Spy (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For other uses of the term, see Spy.

Spy
Unit information
Introduced in	The WarChiefs
Type	Infantry Melee infantry
Civilization	Europeans
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Stealth mode Reveal stealth enemies
Training
Trained at	Church Mosque (Ottomans)
Coin	125
Training time	20 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.25 3.125 (Stealth mode)
Line of Sight	28
Population	1
XP train bounty	20
XP bounty	20
Melee attack
Damage	5
Multipliers	×40.0 vs. Hero ×20.0 vs. Mercenary ×4.0 vs. Native warrior
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	10
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Sneaky assassin. Highly effective against mercenaries, Explorers, War Chiefs, and Monks.	”
—In-game description

The Spy is a melee infantry unit in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that can be trained at the Church/Mosque. It is a fast stealthy unit that excels against mercenaries and heroes.

Spies are available to European civilizations except the Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign).

Overview

The Spy moves very quickly, and has the stealth ability, although it can be seen at all times by enemy Explorers, Town Centers, Forts, and some other units. When in stealth mode, spies move considerably slower than normal. They are also highly resistant to special abilities, taking much less damage than non-Spies do.

The Spy is very good at scouting the enemy without them knowing, giving advance notice on what they are building and when they will attack. The Spy has a very low base damage, but huge multipliers against Explorers and Mercenaries. The Spy can easily change the tide of a battle by coming in stealthed, and unstealthing and taking out enemy Mercenaries (including Li'l Bombards). With all speed improvement upgrades (including the Incan Road-building), the German Spy is the melee infantry with the highest speed, 9.375.

Upgrades

The Spy is automatically upgraded in every Age starting from the Fortress Age.

+25% hit points

+25% hit points

+50% hit points

Civilization changes

• Chinese and Indians can get Spies by allying with the British at the Consulate, which provides the 4 Spies shipment.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heroes, mercenaries, native warriors
Weak vs.	Everything else
Improvements
Hit points	Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Spy

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese Card Description Age HC level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Europeans Card Description Age HC level Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 5 Spies Ships 5 Spies 1 8 Spies Ships 8 Spies 10 Agents Upgrades Spies to Agents with +50% hit points and +15 LOS 40 Assassins Upgrades Spies to Assassins with +100% attack and +5.0x multiplier against heroes and mercenaries 40 The Fencing School card is not available to Ottomans. The 5 Spies card is not available to French. The 8 Spies card is not available to French and Germans. The Agents card is available to British, Dutch, Germans, and Portuguese. The Assassins card is available to French, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish. Indians Card Description Age HC level Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Card Description Age HC level Infantry Attack Infantry get +15% attack 10 Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Infantry Combat Infantry get +15% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level Onin War Infantry get +33% siege attack 40 Russians Card Description Age HC level Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% 25 TEAM 8 Spies Ships 8 Spies 40 Sioux Card Description Age HC level Wind Runner Infantry get +10% speed 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry get +15% attack 10 15 Spies Ships 15 Spies 40 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Spies use up 2 population.
• Spies have a 4.0x multiplier against native warriors.

Definitive Edition

• Spies now use up 1 population.
• Spies now no longer have a 4.0x multiplier against native warriors.
• Spies are now upgraded in the Fortress Age, giving +25% hit points.

Trivia

• The Spy is something of a favorite of the Ottoman AI in Random Map games.
• Even though the Spy's icon shows a revolver, it always uses a dagger instead.
  • The aforementioned revolver is fully modeled and animated in the game files, and can be enabled via modding. The reason for making the Spy a melee unit is unknown.

History

“

For as long as there have been presidents and kings, governments have enlisted the aid of individuals for espionage. During the turbulent seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, spies were used by various governments to uncover secrets and identify opportunities for attack. Spies were known to use a variety of tools and technologies, such as invisible ink and secret codes. The fledgling government of the United States of America found itself embroiled in multiple assaults by loyalist spies - including secret messages sent to agents of the crown by William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's own son!

”

Gallery

An in-game Spy

Spies in stealth and attack mode

Spy model