Steppe Rider

Steppe Rider
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Siege trooper
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Banner army	Standard Army Mongolian Army*
Cost	85 Coin 1 Population
Train time	35 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Speed	7.25
Line of Sight	18
Train XP	9
Kill XP	9
Siege attack
Damage	25 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	15 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	2.0x vs. Infantry 0.5x vs. Heavy infantry
Trample attack
Damage	8 Hand
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	2.0
Bonus damage	Same as hand attack

“	Fast cavalry good at raiding villagers or buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Steppe Rider is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of the Standard Army or (since the Definitive Edition) as part of the Mongolian Army.

Overview

Steppe Riders have a fairly low attack and hit points, but they are cheap and can be fielded in large numbers. They have a high multiplier against infantry, making them equally effective against units like Skirmishers and Crossbowmen as a Hussar. They are also classified as a siege unit, giving it good resistance to building fire, but making them especially vulnerable to Minutemen fire. Steppe Riders are not used as much beyond the Commerce Age, as the Chinese have other, superior hand cavalry units that become available to them at that time.

The Mongolian Scourge card increases Steppe Riders' attack against Villagers to that of a Hussar, making them extremely good raiders. They are a lot easier to mass-produce, as they are cheaper and are shipped in larger numbers. This card is fairly important if a player is planning on raiding a lot with Steppe Riders, as a single Villager with Great Coat and Blunderbuss (or other civilizations' equivalent) will quite easily beat a Steppe Rider in melee. Steppe Riders' biggest advantage as a unit is their excellent siege.

Exalted Steppe Riders are almost exactly as strong as un-upgraded Hussars, but cost only one population. This, along with the Chinese population bonus, makes them good to mass and to deathball in the late game. They combine this characteristic (being population-efficient fast cavalry units) with the Keshik from their shared Mongolian Army. They also share many important Home City Card upgrades.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Steppe Rider	100 wood 50 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Disciplined (+20% hit points and damage)
	Honored Steppe Rider	300 wood 300 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Honored (+30% hit points and damage); requires Disciplined Steppe Rider
Imperial Age	Exalted Steppe Rider	750 wood 750 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Exalted (+40% hit points and damage); requires Honored Steppe Rider

Further statistics

As Steppe Riders are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, buildings, villagers (with Mongolian Scourge Home City Card), artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, ranged shock infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% vs. Frontier fortification)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost; Standard Army and Mongolian Army)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40% Mongolian Army; -20% Standard Army) Quechuan Diet (-15%; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) Akan Fontomfrom (-10%; Standard Army) Immigrants (-10%; Standard Army and Mongolian Army)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Steppe Riders are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Steppe Rider

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Standard Army Hitpoints	Chu Ko Nu and Steppe Rider hit points +20%
10 Steppe Riders	Delivers 10 Steppe Riders
7 Steppe Riders	Delivers 7 Steppe Riders
16 Steppe Riders	Delivers 16 Steppe Riders
Old Han Reforms	Chu Ko Nu, Qiang Pikeman, Steppe Rider, and Keshik hit points and damage +50%; Old Han Army, Standard Army, Ming Army, and Mongolian Army cost +25%
Mongolian Scourge	Steppe Rider siege attack damage +50%, bonus damage against villager +1.0; Keshik bonus damage against heavy cavalry and hand shock infantry +1.0; Iron Flail bonus damage against infantry +0.5, against heavy infantry -0.17
Beiyang Army	Delivers 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks; grants Disciplined Steppe Riders and Disciplined Keshiks; costs 1,000 food
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%
Acupuncture	Unit (except monk) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5%
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry damage +15%

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hidalgos	Pikeman, Crossbowman, Aenna, Cetan Bow, Longbowman, Otontin Slinger, Yumi Archer, and Pavisier train time -40%; Old Han Army train time -30%; Jungle Bowman, Plumed Spearman, Fulani Archer, Desert Archer, Puma Spearman, Insurgente, Standard Army, and Ming Army train time -15%
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Standard Army Hitpoints	Chu Ko Nus and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points		10
10 Steppe Riders	Ships 10 Steppe Riders		1
7 Steppe Riders	Ships 7 Steppe Riders		1
16 Steppe Riders	Ships 16 Steppe Riders		10
Mongolian Scourge	Steppe Riders get +1.0 attack multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0 attack multiplier against heavy cavalry and shock infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5 attack multiplier against infantry and -0.17 against heavy infantry		25
Beiyang Army	Ships 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks; upgrades Steppe Riders and Keshiks to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 food		25
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage		40
Acupuncture	All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20%		10
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%		10

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Scouts	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Archaic Soldier Training	Pikeman, Longbowman, Crossbowman, Aenna, Cetan Bow, Macehualtin, Yumi Archer, and Old Han Army train time -50%; Standard Army and Ming Army train time -25%		10
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Steppe Riders have 6.75 speed and a obstruction radius of 0.79.
• Exalted Steppe Rider increases Steppe Rider hit points and damage by 50%.

Definitive Edition

• Steppe Riders have 7.25 speed and a obstruction radius of 0.65.
• Steppe Riders are now trained as part of the Mongolian Army.

The African Royals

• With update 61213, Exalted Steppe Rider increases Steppe Rider hit points and damage by 40%.

History

“

The Mongol army of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one of the most effective fighting forces of all time, centering its battlefield strategy on the tenets of flexibility, mobility, and siege. Clad in light armor, horse archers rode and fought independently of cumbersome supply lines, collecting valuable reconnaissance information as they disrupted enemy positions and sowed seeds of panic. Their tactic of swift advances and false retreats often left the steppe riders out of harm's way but within arrow range for their attack. As the warriors attacked, mounted couriers relayed messages across various fronts and within the combined army, which consisted of a variety of different units working together. When the Mongols prepared for a final siege, they brought engineers to the front. Siege engines and rockets were deployed to scatter enemy formations, and to isolate pockets of troops to keep supplies or reinforcements from reaching them.

”

Gallery

An in-game Steppe Rider

An in-game Disciplined Steppe Rider

The Steppe Rider's history portrait

In-game Steppe Rider in the Definitive Edition

In-game Disciplined Steppe Rider in the Definitive Edition

In-game Honored/Exalted Steppe Rider in the Definitive Edition

Steppe Rider image from the Compendium section