This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the unit class, see Light cavalry. |
“ | Fast cavalry for scouting and raiding. Resistant to conversion. | ” |
—Age of Empires II description |
The Light Cavalry is a light cavalry unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Stable once the Castle Age is reached. It is a fast unit with resistance to conversion that excels at taking down Monks and siege weapons, and is good vs archers. Its combat abilities against other melee units such as heavy cavalry units, camels, or infantry is severely limited, though.
Light Cavalry cost only food to create, making them a viable alternative if the player is low on other resources. The entire Scout Cavalry line has the same Line of Sight. They all receive a +2 bonus to their Line of Sight upon every Age advance, for a total of 10 Line of Sight in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Light Cavalry has an exceptionally high Line of Sight and movement speed, solid pierce durability but poor combat skills. Against groups of siege weapons, Elite Skirmishers, or Monks, they have the speed and attack needed to run down and kill groups, though combat with melee units should be avoided.
As an upgrade, the Light Cavalry has +15 hit points, +2 attack, and +4 anti-Monk attack, which for its low cost makes it very valuable.
In the Castle Age, the Light Cavalry is generally outclassed by the Knight, thanks to the latter's much better stats. As gold becomes more valuable, however, the Light Cavalry becomes useful as a raiding unit due to its low cost.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Skirmishers, Villagers, siege weapons, archers, Monks |
Weak vs. | Most melee units, Genoese Crossbowmen |
Upgrades | |
Hit points | Bloodlines (+20) |
Attack | Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Farimba (+5, Malians only) Manipur Cavalry (+4 against archers, Burmese only) Lechitic Legacy (33% blast damage in 0.5 tile radius, Poles only) Wootz Steel (attack ignores armor, Dravidians only) |
Armor | Scale Barding Armor (+1 melee/ +1 pierce) Chain Barding Armor (+1 melee/ +1 pierce) Plate Barding Armor (+1 melee/ +2 pierce) Silk Armor (+1 melee/ +1 pierce, Tatars only) |
Conversion resistance | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only) |
Attack speed | Stirrups (+33% attack speed, Bulgarians only) |
Movement speed | Husbandry (+10%) |
Resource cost | Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only) |
Creation speed | Conscription (+33%) Chivalry (+40%, Franks only) Steppe Husbandry (+100%, Cumans only) |
Other | Aznauri Cavalry (-15% population space, Georgians only) |
Upgrade | Hussar Winged Hussar (Lithuanians and Poles only) |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bengalis: Light Cavalry have +2 attack against Skirmishers.
- Berbers: Light Cavalry are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Light Cavalry cost -50% food.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Burgundians: Researching Husbandry and upgrading to Hussar is 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Light Cavalry can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Light Cavalry are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Cumans: Light Cavalry move 10%/15% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Franks: Light Cavalry have +20% hit points.
- Georgians: Light Cavalry regenerate 15% hit points per minute. Light Cavalry receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage on higher elevations.
- Gurjaras: Light Cavalry deal +30%/+40% bonus damage in the Castle/Imperial Age.[note 1]
- Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free. Light Cavalry are 15% cheaper.
- Mongols: Light Cavalry have +30% HP.
- Sicilians: Light Cavalry take -33% bonus damage.
- Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Light Cavalry cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Light Cavalry provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Light Cavalry deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
- Turks: The Hussar upgrade is free. Light Cavalry have +1 pierce armor.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades are researched 80% faster.
- Hindustanis: Light Cavalry have +2 attack against standard buildings.
- Huns: Light Cavalry are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Mongols: Light Cavalry have +2 Line of Sight.
- Poles: Light Cavalry +1 attack vs. archers.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Light Cavalry are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Light Cavalry are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Light Cavalry are affected twice by Husbandry ( movement speed multiplier) – directly as a unit and indirectly as a part of the Cavalry unit class. Scout Cavalry are a part of the Scout unit class and thus are only affected once by Husbandry (directly as a unit).
- Light Cavalry have a conversion resistance level of 3.
The Conquerors[]
- Light Cavalry receive an attack bonus of +10 against Monks.
- Husbandry affects Light Cavalry only once (1.1 movement speed multiplier).
- Hussar upgrade introduced.
- Bloodlines introduced.
- Heresy introduced.
- Light Cavalry have a conversion resistance level of 8.
