Musketeer

Musketeer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder unit Musket Infantry
Civilization	See description
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Build Forts (Russians, with the "National Redoubt" Home City Card)
Training
Trained at	Barracks Blockhouse (Russians, in groups of 5) Fort Galleon
Food	75
Coin	25
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	16
Population	1
XP train bounty	10
XP bounty	10
Melee attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry ×2.25 vs. Shock infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	23
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	20
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Heavy ranged infantry. Armed with a bayonet to beat cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Musketeer is a ranged heavy gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III that can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon. It is armed with a smoothbore musket to fight other infantry at range and a bayonet to fight cavalry in melee combat.

Musketeers are available to European civilizations except Dutch, Germans, Ottomans (who have Janissaries instead), Swedes (who have Caroleans instead), and Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign).

Overview

Musketeers are ranged heavy infantry that are especially effective against cavalry due to a damage multiplier. They are vulnerable against artillery and light infantry.

Musketeers are stronger in melee combat due to the attack speed of melee attacks, also with thanks to their high hit points and good melee resistance. This is particularly improved with Socket Bayonet. However, this is not always practical as Musketeers are slow, and the opponent may simply decide to make their units run away.

Musketeers' range attack is relatively strong, and due to the firearm animation it is possible to hit and run. However, it is short ranged compared to other ranged infantry and fires at the default rate of 3.0s, which is slower compared to certain archer units such as the Longbowman. They also have a decent siege attack, which makes them one of the most versatile units in the Commerce Age. While they are more expensive than archaic units, Musketeers are simple to mass produce due to their low coin cost and cheaper than more specialised units such as Skirmishers or the Halberdier. Therefore, they can be powerful generally, especially in vast quantities.

In The WarChiefs, Spanish Musketeers become the most damaging, thanks to the Unction effect.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect	Civ.
	Veteran Musketeers	200 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Musketeers to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)	British French Portuguese Russians Spanish
	Guard Musketeers	600 wood, 600 coin	Upgrades Musketeers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers	French Russians Spanish
	Redcoats	1,000 wood, 1,000 coin	Upgrades Musketeers to Redcoats (+10% hit points and attack, as well as the Guard upgrade, granting another +30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers	British
	Legionarios		Upgrades Musketeers to Legionarios (+10% hit points and attack, as well as the Guard upgrade, granting another +30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers	Portuguese
	Imperial Musketeers	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Musketeers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Musketeers	French Russians Spanish
	Imperial Redcoats		Upgrades Redcoats to Imperial Redcoats (+50% hit points and attack); requires Redcoats	British
	Imperial Legionarios		Upgrades Legionarios to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Legionarios	Portuguese

Civilization differences

• As seen above, British and Portuguese can upgrade Musketeers to Royal Guard and Imperial Guard levels.
• While the Dutch cannot train Musketeers, they can ship 30 Guard Musketeers through Blue Guards.
• The Russians train Musketeers in groups of five at the Blockhouse for 75% of the price but with 20% less hit points and attack.
• John Black's Mercenaries can only upgrade Musketeers up to the Guard level.
• United States can upgrade their Musketeers to the Royal Guard and Imperial Guard levels (Redcoats)
• Asian civilizations can get Musketeers by allying with British, Dutch, and Portuguese at the Consulate, which provides armies and technologies that includes Musketeers (named Redcoat for the British, Blue Guard for the Dutch, Legionario for the Portuguese) listed below. These Musketeers start with +10% hit points and attack than their regular counterpart, and are automatically upgraded in every Age starting from the Fortress Age (see here for the exact values).
  • British (Chinese and Indians): British Expeditionary Company (6 Musketeers) and British Expeditionary Force (8 Musketeers)
  • Dutch (Japanese, requires a level 40 Home City): Dutch Expeditionary Company (6 Musketeers), Dutch Expeditionary Force (6 Musketeers), and Dutch Brigade (28 Musketeers)
  • Portuguese (Indians and Japanese): Portuguese Expeditionary Army (13 Musketeers)

Revolutionary

• Gran Colombia have Independence Guards in place of Revolutionaries, which are Musketeers with 15% more hit points but 15% less speed. Revolting to Gran Colombia as the Germans also allows the player to train and upgrade Musketeers (as Independence Guards).

