Shotel Warrior (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. For the unit in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms, see Shotel Warrior (Age of Empires II).

Shotel Warrior
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals
Type	Shock infantry Hand shock infantry Hand infantry
Civilization(s)	Ethiopians
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	War Camp Fort Battle Canoe American Citadel
Cost	55 Food 50 Coin 1 Population
Train time	27 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	160
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	6.25
Line of Sight	12
Train XP	11
Kill XP	11
Siege attack
Damage	11 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	13 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.25
Bonus damage	1.25x vs. Light infantry*

“	Fast moving shock infantry that attacks quickly with two curved swords. Good against light infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Shotel Warrior is a hand shock infantry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals that is unique to the Ethiopians and can be trained at the War Camp once the Commerce Age is reached.

In-game information

“

The Shotel Warrior is a unique Ethiopian fast shock infantry unit. It is available starting in the Commerce Age and is effective against ranged infantry but weak against heavy infantry and light cavalry.

”

Overview

The Shotel Warrior is a shock infantry unit that largely resembles the Coyote Runners used by the Aztecs. In the Commerce Age, they fill a melee-cavalry-like role. Cheaper and weaker than a Hussar, but fast and hard-hitting when they can close the distance with Skirmishers or archers.

Shotel Warriors are effective raiders in the Commerce Age, able to pick off enemy villagers that stray too far from the opponent's Town Center. They pair quite well with the fast Desert Raider that Ethiopian players can train at the Watch Tower, as both units can reap a heavy toll on the opponent's economy, causing chaos and devastation until most European, Asian, and Native American civilizations unlock their powerful Dragoon units in the Fortress Age. This strategy isn't quite as effective against Lakota players, who can train Bow Riders, or Portuguese players, who can send the "TEAM House of Aviz" card. Shotel Warriors and Desert Warriors can also be countered by Javelin Riders. If the player is careless, they can fall victim to heavy infantry like the Swedish Carolean.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Elite Infantry	250 wood 250 coin	Upgrade Gascenyas, Shotel Warriors, and Neftenyas to Elite (+25% hit points and damage, +10% for Neftenyas, -15% train time)
	Champion Infantry	800 wood 800 coin	Upgrade Gascenyas, Shotel Warriors, and Neftenyas to Champion (+25% hit points and damage, -15% train time); requires Elite Infantry
Imperial Age	Legendary Infantry	2,000 wood 2,000 coin	Upgrade Gascenyas, Shotel Warriors, and Neftenyas to Legendary (+50% hit points and damage); requires Champion Infantry

Civilization differences

• The Portuguese can get 5 Elite Shotel Warriors when advancing to the Fortress Age by choosing The Ethiopian Queen.

Further statistics

As Shotel Warriors are unique to the Ethiopians, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Master Lessons (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%) Yoga (+5%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Cost	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (-10%) Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Standing Army (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Shotel Warriors are unique to the Ethiopians, 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 Shotel Warrior

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

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
6 Shotel Warriors	Delivers 6 Shotel Warriors
9 Shotel Warriors	Delivers 9 Shotel Warriors
8 Shotel Warriors	Delivers 8 Shotel Warriors
15 Shotel Warriors	Delivers 15 Shotel Warriors
Hand Infantry Combat	Shotel Warrior hit points and damage +15%
Sefari	Delivers 5 Gascenya and 5 Shotel Warriors; Elite Infantry cost and research time -100%; Champion Infantry cost and research time -50%; Legendary Infantry cost and research time -20%; costs 1,000 influence
Ignatian Spirituality	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +5%, regeneration rate +1.0 (even in combat)
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Hegemony	Gascenya, Shotel Warrior, Neftenya, Javelin Rider, and Order Besteiro auto gather 0.03 influence/s; Oromo Warrior auto gather 0.09 influence/s

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry damage +15%

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 upgrade cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

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%

Russians

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

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack	Hand infantry damage +15%
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Historical Battles

Shotel Warrior (Historical Battles)
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Shock infantry Hand shock infantry Hand infantry
Civilization(s)	Ethiopians Somalians
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Cost	65 Food 35 Wood 1 Population
Train time	22 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	90
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	6.25
Line of Sight	12
Train XP	10
Kill XP	10
Siege attack
Damage	20 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	26 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Fast armored warrior. Good against skirmishers and artillery.	”
—In-game description

A variant of the Shotel Warrior appears in the Christopher da Gama's Expedition scenario of the Historical Battles in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. It is used by both Ethiopians and Somalians, serving as a replacement for the Coyote Runner.

This unit is also accessible in the Scenario Editor under the Units category, as "INF SPC Shotel Warrior".

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• The Historical Battles Shotel Warrior does not have dialogue lines and is mute in the game.

The African Royals

• Shotel Warriors have 170 hit points, a speed of 6.0, and the Historical Battles Shotel Warrior has dialogue lines.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.58326, Shotel Warriors have 160 hit points.
• With update 14.43676, Shotel Warrior multipliers against infantry were changed to be against light infantry.
• With update 15.59076, Shotel Warriors have a speed of 6.25.

Trivia

• The Historical Battles Shotel Warrior reuses the in-game description of the Coyote Runner.
• The unit appeared previously in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms as the unique unit for the Ethiopians. It also reuses the voice files from the Ethiopian military units from that game.

History

“

Shotels are deadly blades whose unique curvature reflects their original derivation from agricultural tools. Unique to East Africa and with a heritage dating back to the medieval Ethiopian kingdoms, shotels retained relevance as multipurpose weapons whose distinct shape permitted them to slash as well as circumvent obstacles to inflict unexpected puncture wounds.

”

Gallery

In-game Shotel Warrior

In-game Elite Shotel Warrior

In-game Champion/Legendary Shotel Warrior

Shotel Warrior image from the Compendium section

See also

• Coyote Runner
• Chimu Runner