Spy (Age of Empires III)

"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).

Upgrades Edit

The Spy gets +25% hit points in the Industrial Age and +50% hit points in the Imperial Age.

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.	Cavalry, artillery, defensive buildings
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

As the Spy can only be trained by European civilizations and shipped for the team by the Russians, only other civilizations' cards that affects them are listed here.

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Europeans Edit Card Description Age Home City 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. Chinese Edit Card Description Age Home City level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Dutch Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Indians Edit Card Description Age Home City 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 Home City 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 Home City level Onin War Infantry gets +33% siege attack 40 Russians Edit Card Description Age Home City 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 Home City level Wind Runner Infantry gets +10% speed 10 Spanish Edit Card Description Age Home City 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, he always uses a dagger instead.
• The Pistol 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

A in-game Spy

Spies in stealth and attack mode

Spies are capable of killing many mercenaries in a few hits.

Add a photo to this gallery

Units in Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III
General	Explorer · Pikeman · Musketeer · Crossbowman · Skirmisher · Minuteman · Halberdier · Grenadier · Hussar · Dragoon · Cavalry Archer · Falconet · Heavy Cannon · Culverin · Mortar · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor · Horse Artillery* · Petard* · Spy*
Revolution*	Colonial Militia · Gatling Gun · Ironclad
British	Longbowman · Rocket
Dutch	Ruyter · Fluyt
French	Cuirassier
Germans	Doppelsoldner · Uhlan · War Wagon
Ottomans	Janissary · Abus Gun · Great Bombard · Galley · Spahi
Portuguese	Cassador · Organ Gun
Russians	Strelet · Cossack · Oprichnik
Spanish	Rodelero · Lancer
The WarChiefs
Aztecs	Aztec War Chief · Coyote Runner · Macehualtin · Puma Spearman · Arrow Knight · Eagle Runner Knight · Jaguar Prowl Knight · Warrior Priest · Skull Knight · Canoe · War Canoe · Tlaloc Canoe
Iroquois	Iroquois War Chief · Aenna · Tomahawk · Forest Prowler · Kanya Horseman · Musket Rider · Ram · Mantlet · Light Cannon · Canoe · War Canoe
Sioux	Sioux War Chief · Cetan Bow · War Club · Wakina Rifle · Axe Rider · Bow Rider · Rifle Rider · Tashunke Prowler · Dog Soldier · Canoe · War Canoe
The Asian Dynasties
Chinese	Shaolin Master · Disciple  · Chu Ko Nu · Qiang Pikeman · Changdao Swordsman · Arquebusier · Steppe Rider · Keshik · Iron Flail · Meteor Hammer · Hand Mortar · Flamethrower · Flying Crow · Fire Junk · War Junk · Fuchuan · Monitor
Indians	Brahmin · Rajput · Sepoy · Gurkha · Urumi · Sowar · Zamburak · Mahout Lancer · Howdah · Flail Elephant · Siege Elephant · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor
Japanese	Ikko-Ikki · Samurai · Ashigaru Musketeer · Yumi Archer · Naginata Rider · Yabusame · Flaming Arrow · Morutaru · Daimyo · Yamabushi · Shinobi · Hatamoto Samurai · Fune · Atakabune · Tekkousen · Monitor
*   introduced in The Warchiefs
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