Mangudai (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the Age of Empires II unit. For the unit in Age of Empires IV, see Mangudai (Age of Empires IV).

Mangudai
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Type	Mounted archer
Civilization	Mongols
Age	Castle Age
Training
Trained at	Castle
Wood	55
Gold	65
Training time	26 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	60
Pierce attack	6, 8 (Elite)
Attack bonus	+3, +5 (Elite) vs Siege weapon +1 vs Spearman
Reload time	1.68
Attack delay	0.5
Range	4
Accuracy	95%
Projectile speed	7
Melee armor	0, 1 (Elite)
Pierce armor	0
Armor class	Archer Cavalry archer Cavalry Unique unit
Speed	1.4
Line of Sight	6
Unit evolution
Upgrades to	Elite Mangudai
Upgrade cost	1,100 food, 675 gold
Upgrade time	50 seconds

“	Mongol unique cavalry archer with fast-firing attack.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Mangudai is the unique unit of the Mongols in Age of Empires II. It is a mounted archer with an attack bonus against siege weapons.

Mangudai can be upgraded to Elite Mangudai in the Imperial Age.

Tactics

Mangudai are effective against slow-moving units, such as Monks, Villagers, and infantry. They can also take down unsuspecting archers. With bonus damage dealt to rams, Mangudai can also be used to counter them effectively from behind fortifications.

However, despite their attack bonus against them, attacking (massed) Scorpions and Mangonels is not recommended unless there are enough Mangudai to destroy the machine in one volley and they can be micromanaged to dodge the projectiles. Camel Riders and Mamelukes are a threat. However, these units have low pierce armor and hence take a lot of damage themselves. Skirmishers and Light Cavalry can also be dangerous to Mangudai in sufficiently large numbers.

Mangudai are usually paired with Hussars, Steppe Lancers, and siege weapons, because they all benefit from the Mongols' civilization bonuses and unique technology Drill, respectively.

Mangudai also have pretty low attack delay, meaning micromanaging them is much easier than Cavalry Archers. They have +20% hit points over Cavalry Archers, meaning keeping them alive is much easier too.

Despite the official description, Mangudai attack slower than Cavalry Archers. However, since Thumb Ring grants a bigger Rate of Fire boost to Mangudai, they become slightly better in attack speed.

Comparison in the Castle Age

	Mangudai	Mongol Cavalry Archer	Camel Archer	Kipchak
Training Cost	55 wood, 65 gold	40 wood, 60 gold	50 wood, 60 gold	60 wood, 35 gold
Training Time	26 seconds	34 seconds	25 seconds	20 seconds
Hit Points	60	50	55	40
Pierce Attack	6	6	7	4 + 2
Attack Bonus	+1 vs Spearman +3 vs Siege weapons	+2 vs Spearman	+4 vs Mounted Archers	+1 vs Spearman
Range	4	4	4	4
Rate of Fire	1.68 TR - 1.428	1.6 TR - 1.44	2 TR - 1.7	2.2 TR - 1.87
Attack Delay	0.5	0.9	0.63	0.5
Armor	0/0	0/0	0/1	0/0
Movement Speed	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.4
Line of Sight	6	5	5	6
Upgrade Cost and Time	1,100 food, 675 gold 50 seconds	900 food, 500 gold 50 seconds	1,000 wood, 500 gold 45 seconds	1,100 food, 1,000 wood 65 seconds
Other	Fire 25% faster	Fire 25% faster	Can be trained and upgraded 25% faster Has Armor class: Camel instead of Armor class: Cavalry	Additional projectiles have 0 melee attack and 3 pierce attack which helps against Rams and Monks

Comparison in the Imperial Age

	Elite Mangudai	Mongol Heavy Cavalry Archer	Elite Camel Archer	Elite Kipchak
Training Cost	55 wood, 65 gold	40 wood, 60 gold	50 wood, 60 gold	60 wood, 35 gold
Training Time	26 seconds	27 seconds	20 seconds	20 seconds
Hit Points	60	60	60	45
Pierce Attack	8	7	8	5 + 3
Attack Bonus	+1 vs Spearman +5 vs Siege weapons	+2 vs Spearman	+6 vs Mounted Archers	+1 vs Spearman
Range	4	4	4	4
Rate of Fire	1.428	1.44	1.7	1.87
Attack Delay	0.5	0.88	0.63	0.5
Armor	1/0	1/0	1/1	0/0
Movement Speed	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.621
Line of Sight	6	6	5	6
Other	Civilization lacks Ring Archer Armor Fire 25% faster	Civilization lacks Ring Archer Armor Fire 25% faster	Civilization lacks Parthian Tactics Can regenerate 0.25 HP/s Trained 25% faster Has Armor class: Camel instead of Armor class: Cavalry	Civilization lacks Bracer and Husbandry Additional projectiles have 0 melee attack and 3 pierce attack which helps against Rams and Monks

The comparison of units are a mixed bag with various missing technologies and civilization bonus. The different effect of Thumb Ring on different units does not help either. In summary, we can say that:

