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โ€œ Cheaper heavy cavalry with reduced health and armor. โ€
Age of Empires IV description

The Sofa is a heavy melee cavalry unit in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition available to the Malians that can be trained at the Stable starting in the Feudal Age. Theoretically, it replaces the Lancer, but compared to standard heavy cavalry, it looks weaker.

Ability[]

AoE4 FarimaLeadershipBuff Farima Leadership (passive, requires Farima Leadership): Infantry units within a 5-tile radius gain +15% movement speed

Tactics[]

The Malians get access to the Sofa in the Feudal Age, an Age earlier than most other civilizations get access to their heavy cavalry. Compared to other heavy cavalry, Sofa have higher movement speed, shorter training time, and cost less to produce. In turn, they have fewer hit points, attack damage, base armor, Rate of Fire, and no charge attack. However, most of their stats are still better than those of a Horseman. Hence, the Sofa is often (unofficially) classified as a "medium cavalry".

The Sofa has a small attack bonus against units classified as infantry, against which they deal the same attack as Lancers do, albeit with a slower Rate of Fire. While the bonus damage also helps against the Sofa's two important counters - the Spearman and Crossbowman - it does not flip the counter system, but simply makes them less helpless.

As the Sofa is the Malians' only unit with both melee and ranged armor, it often serves as a front line unit, where it takes the place of the Man-at-Arms, which is inaccessible to the Malians. Furthermore, its speed, damage, and cost make it an excellent unit for raiding. It should be noted that Villagers are not classified as infantry.

Starting from the Castle Age, the Malians have access to the unique technology Imported Armor, which grants +2 armor of each type to the Sofa. The Sofa goes from having 1 less armor than a Lancer to having 1 more armor, having up to 9 armor in total.

Starting from the Imperial Age, the Malians have access to the unique technology Farima Leadership. Once researched, infantry near a Sofa move 15% faster. Since Malian units are already generally faster than other civilizations, this gives them a very swift military that can outpace any that is not exclusively cavalry-based. Since units moving in a formation move with the movement speed of its slowest member, the buff works most reliably with small armies and the line formation. This also means that the buff goes to waste if the formation includes siege units, Monks, or Villagers.

Unit comparison[]

AoE4 Horseman Horseman AoE4 Sofa Sofa AoE4 Knight Knight
Cost 100 food, 20 wood 120 food, 60 gold 140 food, 100 gold
Training Time 22.5 s 26 s 35 s
Attack 9 (Regular)
11 (Veteran)
13 (Elite)
16 (Regular)
20 (Veteran)
25 (Elite)
19 (Early)
24 (Regular)
29 (Elite)
Hit points 125 (Regular)
155 (Veteran)
180 (Elite)
155 (Regular)
195 (Veteran)
230 (Elite)
190 (Early)
230 (Regular)
270 (Elite)
Melee armor 0 2 (Regular)
3 (Veteran)
4 (Elite)
3 (Early)
4 (Regular)
5 (Elite)
Ranged armor 2 (Regular)
3 (Veteran)
4 (Elite)
2 (Regular)
3 (Veteran)
4 (Elite)
3 (Early)
4 (Regular)
5 (Elite)
Other attack properties Attack bonus vs ranged:
+9 (Regular)
+11 (Veteran)
+13 (Elite)

Attack bonus vs siege: +10
Attack bonus vs infantry:
+2 (Regular)
+3 (Veteran)
+4 (Elite)
Charge attack:
+10 (Early)
+12 (Regular)
+14 (Elite)
Rate of Fire 1.75 seconds 1.625 seconds 1.5 seconds
Movement speed 1.875 tiles/s 1.73 tiles/s 1.63 tiles/s

Further statistics[]

Strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Archers, Horsemen, siege engines
Weak vs. Spearman, Crossbowman, War Elephant
Technologies
Hpicon aoe2de Hit points AoE4 Biology Biology (+30%)
Attack AoE4 Bloomery Bloomery (+1)
AoE4 Decarbonization Decarbonization (+1)
AoE4 DamascusSteel Damascus Steel (+1)
Armor AoE4 FittedLeatherwork Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee)
AoE4 InsulatedHelm Insulated Helm (+1 melee)
AoE4 MasterSmiths Master Smiths (+1 melee)
AoE4 ImportedArmor Imported Armor (+2 melee/ranged)
AoE4 IronUndermesh Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged)
AoE4 WedgeRivets Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged)
AoE4 AngledSurfaces Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged)
Creation speed AoE4 MilitaryAcademy Military Academy (+33%)
Ability AoE4 FarimaLeadership Farima Leadership (Nearby infantry +15% move speed)
Aura and ability enhancements
Attack AoE4 SiegeFestival Siege Festival (+50% fire for 90 seconds)
Creation speed AoE4 MilitaryFestival Military Festival (+100% for 90 seconds)

Dialogue lines[]

Main article: /Dialogue lines

Changelog[]

  • Originally, Sofa trained in 30 seconds. With patch 6.1.130, they train in 26 seconds.

