User blog:Papermaniac/Posible bonuses for Age of Empires II still not used by any civilization part 3: Infantry, Archers and Cavalry

In this thirth part I will analize and adress bonuses that can be posible but still not used on Non siege land military units. In Part 1 i already mentioned some posible bonuses regarding the use of military units that are economic focused rather that being focused on combat, in part 2 i already analized some bonuses that impact the Archers in regards of bonuses applied to proyectiles since proyectile bonuses also benefits Towers and Castles as well as some bonuses in regards of improving defenses by using some military units in conjuction with the buildings. In this Thirth part we willl discuss all possible bonuses in a general way ( bonuses that can apply to all the army or to a set of units) and also in pmuch more particular ways ( bonuses that may be made for an specific unit line).

As always i hope the community participates in this kind of discussions and bring their thoughts and ideas on this.

August 30 Update: Since Dawn of the Dukes is now here and there were several big changes to some civilizations; several bonuses are now eliminated from the list, while some new others based on the mechanics the new expantion has bringed to us are now added.

General military bonuses

1. All military units are a cheaper: There are already bonuses that make a set of military units cheaper; Goths have cheaper infantry, Mayans have cheaper archers, Berbers have cheaper Cavalry, Vikings have cheapers warships and Slavs have Cheaper siege Workshop units. Also we have some generalistic bonuses that reduces the cost of units on one of the resources like the Portuguese which their units cost 20% less gold and Koreans which all units ( except Siege Units) cost 20% less Wood, Also Byzantines have reduced costs for the Spearmen line, Skirmishers and Camels and Italians have cheaper Gunpowder units. However it is posible to think about a civilization with a bonus like this " All military units cost 5% less" which is a much more generalitic bonus applied to the overall cost of units, also it is posible to think in a bonus similar to the Portuguese and Korean one but applied to the food costs, somethink like " all military units cost 10%/ 15%/20% less food" In this case the bonus may be staggered because the Scout Cavalry just costs food, but in any case a civilization with food reduced costs may be a very potent infantry and cavalry civilization, as well as a potent trash civilization.
2. All military units have 5% more hitpoints: we already have civilizations with hitpoint bonuses applied to a type of units: Franks Cavalry have 25% more HP ( but not bloodlines), Vikings Infantry have 10%/15%/20% more HP, Portuguese ships with +10% HP, Celts Furor Celtica technology gives 40% more HP to Siege Wprkshop units, Vietnamese Archers with +20% more HP and Turks Gunpowder units have +25% more HP. However it may still be possible to think about a civilizations which all its military have slightly better hitpoints. In an hipothetical civilization that provides +5% hitpoints to all units + having bloodlines a Knight of them would have the exact same amount of Hitpoints than a Frank Knight but its Cavalier and Paladin would be inferior to the Franks. There is also still the posibility of a bonus like this " gold free military units have +15%/20%/25% more Hit points" which focalizes in the Spearmen line, Scout Cavalry Line and Skirmishers.
3. Having acces to the Blacksmith in Dark age and getting blacksmith upgrades an age earlier: Probably a bonus like this may be accompained with a Blacksmith technologies slight discounts much like the Burgundian earlier economic technologies have, just for enable the player with this bonus to effectively research these upgrades earlier. The set of units that may get the most benefit from a bonus like this is the Infantry since the Militia is the very first unit any civilization get acces from Dark Age, Archers and Cavalry may not get the same amount of benefit from earlier Blacksmith technologies because both types of units becomes available since Feudal Age ( unless a civilization with this bonus also have earlier stable or earlier archery range as bonuses).
4. All military units move a bit faster ( 5% at most): We already have civilizations that have a bonus like this but in a more specialized way: Cumans with faster cavalry but not husbandry, Celts with faster infantry but not squires, Mongols Drill technology making their siege workshop units much faster, and Berbers with faster ships, There are still no civilization with overall faster archers but Lithuanians have faster Skirmishers. A civilization with this bonus depending if they get acces Squires its infantry can match the speed of the Celts infantry and the same applies if a civilization like this has acces to Husbandry in comparison with Cuman Cavalry but unlike those civs for doing that this hypothetic civiization still has to research the corresponding technologies.
5. Trash Units are created 100% faster: This can be done as a unique technology.

