“ | Bulgarian unique cavalry unit that fights on as infantry when felled. | ” |
—Age of Empires II description |
The Konnik is the unique unit of the Bulgarians in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It is a cavalry that turns into a Dismounted Konnik, an infantry, when killed.
(Dismounted) Konniks can be upgraded to Elite (Dismounted) Konniks in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Konnik is a special unique unit, as it has two lives: the first time mounted, the second dismounted. This quirk makes the unit not only durable, but also versatile, as they can mess with the possible anti-cavalry units the opponent may have. While the mounted version is weak against Camel Riders and the Spearman line, the dismounted version is not; and vice versa, the typical counters for infantry do not affect the mounted version. Neither version is particularly strong against archers. Any clever opponent must mix two types of counter-units against a mass of Konniks, with some exceptions (see Counters).
Konniks are also high-value units like the Knight, which makes them one of the topmost priorities for conversion. When facing Monks, one of these three scenarios may happen:
- The player deletes the mounted Konnik, turning it into a Dismounted Konnik and negate the conversion temporarily (the Monk must now target the Dismounted Konnik as they will still retain their conversion ability).
- If Heresy is not researched and the player does not delete the mounted Konnik, it will be converted as usual.
- If Heresy is researched, the Konnik stands a chance as it will die and turn into a Dismounted Konnik belonging to the original player.
Stat-wise with Stirrups, a non-Elite Konnik is comparable to a Knight (it is better in melee fights, worse against ranged units), while a fully upgraded Elite Konnik is better than a Cavalier. This makes the Konnik incredible as a shock troop, able to raid, soak damage, and disrupt enemy Villages, destroy colonies, or diminish an enemy garrison. In addition, they turn to infantry when killed, so for any Bulgarian player, they should prefer them over the Knight line in most situations.
It takes 3 seconds for a Dismounted Konnik to get back into the fight after being dismounted. The unit cannot be interacted with during this animation, as technically the Dismounted Konnik is spawned only after the death animation of the Mounted Konnik has been completed.
As an infantry unit, Dismounted Konnik is affected by infantry-related technologies (Blacksmith upgrades, Arson, Squires) and receives a +4 anti-building attack bonus. The infantry non-Elite version is a little weaker than a Long Swordsman, with the exception of the attack. The Elite dismounted version can be seen as a frail Two-Handed Swordsman with a slightly better attack value but slower attack rate.
Konniks can be created at Kreposts, and for this reason Bulgarian players must use a combination of both for a "Krepost Drop".
The Castle Age unique technology Stirrups gives them an attack speed boost of 33%, which drops the mounted version's Rate of Fire from 2.4 (slowest melee attack in cavalry) to 1.8 which is the same as that of Knights and Cavaliers, their standard counterparts, and better than that of a Paladin (1.9). Stirrups does not affect the dismounted version, which makes it the slowest attacking infantry unit outside of the trash Spearman line (3). The dismounted Konniks are also special in the infantry branch, being tied with the Militia for being the only non-specialized unit (the others being Eagle units themselves, Kamayuks, and Condottieri), to not have an attack bonus against Eagle units.
They also have a 5 tile Line of Sight, which is better than Knights (4) and Cavaliers (4), and the same as Paladins (5), which are its equivalents in the mounted form. The dismounted Konnik has 5, which is less than Long Swordsmen (6), Two-Handed Swordsmen (7), and Champions (7), which are its equivalent in dismounted form. They also have the same speed as all their equivalents.
Counters[]
Despite the quirk the Konnik has, there are several units in the game that represent a threat for both versions of the unit:
- Samurai: Since both versions of the unit are unique units, and neither form is particularly good against heavy infantry, the Samurai being the fastest attacking unit mops up both forms of the unit.
- War Elephant and Battle Elephant: They win on the basis of their sole raw stats.
- Boyar and Teutonic Knight: Both units have high melee armor, so they are a heavy threat to Konniks.
