| “ | Lithuanian unique cavalry unit with attack that ignores armor. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Leitis (in-game plural: Leiciai[note 2]) is a unique unit of the Lithuanians in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It is a heavy cavalry unit whose attack is unaffected by armor, but only against units.
Leiciai can be upgraded to Elite Leiciai in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Leitis is a heavy cavalry unit, similar to the Knight line, with more Line of Sight in the Castle Age, less hit points in Imperial Age, a cheaper gold cost but slightly more food cost, more speed, less armor, and higher attack and the ability to bypass enemy armor.
Aside from the +100 food for every Town Center constructed, the Lithuanians have no real economy bonus that helps them in the Castle Age, and while an early rush into fast Castle is a viable strategy, in most cases the player would follow this up with Knights rather than Leiciai. Most of the time, the player is better off focusing on Knights until the late Castle Age.
If the player starts with a Castle (like in the Regicide game mode) or the game reaches such a point, Leiciai generally outperform Knights in a few ways:
- In the Castle Age, Leiciai ignore melee armor and have +3 attack over Knights (and this high attack can be amplified further with Relics).
- In the Imperial Age, they are cheaper and much quicker to upgrade
If the player's economy is thriving, and the player manages to create at least three Castles, they may prefer the Leitis over the Knight line if the enemy is not making archer units. Their armor-ignoring ability helps them easily defeat well-armored units like the Serjeant, the Teutonic Knight, or the Boyar, leaving units like these basically "naked". The special attack of the Leitis also has the advantage that it negates every armor technology at the Blacksmith researched by its opponents, bonuses regarding melee armor, or unique technologies that improve melee armor, so if an opponent researches all of these technologies against a pure Leitis army, it will be a waste of resources that could be better spent on more units or attack technologies, rather than increasing armor. For the Leitis itself, the increased attack technology at the Blacksmith will amplify their already powerful anti-armor attack.
A common dilemma for Lithuanian players in the late game is whether to use Paladins or Elite Leiciai, as both are affected by the Relic bonus. This depends on the situation and available resources. If it is a 1v1 match and there are not large amounts of archers, or if there are some specific match-ups (e.g. durable melee-armor units), the Leitis should be preferred, since their attack deals much higher damage and can decimate the enemy army much quicker. But in team games and particularly in a pocket position as well as against large groups of archers and to destroy enemy bases, the player should prefer Paladins instead, since their hit points and pierce armor are higher, and they can still also deal a fair amount of damage, which can be high as 20 with all four Relics collected.
As a cavalry unit itself, the Leitis can be cost-effectively countered by any of the common anti-cavalry counters, such as Halberdiers but with just two Relics, the Elite Leitis can kill Halberdiers in three hits. Camel Riders can also pose a threat to them, since they have high attack bonus against cavalry and are tankier than Halberdiers, although in some cases, Leiciai can actually survive a combat and trade cost-effectively against Camel Riders, due to the latter's slightly lower attack speed and higher gold cost than Leiciai. Leiciai still will not fare well against Battle Elephants and Imperial Camel Riders, so it is advisable to avoid these match-ups. Also, they can be defeated by other unique units such as the Samurai, Kamayuk, Genoese Crossbowman, Mameluke and War Elephant. They can struggle against Jaguar Warriors (especially with Garland Wars and extra attack after killing military units, dealing even more damage to Leiciai than what they receive from Leiciai attacks) and Liao Dao (with their bleeding damage and damage reflection with Lamellar Armor, resulting in a reflection between 4.5 and 5.5 damage), though they will receive a lot of damage from Leiciai. Leiciai can also suffer against large groups of foot archers, mounted archers and even Hand Cannoneers due of having less hit points and pierce armor than a Paladin, even when they are faster than them. At the same time, with two Relics, Elite Leiciai can kill Arbalesters and Hand Cannoneers in two hits and Heavy Cavalry Archers in four hits. So, while being more fragile against ranged attacks, at the same time, they can do higher damage when reaching them. For this reason, using Leiciai in conjunction with the fast and armored Lithuanian Skirmishers is necessary when facing archer civilizations.
One important property is that the armor-ignoring attacks of Leiciai do not work against siege units, ships, and buildings. Not working against siege units is a buff against rams, since they have negative melee armor, thus enhancing the Leitis' attack even more. However, it hinders them against Bombard Cannons, Trebuchets, and siege units with Ironclad. Not working against buildings is a balance change made before the launch, since it had +10 attack against Castles as an extreme case.
Leiciai are more of a 1vs1 unit because of less varied enemy army (it will be either cavalry-focused or archer-focused) and less reliance on gold. They are less preferred in team games, due to gold being more easily available and the Paladin being more well rounded. Also, Relics are easier to get, since they are more in number (Elite Leiciai usually do not offer much improvement after two Relics except against buildings and Bombard Cannons).
