"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 can be 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 a high multiplier against light infantry, making it even more effective against units like Skirmishers and Crossbowmen than normal hand cavalry such as the Hussar. They are also classified as a siege unit, giving it good resistance to building fire. Steppe Riders are not used as much in the Industrial Age as the Chinese have other hand cavalry units that become available to them at that time. Combined together with Keshik as the Beiyang Army will make this army strong against archers, Skirmishers, and Settlers while at the same time protect the Steppe Rider from another heavy cavalry charge because of Keshik attack.
The Steppe Rider is better compared to the Iron Flail in killing archers, Skirmishers, and Settlers. They only have 1 population slot, compared to the Iron Flail's 2, this means that more Steppe Riders can be created compared to the Iron Flail. Iron Flails defeat Steppe Riders one on one. The only thing that makes an Iron Flail better than two Steppe Riders is if the Double-Faced Armor card is sent, which increases the hit points and armor of Iron Flails and Meteor Hammers.
The Mongolian Scourge card increases Steppe Riders' attack against villagers to that of a Hussar making them extremely good raiders because they are a lot easier to mass-produce as they are cheaper and are shipped in larger numbers. Exalted Steppe Riders are as strong as unupgraded Hussars but cost only one population.
Upgrades Edit
| Age | Improvement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 100 wood, 50 coin | Upgrades Steppe Riders to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) |
 |  | 300 wood, 300 coin | Upgrades Steppe Riders to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Steppe Rider |
 |  | 750 wood, 750 coin | Upgrades Steppe Riders to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Steppe Rider |
Further statistics Edit
As the Steppe Rider can only be trained by the Chinese, only improvements available to them (including native improvements) are listed here.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Light infantry, buildings (boosted 50% from base damage with Mongolian scourge Home City Card ), 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 the Steppe Rider is exclusive to the Chinese, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
| 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 | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Chu Ko Nu and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points |  | 10 |
 | All units get +8% hit points and attack |  | 40 |
 | Ships 10 Steppe Riders |  | 1 |
 | Ships 7 Steppe Riders | | 1 |
 | Ships 16 Steppe Riders | | 10 |
 | 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 |
 | Ships 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks, and upgrades them to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 food | | 25 |
 | Banner army train time -23% | | 10 |
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 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