Infantry bonuses

General infantry bonuses

1. All Barracks technologies and upgrades cost half the price: Italians have a similar Bonus for its navy having all dock technologies at half the price and Burgundians have Stable technologies and upgrades at half price. This type of bonus may be applied for an infantry civilization and probably if that civilization has acces to the Eagle Warriors and full upgrades for the Champion and Halberdier the resource savings can be very significant and can help for strategies such as Feudal Age Man-at-Arms rush, Eagle Warrior rush at Castle Age or for defending against cavalry raids better at early Castle and Imperial age by researching early the Pikemen and Halberdier Upgrades at half price. An hypothetic civilization with this bonus can be compared to the Slavs free supply bonus or the Bulgarian auto upgrade bonus for the Sword line infantry since by halving the price of both Supplies and the Men-at-arms upgrade its almost like that civilization have one of those technologies for free
2. Barracks cost a lot less ( like 100 wood instead 175 wood): Reducing the cost of the barracks may aid on spamming infantry. Malians already have a slight Wood discount bonus for all buildings but there is still room for an specialized version of this type of bonus applied to a military building like the barracks
3. Armor upgrades for the infantry at the blacksmith are free: Magyars already have the Attack upgrades at the Blacksmith for free but this benefits both Infantry and Cavalry. Getting the armor upgrades for free is much more focused since each type of units has their own line of blackmith armor upgrades.
4. Squires, Arson and Supplies available an age earlier. Having the Barracks technologies an age earlier may be a great infantry bonus, but still the player has to research them. The technology that can favor the player the most of a bonus like this is Squires since is the cheapest of the three costing only 100 food ( unlike Arson and Supplies which both have a gold cost) which is a price most players can pay on Feudal Age.
5. Certain Villager technologies benefiting infantry. Incas currently have a bonus that plays the other way around by having villagers that benefit from Infantry blacksmith upgrades, so it is posible to have Infantry that improves with a set of villager technologies. Probably the only technology that we may exclude from this formula is Loom since the extra hitpoints and armor it provides is too much for Dark and Feudal Age infantry, but in the cases like Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart it may be appliable but probably the civilization that enables infantry to get benefit from these two technologies should lack Squires like the Celts since otherwise the resulting infantry would get + 30% faster movement speed, but with only wheelbarrow and Hand Cart and no Squires it is would be only 20% and it can be a balanced bonus because the player still has to research both technologies ( unlike Celts which have their faster infantry for free). Sapper for infantry is also an interesting idea; that technology comes until Castle age and needs a Castle to be researched while the tecnology itself is not cheap, so an Infantry with the Sappers anti building attack bonus can be an interesting option to have, probably that civilization should have to lack Arson which gives also anti building bonus damage but with less effect.
6. Sanctity and Fervor benefitting infantry: Bohemians have something like this for their villagers so this concept can be applied to Infantry, this way that civilization will have faster infantry that also has some more hitpoints from Castle Age onwards unlike Celts or vikings that have similar advantages but much earlier and for free.
7. All infantry regenerate hit points but in a slow pace. I already take this idea for my Polinesian civilization concept made as a unique technology. Obviously if the civilization has Eagle Warriors this can be more interesting and of course the regeneragion should be slower than the Viking Berserk regeneration without Berserkergang. In the case of this bonus the main advantage comes out after winning battles since the player has to rely less on Monks or buildings for healing the troops, also the infantry is the one of the types of units most overlooked when healing since they are usually very cheap and easy to replace.
8. Creating a Barracks spams a unit. Probably the most balanced way to implement this idea is making the Barracks to spam members of the Spearmen line ( 2 at most) since these units are already cheap and frail; making each barracks to spam one Militia line unit may also be a good bonus. Making the barracks to spam an eagle warrior is probably a bad idea since Eagle Warriors as its suggested by its gold cost should be more difficult to amass since they are a unit that is made for dealing with archers, monks, siege weapons and for raiding.
9. Squires and Arson are free: Slavs already have Supplies for free, having Squires for free may be too similar to the Celt Infantry bonus but if going along with Arson it may be an ok bonus
10. Infantry returns part of its cost if killed. Saracens already have Madrasah that is a technology that makes monks to return part of its cost if killed, this mechanic may be implemented on infantry which may enable the civilization who has a bonus like this to respawn their army more easily after their infantry is killed so their infantry may play the role of " cannon fodder" more properly. The amount of the resources refunded may be superior to the Goth discount bonus on infantry units in order to be balanced
11. Infantry absorb 75% of all incoming bonus damage. Sicilians have the generalistic bonus of units absorbing 50% less bonus damage however it is posible to have a similar bonus applied to only infantry and in this sense a civilization with access to Eagle warriors may be interesting as Sicilians doesn't have this unit. a native american civilization with a bonus like this may have eagle warriors that are actually good fighting against their natural counters.
12. Infantry with better line of sight: This can be ok for a team bonus
13. Relics improve infantry in some way: Lithuanians already have a similar bonus that applies to their unique unit and the Knight, a bonus like this may enable to repeat an already existing bonus but in a better way and still be balanced because that would rely on relic availability. Halberdiers may be excluded from a bonus like this because of their cheapness ( like the Scout cavalry is excluded from the Lithuanian cavalry bonus)
14. Infantry can be created at Houses or Drop sites: This is an interesting posibility since for example the player instead of placing barracks it may only place a house for starting to perform an attack, but still that player will still need a barracks for the upgrades. A bonus like this should only focus on one line of infantry either on the spearmen, Eagle Warrior or the Militia line but not all of them at the same time. Probably the training time in these buildings should be slower than a barracks as those buildings are cheaper than a barracks
15. Infantry with better frame delay: The Frame Delay is a hidden atribute all units have. The Frame Delay, delays the first attack when the unit is tasked to do so. The lower the frame delay the better for a unit when microing so lowering the frame delay of Infantry units can be a good bonus that is still on the table as no civilization has addressed it as a bonus.
16. Each Barracks upgrade spams a infantry unit: Probably the most balanced version for this is by applying to the Militia line. Giving a Eagle warrior for each barracks upgrade may also be ok; while doing this with the Spearmen line may be good for a team bonus since its the weaker and cheaper of the Barracks units. A bonus like this may enable for a good Feudal Age Men At Arms Rush if applied to the militia line

