Settler

"Villager that constructs buildings and gathers resources."

—In-game description

The Settler is the main resource gatherer for all European civilizations except French in Age of Empires III.

Overview Edit

Settlers are relatively inexpensive units, but fragile. They are not meant for combat, but will fire weak muskets to defend themselves and others. Settlers can be used to collect Treasures. Each Civilization has a limit to the number of Settlers they can have at once. Settlers pay for themselves rather quickly, and the longer an individual Settler is alive, the more he contributes to the overall wealth of a given colony. Some Civilizations may receive Shipments of extra Settlers from the Home City, while others have to rely solely on producing them from the Town Center in the New World.

They can also be found as Treasures around the map. With the Estates card, the British can train Settlers from Manors. They can also be garrisoned inside Town Centers, Outposts and Forts to protect themselves from the enemy. A Settler is required inside a Town Center in order to attack hostile ground units.

However, if settlers are put into combat, it is best to send them into melee range. Their ranged attack is relatively weak, and they can attack faster with melee compared to ranged.

The British get one Settler for every completed Manor House for free. With the Estates card, Settlers can be trained from them as well, but at a slower rate for every Manor House and Town Center. Dutch Settlers cost Coin instead of Food and gather 15% faster coin from mines. They also have a limit of 50 Settlers. The Ottomans spawn free settlers from the Town Center within a set timer and their limit ranges from 25, 45, 70 and 99 units depending on researched techs at the Mosque. With the addition of The Asian Dynasties the number of resource gatherers available to a civilization can be improved by 10% on maps featuring a Sufi Mosque.

Russian Settlers train in groups of three and are individually 10% cheaper.

The French train Coureur des Bois instead of Settlers, who gather faster and perform better in combat, but are more expensive and train slower. The Germans can obtain Settler Wagons through Home City cards in addition to training Settlers from the Town Center. The Settler Wagon have double the hit points and gathering rate of a regular Settler, but uses up two population slots.

Tasks Edit

Settlers can be assigned with the following tasks:

• Settlers can build most of the buildings given the colony has the right amount of resources, space and is at the right Age.
• Settlers can gather food from Berry Bushes, Cherry Orchards, and huntable animals. Settlers may also be tasked to a Mill, Farm or Rice Paddy which will generate infinite Food, but at a slower rate. Alternatively, food can also be gathered from livestock.
• Settlers can gather wood from trees which usually can be found plenty and rarely runs out. Alternatively, they can gather from Mango Groves.
• Settlers can gather coin from Mines and tasking settlers to work on a Plantation or Rice Paddy will generate Coin, similarly to a Mill.
• When resource shipments arrive from the Home City, they do so in the form of Crates (food), Cords (wood), and Chests (coin) at the assigned shipment arrival point, which usually is the first Town Center, but can be changed to certain other units and buildings. They must be unpacked by a gatherer (such as the Settler) in order to add them to your resources.
• Similarly to heroes and Explorers, Settler may also collect Treasures.

Further statistics Edit

As the Settler is exclusive to European civilizations except French, only improvements available to them are listed here.

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything, especially Oprichniki
Improvements
Gathering speed	Code Napoleon (+10%, French only) Klamath Work Ethos (+5%) Sufi Fasting (+10%) Udasi Punjabi New Year (+10% from Mills, Farms, Plantations and Rice Paddies) For food: Hunting Dogs (+10% from huntable animals) Steel Traps (+20% from huntable animals) Seed Drill (+15% from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies) Artificial Fertilizer (+30% from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies) Large Scale Agriculture (+50% from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies) Encomienda Manor (+20% from Mills, Portuguese only) Maya Calendar (+10%) Zapotec Food of the Gods (+10%) Bhakti Vegetarianism (+40% from Berry Bushes) For wood: Gang Saw (+10%) Log Flume (+20%) Circular Saw (+30%) Deforestation (+50%) Shaolin Wood Clearing (+20%) For coin: Placer Mines (+10% from mines) Amalgamation (+20% from mines) Bookkeeping (+10% from Plantations and Rice Paddies) Homesteading (+20% from Plantations and Rice Paddies) Refineries (+30% from Plantations and Rice Paddies) Excessive Taxation (+50%) Incan Metalworking (+20% from mines) Navajo Craftsmanship (+20%)
Hit points	Great Coat (+35%) Nootka Bark Clothing (+50%) Apache Cactus Use (+15%)
Attack	Blunderbuss (+3)
Range	Blunderbuss (+4)
Sight	Blunderbuss (+4)
Speed	Apache Cactus Use (+15%)
Creation speed	Millet System (-5 seconds, Ottomans only) Koprulu Viziers (-5 seconds, Ottomans only) Abbasid Market (-8 seconds, Ottomans only) Jesuit Christian Schools (-15%)
Other	Galata Tower District (increases train limit to 45, Ottomans only) Topkapi (increases train limit to 70, Ottomans only) Tanzimat (increases train limit to 99, Ottomans only) Sufi Sharia (+10% train limit)
Penalties	Encomienda Manor (-5% gather rate from anything but Mills, Portuguese only) Tax Burden (-40% hit points, Knights of St. John only) Sufi Fasting (-40% hit points)

Home City Cards Edit

As the Settler is exclusive to European civilizations except French, only French, Native American and Asian civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Settler

