Lifidi Knight

Lifidi Knight
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Melee cavalry
Civilization	Hausa
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	War Camp
Food	110
Coin	110
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	430
Resists	15% vs. Melee 20% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.25
Line of Sight	15
Population	2
XP train bounty	20
XP bounty	20
Melee attack
Damage	22
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	22
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	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 Spahi.

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

As Lifidi Knights are unique to the Hausa, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ranged infantry, Shock Infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%)
Sight
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Lifidi Knights are unique to the Hausa, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are shown in the following tables:

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack 10 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The African Royals

• Originally, Lifidi Knights had 460 hit points, and 21 melee and siege damage. With update 43871, Lifidi Knights have 430 hit points, and 22 melee and siege damage.
• 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.

Trivia

• The Lifidi Knight's feature of resists 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.

”