Militia line bonuses

1. Militia gaining bonus Damage against certain unit types. Vikings Already have Chieftains which gives all infantry inluding militia to have bonus attack vs cavalry, however it is possible to imagine a similar bonus or unique technology that may gave militia attack bonuses vs units like Archers, siege, Monks or Trash units to name some types of units. Also there is still no unit that deal bonus damage against villagers and that idea applied to infantry may be interesting I already used that idea for the unique unit of my Polynesian civilization concept.
2. Militia having attack that bypass armor. The Lithuanians already have the Leitis which is a unique unit similar to the Knight line that has a melee attack that bypass armor, this idea may be implemented on infantry, probably the best way to implement it is by using the concept as a unique technology.
3. Militia line upgrades available one age earlier: This may be an op bonus if applied to all stages of this unit however if the bonus states something like " Long Swordsman and Two-Handed Swordsman are available one age earlier" it may be an ok and balanced bonus
4. Having an " Imperial champion" upgrade: Considering players have to use two upgrades to reach the Champion in Imperial Age this may seem unlikely unless the civilization that may have this bonus also has the previous one. The resulting " Imperial Champion" should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in attack against an Aztec or Burmese Champion, with less HP than a viking Champion, less attack rate than a Japanese Champion, less armored than a Bulgarian Two handed swordsman or Teuton Champion in Melee , less Pierce armored than a Malian Champion and should still have the same movement speed of the Champion.
5. Militia line having a " charge attack" like Burgundian Coustilier: This is unlikely to happen since the charge attack of the coustilier is more useful for hit and run strategies that the Militia line is unabled to make. However if implemented it may be done by making this a unique technology at Castle Age.
6. Militia line units enabled to create Barracks: This may be seen similar to the Sicilian Donjon and Serjeant mechanic but differences are key, Serjeants are superior in stats than the regular Man-at arms while also be more costly; while donjons are a variant of a Tower so it has an attack unlike the Barracks. If a civilization have members of the militia line enabled to create barracks this bonus may be employed of course for infantry rushes but not for Tower rushes like the Sicilian Donjon Rush. This idea may be better implemented for the Militia line than the Spearmen or Eagle Warriors since the cost and function of the Militia units is more similar to that of the Serjeants for sicilians, also players can train militia since Dark Age unlike the other two infantry unit lines and unlike the Sicilian Serjeants.

