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Melee cavalry units in Age of Empires IV are a branch of cavalry units, and can be considered one of the primary types of land combat units available to all civilizations, along with ranged infantry, melee infantry, and siege engines. They have negligible range and deal melee attack, which is why they are called melee. Melee cavalry are almost always created at the Stable.
Melee cavalry can be further classified into Heavy and Light, with nearly every civilization having access to the Lancer/Knight or equivalent unique unit representing the former, and the Horseman or equivalent unique unit representing the latter. Some common characteristics between most melee cavalry are: a short default melee range between 0.29 to 0.4, a charge attack with which they engage an enemy unit, a common torch attack with which they attack buildings and ships, and a fast speed between 1.625 and 1.875 tiles per second. Both types of melee units are good against most siege engines, and the mobility of most cavalry in general makes them adept at raiding enemy Villagers and engaging only in favorable fights. There are exceptions to these rules associated with certain unique units. For example, the War Elephant is a slow melee cavalry unit that costs three population which attacks buildings using a melee attack. Most melee cavalry can be created from the Stable, but some can also be created from other buildings such as the Town Center for Scouts, or various landmarks. The Tower Elephant is the only cavalry unit which has both the melee and ranged unit types, and it additionally has neither the light cavalry nor the heavy unit type. Additionally, the Warrior Monk and Desert Raider, despite both being able to engage in melee combat, do not actually have the melee unit type, although they are covered on this page.
Despite some similarities, light melee cavalry and heavy melee cavalry also have different purposes. Light cavalry can be further divided into Horsemen (and unique equivalents) and specialty light cavalry. Horsemen are excellent counters to almost all ranged units, such as the Archer or Crossbowman, due to their high pierce armor and attack bonus. Specialty light melee cavalry typically have other bonuses, such as camel units countering other cavalry, and Fire Lancers being effective anti-building specialists. Some of these specialist units can still perform relatively well against ranged units if in low numbers, but to a lesser degree than Horsemen. Heavy melee cavalry have the highest overall health, damage, and armor in the game and can defeat most units 1-on-1, but are also the most expensive human units in the game. Almost all heavy melee cavalry do extra damage with their charge attack. Combined with their mobility, This makes them some of the most versatile and flexible units in the game if they can be afforded. They can devastate unprepared Villagers, charging in and killing them with only a few hits.
Counters[]
The universal counter to melee cavalry is the Spearman, due to its high bonus damage and Spearwall/Brace ability which interrupts cavalry charges. However, there are two caveats. The first is that cavalry can easily outrun Spearmen or circle around them, so they must be positioned smartly and not left to chase after cavalry fruitlessly. The second is that most heavy cavalry can actually defeat Spearmen 1-on-1. Therefore, in the late game, they should be paired with additional sources of damage such as Crossbowmen, Handcannoneers, or Ribauldequins, and used to defend these higher DPS ranged units. Light melee cavalry generally fares poorly against all heavy units, while heavy cavalry can also be countered cost-effectively by other anti-heavy units such as the Musofadi Warrior or Onna-Musha. It can also be possible to use other ranged cavalry units to some degree of effectiveness against heavy cavalry using hit-and-run tactics, but this is more of a neutral matchup than a counter, and requires very effective micromanagement to work. Camel Riders and War Elephants also have large attack bonuses vs cavalry and can counter other melee cavalry very effectively. Other camel units, such as the Camel Lancer and Camel Archer, while not having an attack bonus, can also be included among a mixed army composition comprising of other counters to further weaken enemy horse-mounted cavalry with their aura ability.
List of melee cavalry[]
The following list of melee cavalry compares some common unit statistics, but should not be used as a direct indicator of combat ability, since attack bonuses, abilities, or other special features which can distinguish these units from each other are not included. Neither the Warrior Monk or Jeanne d'Arc - Blast Cannon have the melee unit type, but they are more appropriately compared with other melee cavalry due to their small attack range, and since the latter is the final upgrade in the melee hero path (even referred to as 'melee monarch' in the game files).
The following boosts benefit all melee cavalry except the Scout, which is not affected by some of boosts. The full set of bonuses affecting the Scout can be found on its unit page.
Fortitude (+50% for 10 seconds, along with +50% melee damage taken, Ottomans)
Lancers[]
The following boosts specifically affect Knights and Lancers and their unique unit equivalents: Royal Knights, Keshiks, Cataphracts, Mounted Samurai, Camel Lancers, Gilded Knights, and Templar Brothers, as well as Demilancers