The Royalist is an Imperial Age politician in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean, available to the Dutch, French, Italians, Russians, and Swedes.
If chosen to advance to the Imperial Age, the following Royal House units will appear at the Home City shipment point:
- Dutch – 17 Line Infantry
- French and Italians – 18 Royal Musketeers; For the Italians, if the Advanced Politicians Home City Card was sent, they will get 15 Royal Dragoons instead.
- Russians – 18 Northern Musketeers
- Swedes – 17 Mountain Troopers
Respective Royal House units will be upgraded to Royal Guard.
Strategy[]
The Royalist offers units from European royal houses, so neither possible option takes population. Normally in the late game, players are often near their maximum population space. In this case, Dutch, French, Italians, Russians or Swedes may use The Royalist to save some population space in order to still get some unit shipments in the Imperial Age or keep training units.
For Italians, since Royal Musketeers are infantry, if the Italian player didn't get the Advanced Politicians card, The Royalist may be a good option if the player focused on infantry. It is recommended that the player should get earlier politicians like The Marksman. Otherwise, if the player picked Advanced Politicians, then The Royalist may help with a cavalry strategy, and The Cavalry Marshal should be picked in the Industrial Age.
The French are probably the civilization that may make the best possible use of The Royalist, since Royal Musketeers are native units, and the French have several unique shipments that apply to them.
Recommended shipments[]
All civilizations[]
- Advanced Arsenal (all except Swedes and Italians).
- Blood Brothers (French and Russians): Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined/Veteran and Champion/Honored/Royal Guard (if not already); Native Embassies get +40% hit points and +5 build limit.
- Unit shipments that complement the units shipped.
- 25 Bourbon Allies (French and Italians): Ships 25 Royal Musketeers.
- Fencing School (all except French).
Dutch[]
- TEAM Infantry Hitpoints: The player's infantry get +15% hit points; allied infantry get +10% hit points.
- TEAM Native Weapon Trade: Native warrior build limit +20% useful if playing on a map that features House of Habsburg sites for allowing the player to train more of this unit if needed.
French[]
- Native Warrior Combat: Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack.
- Ancien Régime: Ships 1 Royal Embassy Wagon; Enables Royal Musketeer, Royal Dragoon, Veteran Bourbons, Royal Guard Bourbons, Bourbon Reforms and Royal Tax at the Royal Embassy; Royal Musketeer and Royal Dragoon will now cost population in the Royal Embassy or the Home City.
- Royal Fencing School: Infantry and Shock Infantry train time -40%; +3 Royal Musketeers.
- TEAM French Auxiliaries Combat: Native warriors get +10% hit points and attack.
- TEAM Senegalese Riflemen: Ranged infantry get +15% attack.
- Wilderness Warfare: Coureurs des Bois, Cree Coureurs des Bois, native warriors, Skirmishers, and Settlers get +20% hit points.
Italians[]
- Advanced politicians: It switches Royal musketeer for Royal Dragoons.
- Infantry Hitpoints: Infantry get +15% hit points. Useful without Advanced Politicians.
- Schiavoni Swords: All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack.
- Cavalry Combat: Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack. Useful with Advanced Politicians.
- Milanese Arsenal.
Russians[]
- Ransack: Infantry get +50% siege attack.
- Milyutin Reforms: Turns all Rekruts into Northern Musketeers and upgrades them to Veteran and Royal Guard (if not already); removes Northern Musketeers training limit, but now they use 1 population space.
Swedes[]
- 7 Wittelsbach Allies: Ships 7 Mountain Troopers.
Changelog[]
Knights of the Mediterranean[]
- Initially, the Royalist is available only to the Italians. With update 13.27885, the Dutch, French, Russians, and Swedes all received access to the Royalist.
Trivia[]
- The Royalist's portrait is based on that of Klemens von Metternich, an influential diplomat noted for his commitment to authoritarian monarchism and his creation of the Concert of Europe, a diplomatic order which supported that ideology, most notably in the division of Italy into Habsburg-aligned monarchies.
- The units that receive from the Royal Houses represent the ruling House or influence of the Royal Houses of respective nations.
- Dutch (House of Habsburg) – represents the influence of the Habsburg to Netherlands.
- French (House of Bourbon) - The ruling House of French in the period of Age of Empires III.
- Italians (House of Bourbon) – represents influence of the French/Bourbon to Italy, in both northern and southern regions.
- Russians (House of Oldenburg) – House of Romanov, the ruling House of Russia in 17th-20th century, which was descendants of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, that is cadet branch of House of Oldenburg.
- Swedes (House of Wittelsbach) – Palatinate-Zweibrücken, the ruling House of Sweden in 17th century, which was a branch of House of Wittelsbach.
