| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. For the unit in Age of Mythology: Retold - Heavenly Spear, see Onna-musha (Age of Mythology). |
| โ | Specialized in defeating heavily armored units, the high mobility and long-range attack of the Onna-Musha are perfect for eliminating key threats from a distance. | โ |
The Onna-Musha is a light ranged cavalry unit in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. It is unique to the Japanese and serves as a mounted anti-heavy unit. It is available at the Archery Range since the Castle Age, replacing the Crossbowman.
Ability[]
Kabura-Ya (Passive, requires
Kabura-ya Whistling Arrow): Unit fires a whistling arrow when it detects an enemy, increasing its move speed by ~10% for 10 seconds. This ability has a 30 second cooldown that starts after the 10 seconds has expired.
Tactics[]
Onna-Musha fill the same role as Crossbowmen, countering heavy units such as Knights, Men-at-Arms, and War Elephants (though not Tower Elephants). As ranged cavalry units, they can receive the damage buff from the Uma Bannerman (but not the Yumi Bannerman, which is a bug), and with the buff, their damage is identical to that of the Crossbowman. They can therefore be considered a better version of the Crossbowman, with higher potential hit points, range, and speed, which in turn comes with a higher cost and longer building time.
As a ranged cavalry unit, Onna-Musha are vulnerable to anti-cavalry counters, though in practice Spearmen have difficulty due to a lack of ability to force an engagement, since Onna-Musha can easily hit-and-run slower units. Camel Riders, however, are a significant threat due to their speed, hit points, pierce armor, and bonus damage. Onna-Musha are also still vulnerable to common ranged counters such as Horsemen and Javelin Throwers.
Unit comparison[]
| Type | Ranged infantry | Ranged cavalry |
| Cost | 80 food, 40 gold | 80 food, 60 gold |
| Training time | 22.5 s | 24 s |
| Attack | 11 (Regular) 14 (Elite) |
10 (Regular) 13 (Elite) |
| Bonus vs Heavy | 10 (Regular) 12 (Elite) |
9 (Regular) 12 (Elite) |
| Range | 5 tiles | 5.5 tiles |
| Speed | 1.125 tiles/second | 1.62 tiles/second |
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Heavy, Slow units |
| Weak vs. | Horsemen, Javelin Thrower, Mangonels |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Attack | |
| Armor | |
| Creation speed | |
| Ability | |
| Aura and ability enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Attack | |
| Creation speed | |
Dialogue lines[]
- Main article: /Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- With patch 9.2.628, Onna-Musha are said to now also benefit from Uma Bannerman auras, dealing +15% damage, but this does not actually happen.


