Tiger Claw

Tiger Claw
Unit information
Introduced in	The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Light infantry Melee infantry Native warrior
Age	Colonial Age
Training
Trained at	Trading Post (Bhakti Temple) Native Embassy
Food	60
Wood	50
Training limit	18 per Bhakti Temple settlement
Statistics
Hit points	150
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.0
Line of Sight	12
XP train bounty	11
XP bounty	11
Melee damage
Attack	15
Multipliers	x2.0 vs. Infantry x0.5 vs. Heavy infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege damage
Attack	20
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Indian warrior armed with sharp claws. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Tiger Claw is a melee light infantry native warrior in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that can be trained at a Trading Post built on a Bhakti Temple settlement. Wielding a bagh nakha claw, they are effective at melee combat and can combat enemy infantry.

Overview

Tiger Claws are fast melee infantry, similar to the Rodelero but still very different in practice. Unlike other similar units, Tiger Claws have a ranged resistance rather than a melee so, combined with their lack of an anti-cavalry bonus, they are ill-suited for fighting hand cavalry and heavy infantry.

However, they have an anti-infantry bonus that combined with their speed and not being classified as heavy infantry allows them to resist and hunt down enemy Skirmishers and other ranged infantry, basically working like a cheaper and weaker light infantry version of the Naginata Rider. The main difference is that Tiger Claws are quite vulnerable against artillery but resist ranged cavalry.

They can be greatly boosted by home city cards, especially those of the Iroquois and French, pushing them close to the performance of far more expensive cavalry units without taking up any population space. 

Their speed also makes them efficient raider units, while they are also affected by two out of three Bhakti technologies, making them more capable at later stages of the game.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Bhakti Discipline Training	200 wood 150 coin	Upgrades Tiger Claws to Disciplined (+25% hit points and attack)
	Bhakti Honor Training	400 wood 300 coin	Upgrades Tiger Claws to Honored (+40% hit points and attack); requires Bhakti Discipline Training
	Legendary Native Warriors Exalted Natives	1,500 food 1,500 wood	Upgrades native warriors to Legendary/Exalted (+50% hit points and attack)

The Legendary Native Warriors improvement is available in the Capitol for European civilizations and in the Town Center for Native American and Asian (as Exalted Natives) civilizations.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ranged infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Reinforced Gauntlets (+50%)
Attack	Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) File:Inca Road-building.png Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Tiger Claw

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team All Card Description Age HC level Native Treaties Each different allied native tribe sends a shipment of their respective native warriors 1 Native Warriors Native warriors cost -25% 10 Native Warrior Combat Native warriors get +25% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Native Warrior Societies Native warrior train limit +30% 25 Blood Brothers Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined and Champion/Honored (if not already) 25 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 The Native Treaties and Native Warriors cards are available to European and Native American civilizations. The Native Treaties card ships 4 Tiger Claws if the player had built a Trading Post on a Bhakti Temple settlement. The Native Warrior Combat card is available to French and Iroquois. The Blood Brothers card is available to Aztecs, French, Germans, Iroquois, Portuguese, Russians, Sioux, and Spanish. The TEAM Native Warrior Societies card is available to Aztecs, Dutch, Iroquois, and Sioux. The Fencing School card is not available to Chinese, Iroquois, Japanese, Ottomans, and Sioux. Asians Card Description Age HC level Native Alliance Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10% (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 1 Native Warrior Hitpoints Native warriors get +30% hit points and +10% speed (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 10 Native Warrior Attack Native warriors get +30% attack and train time -25% 10 The Native Alliance card is not available to the Chinese. The Native Warrior Hitpoints card is not available to the Japanese. The Native Warrior Attack card is not available to the Indians. Chinese Card Description Age HC level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Acupuncture Unit train time -20% 10 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 French Card Description Age HC level Wilderness Warfare Coureurs des Bois, Skirmishers, and native warriors get +20% hit points 25 TEAM Improved Native Warriors Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack 1 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Hire 10 Tiger Claws Ships 10 Tiger Claws +1 Villager; costs 500 coin 10 Hire 25 Tiger Claws Ships 25 Tiger Claws and upgrades them to Disciplined (if not already) +1 Villager; costs 1,000 coin 25 TEAM Hire 16 Tiger Claws Ships 16 Tiger Claws and upgrades them to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 coin 40 Iroquois Card Description Age HC level Infantry Attack Infantry gets +15% attack 10 Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Infantry Combat Infantry gets +15% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry gets +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level Onin War Infantry gets +33% siege attack 40 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level Ransack Infantry gets +50% siege attack 25 TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Sioux Card Description Age HC level Wind Runner Infantry gets +10% speed 10 Black Arrow Native warrior train time -85% 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry gets +15% attack 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

In-game dialogue

Main article: Indians (Age of Empires III)#In-game dialogue

• आदेश [Ādeś] (command)
• तैयार [Taiyār] (ready)
• हाँ? [Hān?] (yes?)
• मैं जा रहा हूँ [Main jā rahā hūn] (I am going)
• मैं करूँगा [Main karunga] (I will do it)
• हाँ [Hān] (yes)
• युद्ध करने के लिए [Yuddh karne ke liye] (to do war – To war/To battle)
• हमला [Hamalā] (attack!)
• हाँ! [Hāṃ!] (yes!)

Trivia

• Despite what their unit history states, the Tiger Claw's weapon, when examined closely, is actually the tekko-kagi instead of the proper bagh nakh.

History

“

The tiger claw, or “bagh nakh,” is a weapon named for the wound it inflicts: a series of slice marks that resemble the clawing left by a wild animal. Usually made of metal, the tiger claw was wielded by Indian assassins and warriors of the seventeenth century. The basic design consists of a metal handle that is grasped in the palm. Two to four curved claws sprout from handle, sticking from the gap between the fighter’s fingers. More of a close-quarters, brawling weapon, the tiger claw is believed to have also been used in larger battles, most famously by Sivaji, the powerful emperor of the Indian Maratha.

”

Gallery

An in-game Tiger Claw

The Tiger Claw's history portrait

Tiger Claw stats

Tiger Claw artwork from website