Lifidi Knight

Lifidi Knight
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry
Civilization(s)	Hausa
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	War Camp Fort Battle Canoe
Cost	110 Food 110 Coin 2 Population
Train time	50 seconds seconds
Statistics
Hit points	375
Resistance	15% Hand 20% Ranged
Speed	6.25
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	22
XP kill bounty	22
Siege attack
Damage	15 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	25 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Trample attack
Damage	16.67 Hand
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	Heavy hand cavalry with a lot of hitpoints.	”
—In-game description

The Lifidi Knight is a melee heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals that is unique to the Hausa and can be trained at War Camp once the Fortress Age is reached. It has more hit points than other melee cavalry and, unlike most other units, resists both melee and ranged attacks.

Overview

Compared to Cuirassiers, Lifidi Knights have less attack but cost less and use only two population. With the "Durbar Parade" Home City Card, Lifidi Knights deal Area of Effect damage like Cuirassiers and Sipahi.

Upgrades

The Lifidi Knight is automatically upgraded in the Fortress Age, getting +15% hit points and attack.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Elite Hand Cavalry	250 wood 250 coin	Upgrade Raiders and Lifidi Knights to Elite (+25% hit points and attack for Raiders; +10% hit points and attack for Lifidi Knights; -15% train time for both)
	Champion Hand Cavalry	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrade Raiders and Lifidi Knights to Champion (+25% hit points and attack, and -15% train time); requires Elite Hand Cavalry
	Legendary Hand Cavalry	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrade Raiders and Lifidi Knights to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); requires Champion Hand Cavalry

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ranged infantry, shock infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Shaman Drums (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Lifidi Knight

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
African Roots	Ships a random selection of 6 West Africa units and allows to ally with the Akan or Yoruba in the Native Embassy; Akan infantry, Yoruba infantry and Maroons can now use Stealth mode; costs 1,000 food

• "African Roots" is available to the British and French upon revolting to Haiti.

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Gwandu	Ships 9 Fulani Archers and 5 Lifidi Knights
5 Lifidi Knights	Ships 5 Lifidi Knights
4 Lifidi Knights	Ships 4 Lifidi Knights
8 Lifidi Knights	Ships 8 Lifidi Knights
5 Lifidi Knights	Ships 5 Lifidi Knights
Rumfa's Riders	Ships 4 Lifidi Knights; Lifidi Knights available from the Commerce Age; costs 500 influence
Durbar Parade	Raiders get +5% speed; Lifidi Knights get +10% speed; Raiders and Lifidi Knights move 50% faster while in Trample Mode and get +1/+2 Area of Effect for their normal/Trample Mode hand attack
Zazzau Cavalry	Ships 1 Raider for every War Camp and Watch Tower built; ships 1 Lifidi Knight for every Palace built
Hand Cavalry Damage	Raiders and Lifidi Knights get +15% attack
Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Raiders and Lifidi Knights get +15% hit points
Hadeija Emirate	Ships 4 Raiders and 3 Lifidi Knights; Elite Hand Cavalry upgrade is free and researched instantly; Champion Hand Cavalry upgrade cost and research time -50%; Legendary Hand Cavalry upgrade cost and research time -20%; costs 1,000 influence
Amina Epic	Gives 4.2 and 6 influence for every Raider and Lifidi Knight, respectively trained
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Hegemony	Fulani Archers, Maigadis, Javelin Riders, Raiders, and Akan Ankobias generate 0.03 influence/sec. Lifidi Knights generate 0.06 influence/sec.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Changelog

The African Royals

• Originally, Lifidi Knights had 460 hit points, a train time of 40 seconds, and 21 melee and siege damage. With update 43871, they have 430 hit points, and 22 melee and siege damage.
• Originally, Champion Hand Cavalry cost 800 wood and 800 coin, and Imperial Hand Cavalry cost 2,000 wood and 2,000 coin. With update 43871, Champion Hand Cavalry costs 600 wood and 600 coin, and Imperial Hand Cavalry costs 1,500 wood and 1,500 coin.
• Originally, the in-game description was "Heavy cavalry with a lot of hitpoints." Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with update 43871, the in-game description is "Heavy hand cavalry with a lot of hitpoints."
• Originally, Lifidi Knights cost 90 food and had 30% ranged resistance. With update 13.690, they cost 110 food and have 20% ranged resistance.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.10442, Lifidi Knights have 375 hit points and 25 melee and siege damage.
• With update 13.27885, Lifidi Knights have 50 second train time, 15 siege damage, and give 22 XP when trained or killed.

Trivia

• The Lifidi Knight's feature of resisting both melee and ranged attacks resembles the units from Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, the previous games of the series, which could have both melee and pierce armors.

History

“

Lifidi, a unique form of quilted armor, was a staple among cavalrymen in West and Central African societies such as the Hausa, the Fulani, the Sudanese, and the Kanem-Bornu. Lifidi was effective at parrying both melee and ranged attacks, and these feudal cavalrymen, though only comprising a minority of their armies, accounted for a disproportionate of their power.

”

Gallery

Lifidi Knight image from the Compendium section

An in-game Lifidi Knight

An in-game Elite Lifidi Knight

An in-game Champion / Legendary Lifidi Knight