“ | Papal heavy cavalry that absorbs some of the damage inflicted to nearby allies. Counters all Infantry. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Papal Lancer is a melee heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean that is unique to the Italians.
Overview[]
The Papal Lancer is a melee cavalry similar to the Spanish Lancer, as being effective against all infantry units. It has twice the hit points of the Lancer, a slightly higher Line of Sight, and more attack, but takes three population spaces, moves slightly slower, and has half the multiplier against infantry.
Papal Lancers are trained at the Basilica in batches of three for 300 food, 300 wood, and 300 coin, which takes 60 seconds to train. However, these batches are queued as shipments, meaning that Home City Cards that have been sent before will arrive first, delaying Papal Lancers' training, but in exchange, players do not need to have available shipments to train them.
Despite not being as effective as Spanish Lancers in terms of attack, they can take a lot of damage due to their increased hit points and melee resistance. Unlike other Lancer-type units, they don't have negative multipliers against heavy infantry, which allows them to handle these units more easily. Additionally, Papal Lancers have the Deflection ability, which allows them to absorb some of the damage inflicted to nearby player or ally units, making them effective support units. However, they will be vulnerable against light cavalry (like Dragoons) and heavy infantry that can outnumber them easily, so it is recommended to combine Papal Lancers with ranged infantry units that counter light cavalry and heavy infantry.
Special abilities[]
Lance Charge (requires the Papal Arsenal shipment): The Papal Lancer charges at the enemy with his lance, which deals 60 damage (90 against Infantry), has a range of 4 and an AOE of 4.
Upgrades[]
The Papal Lancer is automatically upgraded in the Fortress Age, Industrial Age and Imperial Age, but its name is not changed to reflect this.
+20% hit points and attack.
+30% hit points and attack.
+50% hit points and attack.
Strategy[]
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Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Infantry |
Weak vs. | Cavalry, Shock Infantry |
Home City Cards[]
- Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
- Blue: Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)
French[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | 10 |
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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The player's Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +15% attack; allied cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10% | 10 |
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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All units get +5% hit points and attack | 25 |
Italians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
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Cavalry train time -40% | |
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Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack | |
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All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack | |
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Basilica shipments arrive 33% faster; Papal Bombards get the 'Holy Fire' action, Papal Guards get the 'Pistol Attack' action, Papal Lancers get the 'Lance Charge' action and Papal Zouaves get the 'Carbine Attack' action | |
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Ships 3 Papal Lancers and 1 Stradiot; costs 300 food, 300 wood, 300 coin |
Lakota[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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Cavalry costs -10% | 10 |
Maltese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
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Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Center owned by the player; increases all unit hit points by 2% |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
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For the next 30 seconds, military buildings have their work rate increased by 400% and units have their speed increased by 10% |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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Cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS | 1 |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
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All units get +10 LOS | 10 |
Trivia[]
History[]
“ | During the late medieval and early modern periods, surplus of wealth combined with manpower shortages led the Papacy to the natural conclusion of relying on mercenaries for military strength. Some of these were drawn from the so-called lanze spezzate, individual lancer cavalrymen who were hired into mercenary companies. Papal armies were at their most powerful in the 17th century, but then gradually declined with the rise of nation-states with greater power and resources as religious influence waned. | ” |