• Kipchaks have the most pierce armor, because of having both Parthian Tactics and Ring Archer Armor, having 2 more than others. Camel Archers have the second most, on account of having 1 base pierce armor. All units are equal in melee armor considering base melee armor, Ring Archer Armor, and Parthian Tactics.
• Cavalry Archers and Kipchak have the lower attack (-1 compared to others), considering Kipchaks have extra projectiles and lack Bracer, except against buildings (others do 1, Kipchaks do 3/4), rams (Cavalry Archers and Camel Archers do 1, Kipchaks do 7/10, Mangudai do 3/5) and Monks (others do their advertised attack, Kipchaks do 10/14 + Blacksmith upgrades).
• Mangudai are the hardest to mass, considering their relatively long creation time and being created at Castles. Cavalry Archers need Archery Ranges, whereas the other 2 can be created in 20 seconds, considering Kasbah for Berbers. Camel Archers also have regeneration with their Imperial Age unique technology, which helps keep them alive for longer.
• Mangudai attack the fastest, with Mongol Cavalry Archers being the close second. Camel Archers are third. Regular Cavalry Archers are fourth. Kipchaks attack the slowest.
• Elite Mangudai and Elite Kipchaks have +3 vs Spearmen. Heavy Cavalry Archers have comparatively 1 less base attack, but +6 vs Spearmen. Elite Camel Archers have no attack bonus vs Spearmen.
• Considering Husbandry and the Cuman bonus, all units except Imperial Age Kipchaks are equally fast. Imperial Age Kipchaks are 5% faster than others.

Further statistics

As Mangudai are unique to the Mongols, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry, siege weapons
Weak vs.	Paladins, Camel Riders, Skirmishers, Eagle Warriors, Genoese Crossbowmen, Ghulams, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Camel Archers, Rattan Archers, Samurai, Kamayuks
Upgrades
Hit points	Bloodlines (+20)
Attack	Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Parthian Tactics (+2 attack against Spearmen)
Range	Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
Firing rate	Thumb Ring (+18%)
Accuracy	Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%) Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor	Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1) Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1) Parthian Tactics (+1/+2)
Speed	Husbandry (+10%)
Conversion defense	Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted)
Creation speed	Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
Upgrades	Elite Mangudai

Civilization bonuses

• Mongols: Mangudai attack 25% faster.

Team bonuses

• Britons: Researching Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics is 10% faster.
• Bulgarians: Researching Blacksmith upgrades is 80% faster.
• Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
• Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
• Magyars: Mangudai are created 25% faster.
• Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
• Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Mangudai are researched 25% faster.
• Tatars: Mangudai have +2 LOS.
• Teutons: Mangudai are more resistant to conversion.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Mangudai only have a single attack bonus against siege weapons of +3 (+5 for Elite).
• Mangudai have a reload time of 2.0.
• Mangudai have an accuracy of 100%.
• Mangudai move at a speed of 1.43.
• Mangudai have a train time of 21 seconds.
• Mangudai (non-Elite) have a frame delay of 10.
• Elite Mangudai have a frame delay of 0.

The Conquerors

• Mangudai gain a +1 attack bonus against Spearmen.
• Mangudai reload time increased (made slower) to 2.1.
• Mangudai accuracy lowered to 95%.
• Mangudai speed increased to 1.45.
• Mangudai train time increased to 26 seconds.
• Bloodlines introduced.
• Heresy introduced.
• Parthian Tactics introduced.
• Thumb Ring introduced.

The Forgotten

• Mangudai attack bonus against siege weapons reduced to +1.
• Mangudai receive an attack bonus against rams of +3 (+5 for Elite).
• Mangudai (non-Elite) frame delay reduced to 5.

The African Kingdoms

• With patch 4.8, Elite Mangudai now have a frame delay of 5.
• With patch 4.8, Mangudai get back their initial attack bonus of +3 (+5 for Elite) against siege weapons. The attack bonus against rams is removed.

Lords of the West

• With update 47820, Mangudai move at a speed of 1.4.

Heroes

There are two heroes in the game with the appearance of a Mangudai:

• Bleda the Hun (before the Definitive Edition)
• Genghis Khan
• Tamerlane

Trivia

• The Mangudai is the only unique unit that has the same hit points as its Elite version, with 60 HP.
• Historical Mangudai were Mongol army's vanguards, named after the Manghud, a Mongol clan related to Genghis Khan's Kiyad clan.
• The Mangudai historically rode the Mongolian horse, which is much smaller than a warhorse elsewhere in the world, and almost pony-sized. The Mangudai in-game ride the same sized warhorses as other units.
• Since update 56005, the "yes we khan" cheat code turns all of the player's Mangudai into Genghis Khan in the Genghis Khan campaign.

History

“	The Mongols were united by Genghis Khan, who took them off on a campaign of conquest that reached from the Pacific to the Mediterranean to Central Europe. The Mongols were superb horsemen and each warrior kept a stable of ponies so that fresh mounts were always available. The strength of the Mongol armies was the horse archer firing a composite bow from the saddle. The best of these archers, called the mangudai, used great tactics to catch enemies at a disadvantage. They used feints and traps to wear out enemy cavalry and shoot it to pieces. Slower troops could be shot to pieces at range with little risk. Enemy armies were exhausted and shattered without ever coming to grips with the elusive mangudai. The main weakness of the Mongol army was that only great leaders could keep it together. When the great Khan or later leaders died, the army dissolved into factions bickering for primacy.	”
—Age of Empires II manual

Gallery

Mangudai in the HD Edition and Definitive Edition

A group of Mangudai in the HD Edition

A group of Mangudai defending a Castle from Capped Rams

Mangudai artwork in the campaigns

Model of an elite Mongol cavalryman

Historical reconstruction of a Mangudai

Mongol cavalry as depicted in Rashid-ad-Din's Jami' at-Tawarikh; early 14th century

A section of the main menu background for the Mongols event in 2020, featuring Khans, Mangudai, Steppe Lancers, and Battering Rams

Video

How good are Mangudai? (AoE2)

ELITE MANGUDAI vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT AoE II Definitive Edition