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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For the technology in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean, see Teutonic Knights. |
| “ | Teutonic unique infantry unit. Slow and powerful. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Teutonic Knight is the unique unit of the Teutons in Age of Empires II. It is a slow, heavily armored infantry unit with a powerful attack.
Teutonic Knights can be upgraded to Elite Teutonic Knights in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Teutonic Knight is the most powerful infantry unit in the game. Fully upgraded, they have 100 HP, 21 attack, 13 melee armor, and 6 pierce armor. They can defeat fully upgraded Paladins more effectively than fully upgraded Halberdiers, but the latter are still much more cost-effective against cavalry.
Teutonic Knights are tough enough to beat almost every unranged unit in a one-on-one fight, but even with their high melee armor, high hit points, and powerful attack, they prove to be vulnerable to units such as the War Elephant and the Cataphract, as well as double-teaming from infantry who have bonuses against them, such as Samurai or Jaguar Warriors, both of which can defeat the Teutonic Knight in mass battles. The Leitis deserves a separate mention here since its attack ignores melee armor, which essentially puts the Teutonic Knight helpless and prone against them. The Obuch is also a major threat to them, as every Obuch's attack removes armor, so Obuchs can easily reduce the Teutonic Knights' major advantage and leave them prone to the attacks of other units, but Teutonic Knights will beat Obuchs on their own. The Urumi Swordsman, with the charge attack, and the attack that can ignore armor with Wootz Steel which affects all Dravidian melee units, is another trouble to Teutonic Knights.
Their biggest disadvantage, however, is their slow speed. They are slower than nearly every other non-Monk/siege unit in the game. This puts them at a disadvantage against ranged units, as all of them can hit-and-run them, though Elite Skirmishers are ineffective against them due to their low damage. Their slow speed also makes them unable to force engagements, except against units that can kill them before they can get within range (except for rams/Armored Elephants, which are easily countered by most melee units). This makes them a poor offensive unit for basing army compositions around, especially when combined with their lack of raiding potential. They are also some of the most expensive infantry units in the game.
Against Monks, Teutonic Knights may have some conversion resistance due to the Teutons' team bonus, but their slow speed still makes it likely that they will be converted. This is further compounded by the Teutons lacking Light Cavalry and having poor archers, though Heresy is available if needed.
The best partner for the Teutonic Knight are siege weapons. With their increased melee armor due to Ironclad, they can support Teutonic Knights against almost any kind of threat. Scorpions and Mangonels tackle archers and Bombard Cannons work well against siege. Unfortunately, they compete with the less expensive Halberdier for this role. The biggest threat to this combination are siege weapons on the other side, especially other Bombard Cannons and long-ranged Onagers, because they hit the entire army very hard and can also hit approaching Teutonic Knights before being reached due to their slow speed.
Comparison in the Castle Age with similar units[]
 Long Swordsman
|
 Two-Handed Swordsman
|
 Teutonic Knight
|
 Obuch
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 45 food, 20 gold | 45 food, 20 gold | 85 food, 30 gold | 55 food, 20 gold |
| Hit points | 60 | 60 | 80 | 80 |
| Speed | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Armor | 2/2 | 3/2 | 7/2 | 2/2 |
| Train Time | 21 seconds | 21 seconds | 12 seconds | 12 seconds |
| Line of Sight | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Melee attack | 9 | 12 | 14 | 8 |
| Attack bonus | +6 vs Eagle Warrior +3 vs Standard building |
+8 vs Eagle Warrior +4 vs Standard building |
+4 vs Eagle Warriors +4 vs Standard building |
+2 vs Eagle Warrior +4 vs Standard building |
| Attack speed | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Upgrade Cost and Time | 300 food, 100 gold 75 seconds |
750 food, 350 gold 100 seconds |
950 food, 500 gold 50 seconds |
800 food, 600 gold 45 seconds |
| Other | Resists conversion | Resists conversion | Resists conversion | Reduces armor by 1/1 with every attack |
Comparison in the Imperial Age with similar units[]
 Champion
|
Elite Teutonic Knight
|
Elite Obuch
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 45 food, 20 gold | 85 food, 30 gold | 55 food, 20 gold |
| Hit points | 70 | 100 | 95 |
| Speed | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Armor | 3/2 | 10/2 | 2/2 |
| Train Time | 21 seconds | 12 seconds | 12 seconds |
| Line of Sight | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Melee attack | 13 | 17 | 10 |
| Attack bonus | +8 vs Eagle Warrior +4 vs Standard building |
+4 vs Eagle Warriors +4 vs Standard building |
+3 vs Eagle Warrior +6 vs Standard building |
| Attack speed | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Other | Resists conversion | Resists conversion | Reduces armor by 1/1 with every attack |
Further statistics[]
As Teutonic Knights are unique to the Teutons, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Elite Skirmishers, melee units, buildings |
| Weak vs. | Archers, Scorpions, Mangonels, Monks, Cataphracts, Leiciai, Obuchs, Jaguar Warriors, Samurai, War Elephants, Dravidian heavy infantry with Wootz Steel |
| Upgrades | |
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings)
|
| Armor |  Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Squires (+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)
|
| Regeneration | Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite Teutonic Knight
|
Team bonuses[]
Armenians: Teutonic Knights have +2 Line of Sight.- Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades are researched 80% faster.
