Rifle Rider

Rifle Rider
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Light ranged cavalry Ranged cavalry Gunpowder cavalry
Civilization(s)	Lakota
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Corral Fort
Cost	120 Food 90 Coin 2 Population
Train time	42 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	205
Resistance	30% Hand
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	15
Train XP	21
Kill XP	21
Ranged attack
Damage	13 Ranged
Range	12
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	6.0x vs. Artillery 6.0x vs. Ship 3.0x vs. Heavy infantry 3.0x vs. Heavy cavalry 2.0x vs. Hand shock infantry 0.5x vs. Villager
Siege attack
Damage	8 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Bonus damage	1.5x vs. Shrine 0.5x vs. Wall
Hand attack
Damage	11 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	6.0x vs. Artillery 3.0x vs. Heavy infantry 3.0x vs. Heavy cavalry 2.0x vs. Hand shock infantry

“	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 twice as fast. 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. Massed light infantry can also pose a threat, because of the Rifle Riders' light cavalry tag.

It is a good idea to combine a group of Rifle Riders with several Axe Riders and Wakina Rifles; 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 can be trained in the Commerce Age with the "TEAM House of Aviz" Home City Card. It will be automatically upgraded to Elite when the player reaches the Fortress Age.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Elite Rifle Riders	Automatically	Upgrades Rifle Riders to Elite (+25% hit points and damage)
	Champion Rifle Riders	400 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Rifle Riders to Champion (+25% hit points and damage)
Imperial Age	Legendary Rifle Riders	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Rifle Riders to Legendary (+50% hit points and damage); 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, hand shock infantry, heavy infantry, artillery, ships
Weak vs.	Light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry, light infantry, counter-skirmishers
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Gun Trade (+15%) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Battle Anger (+2.0 multiplier vs. artillery) Horsemanship (+1.0 multiplier vs. Walls)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Bonepipe Armor (+10% siege resistance)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Horsemanship (-33%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
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

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Akichita	Lakota warrior hit points +20%, but reduces their bonus damage against villager: Tashunke Prowler -0.75; Cetan Bowman, Club Warrior, Wakina Rifle, Axe Rider, and Tokala Soldier -0.33; Bow Rider and Rifle Rider -0.25
Leman Trade Muskets	Transforms all Axe Riders into Rifle Riders
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry damage +15%
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry hit points and damage +15%
4 Rifle Riders	Delivers 4 Rifle Riders
6 Rifle Riders	Delivers 6 Rifle Riders
5 Rifle Riders	Delivers 5 Rifle Riders
7 Rifle Riders	Delivers 7 Rifle Riders
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%
Winter Counts	Unit train bounty +40%; building build bounty +20%
Burnt Thigh Support	Delivers 7 Rifle Riders and 2 Healers; costs 1,000 coin
Yankton Support	Delivers 6 Rifle Riders; Rifle Rider damage +20%; costs 1,000 coin

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Aviz	Enables Dragoon, Ruyter, Cavalry Archer, Rifle Rider, Musket Rider, Yabusame, and Carbine Cavalry to be trained from the Commerce Age; Zamburak, Eagle Runner Knight, Bolas Warrior, Black Rider, and Ming Army train time -15%; Mongolian Army train time -7%

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged 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 damage		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Early Dragoons	Dragoons, Ruyters, Cavalry Archers, Rifle Riders, Musket Riders, and Yabusame can be trained in the Colonial 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 Line of Sight		1

Sioux

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Evening Star	Turns all Axe Riders into Rifle Riders		25
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and damage		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
Mustangs	Cavalry cost -10%		10
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%		10
Burnt Thigh Support	Ships 7 Rifle Riders and 2 Healers; costs 1,000 coin		10
Yankton Support	Ships 6 Rifle Riders; Rifle Riders get +20% attack; costs 1,000 coin		10

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Rifle Riders cost 120 food, 100 coin and give 22 XP when trained or killed.

Definitive Edition

• Rifle Riders now cost 120 food, 90 coin and give 21 XP when trained or killed.

History

“

The ultimate development of the famous Lakota 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 Lakota 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 Lakota carbines.

”

Gallery

An in-game (Elite) Rifle Rider

An in-game Champion/Legendary Rifle Rider

An in-game (Elite) Rifle Rider in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Champion/Legendary Rifle Rider in the Definitive Edition

Rifle Rider image from the Compendium section