The Raiding Cavalry, or Raider, is a Classical Age Norse light cavalry unit. It specializes in countering archers.
Attack bonuses 
Edit
- Archers: +25%
- Throwing Axeman: +75%
- Siege Weapons: x2
God Bonuses Edit
Odin enables Raiding Cavalry (and all other human units) to regenerate, at 0.8 HP/s when idle.
Loki causes Raiding Cavalry (and other Longhouse units) to train 10% faster.
Upgrades Edit
Specific Edit
- Sons of Sleipnir (Baldr) increases attack multiplier against Archers and Throwing Axemen by 2.
General Edit
- Thundering Hooves (Freyja) increases hit points and speed by 10%.
- Medium Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry and Champion Cavalry all increase LOS by 1 and attack by 10%, and increase hit points by 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.
- Copper Weapons, Bronze Weapons and Iron Weapons increase attack by 10%.
- Hammer of the Gods (Thor) increases attack by 10%.
- Copper Mail, Bronze Mail and Iron Mail decrease hack vulnerability by 10%.
- Meteoric Iron Mail (Thor) decreases hack vulnerability by 10%.
- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields and Iron Shields decrease pierce vulnerability by 10%.
- Dragonscale Shields (Thor) decreases pierce vulnerability by 10%.
- Levy Longhouse and Conscript Longhouse decrease training time by 20%.
Strategy Edit
Trained from the Classical Age, Raiders are the first cavalry units available to the Norse. They are fast and can easily defeat groups of archers and Throwing Axemen. In fact, with the Sons of Sleipnir technology, Raiders utterly devastate these units. However, as they are more fragile than other cavalry, they are very weak against infantry and poor against most other units. However, Raiders are light cavalry; they are cheaper than all other cavalry units and only take up two population slots.
Raiders are fast-moving, but lack line of sight early in the game, so using them as scouts is not recommended. Like their name suggests, their speed makes them good at raiding, though note that they have a long training time. Raiding is an important source of favor for the Norse, and it is preferable to do it without losing too many soldiers. Raiders can kill villagers or archers or destroy buildings, then beat a retreat. In the Classical Age they are the only Norse unit that can counter archers so are an important part of an early Norse army.
Later on, stronger and more versatile units such as Jarls can replace them, though they are much slower and more expensive than Raiders. Additionally, Raiders are the best Norse units against siege weapons as they have a bonus attack against them.
History Edit
Mounted warriors were especially suited for striking enemies quickly and without warning, often where most unexpected. Cavalry used as raiders were difficult to defend against because they could hit anywhere and disappear quickly. They were good for disrupting economies, looting or destroying goods, and doing a lot of damage. They were not equipped with heavy armor and weapons, because speed was their strength. They usually were not expected to fight in battle against enemy troops.
Gallery Edit