Trivia[]

  • In the game files, they are derived from the light Horsemen, instead of the heavy Lancers.
  • The term 'Sofa' refers to slave soldiers that took care of horses and were more commonly infantry. While some did fight as cavalry, the in-game depiction better resembles what were known as Farima/Farimba or Farari.
  • The Sofa uses a spear during its charge attack and switches to a sword for standard melee attacks, but the difference is only cosmetic, unlike with other heavy cavalry.

Gallery[]

Units in Age of Empires IV
Common/Generic
Miscellaneous AoE4 GenericVillager Villager ยท AoE4 Trader Trader ยท AoE4 FishingBoat Fishing Boat ยท AoE4 TradeShip Trade Ship ยท AoE4 TransportShip Transport Ship ยท AoE4 Monk Monk/Imam/Shaman ยท AoE4 Leader Monarch
Melee infantry AoE4 Spearman Spearman ยท AoE4 ManAtArms Man-at-Arms
Ranged infantry AoE4 Archer Archer ยท AoE4 Crossbowman Crossbowman ยท AoE4 Handcannoneer Handcannoneer
Melee cavalry AoE4 Scout Scout ยท AoE4 Horseman Horseman ยท AoE4 Knight Lancer/Knight
Siege AoE4 SiegeTower Siege Tower ยท AoE4 BatteringRam Battering Ram ยท AoE4 Springald Springald ยท AoE4 Mangonel Mangonel ยท AoE4 CounterweightTrebuchet Counterweight Trebuchet ยท AoE4 Bombard Bombard ยท AoE4 Ribauldequin Ribauldequin ยท AoE4 Culverin Culverin
Military ship AoE4 ArcherShip Archer ship: Dhow, Galley, Hunting Canoe, Junk, Light Junk, Lodya Galley
AoE4 SpringaldShip Springald ship: Baghlah, Hulk, Lodya Attack Ship, War Canoe, War Cog, War Junk
AoE4 IncendiaryShip Incendiary ship: Demolition Ship, Explosive Dhow, Explosive Junk, Lodya Demolition Ship
AoE4 Warship Warship: Baochuan, Carrack, Xebec
Cheat AoE4 PhotonMan Photon Man
Unique
Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 Abbasid Dynasty AoE4 CamelRider Camel Rider ยท AoE4 CamelArcher Camel Archer ยท AoE4 Ghulam Ghulam
Ayyubids AoE4 Ayyubids AoE4 Atabeg Atabeg ยท AoE4 BedouinSkirmisher Bedouin Skirmisher ยท AoE4 BedouinSwordsman Bedouin Swordsman ยท AoE4 CamelLancer Camel Lancer ยท AoE4 Dervish Dervish ยท AoE4 DesertRaider Desert Raider ยท AoE4 Ghulam Ghulam ยท AoE4 TowerOfTheSultan Tower of the Sultan
Byzantines AoE4 Byzantines AoE4 Cataphract Cataphract ยท AoE4 VarangianGuard Varangian Guard ยท AoE4 Cheirosiphon Cheirosiphon ยท AoE4 Limitanei Limitanei ยท AoE4 Dromon Dromon
Chinese AoE4 Chinese AoE4 ImperialOfficial Imperial Official ยท AoE4 ZhugeNu Zhuge Nu ยท AoE4 PalaceGuard Palace Guard ยท AoE4 NestOfBees Nest of Bees ยท AoE4 FireLancer Fire Lancer ยท AoE4 Grenadier Grenadier
Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Delhi Sultanate AoE4 Monk Scholar ยท AoE4 WarElephant War Elephant ยท AoE4 TowerElephant Tower Elephant ยท AoE4 SultansEliteTowerElephant Sultan's Elite Tower Elephant ยท AoE4 GhaziRaider Ghazi Raider