- Genoese Crossbowman: An archer unit with 5 to 7 (Elite) attack bonus against cavalry, thus able to deal quickly in large numbers with mounted Konniks. Dismounted Konniks as infantry units are slow with low HP, so they can be easily killed by Genoese Crossbowmen, which have the same damage output against infantry as an Arbalester. Although depending on micro and positioning, it can still be a favorable trade for the Konniks.
- Mameluke: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have the advantage of mobility and range over the Dismounted Konnik (which moves much slower).
- Flemish Militia: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have better stats than the dismounted Konnik, meaning they can kill them more easily.
- Leitis: The high attack of Leiciai ignores melee armor and can be further increased by Relics, which means Leiciai can cost-effectively kill Konniks by a large margin.
- Units with partial strengths, which are good in some situations, include
- Berserk with Chieftains: They regenerate hit points, have decent HP and melee armor, and have bonus attack against mounted Konniks, so they can defeat them cost-effectively.
- Kamayuk: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have the same fire rate as the Militia line, so the mounted Konnik must avoid them. They are statistically inferior to dismounted Konnik, but when massed, their range creates a problem for both versions of the Konniks.
- Cataphract: They can have an edge over Konniks without Stirrups, kill dismounted Konniks in few hits, and massed Elite Cataphracts with Logistica can also be an issue. The lower base attack of the Cataphract in the Castle Age, and Byzantines missing Blast Furnace in the Imperial Age, leads to the Cataphract being less of a problem to the mounted Konnik, even though it is threatening against dismounted Konniks, especially in post-Imperial Age, when it also attacks 41% faster than its opponent.
- Centurion: They have higher stats than Konniks overall, and with the charge attack obtained by Comitatenses they can deal with Konniks effectively, despite costing more.
- Monaspa: Despite Monaspas losing against Konniks in individual combat, Monaspas can scale up the attack up to 22 if are massed up to 20 or more. Combined with their high melee armor and self regeneration, they can deal with Konniks very effectively, especially with their lower cost.
Comparison in the Castle Age[]
Konnik | Knight | Dismounted Konnik | Long Swordsman | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost | 60 food, 70 gold | 60 food, 75 gold | None | 45 food, 20 gold | |
Hit Points | 100 | 100 | 45 | 60 | |
Melee Attack | 12 | 10 | 12 | 9 | |
Attack Bonus | None | None | +4 vs Standard Building | +3 vs Standard Building +6 vs Eagles | |
Attack speed | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2 | |
Armor | 2/1 | 2/2 | 2/1 | 1/1+1 | |
Movement speed | 1.35 | 1.35 | 0.9 | 0.9 | |
Training time | 19 seconds | 30 seconds | 3 seconds | 21 seconds | |
Line of Sight | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
Upgrade Cost |
1,000 food, 750 gold 70 seconds |
300 food, 300 gold 100 seconds |
Upgraded with Konnik | None |
Comparison in the Imperial Age[]
Elite Konnik | Cavalier | Elite Dismounted Konnik | Two-Handed Swordsman | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost | 60 food, 70 gold | 60 food, 75 gold | None | 45 food, 20 gold | |
Hit Points | 120 | 120 | 50 | 60 | |
Melee Attack | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | |
Attack Bonus | None | None | +4 vs Standard Building | +4 vs Standard Building +8 vs Eagles | |
Attack speed | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2 | |
Armor | 2/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 1/1+1 | |
Movement speed | 1.35 | 1.35 | 0.9 | 0.9 | |
Training time | 19 seconds | 30 seconds | 3 seconds | 21 seconds | |
Line of Sight | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
Further statistics[]
As Konniks are unique to the Bulgarians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Infantry, siege weapons (Mounted), Light Cavalry |
Weak vs. | Archers (Dismounted), Pikemen (Mounted), Monks, Camel Riders (Mounted), ranged siege weapons (Dismounted), Boyars, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Teutonic Knights, Mamelukes, War Elephants, Battle Elephants, Samurai, Cataphract (Dismounted), Flemish Militia |
Upgrades | |
Hit points | Bloodlines (+20, Mounted) |
Attack | Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings, Dismounted) |
Firing Rate | Stirrups (+33% attack speed, Mounted) |
Armor | Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1, Mounted) Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1, Dismounted) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1, Mounted) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1, Dismounted) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2, Mounted) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2, Dismounted) |
Speed | Husbandry (+10%, Mounted) Squires (+10%, Dismounted) |
Conversion defense | Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) |
Creation speed | Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, only for Castle-trained Konniks with a Berber ally only) |
Regeneration | Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle, Dismounted) |
Upgrades | Elite (Dismounted) Konnik |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Konniks cost -50% food.