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Europeans Edit The Dutch have TEAM Spice Trade instead of Spice Trade. Card Description Age Home City level Pioneers Villagers get +65% hit points 1 Stonemasons Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and wagons build buildings 65% faster 10 Sawmills Settlers and Settler Wagons gather wood 15% faster 10 Exotic Hardwoods Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather wood 20% faster 25 Silversmith Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather from mines 20% faster 10 Royal Mint Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather coin 25% faster 25 Sustainable Agriculture Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies (food) 15% faster 10 Refrigeration Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather food 20% faster 25 Spice Trade Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather from huntable animals, Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 20% faster 10 Cigar Roller Settlers, Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 British Edit Card Description Age Home City level 2 Settlers Ships 2 Settlers 1 4 Settlers Ships 4 Settlers 1 3 Settlers Ships 3 Settlers 10 5 Settlers Ships 5 Settlers 10 8 Settler Ships 8 Settlers 25 Estates Manors become Estates which can train Settlers, but Settler train time +100% 10 Establish Ironmonger Settlers gather from mines 20% faster 1 Fulling Mills Settlers gather from livestock 300% faster 1 Medicine Villager train time -15% 25 TEAM Rum Distillery Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 15% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 25% faster 10 Dutch Edit Card Description Age Home City level 2 Settlers Ships 2 Settlers 1 4 Settlers Ships 4 Settlers 1 3 Settlers Ships 3 Settlers 10 Establish Ironmonger Settlers gather from mines 20% faster 1 Food Silos Settlers gather from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies (food) 15% faster 1 TEAM Spice Trade Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from huntable animals 10% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 15% faster 10 Medicine Villager train time -15% 25 Rum Distillery Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 25% faster 10 French Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Sawmills Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather wood 10% faster 10 Germans Edit Card Description Age Home City level Economic Theory Settlers, Settler Wagons, Fishing Boats and Caravels gather 10% faster 40 Establish Ironmonger Settlers and Settler Wagons gather from mines 20% faster 1 TEAM Food Silos Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies (food) 10% faster 1 Furrier Settlers and Settler Wagons gather from huntable animals 15% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 20 faster 1 Medicine Villager train time -15% +2 Uhlans 25 Rum Distillery Settlers and Settler Wagons gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers and Settler Wagons gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 25% faster +3 Uhlans 10 Ottomans Edit Card Description Age Home City level 2 Settlers Ships 2 Settlers 1 4 Settlers Ships 4 Settlers 1 3 Settlers Ships 3 Settlers 10 Economic Theory Settlers, Fishing Boats and Galleys gather 10% faster 40 TEAM Ironmonger Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from mines 10% faster 1 Furrier Settlers gather from huntable animals 15% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 20% faster 1 Portuguese Edit Card Description Age Home City level Establish Ironmonger Settlers gather from mines 20% faster 1 Furrier Settlers gather from huntable animals 15% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 20% faster 1 Medicine Villager train time -15% 25 Economic Theory Settlers, Fishing Boats and Caravels gather 10% faster 40 Rum Distillery Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 25% faster 10 Russians Edit Card Description Age Home City level Economic Theory Settlers, Fishing Boats and Caravels gather 10% faster 40 Food Silos Settlers gather from Mills, Farms and Rice Paddies (food) 15% faster 1 TEAM Furrier Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from huntable animals 10% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 15% faster 1 Medicine Villager train time -15% 25 Rum Distillery Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 25% faster 10 Spanish Edit Card Description Age Home City level 2 Settlers Ships 2 Settlers 1 4 Settlers Ships 4 Settlers 1 3 Settlers Ships 3 Settlers 10 5 Settlers Ships 5 Settlers 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10 TEAM Ironmonger Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, Settler Wagons and Villagers gather from mines 10% faster 1 Economic Theory Settlers, Fishing Boats and Caravels gather 10% faster 40 Furrier Settlers gather from huntable animals 15% faster and gather from Berry Bushes and Cherry Orchards 20% faster 1 Medicine Villager train time -15% 25 Rum Distillery Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 1 Textile Mill Settlers gather from Plantations and Rice Paddies (coin) 20% faster 10

Trivia Edit

• Settlers come in the forms of men and women and the gender is randomly decided upon being trained from the Town Center. This feature is present since Age of Empires II.
• German and Russian settlers wear thick winter clothing while Spanish, Portuguese, and Ottomans dress for sunny weather, men especially, who wear sombreros. British and Dutch men don't wear hats and are dressed lightly. They resemble the settler icon the most.
• Settlers always speak in the same language as the playing civilization and sound modest and willing.
• Settlers seen as Treasures (trapped by wild animals or tightened up by bandits) have the British and Dutch appearance, but upon being rescued, will immediately turn into the appearance of the Settlers/Villagers of their rescuers.
  • This is also the only way for the French, Native American and Asian civilizations to acquire normal Settlers and will sound as Coureur des Bois or Villagers, respectively. In the case of the French, it is also the only way to acquire females.

History Edit

"Highly industrious and loyal to a fault, the Settler lives to work for you. Whether it's chopping down the seventeen thousandth tree, scurrying across the map to a distant pile of silver ore, or endlessly toiling away at a mill, the Settler is ready to happily tackle any tedious task. The Settler’s hobbies include running away from enemy soldiers, getting thrown into the river by enemy cannon fire, and crochet."

Gallery Edit

Two East European Settlers

A Settler at work

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