Spearmen line bonuses

1. Spearmen gaining bonus Damage against certain unit types. Vikings Already have Chieftains which gives all infantry inluding Spearmen to have more bonus attack vs cavalry, however it is possible to imagine a similar bonus or unique technology that may gave the spearmen line attack bonuses vs units like Archers, siege, Monks or Trash units to name some types of units. Also there is still no unit that deal bonus damage against villagers and that idea applied to infantry may be interesting I already used that idea for the unique unit of my Polynesian civilization concept.
2. Spearmen line upgrades available one age earlier: Considering all civilizations can create barracks already at the Dark Age this can be a great infantry bonus, I already use this idea for my Polynesian civilization Concept. Aside of the cost and attack bonuses the Spearman stats are pretty comparable to the Militia by having only 5 more hit points than the militia, one less melee attack, slower rate of fire but a bit faster movement speed and no armor unlike militia that has pierce armor; the same applies for the pikeman if compared to the Man- at-Arms and the Halberdier if compared to the Long Swordsmen. The main downside for a bonus like this is the price for the unit upgrades which may be adressed by reducing the Pikeman upgrade at feudal age in order to make this bonus more viable. A bonus like this may enable the civilization that has it to perform Dark age rushes with Spearmen which doesn't cost gold so it puts less pressure in the player's economy than if performing a rush with militia, the same player may also then use pikemen in feudal age for defending against scout rushes or for making a pikemen rush in feudal age and finally have the Halberdier upgrade ready at Castle age for dealing against the tipycal Knight rush.
3. Having an " Imperial Halberdier" upgrade: The resulting " Imperial Halberdier" should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in attack against an Aztec pikemen or Burmese Halberdier, with less HP than a hipothetic Viking Halberdier, less attack rate than a Japanese Halberdier, less melee armored than a Bulgarian Halberdier or Teuton Halberdier, less Pierce armored than a Malian Pikeman or Lithuanian Halberdier and should still have the same movement speed of the Halberdier.
4. Sperman line line having a " charge attack" like Burgundian Coustilier: This is unlikely to happen since the charge attack of the Coustilier is more useful for hit and run strategies that the Spearman line is unabled to make. However if implemented it may be done by making this a unique technology at Castle Age. and unlike the Militia line Halberdiers move a bit Faster and can be massed more easily so a charge attack may have another use.
5. Supplies benefits Spearmen Line: Supplies only reduces the food cost of the Militia line, the -15 food discount of supplies can be compared to the Goth and Byzantine discount bonus at dark age as the 25% reduction for the Spear line unit these two civilizations have at Feudal age traduces into -9 food cost and -6 wood cost reduction ( for -15 reouces total) however since the player still has to research Supplies this may be used for a Team bonus. this bonus can anyway make more easy to spam spearmen line infantry by putting less pressure on food stock.
6. Spearmen variant unit that haves the obuch ability. Obuchs are much more akin to the champion so maybe there is room for a Unique unit that haves some anti-cavalry bonus plus damaging armor gimmick, that at the same time has a weaker normal attack than the Obuch.

Eagle Warrior bonuses

Eagle Warrior is a unit with a lot of potential since only three civilizations have access to it currently. Of course any civilization that may have them should be "native american" themed or " Oceania " themed at most since Cavalry was not available to most of those civilizations. Since the Couriers Unique technology effect ( more speed for Eagles) was removed in favor of Fabric Shileds I will not analize that bonus ( however a speed boost for the eagles can still be an ok bonus if made as a bonus and not as a unique technology). When doing bonuses for eagle warriors or a unique unit based on an Eagle warrior the modder or developer may consider that the Eagle warrior should be a " multipurpose raiding infantry" in contrast with the Spearmen line which is a trash unit anti cavalry infantry, or the Militia line which should be treated as a mainstay regular infantry.

