"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.
Overview 
Edit
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 Colonial 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 Edit
| 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 (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Steppe Rider |
Further statistics Edit
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 Edit
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
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 light 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 Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Scouts
| Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
"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 Edit
