The Shaolin Temple is a native Asian religious settlement featured in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. Like all natives, they can be allied with by building a Trading Post or Tambo at their Trading Post site.
Unit[]
Rattan Shield: Fast Chinese warrior armed with a shield and a sword. Heavily armored and good against archers, skirmishers, and artillery.
Technologies[]
| Age | Technology | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Clenched Fist
|
200 wood 200 coin |
Ranged infantry all melee attack damage +25%; Carolean and hand skirmisher (except Urumi Swordsmen) all melee attack damage +10% instead |
 Wood Clearing
|
200 food 200 coin |
Villager gather work rate for tree and Mango Grove +20% | |
 Dim Mak
|
300 wood 300 coin |
Rattan Shield damage +50% |
Strategy[]
Wood Clearing gives +20% wood gathering rate to villagers. This improvement is especially useful for the Indians, since their villagers cost wood.
Clenched Fist gives ranged infantry +25% all melee attack damage, with the exception of hand skirmishers and Caroleans, that only get +10% all melee attack damage. This technology makes Musketeers more deadly against heavy cavalry and shock infantry.
The Rattan Shield is a hand shock infantry unit with no bonus damage. They naturally counter artillery and light infantry, even without increased bonus damage. They are also naturally good at raiding with a fast speed. Their main selling point is their high train limit of 16. Dim Mak gives Rattan Shields +50% damage, which is particularly helpful when they are raiding and sniping units like artillery.
Being hand shock infantry, Rattan Shields are better than their stats seem compared to heavy cavalry, as their counters have lower bonus damage, they are affected by hand infantry upgrades, and they have a smaller size, which is especially useful for sniping light infantry and artillery as quickly as possible due to attacking units spending less time pathing.
Overall, the Shaolin Temple is the strongest when the game stalls out enough that players are about to start building Town Centers, as the wood-gathering boost from Wood Clearing matters more. Additionally, it excels at being valuable for grinding out value for the late game, as trees take much longer to run out, making Wood Clearing matter for a long time and the high train limit and versatility of the Rattan Shield can shine. It synergizes best with musket infantry, as they have a high hand attack damage while being ranged infantry to benefit from Clenched Fist.
Trivia[]
- The Shaolin Temple is part of the religion-themed minor civilizations of The Asian Dynasties, this one representing a branch of Buddhism.
- Buddhism is the only religion which has multiple Holy Site settlements to represent different branches/regions of it.
- Likely, all 3 of the Shaolin Temple's technologies reference martial arts. The connection to religion is because of the connection of martial arts to Buddhism, such as Kung Fu, by legend, being developed by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, who is said to have brought Buddhism from India to China in the 5th century CE.
History[]
| “ | This Holy Site is identical to a Native Trade Site. Allying with Natives allows a player to train special Native units, usually warriors, and also grants access to a group of improvements to that tribe. Native units do not cost any population spaces, but can only be built in limited numbers. 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. |
” |
Gallery[]