1. Eagle Warriors gaining bonus Damage against certain unit types. .Eagle Warriors already have a lot of attack bonuses that includes cavalry, Monks, ships and siege units, however it is posible to imagine a civilization which have Eagle warriors with better attack bonuses against all the armor classes previously mentioned or a civilization with eagle warriors that deal bonus damage against Infantry and Archers.
2. Eagle line upgrades available one age earlier: Since all players can already create barracks at Dark Age this can be a viable bonus but probably the Eagle scout at Dark age must be created at a slower pace than in Feudal age for balance since Eagle Warriors are clearly better than the Militia while still being costly.
3. Having an " Imperial Eagle Warrior" upgrade: The resulting Imperial Eagle Warrior should have overall better stats but still be inferior in hit points, armor and attack than their Aztec, Inca and Mayan counterparts respectively.
4. Eagle Warriors having a " charge attack" like Burgundian Coustilier: From the three Barracks units the Eagle Warrior is the most feasible for having something similar to the Coustilier attack since it moves fast enough for raiding thus enabling Hit and run strategies. This may be implemented for a unique unit variant of an Eagle Warrior or for a Unique technology.
5. Eagle Warriors having better attack rate. The Japanese Infantry units have +33% faster attack rate but they don't have Eagle Warriors. Any civilization with Eagle Warriors that attack faster may be enabled for better Eagle Warrior rushes and raidings
6. Eagle Warriors having trample damage: Slavs Druzhina makes Slavic infantry to deal trample damage however Slavs don't have access to the Eagle Warrior so this can be implemented as a bonus for a Native American Civilization probably made as a Unique technology. This posibility in theory may enable the Eagle Warrior to perform better at massive battles against other melee units
7. Eagle Warrior upgrades are free: Eagle Warrior upgrades are costly and the unit itself is not cheap so this can be a good bonus. Probably this may only apply to the Eagle Warrior upgrade but not to the Elite one
8. Having cheaper Eagle Warriors, Probably a discount like " Eagle Warriors cost 15%/20%/25% less gold in Feudal /Castle /Imperial Ages" may work nicely since they already cost only 20 food ( but the Gold Cost is their main problem for massing them) Probably the civilization that may have this bonus should not have another bonus for this unit so their eagle warrior advantage may rely on the cheaper cost.
9. Eagle Warriors with better melee armor: Incan Fabric Shields already give eagle warriors +1/+2 armor making the Eagle Warrior pierce armor huskarl like however it is posible to have an upgrade or a bonus that focuses more on the melee armor rather than on the pierce armor
10. Eagle warriors with ranged attack: This can be a good idea for a unique unit variant of an eagle warrior
11. Eagle Warriors that Regenerates. The regeneration probably may be slower than a viking berseker
12. Eagle Warriors with better line of sight: Eagle Warriors are the scout for Native american civilizations so this can be a good minor bonus and since only a handful of civilizations have this unit it may not be good for a team bonus unlike the Mongol team bonus
13. Eagle Warriors are created almost instantly. Aztecs already create Eagle warriors 11% faster however this is a descentralized bonus that applies to all their military units, Goths can create al infantry much faster but they don't have Eagle Warriors so it may be interesting to have a civilization that can create Eagle Warriors a lot Faster probably in a staggered manner something like " Eagle Warriors are created 10%/20%/30% faster on each age".
14. Eagle Warrior variant unit that haves the obuch ability. Obuchs are much more akin to the champion so maybe there is room for a Unique unit that haves similar advantages to the Eagle warrior plus having damaging armor gimmick.

Archery Range units Bonuses

In the Previous part " Monks and Defenses" I already analized Bonuses that apply to the proyectiles so those are not listed here.