Comparison with similar units[]
 Leitis line
|
 Knight line
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 70 food, 50 gold | 60 food, 75 gold |
| Movement speed | 1.4 | 1.35 |
| Other | Attacks ignore melee armor | |
 Castle Age
|
Leitis
|
 Cavalier
|
| Hit points | 100 | 120 |
| Attack | 13 | 12 |
| Attack speed | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Armor | 1/1 | 2/2 |
| Training time | 20 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Line of Sight | 5 | 4 |
| Upgrade cost and time |
750 food, 750 gold 45 seconds |
1,300 food, 750 gold 170 seconds |
 Imperial Age
|
 Elite Leitis
|
 Paladin
|
| Hit points | 130 | 160 |
| Attack | 16 | 14 |
| Attack speed | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Armor | 2/1 | 2/3 |
| Training time | 18 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Line of Sight | 5 | 5 |
Further statistics[]
As Leiciai are unique to the Lithuanians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Melee units (especially Serjeants, Teutonic Knights, and Boyars) |
| Weak vs. | Pikemen, Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Monks, War Elephants, Battle Elephants, Samurai, large groups of archers |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Upgrading | Conscription (+33% faster) Kasbah (+25% faster, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Upgrading |  Portuguese (+25% faster)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Lithuanians: Leiciai gain +1 attack for each Relic garrisoned in a Monastery, up to +4.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Researching cavalry armor and attack technologies at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Leiciai are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Last Khans[]
- Leiciai have 12 attack and Elite Leiciai have 14 attack, and Lithuanians had access to Blast Furnace. The armor-ignoring ability of the Leitis works against all units, but not buildings.
- Initially, the Lithuanian civilization bonus could give Leiciai a maximum of +5 attack from the Relic bonus. With update 34055, it was reduced to a maximum of +4.
- Initially, Leiciai trained in 23 seconds (20 for Elite) and cost 50 food, 80 gold. With update 36906, they train in 20 seconds (18 for Elite) and cost 70 food, 50 gold.
- Initially, Leiciai had 2 pierce armor. With update 42848, they have 1 pierce armor.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- With update 51737, Leiciai have 13 attack and Elite Leiciai have 16 attack. Lithuanians lose access to Blast Furnace.
Dynasties of India[]
- The armor-ignoring ability of the Leitis does not work against siege weapons and ships.
History[]
Leitis (pl. Leičiai) is actually an exonym used by Latvians (a related Baltic people) to describe the Lithuanians. In turn, Lithuanians used this Latvian exonym to describe a social group of Lithuanian soldiers subordinate only to Lithuanian state and monarchs, not to Lithuanian nobles.
Trivia[]
- The Leitis' armor-piercing attack appears to be based from Medieval and Renaissance soldiers who "negated" enemies' armor by bludgeoning them with maces, morning stars, war hammers, war picks, flails, etc.
- Ironically, the Bulgarian Konnik does not negate enemies' armor, despite wielding a flail.
- This helps the Leitis defeat any heavily armored foe such as Teutonic Knights and Boyars outright, which possibly mirrors the Polish-Lithuanian alliance's victory against the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald as well as some Lithuanian successes against Muscovites.
- Though the in-game Leitis' health and armor rival the Knight line's, Lithuanian cavalry at Grunwald were actually lightly armored; whereas their Polish allies fought as heavy cavalry.
- A fully upgraded Elite Leitis with all four Relics has 22 attack, which is tied with the Elite Shotel Warrior and Elite Monaspa when massed with 29+ units for having the second strongest attack of all units outside of the siege and gunpowder section, being only surpassed by the Elite War Elephant with 24 attack. Since the Elite Leitis ignores armor, in practice it deals even more damage to some enemy units than the Elite War Elephant. Only the Elite Coustillier can deal higher damage with a total of 40 attack (before armor) using the charge ability.
- Leiciai and Monaspas wield lances as long as those of Steppe Lancer-line units, visually; nevertheless, their attacks do not benefit from their weapons' length.
- The Leitis wears a tall conical kettle helmet, which were commonly seen in paintings and found as artifacts in several places in Eastern Europe, such as territories of the medieval Rus, Byzantines, and Poles. Despite Leiciai wielding a tower shield, they are not affected by the Tower Shields technology.
- The Leitis shield resembles the Lithuanian civilization icon.
- With the buffs introduced in update 36906, the Leitis immediately became into one of the most controversial (for being too strong) unique units, due to being easier to create in large groups and very effectively annihilate most units that they fight at low gold cost and not even being too weak against large groups of archers and defensive structures, unlike the Cataphract. Since it was also too powerful in team games in the very late game because the low gold cost, in conjunction with the quick training time and decent melee and pierce armor while being able to scale up high attack that ignore armor with Relics, this made the Leitis able to be fielded in large numbers and stand up against both Paladins and Arbalesters (both which are highly used in team games) which also explains why they lost one pierce armor in update 42848, making the Leitis more situational and limited to be good only in melee combat.
- After the change, and until Dawn of the Dukes, the Leitis, despite being cheaper and quicker to train and upgrade, was then rarely seen in most games, possibly because getting a reasonable number of them requires having multiple Castles, while having low pierce armor limits their effectiveness for raiding. Most people prefer to use Lithuanian Knights most of the time. Since Dawn of the Dukes, the Lithuanians lost Blast Furnace, and the Leitis have adjusted their attack, so they become more frequently used again, though mostly against civilizations that focus on melee units, while the Knight line and Winged Hussars are preferred against ranged units.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The Leitis has a special property which it shares with melee units with Wootz Steel, and the Composite Bowman.
- ↑ Used in the in-game history section and campaigns.
