Mangudai

"Mongol unique unit. Cavalry archer with attack bonus vs. siege weapons."

—Age of Empires II description

The Mangudai is the unique unit of the Mongols in Age of Empires II. It is a cavalry archer with an attack bonus against siege weapons.

Mangudai can be upgraded to Elite Mangudai in the Imperial Age.

Tactics Edit

Mangudai are effective against slow moving units, such as Monks, Villagers, or infantry. They can also take down unsuspecting archers. With bonus damage dealt to rams, Mangudai can also be used to counter them effectively behind fortifications.

However, despite their attack bonus against them, attacking (massed) Scorpions and Mangonels one on one is not recommended unless there are enough Mangudai to destroy the machine in one volley and they can be micromanaged to dodge the projectiles. Camel Riders and Pikemen are a threat, if they can catch up with the Mangudai, but the latter can usually be avoided with ease, and Camels have low pierce armor and hence take a lot of damage themselves. Skirmishers and Light Cavalry can also be dangerous to Mangudai in sufficiently large numbers.

Mangudai are usually paired with Hussars and siege weapons, because they all benefit from the Mongols' civilization bonuses and unique technology Drill, respectively.

Comparison to the Cavalry Archer Edit

• Fully upgraded, the armor, range, and HP are the same. In the Castle Age, Cavalry Archers have 10 HP less than Mangudai.
• The Mangudai has a higher attack strength, but its base attack rate is slower than Cavalry Archers contrary to popular belief. That is, of course, for Mongol Cavalry Archers. Compared to Cavalry Archers of all other civilizations, the Mangudai has a faster attack naturally due to the civilization bonus, where it fires 20% faster. After researching Thumb Ring, the Mangudai attacks faster even than Mongol Cavalry Archers. It is because Thumb Ring actually grants the Mangudai a more significant boost in fire rate.
• Mangudai have a frame delay of 5, Cavalry Archers 10. That means Mangudai can utilize hit-and-run tactics better.
• The Mangudai moves and trains faster.
• The Cavalry Archer (upgrade included) is cheaper by 15 wood and 5 gold as of The African Kingdoms. In The Forgotten, it was cheaper by 15 wood only (equal gold cost), and before the Mangudai was cheaper by 5 gold, but still cost 15 wood more.
• All in all it can be said that the Mangudai is a better fit for the Mongol army because of the higher speed in order to keep up with the other core unit of the Mongol army, the Hussar. Also, a Castle with a couple of Mangudai garrisoned can be a bulky fortress due to the capability of the Mangudai to take out rams with ease. All in all considered, the Mangudai is probably slightly better.

Comparison to the Camel Archer Edit

• The attack and range are the same, but the attack rate of the Mangudai is higher, so the damage output of the Mangudai is higher. Also, the Mangudai gets an attack bonus of +2 against Pikemen because of Parthian Tactics.
• The Camel Archer can regenerate and has one more pierce armor.
• The Camel Archer is in the camel armor class rather than the cavalry armor class, resulting in less damage taken from anti-cavalry units such as Camel Riders and Pikemen.
• The Mangudai moves slightly faster.
• The Camel Archer is cheaper by 5 wood and gold. Its Elite upgrade is also cheaper.
• The Mangudai holds an attack bonus against siege weapons, the Camel Archer against Cavalry Archers.
• All in all, the Mangudai is faster and holds a stronger attack, but the Camel Archer is more durable because of the slightly higher hit points, regeneration ability, and armor.
• In one-on-one combat, the Camel Archer easily wins.

Comparison to the Kipchak Edit

• The Mangudai has a stronger attack, attacks faster and deal much more damage due of their civilization bonus, but the Kipchak fires additional arrows per burst which deal 3 pierce damage each one, which makes the Kipchak much better at facing units with high pierce armor.
• The Kipchak has less hit points but higher pierce armor with all upgrades (for civilizations with access to Parthian Tactics and Ring Archer Armor).
• The Kipchak has 1 less range (only if played with civilizations that lack Bracer) and 1 less Line of Sight.
• The Kipchak moves a bit faster (only with the Cumans thanks to their civilization bonus).
• The Mangudai costs 5 less wood but 30 more gold, and are trained a bit slower.
• The Mangudai holds an attack bonus against siege weapons, while the Kipchak hasn't any attack bonus except against the Spearman. However, the Kipchak's secondary arrows deal 0 melee attack, making them much more effective at destroying rams (since rams have -3 melee armor).
• All in all, the Mangudai holds a much stronger attack and better resistance, but the Kipchak is better at dealing with rams and units with high pierce armor like Skirmishers. They are also better at raiding with good micromanagement.
• In one-on-one combat, the Mangudai handily wins.

Further statistics Edit

As Mangudai are unique to the Mongols, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, Villagers, siege weapons
Weak vs.	Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Skirmishers, Eagle Warriors, Halberdiers, Samurai, Camel Archers, Paladins
Upgrades
Hit points	Bloodlines (+20)
Attack	Fletching (+1)  Bodkin Arrow (+1)  Bracer (+1)  Chemistry (+1)  Parthian Tactics (+2 attack against Spearmen)
Range	Fletching (+1)  Bodkin Arrow (+1)  Bracer (+1)
Firing rate	Thumb Ring (+18%)
Accuracy	Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%)  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor	Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1)  Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1)  Parthian Tactics (+1/+2)
Speed	Husbandry (+10%)
Conversion defense	Faith  Heresy
Creation speed	Conscription (+33%)
Upgrades	Elite Mangudai