General Archery bonuses

1. All Archery Range technologies and upgrades cost half the price: Italians have a similar Bonus for its navy having all dock technologies at half the price and Burgundians have Stable technologies and upgrades at half price. This type of bonus may be applied for an Archer civilization and if that civilization has complete Archery Range upgrades the resource savings can be very significant and can help for strategies such as Castle Age Archer Rush, or defend better against archers by researching early the Elite Skirmisher upgrade at half the price
2. Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics are available an age earlier Having the Archery Range technologies an age earlier may be a good Archer bonus, but still the player has to research them. The technology that can favor the player the most of a bonus like this is Thumb Ring since it improves accuracy and firing rate for the Archer line which is already available at Feudal Age, so this can improve an archer rush, the main downside there is the cost of the technology so probably a discount on that may also have to be implemented.
3. Certain Villager technologies benefiting Archers and Skirmishers. Incas currently have a bonus that makes villagers to benefit from Infantry blacksmith upgrades, so it is posible to have Archers that improves with a set of villager technologies. Probably the technologies that we may exclude from this formula are Loom since the extra hitpoints and armor it provides is too much for Feudal Age Archers and Sappers since it enables a lot of antibuilding attack so it is overpowered, but in the cases like Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart it may be appliable increasing the movement speed of the foot archer units by 20% and it can be a balanced bonus because the player still has to research both technologies and those come until the middle game sacrificing villager creation time.
4. Sanctity and Fervor benefitting foot Archers: Bohemians have something like this for their villagers so this concept can be applied to Archers, this way that civilization will have faster archers that also has some more hitpoints from Castle Age onwards unlike Vietnamese that have a hitpoint advantage but much earlier and for free, and Cumans with faster cavalry archers, however a civilization with this bonus should lack Husbandry for balance purposes.
5. Barracks tecnologies benefitting foot Archers: Stable technologies already benefits the Cavalry Archer, why not having a civilization that does the same for its foot archers using their barracks technologies? we already analized Supplies benefiting Spearmen in the Spearmen section ( Spearmen bonuses point 5) taking that in consideration and considering skirmishers also have a food cost having a civilization that states " skirmishers and Spearmen benefits from Supplies" may be an interesting bonus for a civilization focused on their trash units we can even place the Hand Canoneer in this formula as that unit also has a food cost and leave a bonus like "Spearmen and Archery Range units benefits from Supplies" in the Case of Squires, there is still no Archer civilization that improves the mobility of their foot Archers (Indeed the fastest Foot Archer because of this is the Mayan Plumed Archer which is a unique unit) so a 10% movement speed out of squires may be a great archer bonus by itself. and in the case of Arson that can be a minor bonus vs buildings which kind of reminds of the removed Obsidian Arrows of the Mayans and the reworked Saracen Antibuilding bonus for Archers
6. All Archery range units regenerate hit points but in a slow pace. The regeneragion should be slower than the Viking Berserk regeneration without Berserkergang. In the case of this bonus the main advantage comes out after winning battles since the player has to rely less on Monks or buildings for healing the troops, also Skirmishers and the Archer line are two of the types of units most overlooked when healing since they are very cheap and easy to replace.
7. Creating an Archery Range spams a unit. Probably the most balanced way to implement this idea is making the Archery Range to spam Skirmishers ( 2 at most) since these units are already cheap and frail; making each Archery Range to spam one Archer line unit may also be a good bonus. Making the Archery Range to spam a Hand Canoneer or Cavalry archer are probably bad ideas since those units are costly as its suggested by gold costs while being available from Castle Age onwards.
8. Archers returns part of its cost if killed. Saracens already have Madrasah that is a technology that makes monks to return part of its cost if killed, this mechanic may be implemented on Archers which may enable the civilization who has a bonus like this to respawn their army more easily after their Archers are killed so these units may play the role of " cannon fodder" if needed. The amount of the resources refunded may be superior to the Mayan discount bonus on Archers in order to be balanced in the Cases of Skirmishers and the Archer line
9. Archers absorb 75% of all incoming bonus damage. Sicilians have the generalistic bonus of units absorbing 50% less bonus damage however it is posible to have a similar bonus applied to only Archers and in this sense a civilization with access to Hand Canoneers and/or Heavy Cavalry archers may be interesting as Sicilians doesn't have those units.
10. Relics improve Archers in some way: Lithuanians already have a similar bonus that applies to their unique unit and the Knight, a bonus like this may enable to repeat an already existing bonus but in a better way and still be balanced because that would rely on relic availability. Skirmishers may be excluded from a bonus like this because of their cheapness ( like the Scout cavalry is excluded from the Lithuanian cavalry bonus)
11. Foot Archers ( Skirmishers or The Archer line) can be created at Houses or Drop sites: This is an interesting posibility since for example the player instead of placing an Archery RAnge it may only place a house for starting to perform an attack, but still that player will still need the Archer Range for the upgrades. A bonus like this should only focus on one line of Archers either on the skirmisher or the Archer line but not both of them at the same time. Probably the training time in these buildings should be slower than an Archery Range as those buildings are cheaper.
12. Enabling the Slinger for other civilizations and apply bonuses to it: The Slinger currently is unique to the Incas, semiunique units has been a concept that exist since The Conquerors with the Eagle Warrior. Since each semiunique unit is a bit different this means that if another civilization apart from the incas has this unit the Inca should still have the best armored Slinger with no minimun range.
13. Archer line, Skirmisher and Hand Canoneer created 100% faster: Britons already have +20% workrate for Archery ranges as team bonus, Turk Team bonus enables Hand Canoneers to be created 25% faster, Cumans already have Steppe husbandry which makes Cavalry Archers to be created 100% faster, however it feels there is still room for a Goth like "Perfusion" unique technology but for Foot Archers.
14. Foot Archers move Faster: Points 4 and 5 of this list already adresses this posibility by enabling some Villager or infantry technologies to benefiting foot archers but there is still a thirth way to have fast moving foot archers by just giving the speed boost by default. Lithuanians already have +10% faster Skirmishers and Bohemians have faster Hand Canoneers with its unique technology Wagenburg Tactics. but there are no faster Archer line units.
15. Archery range units with better frame delay: The Frame Delay is a hidden atribute all units have that is specially important for range units since it delays the first attack when the unit is tasked to do so, the lower the frame delay the better for a unit when microing so lowering the frame delay of Archery Range units can be a good bonus that is still on the table as no civilization has addressed it as a bonus.
    

