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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires IV. For the unit in Age of Empires III, see Strelet. |
| “ | Most powerful ranged infantry with reasonable melee capabilities. Increased rate of fire while stationary. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
The Streltsy is a unique light ranged gunpowder infantry unit of the Rus in Age of Empires IV. It is available in the Archery Range in the Imperial Age.
The Streltsy is also available to the Byzantines as a mercenary unit.
Ability[]
- Melee attack at close range: When a unit engages the Streltsy in melee combat, the Streltsy switches from its ranged attack to a high damage melee attack.
Static Deployment (passive): increases attack speed by 30% after 10 seconds. This affects both its ranged and melee attack, although for some reason, it only increases the melee attack by ~13%.
Tactics[]
The Streltsy is a cheaper, stronger variant of the Handcannoneer. It has almost identical stats as the Handcannoneer, but comes with an additional melee attack and a unique ability.
The melee attack is automatically used against enemy melee units which attack the Streltsy, and shares its cooldown with the ranged attack. Players cannot manually force the Streltsy to use its melee attack.
To activate the Streltsy's unique ability, it has to stand still for 10 seconds, after which it gains +30% attack speed for as long as it doesn't move. While this bonus looks very hard to achieve, once activated, their damage output is increased dramatically. In common fights, when massive armies collide for more than 10 seconds, activating its skill is guaranteed, unless there are Mangonels who will force the player to move or the Streltsy will die. They cost -25% compared to the Handcannoneer, which makes massing the Streltsy significantly easier.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Men-at-Arms, Elephants |
| Weak vs. | Mangonels, Javelin Throwers |
| Conditional matchups | Heavy Cavalry |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Serpentine Powder (+5 vs melee infantry) Bloomery (+1, melee only) Decarbonization (+1, melee only) Damascus Steel (+1, melee only)
|
| Armor |  Fitted Leatherwork (+1 melee) Insulated Helm (+1 melee) Master Smiths (+1 melee) Iron Undermesh (+1 ranged) Wedge Rivets (+1 ranged) Angled Surfaces (+1 ranged)
|
 Movement speed
|
Serpentine Powder (+20% for 1.5 seconds after attacking)
|
| Creation speed |  Military Academy (+33%)
|
| Ability |  Siege Engineering (Can build Battering Rams and Siege Towers)
|
| Abilities and Enhancements | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Saint's Blessing (+2, or +3 with Fervor)
|
 Range
|
 Wall Defense (+1)
|
| Armor | Saint's Blessing (+1 melee/ranged)
|
| Damage resistance | Wall Defense (-25% ranged, -50% siege)
|
 Attack speed
|
 Static Deployment (+30%)
|
Mercenary Streltsy[]
The Byzantines can purchase Mercenary Streltsy with Olive Oil from the Mercenary House after researching the Western Mercenary and Elite Contracts. Once unlocked, they can train automatically from the Golden Horn Tower. In addition to the generic upgrades, they benefit from the following Byzantine unique bonuses:
| Upgrades | |
|---|---|
 Regeneration
|
 Pilgrim Flask (25 hp/s for 6 seconds, requires Cistern of the First Hill)
|
| Armor |  Camel Support (+2 melee/ranged, requires Foreign Engineering Company)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship)
|
| Creation speed |   Conscriptio Influence (+20% per Cistern water level) Trade Post (+50%)
|
Dialogue lines[]
- Main article: /Dialogue lines
Changelog[]
- Originally, Double Time quickened Static Deployment ability too. With the Season One Update, it only grants increased movement speed. With update 7.0.5861, Double Time was entirely removed.
- Originally, Streltsy had 150 hit points. With Season Two Update 17718, they have 130 hit points.
- Since the Season Three Update, the Static Deployment ability no longer grants stacked effect, but a flat 30% increased attack speed after 10 seconds.
- Originally, Streltsy had 50 melee attack. With update 7.0.5861, it has 60 melee attack.
- Originally, Mercenary Streltsy cost 540 olive oil. With patch 9.2.628, they cost 720 olive oil.
- Originally, Streltsy dealt 35 ranged damage. With patch 12.1.2454, they deal 38 ranged damage.
Campaign version[]
Because the original four campaigns have not been rebalanced since the release of the game, Streltsy have the following differences in those campaigns:
- They are called Musketeers, and they require Chemistry to be researched to train
- They cost 50 food, 190 gold, train in 45 seconds, have 120 hit points, and have a move speed of 1 tile per second.
- Their ranged attack deals 50 base damage (at almost the same Rate of Fire), and their melee attack deals only 18 base damage every 1.38 seconds.
- Their static deployment ability increases their attack speed by 10% and damage by +3 every 5 seconds (up to a maximum of +30% and +9 after 15 seconds)
Trivia[]
- Streltsy (стрельцы) is actually the plural form, also borrowed into English. The correct singular form is strelets (стрелец).[1] Strelets in Age of Empires III used to use the singular as plural instead.
- They are one of the few units in the game with a ranged and a melee attack.
- Considering Streltsy normally cost only 75% of the Handcannoneer, and that (since patch 9.2) Mercenary Streltsy cost 240 olive oil per unit, it must be thought that the Streltsy cost the same as the Handcannoneer and that Rus have a 25% discount for the unit.
Gallery[]