- Franks: Light Cavalry are generic.
The Forgotten[]
- Franks: Chivalry introduced.
- Magyars: Light Cavalry are 10% cheaper.
- Indians: Light Cavalry are generic.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Berbers: Initially, Light Cavalry were 20% cheaper from the Castle Age on. With patch 4.8, the bonus was staggered to 15%/20% in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Franks: Light Cavalry benefit from the civilization bonus and have +20% HP.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Burmese: Initially, Manipur Cavalry gives Light Cavalry +6 attack against buildings. With patch 5.3, the bonus is spread over the two building classes (building and standard building) equally.
- Magyars: With patch 5.5, Light Cavalry are 15% cheaper.
Definitive Edition[]
- Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Light Cavalry cost -50% food.
- Bulgarians (team bonus): Initially, Blacksmiths work 50% faster. With update 42848, Blacksmiths work 80% faster.
- Burmese: With update 37650, Manipur Cavalry gives Light Cavalry +6 attack against standard buildings and no damage against buildings.
- Cumans: Initially, Light Cavalry move 10% faster. With update 34055, the bonus was staggered to 10%/15% in the Castle/Imperial Age and Cumans lost access to Husbandry.
- Indians: With update 42848, Light Cavalry have +1/+2 pierce armor in the Castle/Imperial Age. Indians lose access to Plate Barding Armor.
- Lithuanians: Initially, Light Cavalry gained +1 attack for each garrisoned Relic, up to +5. With update 34055, this bonus no longer affects Light Cavalry. The Hussar upgrade is available.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
- Tatars: Initially, researching Silk Armor gives Light Cavalry +0/+1 armor. With update 42848, researching Silk Armor gives Light Cavalry +1/+1 armor.
- Turks: With update 42848, Light Cavalry have +1 pierce armor.
Lords of the West[]
- Sicilians: Light Cavalry resist 50% bonus damage.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- The Winged Hussar upgrade is introduced.
- Lithuanians: The Hussar upgrade is swapped for the more powerful Winged Hussar upgrade.
- Burmese: With update 56005, Manipur Cavalry gives Light Cavalry +5 attack against archers, while losing their attack bonus vs buildings.
Dynasties of India[]
- Gurjaras: Initially, mounted units had +50% bonus damage, so their Light Cavalry had additional +5 attack vs Monks. With update 66692, the bonus was reduced to +40%, so their Light Cavalry have additional +4 attack vs Monks. With update 73855, the bonus was reduced to +30% in the Castle Age, so the additional bonus was reduced to +3 in that Age.
- Sicilians: With update 66692, Light Cavalry resist 33% bonus damage.
- Bengalis: With update 81058, Light Cavalry get +2 attack against Skirmishers.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Persians: With update 95810, Light Cavalry get 5 gold for each military unit killed. With update 99311, this bonus is removed.
Heroes[]
There are four heroes in the game with the appearance of a Light Cavalry:
- Envoy (only in the HD Edition)
- Richard de Clare
- Scythian Scout
- Sundjata (only in the HD Edition)
History[]
“ | As Middle Age armies grew larger and campaigned farther afield, the importance of scouting grew. Many civilizations developed light cavalry, an improvement on scout cavalry, for this role. Light cavalry were better trained and better equipped for fighting. In battle they could be used to harass or charge enemy infantry or support their own knights in a charge. Light cavalry wore only partial armor and a shield and fought most commonly with a spear. Civilizations that could not afford extensive armor for warriors, such as barbarian groups from the East, put large contingents of light cavalry into the field. | ” |
Trivia[]
- With 14 attack, the Malian Light Cavalry with Farimba is tied with the Elite Magyar Huszar with Corvinian Army for the second highest attack among all trash units, only behind the Malay Two-Handed Swordsman with Forced Levy (with 16 attack).
- His icon shows him holding his sword in his left hand, while he holds it in his right hand in-game.
- The Light Cavalry is the first of only two units to upgrade into two different units, via the Hussar or the Winged Hussar. The only other unit that can upgrade into two different units is the Long Swordsman.
- The Light Cavalry is the only unit that moves slower than its predecessor (1.5 vs the Scout Cavalry's 1.55).
- The Camel Scout line and the Scout Cavalry line are the only two units having two different lines of units.