Archer line bonuses

1. Archers with better attack: a bonus like " Archers get +1 attack in Castle Age and +1 in imperial ( +2 total)" can be an interesting bonus
2. Archer line with bonus attack: The only bonus Attack Archers have naturally is against spearmen, Saracen Team bonus already gives archers bonus vs Buildings and the Italian Genoese Crossbowman can be considered a variant of the Archer line with bonus vs cavalry and similar logic may apply to the Mayan Plumed Archer. However there is still room for members of this family of units having bonus attack against siege units and ships, or Against villagers or against other archers, or maybe having a " samurai" archer with bonus attack vs unique units.
3. Archery Range enabled at Dark Age, Archer line units available one age earlier. Despite the Archer being clearly superior to a Militia, a bonus like this will still require to the player to create a Barracks and an Archery Range and gather extra gold for starting to use archers so it may be a balanced bonus. If needing a nerf the Dark Age archers may be created slower than in Feudal Age. In the case of the Crossbow available at feudal age it may be overpowered but probably if the creation time is reduced at Feudal Age consistently it may also be balanced otherwise the Crossbow upgrade should still be enabled at Castle Age but enabling the Arbalester at Castle Age
4. Having an " Imperial Arbalester" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Arbalester should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in range, attack, Hit points and Armor than the other specialized Archers from their Briton, Ethiopian, Vietnamese or Italian counterparts
5. Archer with a lot of Melee armor: We already have Italians archers with Pavise wich increases a bit their Melee and pierce armor, and there is the Vietnamese Rattan Archer which is a variant of the archer line with a lot of pierce armor, but there is still room for having the " Teutonic knight" version for the Foot Archer.
6. Archer that only ocuppies half population: This can be done for a unique unit, and much like the Malay Karambit this unit should be very weak and two of them should be compared in stats to a regular archer.
7. Archers with an attack that ignores armor: Lithuanian Leitis already has an attack that ignores melee armor, this idea may be applied to archers against pierce armor, probably this can be used for a Unique unit.
8. Archers with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is aposibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. considering Archers have range probably a " charge attack" for an archer unit should deal less damage than the Coustilier charge. and maybe this version of the ability should be named " sniping attack".
9. Archers firing a second Arrow: The Chinese Chukonu can be seen as an Archer variant that fires multiple arrows but still it seems that making the regular archers to fire 2 arrows is a posibility to consider
10. Archer upgrades are free: This can enable for a potent Crossbow rush in Castle Age or at the transition to that age.

