| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For other uses of the term, see Spy. |
“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 
Edit
The Spy moves very quickly, and has the stealth ability, although it can be seen at all time by the enemies Explorers, Town Centers, Outposts, and 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 advanced 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 (Inca), the German Spy is the melee infantry with the highest speed, 9.375.
Upgrades Edit
The Spy is automatically upgraded in the Industrial Age and the Imperial Age.
- +25% hit points
- +50% hit points
+25% 
+50% hit points
Civilization changes Edit
- Chinese and Indians can get Spies by allying with the British at the Consulate, which provides the 4 Spies shipment.
Further statistics Edit
| 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 Edit
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Spy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry gets +15% hit points |  | 10 |
Europeans Edit
| 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 Edit
| 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 Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Infantry Attack
| Infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 Infantry Combat
| Infantry gets +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
 TEAM Scout Infantry
| Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Onin War
| Infantry gets +33% siege attack | | 40 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Ransack
| Infantry gets +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 Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Wind Runner
| Infantry gets +10% speed | | 10 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Infantry Attack
| Melee infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 15 Spies
| Ships 15 Spies | | 40 |
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS |  | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- 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.
HistoryEdit
“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 Edit