- Goths: Researching Squires and Arson is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Teutonic Knights are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Teutonic Knights are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- Teutonic Knights training time decreased (19 → 12 seconds).
- Heresy introduced.
The Forgotten[]
- Non-Elite Teutonic Knights hit points increased (70 → 80).
The African Kingdoms[]
Definitive Edition[]
- Tracking removed, all infantry instantly receive +2 Line of Sight upon reaching the Feudal Age.
- With update 36906, Teutonic Knights move speed increased (0.7 → 0.8).
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- With update 56005:
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 81058, Teutonic Knights gold cost decreased (40 gold → 30 gold).
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Teutonic Knight:
History[]
| “ | At the height of the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land, German crusaders formed an order of warrior monks called the Teutonic Knights. This order gave up crusading in the Eastern Mediterranean and turned its attention to Eastern Europe. Through conquest they brought Christianity to the Baltic region and forests of what became Prussia. They built castles from which they could control the surrounding countryside. The Teutonic Knights were committed warriors who carved out an empire that lasted into the twentieth century. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II manual | ||
Trivia[]
- The Teutonic Knights are based on the real life knights of the Teutonic Order.
- The Teutonic Knight appears to be wearing a mail hauberk (under a surcoat and a cloak). Chain mail was very good at deflecting blows from bladed weapons, like the curved swords used by Middle Eastern soldiers, but could be pierced by arrows, stabbing weapons, and eventually firearms when these became available.
- Historically, Teutonic knights almost always fought on horseback. The in-game Teutonic Knight fights on foot, both because of gameplay considerations and because it would otherwise heavily resemble the Paladin.
- They have a horseback version in the Scenario Editor unit Crusader Knight, which has less speed and hit points than a Paladin, but high attack and armor (though less melee armor than a Teutonic Knight).
- With 100 hit points, the Elite Teutonic Knight is the strongest infantry unit in the game and is tied with the Mayan Elite Eagle Warrior with El Dorado and the Armenian Champion with Fereters as the foot soldier with the third highest hit points in the game.
- With 13 melee armor, the Elite Teutonic Knight has the highest melee armor of all units in the game.
- With 21 attack, the Elite Teutonic Knight has the second highest attack of all infantry units, only behind the Elite Shotel Warrior.
- At 85 food, 30 gold, the Teutonic Knight has the highest effective cost of all trainable infantry units (if the Huskarl's civilization discount bonus is factored in).
- The Teutonic Knight can be compared to the Hoplite line from Age of Empires; Both move slowly, have high amount of hit points, very high attack and melee armor, and even a fair amount of pierce armor, but only the Macedonian one has resistance against conversion and higher pierce armor due to their civilization bonuses.
- Despite having appealing stats, the Teutonic Knight is one of the least used unique units, due to the slow speed, which makes it vulnerable against ranged units (especially since Teutons do not have particularly good Elite Skirmishers).
- Since update 56005, the "put on your capes" cheat code turns all the player's infantry units into Elite Teutonic Knights.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