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, infantry
Weak vs.	Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Corselet (+25%, Spanish only) Grand Encampment (+25%, United States only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Socket Bayonet (+20% melee attack) Paper Cartridge (+15%) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Blue Guards (ships 30 Guard Musketeers, Dutch only) Westernization (grants Veteran upgrade, Russians only) Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade, Russians only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Corselet (-15% speed, Spanish only) Grand Encampment (-25% speed, United States only)

Home City Cards

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times British Card Description Age HC level Musketeer/Grenadier Damage Musketeers and Grenadiers get +15% attack 10 TEAM Musketeers/Grenadier Hitpoints Musketeers, Grenadiers, Sepoys, and Ashigaru Musketeers get +15% hit points 10 Musketeer/Grenadier Combat Musketeers and Grenadiers get +15% hit points and attack 25 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Europeans Card Description Age HC level 6 Musketeers Ships 6 Musketeers 1 8 Musketeers Ships 8 Musketeers 1 14 Musketeers Ships 14 Musketeers 10 9 Musketeers Ships 9 Musketeers 10 16 Musketeers Ships 16 Musketeers 25 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 The 6 Musketeers, 8 Musketeers, 14 Musketeers, and 9 Musketeers cards are available to British and Portuguese. The 16 Musketeers card is available to British, Portuguese, and Russians (at a level 1 Home City). French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Haudenosaunee Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level 10 Musketeers Ships 10 Musketeers 10 TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points 10 Gunpowder Infantry Attack Musketeers and Cassadores get +15% attack 10 Gunpowder Infantry Combat Musketeers and Cassadores get +15% hit points and attack 25 Russians Card Description Age HC level Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 11 Musketeers Ships 11 Musketeers 1 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 National Redoubt Musketeers can build Forts and their attack and hitpoints increase by 10%* 40 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Outlaw Musketeer

Outlaw Musketeer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry Treasure Guardian
Civilization	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	450
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	7
Line of Sight	16
XP bounty	20
Melee attack
Damage	20
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	30
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	40
Range	6

The Outlaw Musketeer is a treasure guardian variant of the Musketeer which only appears in the campaign. It is one of the few Treasure Guardians with a damage multiplier against specific unit types. Overall, the Outlaw Musketeer is better than the normal Musketeers.

Trivia

• The Musketeer has four visual upgrades in total, although the first one is unused.
  • Despite these model textures going unused in the original game, they were updated for the Definitive Edition.
• The Musketeer's unit portrait resembles the Veteran Musketeer model.
• In the beta, the Germans and Dutch could train Musketeers normally in the Barracks; German Musketeers' unused voice files still exist in the Scenario Editor and game files. In contrast, the Russians could not train Musketeers in the beta.
  • The Dutch can still send Musketeers through the Stadhouders upgrade at the Church.
• John Black's Mercenaries, Spanish, and United States are the only civilizations with Musketeers that lack Home City Cards improving them (except Advanced Arsenal).
• British Royal Guard and Consulate Musketeers are named after the Redcoat soldiers.
• Dutch Consulate Musketeers are named after the Dutch Blue Guards; before the Definitive Edition, they are named Stadhouder, which refers to Statdholder, a provincial executive officer in the Low Countries, or Netherlands, from the 15th through the 18th century.
• Portuguese Royal Guard and Consulate Musketeers' name refers to the Portuguese Legion; before the Definitive Edition, they are named Guerreiro, which translates to "Warrior" in Portuguese.

History

“

Musketeers were infantry soldiers who stood in ranks two and three men deep, taking turns firing while other ranks reloaded. Musketeers were drilled and disciplined to stand as close as 80 yards away from an enemy firing at them. Musket balls ranged from about a half inch in diameter to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Until long guns with rifled barrels that could be fired more than once every two minutes were developed, muskets were the ranged weapon of choice for infantry. Muskets had a relatively short range and were wildly inaccurate. Musketeers fought a lot like longbowmen, firing volley after volley in the direction of the enemy with no specific target. The barrage of lead was bound to hit something. A competent musketeer could fire three shots in a minute - four times slower than a longbow and twice as fast as an early rifle.

”

Gallery

An in-game Musketeer

A Guard/Imperial Musketeer

The in-game stats of a Veteran Musketeer

The in-game stats of a Guard Musketeer

The in-game stats of an Imperial Musketeer

Spanish Unction Musketeer affected by Corselet, Ashigaru Musketeer with Daimyo/Shogun auras and ranged damage buff, second Ashigaru image is the hit point buff, Redcoats without the thin red line upgrade and with the upgrade.

Outlaw Musketeer stats

The Musketeer model

The in-game Veteran Musketeer model

Guard/Imperial Musketeer

Guard/Imperial Musketeer side model

Musketeer concept art

Another Musketeer concept art

Redcoat Musketeer concept art

Musketeers original unupgraded design

The updated original unupgraded Musketeers as they appear in the Definitive Edition'

Add a photo to this gallery

See also

• Janissary – Ottoman equivalent
• Ashigaru Musketeer – Japanese equivalent
• Sepoy – Indian equivalent
• Boneguard Musketeer – Circle of Ossus equivalent
• Carolean – Swedish equivalent
• Regular – United States equivalent