Pikeman (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses of the term, see Pikeman.

Pikeman
Unit information
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Type	Infantry
Civilization	All except Turks
Age	Castle Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks
Food	35
Wood	25
Training time	22 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	55
Attack	4 melee
Attack bonuses	+25 vs War elephant +22 vs Cavalry +18 vs Camel +16 vs Ship +16 vs Fishing Ship +11 vs Mameluke +1 vs Eagle Warrior +1 vs Standard building
Rate of Fire	3.05
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Armor classes	Infantry Spearman
Speed	1
Line of Sight	4
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	Spearman
Upgrades to	Halberdier
Upgrade cost	300 food, 600 gold
Upgrade time	50 seconds

“	Stronger than Spearman. Medium infantry.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Pikeman is an infantry unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Barracks once the Castle Age is reached. They are an excellent cavalry-counter. They are weak against anything outside the cavalry section, particularly archers, but make up for it by being one of the cheapest military units in the game. Additionally, no gold is required to train them, making them "trash units".

Pikemen are available to all civilizations except for the Turks.

Tactics

The Pikeman performs outstandingly against cavalry, doing 26 base damage to Knights and 51 to War Elephants. This is nearly a 50% increase in attack, which makes their upgrade from Spearmen extremely important to get.

Due to their frailty, however, they should always operate in groups. In addition to cavalry, they are decent at combating enemy Skirmishers (even though Skirmishers do bonus damage to them), because they can outspeed the Skirmishers and exploit their minimum range. Pikemen are useful when attacking players who are basing their army on cavalry units or when defending against cavalry raids. They make an excellent complement for siege weapons, as they can protect them against enemy melee cavalry. Though they might lack offensive power to defeat enemy units outside of the cavalry sector, they can serve as cannon fodder since they are as cheap as a military unit can be.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry
Weak vs.	Archers, Scorpions, Cataphracts, Janissaries, infantry, Slingers
Upgrades
Attack	Forging (+1)  Iron Casting (+1)  Blast Furnace (+2)  Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings)  Garland Wars (+4, Aztecs only)  Druzhina (Slavs only, gives trample damage)  Chieftains (Vikings only, gives +5 attack against cavalry and +4 against camels)
Armor	Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1)  Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1)  Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)  Tower Shields (+2 Pierce Armor, Lithuanians only)
Speed	Squires (+10%)
Sight	Tracking (+2)
Conversion defense	Faith  Heresy
Creation speed	Conscription (+33%)  Perfusion (+100%, Goths only)
Upgrades	Halberdier

Civilization bonuses

• Aztecs: Pikemen are created 11% faster.
• Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Pikemen cost 50% less food.
• Burmese: Pikemen have +2/+3 attack in the Castle/Imperial Age. Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Pikemen are 25% cheaper.
• Celts: Pikemen move 15% faster. Pikemen can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Pikemen are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
• Ethiopians: Pikemen upgrade is free.
• Goths: Pikemen are 30%/35% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age, and have +2/+3 attack against standard buildings in the Castle/Imperial Age. With Perfusion researched, researching Squires and upgrading to Halberdier is 100% faster.
• Japanese: Pikemen attack 33% faster.
• Koreans: Pikemen cost 20% less wood.
• Lithuanians: Pikemen move 10% faster. With Tower Shields, they receive an additional +2 pierce armor.
• Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
• Malians: Pikemen have +2/+3 pierce armor in the Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Pikemen are researched 30% faster.
• Sicilians: Pikemen absorb 50% of all incoming bonus damage.
• Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Pikemen don't cost gold.
• Tatars: Pikemen deal +25% bonus damage from a cliff or an elevation.
• Teutons: Pikemen have +1/+0 armor in the Castle Age and +2/+0 in the Imperial Age.
• Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
• Vikings: Pikemen have 15%/20% more hit points in the Castle/Imperial Age.

