Unique unit (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the unique units in Age of Empires II. For the armor class, see Armor class: Unique unit. For unique units in other games of the series, see Unique unit.

A unique unit is a unit only available to a single civilization in Age of Empires II.

Overview

Each civilization in the game has one unique unit that can only be trained at the Castle in the Castle Age, and twelve civilizations have access to a second unique unit that is trained at another building.

Before Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms was released, a Castle was required to train the second unique unit. Since that was changed, the civilizations with two unique units gain the advantage of instant access to a unique unit once the Castle Age is reached.

There are roughly three categories of unique units: Castle units, non-Castle units, and shared units. As the name suggests, a Castle unit can only be trained at a Castle (except Huskarl, Tarkan, and Konnik - see the list below), while non-Castle units are created elsewhere (Longboat, Turtle Ship, Missionary, Slinger, Imperial Camel Rider, and Caravel).

Shared units, however, fill a different and broader niche since their nature means that they can be used by other civilizations in addition to their own by simply allying with their native factions. A team containing an Italian, Berber, or Vietnamese player will have access to the Condottieri, Genitours, or Imperial Skirmishers, respectively. Shared unique units are team bonuses.

Apart from the Imperial Camel Rider, Condottiero, Imperial Skirmisher, and Houfnice (three of which can be considered unique upgrades), all unique units are available in the Castle Age.

All but six (Slinger, Condottiero, Imperial Camel Rider, Missionary, Imperial Skirmisher, and Houfnice) unique units have an Elite version that possesses overall superior statistics. The upgrade is always available in the Imperial Age.

It is worth noting that the Samurai possesses an attack bonus against all unique units (including itself) except Imperial Camel Rider, Imperial Skirmisher, and Houfnice, which are technically just unique upgrades. It is the only unit that has an attack bonus against unique units.

List of unique units

All in all, there are 51 unique units:

• 15 Archers (including 8 cavalry archers)
• 15 Infantry
• 11 Cavalry
• 6 Gunpowder units
• 3 Ships
• 1 Special unit

The Age of Kings

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Britons	Longbowman	Castle	Archer with long range
Byzantines	Cataphract	Castle	Anti-infantry cavalry, resistant to attack bonuses
Celts	Woad Raider	Castle	Fast-moving, anti-building infantry
Chinese	Chu Ko Nu	Castle	Archer that fires a volley of arrows
Franks	Throwing Axeman	Castle	Infantry with ranged melee attack
Goths	Huskarl	Castle / Barracks*	Anti-archer infantry
Japanese	Samurai	Castle	Fast attacking, anti-unique unit infantry
Mongols	Mangudai	Castle	Fast attacking, anti-siege cavalry archer
Persians	War Elephant	Castle	Slow yet strong anti-building elephant
Saracens	Mameluke	Castle	Anti-cavalry camel with ranged melee attack
Teutons	Teutonic Knight	Castle	Slow, heavily armored infantry with powerful attack
Turks	Janissary	Castle	Hand cannoneer with high attack
Vikings	Berserk	Castle	Regenerating infantry
	Longboat	Dock	Warship that fires multiple arrows

Note: The Goths can train Huskarls at the Barracks after researching Anarchy.

The Conquerors

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Aztecs	Jaguar Warrior	Castle	Anti-infantry infantry
Huns	Tarkan	Castle / Stable*	Anti-building cavalry
Koreans	War Wagon	Castle	High-armored cavalry archer
	Turtle Ship	Dock	Warship with very high attack
Mayans	Plumed Archer	Castle	Cheap, fast moving, archer with high hit points
Spanish	Conquistador	Castle	Mounted hand cannoneer with high damage
	Missionary	Monastery	Mounted Monk

Note: The Huns can train Tarkans at the Stable after researching Marauders.

The Forgotten

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Incas	Kamayuk	Castle	Anti-cavalry infantry with extra range
	Slinger	Archery Range	Anti-infantry archer
Indians	Elephant Archer	Castle	High-armored ranged elephant
	Imperial Camel Rider	Stable	Anti-cavalry camel; upgrade of the Heavy Camel Rider
Italians	Genoese Crossbowman	Castle	Anti-cavalry archer
	Condottiero*	Barracks	Anti-gunpowder infantry
Magyars	Magyar Huszar	Castle	Cheap anti-siege cavalry
Slavs	Boyar	Castle	Heavily armored cavalry

*Shared unique unit

The African Kingdoms

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Berbers	Camel Archer	Castle	Anti-cavalry archer mounted archer
	Genitour*	Archery Range	Anti-archer mounted skirmisher
Ethiopians	Shotel Warrior	Castle	Infantry with fast deployment rate
Malians	Gbeto	Castle	Infantry with ranged melee attack
Portuguese	Organ Gun	Castle	Light anti-personnel siege unit
	Caravel	Dock	Ship that fires arrows with splash damage

*Shared unique unit

Rise of the Rajas

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Burmese	Arambai	Castle	Cavalry archer with high attack
Khmer	Ballista Elephant	Castle	Elephant with mounted Scorpion
Malay	Karambit Warrior	Castle	Cheap and weak infantry that only takes half a population space
Vietnamese	Rattan Archer	Castle	Archer with high pierce armor
	Imperial Skirmisher*	Archery Range	Anti-archer javelineer; upgrade of the Elite Skirmisher

*Shared unique unit

The Last Khans (Definitive Edition)

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Bulgarians	Konnik	Castle / Krepost	Cavalry that turns into an infantry after death
Cumans	Kipchak*	Castle	Cavalry archer that fires multiple arrows
Lithuanians	Leitis	Castle	Cavalry whose attack is unaffected by armor
Tatars	Keshik	Castle	Cavalry that generates gold when attacking
	Flaming Camel	Castle	Anti-cavalry camel with self-destruct attack

*Shared via the Cuman Mercenaries technology (Limited to 10 per player)

Lords of the West

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Burgundians	Coustillier	Castle	Cavalry whose attack is increased every 40 seconds
	Flemish Militia	Town Center	Anti-cavalry infantry; upgrade of the already existing Villagers
Sicilians	Serjeant	Castle / Donjon	Infantry that can build Donjons

Dawn of the Dukes

Civilization	Unique unit	Trained at	Description and specialties
Bohemians	Hussite Wagon	Castle	Siege that protect the units positioned behind them
	Houfnice	Siege Workshop	Siege that blast fortifications and formations; upgrade of the Bombard Cannon
Poles	Obuch	Castle	Brutal infantryman whose war hammer tears the armor from enemy units

Trivia

• Contrary to what the in-game Lithuanian and Polish technology trees state, the Winged Hussar is not a unique unit, as it is available to two civilizations.
• The cost of the Castle-based unique units' "Elite" upgrades varies significantly. The lowest cost for one of these Elite upgrade is 1,100 resources total (for the Mameluke) and the most expensive costs 2,800 resources (for the War Elephant).
  • Likewise, the cost of individual units also varies widely, with the cheapest Castle-based unique unit costing 40 resources (the Malay Karambit Warrior) and the most expensive costing 255 resources (the Persian War Elephant).

Gallery

All unique units in The Age of Kings

All unique units in The Conquerors

All unique units in The Forgotten

All unique units in The African Kingdoms

All unique units in Rise of the Rajas

All unique units in The Last Khans.

All unique units in Lords of the West.

All unique units in "Dawn of the Dukes"