Silk Armor is a technology in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition that is unique to the Tatars and can be researched at the Castle once the Castle Age is reached. Once researched, it gives the Scout Cavalry line, the Steppe Lancers and Cavalry Archers +1/+1 armor.
Strategy[]
Silk Armor works in a similar way to a Blacksmith armor upgrade for Steppe Lancers, Light Cavalry and Cavalry Archer line by giving extra pierce armor to those units. Tatars already have full Blacksmith improvements for these three units, while also having free Parthian Tactics and Thumb Ring. In this sense, a fully upgraded Tatar Heavy Cavalry Archer has +7 pierce armor and excels at taking down enemy archers and soaking up pierce damage. Combined with the 50% more damage from higher ground and +2 Line of Sight, this puts them at the same level as their Mongol, Hun, Turk, Magyar and Cuman counterparts. The same goes for a fully upgraded Tatar Hussar, and enables their Steppe Lancers to better perform in fast raids against an opponent's settlement.
The technology itself should be treated as another Blacksmith upgrade and, considering its gold cost, it may be prioritized over Ring Archer Armor and Plate Barding Armor, especially if the player is using a combination of these units (Light Cavalry, Steppe Lancers and Cavalry Archers) If the player is focusing more on just Cavalry Archers or just Stable Units and Keshiks, Ring Archer Armor and Plate Barding Armor should be prioritized instead. In any case is preferable that the Tatar player researches first Leather Archer Armor and Chain Barding Armor before researching Silk Armor (as those increase melee and pierce armor and improves more units, as well as costing less gold, even combined, than Silk Armor).
Silk Armor also affects Genitours and Kipchaks if the player has a Berber and/or Cuman ally, putting both units among the best.
Since update 42848, Silk Armor grants additional melee armor, which makes the units affected quite competent at melee fights. With all upgrades, the Tatar Heavy Cavalry Archer gets the highest melee armor of any archer unit in the game, with a total of 6.
Team bonuses[]
- Portuguese: Researching Silk Armor is 25% faster.
Changelog[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Initially, Silk Armor only affects Cavalry Archers and the Scout Cavalry line. With update 36202, Steppe Lancers are also affected.
- Initially, Silk Armor only provides +1 pierce armor. With update 42848, it provides +1 melee armor as well.
History[]
Mongolian armor has a long history. Mongol armor drew its influence from Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian styles. Most Mongolian armor was of scale and lamellar variety. Most armor was made of hardened leather and iron, laced together onto a fabric backing, sometimes silk. Genghis Khan was once said to have issued all his horsemen with silk vests, as an arrow hitting silk does not break the silk but ends up embedding the arrow in the flesh wrapped in silk, allowing the arrow to be removed by gently teasing the silk open. This is opposed to the usual method of removing barbed arrows—cutting them out, or pushing them right through an injured limb and out of the other side. These silk vests functioned much like the padded armor used by European and Byzantine soldiers of the era, such as Gambesons.[1]
Trivia[]
- Unlike Steppe Husbandry, Silk Armor also affects Genitours and Kipchaks.