Royal Dragoon

Royal Dragoon
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Cavalry Light cavalry Ranged cavalry Gunpowder cavalry Native warrior
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Trading Post or Tambo on a House of Bourbon palace Native Embassy
Food	100
Coin	100
Training time	30 seconds
Training limit	10 per House of Bourbon palace
Statistics
Hit points	190
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	18
XP train bounty	20
XP bounty	20
Melee attack
Damage	22 14.66667 (Trample mode)
Multipliers	×1.34 vs. Heavy cavalry ×1.2 vs. Coyote Runner ×1.5 vs. Artillery
Area of Effect	3 (Trample mode)
Rate of Fire	1.5 2.0 (Trample mode)
Ranged attack
Damage	17.5
Multipliers	×2.5 vs. Heavy cavalry ×1.9 vs. Coyote Runner ×2.0 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Villager
Range	16
Rate of Fire	2.75
Siege attack
Damage	6.5
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	French Elite Dragoon that hit targets at a higher range and performs well in melee combat. Can trample enemies. Good against cavalry	”
—In-game description

The Royal Dragoon is a ranged cavalry native warrior in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean that can be trained at a Trading Post built on a House of Bourbon palace.

Overview

Royal Dragoons, as their name suggest, are ranged cavalry similar to Dragoons. They are effective against heavy cavalry, Shock Infantry, and artillery units, but vulnerable against light infantry, such as archers and Skirmishers.

Compared to Dragoons, Royal Dragoons have less hit points, speed, ranged attack, lower attack multipliers against heavy cavalry, shock infantry and artillery, and a slightly increased food and coin cost, but more range, Line of Sight, a slightly faster Rate of Fire, and higher melee attack. Additionally, Royal Dragoons can enter trample mode, which allows them to deal splash damage in an area of 3, but also lowers their speed, melee attack, and increases the damage they receive.

Royal Dragoons are particularly strong against artillery in melee combat. While Dragoons have 11 melee attack with a ×2 multiplier against artillery, Royal Dragoons have 22 melee attack and a ×1.5 multiplier against these units. Although Royal Dragoons can be countered by light infantry, their ranged resistance and increased melee attack makes them slightly effective against these units. However, they will not be as good as other ranged cavalry like Chevaulegers, who have more hit points and melee attack. In any case, it is recommended to combine Royal Dragoons with hand cavalry to take down groups of foot archers, Skirmishers, and artillery.

Upgrades

The Royal Dragoon starts at Veteran level, giving it +20% hit points and attack.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Royal Guard Bourbons	350 wood, 350 coin	Upgrades Royal Musketeers and Royal Dragoons to Royal Guard (+40% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Bourbons
	Legendary Native Warriors Exalted Natives	1,500 food, 1,500 wood	Upgrades native warriors to Legendary/Exalted/Imperial (+50% hit points and attack)

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy cavalry, Shock Infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, ranged infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Horsemanship (+10%; Lakota only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+10%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Wind Horses (-10% ROF) Yoga (+5%)
Armor	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% melee resistance)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Horse Secrets (+10%; Haudenosaunee only) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Mass Cavalry (-35%) Horse Secrets (-35%; Haudenosaunee only) Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Quechuan Diet (-10%) Philhellenism (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Philhellenism (-10%)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only)

Home City Cards

• Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
• Blue: Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Native Warriors	Native warriors cost -25%		10
Native Warrior Combat	Native warriors get +25% hit points and attack		25
TEAM Native Warrior Societies	Native warrior train limit +30%		25
Blood Brothers	Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined and Champion/Honored (if not already)		25
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +5% speed and train time -35%		N/A
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%		10

The Cavalry Combat card is available to Dutch, French Italians, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans, and Russians.

The Cavalry Damage card is available to Haudenosaunee (in the Fortress Age) and Lakota.

The Native Warriors card is not available to Chinese, Ethiopians, Hausa, Indians, Italians and Japanese.

The Native Warrior Combat card is available to French and Haudenosaunee.

The Blood Brothers card is available to Aztecs, French, Germans, Haudenosaunee, Portuguese, Russians, Lakota, and Spanish.

The TEAM Native Warrior Societies card is available to Aztecs, Dutch, Haudenosaunee and Lakota.

The Liberation March card is available to Mexicans and Spanish

The Riding School card is not available to Aztecs, Chinese, Haudenosaunee, and Japanese.

Asians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Native Alliance	Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10% (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		1
Native Warrior Hitpoints	Native warriors get +30% hit points and +10% speed (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		10
Native Warrior Attack	Native warriors get +30% attack and train time -25%		10

The Native Alliance card is not available to the Chinese.

The Native Warrior Hitpoints card is not available to the Japanese.

The Native Warrior Attack card is not available to the Indians.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; Hero respawn time -15%

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	Unit train time -20%		10

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Wilderness Warfare	Coureurs des Bois, Skirmishers, and native warriors get +20% hit points		25
TEAM French Auxiliaries Combat	Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack		1

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	The player's Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +15% attack; allied cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10%		10
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed +4 Uhlans		25

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Sahelian Kingdoms	Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack; Mercenaries and outlaws get +10% hit points and attack

Incas

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	All land military units get +10% speed
Couriers	Infantry, shock infantry and cavalry train time -45%
Native Alliance	Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10%

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Schiavoni Swords	All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 LOS and train units 15% faster; Banner army train time -10%; Land military unit train time -20%		25

Lakota

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry costs -10%		10
Black Arrow	Native warrior train time -85%		10

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Center owned by the player; increases all unit hit points by 2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Chimayo Genizarios	Native warrior train time -10%; Native warrior shipments and "Native Treaties" arrive twice as fast; costs 500 food, 500 wood
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings have their work rate increased by 400% and units have their speed increased by 10%

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Irregulars	Light cavalry get +2.0x multiplier against villagers		25

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	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

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Ranged Cavalry Combat	Ranged cavalry and Eagle Runner Knights get +5% speed and +1 LOS and range

United States

Card	Description	Age
Indian Friendship	Each different allied native tribe sends a large shipment of their respective native warriors; Native warrior train time -10%; Native warrior shipments arrive twice as fast; costs 500 food, 500 wood

The Indian Friendship card ships 3 Royal Dragoon if the player had built a Trading Post on a House of Bourbon palace.

In-game dialogue

The Royal Dragoon speaks French using the French Spy's dialogue files.

History

“

The House of Bourbon ruled much of France and the surrounding regions from the medieval period up through the 19th century. Dragoons played an important role for Bourbon rulers in France to exert and protect their domestic and military power. In a policy known as the Dragonnades Bourbon king Louis XIV ordered Dragoons to tyrannize the Protestant Huguenots to coerce them either into conversion to Catholicism or emigration. Dragoons also served in the military branch of the royal household troops that did not only act as personal bodyguards but also participated in several campaigns.

”

Gallery

Royal Dragoon image from the Compendium section

An in-game Royal Dragoon