English AoE4 English AoE4 Longbowman Longbowman ยท AoE4 King King ยท AoE4 WynguardRanger Wynguard Ranger ยท AoE4 WynguardFootman Wynguard Footman
French AoE4 French AoE4 RoyalKnight Royal Knight ยท AoE4 Arbaletrier Arbalรฉtrier ยท AoE4 Galleass Galleass ยท AoE4 Cannon Cannon
HRE AoE4 Holy Roman Empire AoE4 Monk Prelate ยท AoE4 Landsknecht Landsknecht
Japanese AoE4 Japanese AoE4 Warship Atakebune ยท AoE4 BuddhistMonk Buddhist Monk ยท AoE4 KatanaBannerman Katana Bannerman ยท AoE4 MountedSamurai Mounted Samurai ยท AoE4 OnnaBugeisha Onna-Bugeisha ยท AoE4 OnnaMusha Onna-Musha ยท AoE4 Ozutsu Ozutsu ยท AoE4 Samurai Samurai ยท AoE4 Shinobi Shinobi ยท AoE4 ShintoPriest Shinto Priest ยท AoE4 TreasureCaravan Treasure Caravan ยท AoE4 UmaBannerman Uma Bannerman ยท AoE4 YumiAshigaru Yumi Ashigaru ยท AoE4 YumiBannerman Yumi Bannerman
Jeanne d Arc AoE4 Jeanne d'Arc AoE4 JeannesChampion Jeanne's Champion ยท AoE4 JeannesRider Jeanne's Rider ยท AoE4 RoyalKnight Royal Knight ยท AoE4 Arbaletrier Arbalรฉtrier ยท AoE4 Galleass Galleass ยท AoE4 Cannon Cannon ยท Jeanne d'Arc [AoE4 JdA Peasant Peasant ยท AoE4 JdA WomanAtArms Woman-at-Arms ยท AoE4 JdA Hunter Hunter ยท AoE4 JdA Knight Knight ยท AoE4 JdA MountedArcher Mounted Archer ยท AoE4 JdA BlastCannon Blast Cannon ยท AoE4 JdA Markswoman Markswoman]
Malians AoE4 Malians AoE4 Donso Donso ยท AoE4 MusofadiWarrior Musofadi Warrior ยท AoE4 JavelinThrower Javelin Thrower ยท AoE4 WarriorScout Warrior Scout ยท AoE4 Sofa Sofa ยท AoE4 FreebornWarrior Freeborn Warrior ยท AoE4 Cattle Cattle ยท AoE4 MusofadiGunner Musofadi Gunner
Mongols AoE4 Mongols AoE4 Khan Khan ยท AoE4 Mangudai Mangudai ยท AoE4 TurkicHorseArcher Khan's Hunter ยท AoE4 TractionTrebuchet Traction Trebuchet ยท AoE4 HuihuiPao Huihui Pao ยท AoE4 Keshik Keshik
Order of the Dragon AoE4 Order of the Dragon AoE4 GildedSpearman Gilded Spearman ยท AoE4 GildedManAtArms Gilded Man-at-Arms ยท AoE4 GildedLandsknecht Gilded Landsknecht ยท AoE4 GildedArcher Gilded Archer ยท AoE4 GildedCrossbowman Gilded Crossbowman ยท AoE4 DragonHandcannoneer Gilded Handcannoneer ยท AoE4 GildedHorseman Gilded Horseman ยท AoE4 GildedKnight Gilded Knight ยท AoE4 GenericVillager Gilded Villager ยท AoE4 Monk Prelate
Ottomans AoE4 Ottomans AoE4 Mehter Mehter ยท AoE4 Sipahi Sipahi ยท AoE4 HorseArcher Cavalry Archer ยท AoE4 Janissary Janissary ยท AoE4 GreatBombard Great Bombard ยท AoE4 GrandGalley Grand Galley
Rus AoE4 Rus AoE4 FishingBoat Lodya Fishing Boat ยท AoE4 WarriorMonk Warrior Monk ยท AoE4 HorseArcher Horse Archer ยท AoE4 Streltsy Streltsy ยท AoE4 Militia Militia
Zhu Xis Legacy AoE4 Zhu Xi's Legacy AoE4 ImperialOfficial Imperial Official ยท AoE4 ZhugeNu Zhuge Nu ยท AoE4 PalaceGuard Palace Guard ยท AoE4 NestOfBees Nest of Bees ยท AoE4 Grenadier Grenadier ยท AoE4 ImperialGuard Imperial Guard ยท AoE4 YuanRaider Yuan Raider ยท AoE4 ShaolinMonk Shaolin Monk
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