Rifle Rider

Rifle Rider
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Light cavalry Ranged cavalry Gunpowder cavalry
Civilization	Lakota
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Corral
Food	120
Coin	90
Training time	42 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	205
Resists	30% vs. Melee
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	15
Population	2
XP train bounty	21
XP bounty	21
Melee attack
Damage	11
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry and Heavy infantry x6.0 vs. Artillery x2.0 vs. Hand Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry and Heavy infantry x6.0 vs. Artillery and Ship x2.0 vs. Hand Shock Infantry x0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	8
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Ranged cavalry that are effective against cavalry, heavy infantry, and artillery.	”
—In-game description

The Rifle Rider is a gunpowder cavalry in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that is unique to the Lakota and can be trained at the Corral once the Fortress Age is reached.

Overview

The Rifle Rider is one of the most significant units available to the Lakota. These units are the Lakota version of a Dragoon, but unlike Dragoons, they are good against heavy infantry. They are more expensive, move slower and deal less damage than a dragoon, but their 1.5 ROF means they shoot 50% faster. This means they can easily kill large numbers of heavy infantry units in a short period of time.

Though they are very well rounded, they fare poorly against light cavalry. This is because unlike most cavalry, they are classified as both light and heavy, against whom light cavalry has a multiplier.

It is a good idea to combine a group of Rifle Riders with several Axe Riders; Rifle Riders are one of the most powerful units in the game. However, Dragoon-like units will make short work of them due to multipliers.

Upgrades

The Rifle Rider starts at the Elite level, giving them +25% hit points and attack.

If made available at the Commerce Age with the "TEAM Early Dragoons" Home City Card, Rifle Riders will be automatically upgraded to Elite when the player reaches the Fortress Age.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Champion Rifle Riders	400 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Rifle Riders to Champion (+25% hit points and attack)
	Legendary Rifle Riders	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Rifle Riders to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); requires Champion Rifle Riders

Further statistics

As Rifle Riders are unique to the Lakota, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy cavalry, heavy infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Light cavalry, Skirmishers
Improvements
Hit points	Horsemanship (+10%) Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Bonepipe Armor (+1.0x multiplier vs. artillery) Gun Trade (+25%) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Sight	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Rifle Riders are unique to the Lakota, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Rifle Rider

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners gets +15% attack 10 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Lakota Card Description Age HC level Cavalry Damage Cavalry get +15% attack 10 Cavalry Combat Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack 25 4 Rifle Riders Ships 4 Rifle Riders 1 6 Rifle Riders Ships 6 Rifle Riders 10 5 Rifle Riders Ships 5 Rifle Riders 10 7 Rifle Riders Ships 7 Rifle Riders 25 Team Mustangs Cavalry costs -10% 10 Burnt Thigh Support Ships 7 Rifle Riders and 2 Healers; costs 1,000 coin 10 Yankton Support Ships 6 Rifle Riders and Rifle Riders get +20% attack; costs 1,000 coin 10 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Early Dragoons Dragoons, Cavalry Archers, Ruyters, Musket Riders, Rifle Riders, and Yabusame can be trained in the Commerce Age; Zamburak train time -15%; Ming Army and Mongolian Army train time -7% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Rifle Riders cost 120 food, 100 coin and have a train/kill bounty of 22 XP.

Definitive Edition

• Rifle Riders now cost 120 food, 90 coin and have a train/kill bounty of 21 XP.

History

“

The ultimate development of the famous Sioux art of war were their amazingly skilled horsemen armed with repeating rifles. There is an old stereotype that the American Indians were reactionary culturally, unable to adapt to modern ways. The Sioux rifle riders demonstrate the falseness of this idea – during their heyday, they were the most advanced warriors on Earth. In Europe at this time, cavalry were still fighting with sabers and lances. Even in America, the U.S. cavalry used single-shot rifles, significantly inferior to the Sioux carbines.

”

Gallery

An in-game (Elite) Rifle Rider

An in-game Champion/Legendary Rifle Rider