Team bonuses

• A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription, Garland Wars, Druzhina, Chieftains, Tower Shields, and Perfusion is 25% faster.
• A team containing Goths: Pikemen are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Squires and Arson is 20% faster.
• A team containing Teutons: Pikemen are more resistant to conversion.
• A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
• A team containing Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Goths: Pikemen are 15%/25% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.

The Conquerors

• Pikemen gain +11 attack against camel units and ships.
• Heresy introduced.
• Aztecs: Garland Wars introduced.
• Goths: With patch 1.0b, Pikemen are 35% cheaper. Perfusion introduced.

The Forgotten

• Pikemen now have +16 attack against camels and ships.

The African Kingdoms

• Arson introduced.
• Ethiopians: The Halberdier upgrade is free.
• Vikings: With patch 4.8, Chieftains now affects Pikemen. It gives Pikemen +2 attack against camels.

Rise of the Rajas

• With patch 5.7, Pikemen now deal +18 damage against camel units.
• Ethiopians: With patch 5.7, the free Halberdier upgrade was removed.
• Vikings: With patch 5.7, Chieftains now gives Pikemen +4 attack against camels.

Definitive Edition

• Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Pikemen cost 50% less food.
• Bulgarians: Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
• Koreans: Pikemen cost 15% less wood. With update 39284, they cost 20% less wood.
• Tracking removed; all infantry now receive +2 LOS from the Feudal Age instead.
• Goths: With update 36202, cost bonus is 30%/35% in the Castle/Imperial Age and bonus damage against buildings is +2/+3 in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Teutons: With update 35584, starting in the Castle Age, Barracks units gain +1 armor. With update 36906, they receive another +1/+0 armor in the Imperial Age.
• Lithuanians: With update 36906, Tower Shields grants +2 pierce armor instead of +1.
• Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.

Trivia

• The Spearmen line units are the cheapest of all military units, tied with the Skirmisher, costing only 60 resources and no gold.
• The Spearman line units are the only trash units and also only common infantry units that don't have any base pierce armor.
• Even though the Pikeman is a Castle Age unit, it loses outright to a Villager with Loom if it has no upgrades itself.
• Even though their name is Pikeman, their weapon is actually a glaive-guisarme not a pike, as evident by the weapon's broad blade and hook. Actual pikes resemble spears but are significantly longer.
• Pikemen deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same unit class as ships.
• Spearmen and Pikemen use the same attack animation as Villagers in the Iron Age in Age of Empires.
• The Aztec Pikeman with Garland Wars has the third highest attack of "trash units " with 12 attack, being behind the Burmese Halberdier with 13 attack and Elite Magyar Huszar and Malian Light Cavalry with Farimba with 14 attack.
• Ironically, the fully upgraded Malian Pikemen can be defeated by Turkish Spearmen.

History

“

The success of spearmen against cavalry led to innovation in the equipment and tactics they used. Pikemen were an innovation of towns and communities that did not have the resources to field large armies of heavy cavalry. Pikes were cheap and could be quite effective in training. One important change was the lengthening of the weapon shaft. Where the spear had been 6 to 8 feet long, the pike had a shaft up to 18 feet long. The longer weapon meant that more spear points could be extended beyond the bodies of the men in the front rank. Pikemen combined with crossbowmen or hand cannoneers to make a useful combined arms unit. The pikemen prevented cavalry from overrunning the group, while the missile troops caused casualties to the enemy at range. Working together, this combination dominated battlefields at the end of the age. As firearms improved after the Middle Ages, the pikeman component became less necessary. The bayonet made the pike component obsolete and allowed the musketeer to defend himself against cavalry.

”

Gallery

The Spearman line, with the Pikeman in the middle.

The Spearman line, with the Pikeman in the middle. In the Definitive Edition.

A group of Pikemen

Pikemen protecting rams from enemy cavalry

An artwork of a real Pikeman

Render of the Pikeman's 3D model

A render of the Pikeman model

Armored Pikemen from a 15c. French manuscript

Add a photo to this gallery