Steppe Rider

Steppe Rider
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Melee cavalry Siege unit
Civilization	Chinese
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Banner army	Standard Army Mongolian Army*
Coin	85
Training time	35 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	7.25
Line of Sight	18
Population	1
XP train bounty	9
XP bounty	9
Melee attack
Damage	15
Multipliers	×2.0 vs. Infantry ×0.5 vs. Heavy infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	25
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	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.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Steppe Rider	100 wood, 50 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack)
	Honored Steppe Rider	300 wood, 300 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Steppe Rider
	Exalted Steppe Rider	750 wood, 750 coin	Upgrades Steppe Riders to Exalted (+40% hit points and attack); 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.	Cavalry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-12%, Standard Army)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost, Standard 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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese Card Description Age HC level Standard Army Hitpoints Chu Ko Nu and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points 10 Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 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 +1.0x multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0x multiplier against heavy cavalry and Shock Infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5x multiplier against infantry and heavy infantry 25 Beiyang Army Ships 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks, and upgrades them to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 food 25 Banner School Banner army train time -23% 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 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 attack 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 LOS 1 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 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 attack 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 attack 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