Missionary (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, see Missionary (Age of Empires II).

Missionary
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Cavalry* Healing unit Military
Civilization(s)	Spanish Ethiopians (requires Jesuits Alliance) Peru
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Church Cathedral (Peru) Steamer (Gran Colombia)
Cost	50 Wood 50 Coin 0 Population
Train time	30 seconds
Train limit	10
Statistics
Hit points	200
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	12
Ability	Increases the attack of the player's units (34 Area of Effect, stacks with other Missionaries) (with the "Unction" card)
Train XP	10
Kill XP	10
Healing
Healing	10/s
Range	12
Hand attack
Damage	5 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Unique Spanish healer with a speedy mount. Doesn’t cost population.	”
—In-game description

The Missionary is special unit in Age of Empires III replacing the Priest for the Spanish. It is the fastest healer and one of the fastest land units.

Unlike the Priest, it has a train limit of 10.

Missionaries can be garrisoned in the same buildings as settlers, and count as a settler when adding to a Town Center's attack.

Unction

The "Unction" Home City Card (added with The WarChiefs), gives Missionaries an aura that increases the attack of Spanish infantry and cavalry in a radius of 34 around them by 2.5%, and stacks with each other. Note that the extra attack is added to the unit's current attack, not its base attack, making it exceptionally powerful. The aura only affects units directly under the Spanish player's control; allied units (whether human or AI) and the Missionaries themselves are not affected. Currently, Spanish units can buff their attacks up to ×1.28 with 10 Missionaries.

Since the Unction aura does not increase hit points, the enemy may sometimes use hit-and-run tactics or units with large splash damage. Therefore, Missionaries' greatest defense are their Unction aura, their speed, and their armies' line of sight using the "TEAM Inquisition" card and the Town Watch improvement.

Civilization differences

• The Ethiopians can train Missionaries for 100 influence by allying with the Jesuits to advance into the Commerce Age or higher, which ships a Church Wagon capable of building a Church.

Revolutions

• If revolting to Peru, Missionaries can be trained at the Cathedral and Church, after sending the "Lima" Home City Card.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Mission Fervor (+50%) Medical Science (+35%; United States only) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance)
Speed	Medical Science (+15%; United States only) Horse Secrets (+10%; Haudenosaunee only) Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Mission Fervor (-50%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Immigrants (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Ethiopians only)
Healing rate	Mission Fervor (+50%)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Missionary

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Shared

Card	Description	Age
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry damage +15%
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry hit points +15%
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry hit points and damage +15%
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry train time -35%, speed +5%

• "Cavalry Damage" is available to the British, Lakota, and Swedes.
• "Cavalry Hitpoints" is available to the British and Haudenosaunee.
• "Cavalry Combat" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish.
• "Liberation March" is available to the Mexicans (also revolting to California and Rio Grande) and Spanish (also revolting to Chile).

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Delivers 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villager, healing unit, Envoy, and Disciple speed +5%
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +5%, regeneration rate +1.0 (even in combat)

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Lima	Delivers 1 Cathedral Wagon; Cathedral build limit +1; Cathedral auto gather +100% XP; enables Missionaries, Holy Mass, Visit of the Seven Houses, and Diablada in the Cathedral

• "Lima" is available to the Portuguese and Spanish upon revolting to Peru.

Germans

Card	Description	Age
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry speed +10%, +4 Uhlans

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Delivers 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villager, healing unit, and Envoy speed +5%

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	Unit all melee attack damage +15%; Rajput hand attack damage +20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry all melee attack damage +15%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM 2 Missionaries	Delivers 2 Missionaries
3 Missionaries	Delivers 3 Missionaries

Lakota

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

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM 3 Missionaries	Delivers 3 Missionaries
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Patriarchy	Healing unit cost and train time -50%; Inquisitor cost and train time -15% instead; Healer, Warrior Priest, and Priestess train time -15% instead
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
Unction	Missionaries increase the damage of nearby friendly units
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM 2 Missionaries	Ships 2 Missionaries		1
3 Missionaries	Ships 3 Missionaries		10

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Patriarchy	Healing unit cost -50% and train time -75%; Healer and Warrior Priest train time -15% instead		10

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Unction	Missionaries increase the attack of nearby friendly units		40
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Treasure guardian

Heretic
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Guardian
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	200
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	12
Kill XP	14
Hand attack
Damage	5 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.0

The Heretic is a treasure guardian in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean.

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Missionaries cost 100 wood, 100 coin, take 1 population, have 300 hit points, give 20 XP when trained or killed, and train in 40 seconds.

The WarChiefs

• Missionaries' Unction aura increases attack by 5% in a radius of 24 and affects artillery and ships.

Definitive Edition

• Missionaries cost 50 wood, 50 coin, have 200 hit points, give 10 XP when trained or killed, and train in 30 seconds.
• Missionaries' Unction aura now increases attack by 4.5%.

The African Royals

• With update 13.4412, Missionaries take 0 population, Missionaries' Unction aura increases attack by 2.5% in a radius of 34 and no longer affects artillery and ships.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.58326, Missionaries are tagged as cavalry.

Trivia

• Originally the Portuguese also had access to the Missionary. The Portuguese Priest model is similar to a Missionary dismounted from his donkey.

History

“

Spanish priests and monks established missions all over the New World. The selection of a site wasn't based simply on divine inspiration; it was a complicated process involving weeks, months, and even years of navigating bureaucracies and scouting out sites with sufficient water and good defensive qualities. It was very important that missions, forts, and towns had access to good water, because once established, they were largely on their own to look after their needs. Missionaries, like the Italian Jesuit Eusebio Kino, oversaw the establishment of several missions. Father Kino, who explored and traveled with the Spanish, established dozens of missions including the missions at Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, San Xavier del Bac, Guevavi, and Tumacacori. He was known for a policy of kindness towards Native Americans, and often established peaceful relationships with groups of Native Americans near his missions.

”

Gallery

An in-game Missionary

The stats for a fully upgraded Monitor with Unction (no longer relevant in the Definitive Edition post update 13.4412)

The stats for a fully upgraded Spanish Explorer with Unction

The stats for a fully upgraded Spanish War Dog with Unction

The stats for a fully upgraded Blowgun Ambusher trained at the Spanish Explorers location and boosted by Unction

The stats for a fully upgraded Scottish Highlander while boosted by Unction.

The stats for a fully upgraded Musketeer while boosted by Unction

The stats for a fully upgraded Heavy Cannon while boosted by Unction (no longer relevant in the Definitive Edition post update 13.4412)

A fully upgraded Spanish hussar with unction

Missionaries killing the last Villager available to the Japanese

Missionary portrait in the Age of Empires III beta

An in-game Missionary in the Definitive Edition

Missionary image from the Compendium section

See also

• Imam – Ottoman equivalent
• Priest – other European equivalent
• Healer – Haudenosaunee and Lakota counterpart
• Warrior Priest – Aztec counterpart
• Priestess – Inca counterpart
• Abun – Ethiopian counterpart
• Griot – Hausa counterpart