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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires IV. For the unit in other games of the series, see Lancer and Knight. |
| “ | Expensive cavalry with high damage and melee armor. Effective against melee units. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Lancer/Knight is a heavy melee cavalry unit in Age of Empires IV trained at the Stable starting in the Castle Age, except for the Rus who can train the Early Knight starting in the Feudal Age.
Civilizations[]
| Available | Unavailable |
|---|---|
|
The Lancer for European civilizations (viz. the English, Holy Roman Empire, House of Lancaster, and Rus) is called Knight. The Royal Knight is basically a Lancer/Knight, with an added ability of having extra attack for 3 seconds after completing its charge. However, it has a different icon and nomenclature of ranks.
While Keshiks replaced Mongol Lancers since update 7.0.5861, the player still has access to this unit through the Khaganate Palace, which can randomly spawn Elite Rus Knights.
Tactics[]
The heavy cavalry units (Knight, Lancer, Mounted Samurai, Templar Brother, and Royal Knight) have the dangerous combination of strength and speed. They have the second highest brute force in melee combat, only after the Elephant units. However, unlike the Elephants, they are much more mobile. So unless attack bonuses are involved, they win every fight with brute force. Sensing unfavourable fights, they can run away too. This makes Camel Riders their only true counter. A group of them can easily devastate an unprepared/unprotected town and run away as soon as the counter-army reaches. Their main downside is that being such strong units, they have an expensive cost attached.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Archers, Horsemen, siege engines |
| Weak vs. | Spearmen, Crossbowmen, War Elephants, Camel Riders |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Biology (+25%) Boyar's Fortitude (+25,  Rus)
|
| Attack |  Bloomery (+1) Decarbonization (+1) Damascus Steel (+1) Honed Blades (+3,  Delhi Sultanate) Collar of Esses (+5 vs heavy,  House of Lancaster) Military Tactics Training (+20% bonus damage once Collar of Esses is researched, House of Lancaster)  Knight Poleaxes (+4, Rus)
|
| 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) Steel Barding (+2 melee/ranged,  Holy Roman Empire)
|
 Attack speed
|
 Dali Horses (+20%,  Zhu Xi's Legacy)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%) Advanced Academy (+25% from Military School,  Ottomans)
|
| Other | Advanced Academy (Enable creation from Military School, Ottomans)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
 Chinese (+15% in  Ming Dynasty)
|
 Movement speed
|
Chinese (+15% in  Yuan Dynasty)
|
| Resource cost | Zhu Xi's Legacy (-10% in Yuan Dynasty)
|
| Creation speed |  English (+75% from The White Tower)
|
| Upgrading | House of Lancaster (-15% cost with King's College)
|
| Other | English (Can be created at Keeps)
|
Note: The Network of Castles bonus currently has no effect on English Knights.
Khaganate Elite Knight[]
The Mongol Khaganate Palace has the ability to randomly spawn Rus Elite Knights. In addition to generic technologies, they can benefit from both unique Mongol and Rus technologies and bonuses:
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Hit points
|
Improved Biology (+30%) Boyar's Fortitude (+25, granted free)
|
| Attack | Knight Poleaxes (+4, granted free)
|
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Kurultai Aura (+20%) Saint's Blessing (+2)
|
| Armor |  Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows) Saint's Blessing (+1 melee/ranged)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Maneuver Arrow (+33% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows) Yam Aura (+15%)
|
Dialogue lines[]
- Abbasid Dynasty: /Abbasid Dynasty dialogue lines
- Chinese: /Chinese dialogue lines
- Delhi Sultanate: /Delhi Sultanate dialogue lines
- English and House of Lancaster: /English dialogue lines
- Holy Roman Empire: /Holy Roman Empire dialogue lines
- Ottomans: /Ottomans dialogue lines
- Rus: /Rus dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, the Elite upgrade took 90 seconds. With update 8324, it takes 60 seconds.
- Originally, Lancers dealt +10 bonus torch damage vs siege. With patch 11009, it was increased to +20. With Season Two Update 17718, the bonus damage was removed, but Lancers attack siege engines with their melee attack.
- With update 7.0.5861, the Mongols lose access to Lancers and gain Keshiks.
Campaign version[]
Because the original four campaigns have not been rebalanced since the release of the game, the Mongols still get Lancers (including Early Lancers) instead of Keshiks in those campaigns, and they have the following main differences:
- They train in 45 seconds
- They have 195/240/280 hit points and 4/5/5 melee and ranged armor per upgrade level
- They deal 21/26/30 damage with their regular attack and 32/38/45 damage with their charge attack per upgrade level
- They deal 30 fire damage with their torch attack every 4.12 seconds
- The Elite upgrade costs 200 food, 600 gold and takes 90 seconds to research
In the The Sultans Ascend campaign, the Crusader civilization has access to the Knight line, including the Early Knight. However, these are actually reskinned Royal Knights.
Trivia[]
- Despite their name, Chinese Lancers are armed with a guandao instead of lances.
- In the beta, the Mongols had access to the Early Lancer in the Feudal Age, akin to the Rus (which still have it). This unit is still available in the Mongol campaign.
- Regular, Veteran, and Elite Keshiks reuse the Early Lancer, (Mongol) regular Lancer, and (Mongol) Elite Lancer skins. Images related to this can be seen in the Keshik's gallery.
Gallery[]
