Religious leader who trains Disciples, stuns Guardians, and has a chance to inflict a Critical Strike in combat. Explores, fights, and builds Town Centers and Trading Posts.
”
—In-game description
The Shaolin Master is a melee infantryMonk in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese. It explores uncharted areas of the map and has some special abilities to help himself and his settlement. In standard random map games, the Chinese start with a Shaolin Master and a Disciple.
The Shaolin Master lacks a ranged attack; he is equipped with nothing but a pair of fists, but has the highest hit points and attack of all Asian Monks. A second Shaolin Master can be made available with the Walk the Rice PaperHome City Card.
The Shaolin Master initially has the Critical Strike ability which gives him a chance to inflict extra damage on attacks and train Disciples, and can do roundhouse kicks and strengthen nearby Disciples through Home City shipments and Monastery improvements. Like other monks, he can temporarily stun Treasure guardians, but with a shorter cooldown. From the Commerce Age onwards the Shaolin Master has the Make Disciple ability which gives him a small chance of converting defeated enemies into Disciples.
Special abilities[]
Stun: Stuns a Treasure guardian from a range of 16 for 20 seconds. 40 seconds cooldown.
Critical Strike (passive): Gives the Shaolin Master a 20% (40% with Slow Motion Routines) chance to do double damage when attacking.
Monastic Sangha (passive; requires Training Forms): Increases the hit points and attack of Disciples in a radius of 24 around the Shaolin Master by 10%.
Make Disciple (passive; available at the Commerce Age): Gives the Shaolin Master a 10% chance to turn any enemies he defeated into a Disciple.
Roundhouse Kick (requires Snatch the PebbleHome City Card): A powerful attack that does 170 (with a ×0.25 multiplier against villagers and MercType2) hand damage to the target enemy and other enemies in an Area of Effect of 3 around the Shaolin Master, and increases his Critical Strike's chance to 100% for 8 seconds. 120 seconds cooldown.
In unpatched versions of the game Make Disciple's conversion chance is very frequent; in patched versions the conversion chance has been greatly reduced.
Upgrades[]
The Shaolin Master is automatically upgraded on each Age starting from the Commerce Age:
+50% hit points and damage, 190 Roundhouse Kick damage
+100% hit points and damage, 225 Roundhouse Kick damage
+150% hit points and damage, 270 Roundhouse Kick damage
+200% hit points and damage
Further statistics[]
As the Shaolin Master is unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
With update 38254, the Stun ability has a cooldown of 40 seconds.
Trivia[]
The Shaolin Master's Make Disciple ability works on animals (e.g. Treasure guardians and pets).
History[]
“
One of the most famous Buddhist monasteries is the Shaolin Monastery, located in the Henan province of China, founded in 495 CE. The edifice is associated specifically with Chan Buddhism and the martial art of Kung Fu. Monastery legend states that the Indian monk Bodhidharma visited the temple in 527 CE. During his time meditating on the mountain overlooking the monastery, Bodhidharma taught himself a form of martial arts to defend against wild animals and bandits. He stayed at the temple for nine years, and before his departure he taught his disciples the skills he had learned, creating the martial arts legend that surrounds the Shaolin monks to this day.
Stun: Stuns a Treasure guardian from a range of 16 for 20 seconds. 40 seconds cooldown.
Aztec Initiation (+100%)
Sikh Gurus (+50%)
Maya Cotton Armor (+20%)
Cree Tanning (+5%)
Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Tar Kilns (+5%)
Supreme Ultimate Fist (+300%)
Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%)
Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%)
Master Lessons (+10%)
Yoga (+5%)
Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack)
Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance)
Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%)
Akan Fontomfrom (+5%)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Training Forms (gives the Monastic Sangha ability)
Slow Motion Routines (doubles Critical Strike chance)
Carib Ambush Party (train Carib Ambushers)
Loyal Nootka War Chief (train Nootka War Chief)
Tupi Animal Lore (train Pet Cougars)
Snatch the Pebble
Walk the Rice Paper
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure
Western Reforms
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
TEAM Scout Infantry
TEAM Inca Bridges
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
TEAM Jujutsu
TEAM Knights of the Round Table
TEAM Mariachi
TEAM Fencing Instructor
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack
TEAM Spanish Inquisition
TEAM Explorer Combat