Team bonuses[]
- Armenians: Dismounted Konniks have +2 Line of Sight.
- Bulgarians: Researching upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Goths: Researching Squires and Arson is 20% faster.
- Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Konniks are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Konniks are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Initially, (Dismounted) Konniks have 1.9 (2) Rate of Fire. With update 34055, they have 2.4 Rate of Fire.
- Initially, (Elite) Konniks have 110 (130) hit points. With update 34055, they have 100 (120) hit points.
- (Elite) Dismounted Konniks have a base armor of 0/0 (0/1).
- With update 42848, Dismounted Konniks now benefit from unit upgrades.
- Bulgarians: Initially, the team bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
Return of Rome[]
- (Elite) Dismounted Konniks have a base armor of 2/1 (2/2).
Trivia[]
- Konnik (конник) simply means "horseman" in Bulgarian.
- The Konnik's design is somewhat inspired from the Madara Rider rock relief.
- With 2.4 ROF, the Konnik is the slowest attacking cavalry in the game, and the second slowest infantry unit in the game (behind non-Japanese Spearman line units).
- However, before the update 34055, Konniks had a base reload time of 1.9 (same as the Paladin) and with the Stirrups upgrade, the reload time was decreased to 1.42 (as fast as Samurai), making them the cavalry unit with the highest damage output by attack. This, combined with their higher base hit points (with all upgrades, the Elite version reached 150 hit points) as well as the better reload time of the dismounted one and lack of bonus damage taken from the Samurai, made them one of the most powerful unique units in the game at that time.
- Even after the nerf, and the change to Stirrups to also affect the Knight line, Konniks are still used more frequently than Knights, since the Bulgarians have the Krepost to solve the issue of massing up unique units. Combined with their cheaper and faster Blacksmith technologies, it is easier for the Bulgarians to fully upgrade Konniks, which share the roles of both Knights and the Milita line, while also being 5 gold cheaper than Knights. After a patch that improved the armor of the dismounted Konnik, the Konnik is now more effective against most anti-cavalry units.
- The Konnik and the Serjeant are the only two unique units which can be created in two different buildings without the need of a unique technology.
- The Dismounted Konnik are one of only five infantry units that do not get an attack bonus against Eagle Warriors, the other being the Kamayuk, the Militia, the Condottiero, and other Eagles.
- Konniks previously had the normal attack sound, shared with most cavalry and infantry units. This was changed at some point, presumably when the retail version of the Definitive Edition was released. Since release, their attacks portray the flail's impact sounds.
- The Konnik and the Ratha are the only unique units whose attack speed is improved with Castle Age unique technologies (however, Stirrups doesn't affect the Dismounted Konnik, while Paiks affects both melee and ranged Rathas).
- The player can lose the game in between a Konnik dying and a Dismounted Konnik getting up if they have 0 units and buildings in between.
- Both the mounted and dismounted version of the Konnik each add to the Units Lost (for the Konnik player) and Units Killed (for the enemy) post-game statistic separately when slain, giving two total Units Killed/Lost, one for the horse and another for the rider.
- The Konnik's ability to spawn another unit after being killed is similar to the Atlantean Promethean of Age of Mythology: The Titans.