers with the former's release, the player still has access to this unit through the Khaganate Palace randomly spawning Rus Elite Knights. In the The Mongol Empire and The Rise of Moscow campaigns, the Mongols do not have access to the Keshik and instead have the standard Lancer, including the Early Lancer.
The Keshik is also available to the Byzantines as a mercenary unit.
Abilities[]
Battle Veteran (Passive): The Keshik heals itself for three hit points for every attack performed. This includes torch attacks vs buildings.
Tactics[]
Keshiks excel as raiding units, available in the Feudal Age and cheaper than the standard Lancer. Their ability to regenerate when attacking allows them to sustain themselves against weaker units, and they can regenerate while attacking buildings. This pairs well with the Mongol ability to generate resources from destroying buildings, encouraging aggressive tactics and constant pressure on enemy structures. Accompanying Keshiks with Mangudai provides support against enemy Spearmen, and allows for covering fire when retreating.
As a mid- to late-game military unit, the Keshik is strictly inferior to the Knight, and even with regeneration will struggle to survive against tougher units. As heavy cavalry, they have the standard weaknesses to Spearmen, Crossbowmen, Camel Riders, and War Elephants, but are even more vulnerable than Knights, due to their lower hit points and damage.
For the Golden Horde, like almost all their units, Keshiks can only be trained in batches. The base cost is 240 food, 160 gold for two units, which can be improved with Stables Reinforcements to a batch of three for the same cost.
Unit Comparison[]
 Mongols  Keshik
|
 Golden Horde Keshik
|
Generic  Lancer
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 120 food, 80 gold | 140 food, 100 gold | |
| Training time | 30 seconds | 35 seconds | |
| Hit points | 145 (Regular) 175 (Veteran) 210 (Elite) |
145 (Regular) 175 (Veteran) 210 (Elite) |
190 (Early) 230 (Regular) 270 (Elite) |
| Melee attack | 15 (Regular) 19 (Veteran) 23 (Elite) |
15 (Regular) 19 (Veteran) 23 (Elite) |
19 (Early) 24 (Regular) 29 (Elite) |
| Rate of Fire | 1.38 seconds | 1.38 seconds | 1.5 seconds |
| Ability | Regenerate 3 HP per attack | Regenerate 3 HP per attack | |
| Special technologies | (Improved) Steppe Lancers: Firing rate +10% (+15%); +1 (+2) HP regeneration per attack Improved Biology: +10% of base HP |
Steppe Lancers: Firing rate +10%; +1 HP regeneration per attack |
- Common
- Speed: 1.63 tiles/s
- Armor (both melee and ranged): 3/4/5 (depending on rank)
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, Horsemen, siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Spearmen, Crossbowman, War Elephant, Camel Riders |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%); Improved: (+35%, Mongols)
|
 Regeneration
|
 Sarai / Steppe Lancers (+1 HP per attack); Improved: (+2 HP per attack, Mongols)
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1) Additional Torches (+3 fire, Mongols) Improved: (+5 fire, Mongols)
|
| Armor |  Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee) Insulated Helm (+1 melee) Master Smiths (+1 melee) Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged) Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged) Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged) Muscovy Yasak (+2 ranged, Golden Horde)
|
 Attack speed
|
Sarai / Steppe Lancers (+10%); Improved (+15%, Mongols)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%, Mongols); Improved (+53%, Mongols)Increased Supplies (+50%, Golden Horde)
|
| Other |  Stables Reinforcements (+1 unit batch production, Golden Horde)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
Defensive Aura Edict (+10%, Golden Horde)
|
| Attack |  Kurultai Aura (+20%, Mongols) Saint's Blessing* (+2, Mongols)Khan Warcry (+10%, +20%, or +30% damage while attacking, Golden Horde)
|
| Armor |  Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols) Saint's Blessing* (+1 melee/ranged, Mongols)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Yam Aura (+15%, Mongols) Maneuver Arrow (+33% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows, Mongols)
|
| Creation speed | Production Speed Edict (+20%, Golden Horde)
|
- * The Mongols, through the Khaganate Palace, can potentially obtain the Warrior Monk. With this, Keshiks can also benefit from the above-mentioned boosts normally available only to the Rus.
Mercenary Keshik[]
The Byzantines can purchase Mercenary Keshiks with Olive Oil from the Mercenary House after researching the Eastern Mercenary Contracts. Once unlocked, they can train automatically from the Golden Horn Tower. In addition to generic upgrades, they benefit from the following Byzantine unique bonuses:
| Further statistics | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
 Foreign Engineering Company (+10%, grants Improved Biology extra health)
|
| Regeneration
|
 Triumph (+2 hp/s while active) Pilgrim Flask (25 hp/s for 6 seconds, requires Cistern of the First Hill) Foreign Engineering Company: (+2 hp per attack, grants Improved Steppe Lancers)
|
| Attack | Triumph (+4 while active) Improved Torch (+25% torch attack, requires Trapezites)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship) Triumph (+10% while active)
|
| Creation speed |   Conscriptio Influence (+20% per Cistern water level) Trade Post (+50%)
|
Dialogue lines[]
- Main article: /Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- With update 7.0.5861, the Mongols lose access to Lancers and gain Keshiks.
- Originally, the Golden Horn Tower produced Keshiks in batches of three, whereas Mercenary House produced in batches of two. With patch 9.2.628, the former was reduced to two to match the latter as a bug fix.[note 1]
Trivia[]
- Regular, Veteran, and Elite Keshiks reuse the Early Lancer,[note 2] (Mongol) regular Lancer, and (Mongol) Elite Lancer skins.
- Unlike the Mongol Keshik, the Mercenary Keshik can only ever appear as male, and it also has a slightly different model. It is one of only two units (the other being the Zhuge Nu) whose mercenary version is different.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Mercenary units are produced with olive oil for a cost which is the sum of food, wood, and gold costs of the base unit multiplied by the number of units produced in the batch. The cost of producing Mercenary Keshiks was equivalent to that of two Keshiks, but the former was producing three units, hence a bug.
- ↑ The Early Lancer skin can be found in the The Mongol Empire campaign, as it uses pre-release dataset. For more information, see Lancer's trivia.