Skirmisher bonuses

1. Skirmishers with better attack: a bonus like " Skirmishers get +1 attack in Castle Age and +1 in imperial ( +2 total)" can be an interesting bonus. otherwise it can also be implemented for a unique technology, the closest to this is the Aztec Atlatl technology which increases attack and range to skirmishers by +1.
2. Skirmishers with better bonus attack or more bonus attacks: The bonus attack Skirmishers have is against Archers, Cavalry Archers and the Spermen line, Saracen Team bonus already gives Skirmishers bonus vs Buildings. However there is still room for members of this family of units having bonus attack against siege units, Cavalry, Infantry in general and ships, or Against villagers, or maybe having a " samurai" skirmisher with bonus attack vs unique units. Of cousre having a skirmishers that are even better against Archers can also be a nice bonus.
3. Archery Range enabled at Dark Age, Skirmishers available one age earlier. Despite the Skirmisher being cheap and having range, in its other stats is comparable to a militia and has minimum range that is an exploitable weakness even villager may use to defend against them, a bonus like this will still require to the player to create a Barracks and an Archery Range for starting to use Skirmishersso it may be a balanced bonus. In the case of the Elite Skirmisher available at feudal age it is comparable to an Archer aside the attack bonuses and cost and still probably a good unit for feudal Age without being overpowered as still the Scout Cavalry, Eagle Warriors and Men-at-Arms can counter them by exploting their minimum range, so this can be an interesting bonus.
4. Skirmishers with better mele armor: We already have Lithuanians Skirmishers which can research " towershields that increases the Skirmisher pierce armor but there is still room for a skirmisher with a sligtly better mele armor adressing its main weakness since melee units are highly effective against them because their minimum range, probably a +2 melee armor won't hurt for a bonus or a unique technology. Italian pavise Unique technology at one point gave skirmishers +1/+1 armor but that was removed so an overall better armored skirmisher should be avoided.
5. Skirmisher that only ocuppies half population: This can be done for a unique unit, and much like the Malay Karambit this unit should be very weak and two of them should be compared in stats to a regular skirmisher.
6. Skirmisher with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is aposibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. considering Skirmishers have range probably a " charge attack" for an ranged unit should deal less damage than the Coustilier charge. and maybe this version of the ability should be named " sniping attack".
7. Skirmishers with +2 or +3 range: Aztec skirmishers with atlatl gets +1 attack +1 range, Britons Skirmishers with Yeomen gets +1 range but still it may be possible to have a more specialized long ranged Skirmisher.
8. Skirmishers attack faster: Ethiopian archers already fire faster but that bonus is not applied to the Skirmisher; the closest thing to a bonus like this is the Mayan Hul'che Javelineers technology wich adds an extra spear to the skirmisher attack but that is not the exact same as having a better firing rate.
9. Elite Skirmisher Upgrae is Free: that by itself can be a good bonus that would enable the civilization that haves it to defend better against archers

Hand Canoneer bonuses

1. Hand Canoneer with better bonus attack: Hand Canoneers already have a heavy bonus attack vs the infantry and rams. It may be a nice bonus if the Hand canoneer also deal bonus damage to other types of units like the cavalry or archers for example, or if it has slight better bonus attack vs the infantry.
2. Having an " Imperial Hand Canoneer" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Hand Canoneer should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in range, attack, Hit points and Armor than the other specialized Hand Canoners from other gunpowder civilizations
3. Hand Canoneer with better armor: there is currently no bonus or unique technology that improves the Armor of the Hand Canoneers so the posibility for this is open. so here we can still get a hand canoneer with an overall better armor, or with a better melee armor or witha better pierce armor., also Sicilians don't have Hand Canoneers so it is also posible to imagine a civilization that have Hand Canoneers wih better bonus armor.
4. Hand Canoneer that only ocuppies half population: This can be done for a unique unit, and much like the Malay Karambit this unit should be very weak and two of them should be compared in stats to a regular Hand Canoneer.
5. Hand Canoneer with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is aposibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. Considering Hand Canoneers have range probably a " charge attack" for an Hand Canoneer unit should deal less damage than the Coustilier charge. and maybe this version of the ability should be named " sniping attack".
6. Hand Canoneer firing a second bullet: The closest to a bonus like this is the Portuguese Organ Gun which is an Artillery unit and fires multiple bullets at once. Perhaps a Hand canoneer that shoot two bullets should be achieved by researching a unique technology.
7. Hand Canoneer attacking Faster: There is still no Hand Canoneers that fires faster.
8. Having a unique technology that changes the gold cost of the Hand Canoneer into Wood Cost: This may be potentially overpowered unless the civilization that posess this unique technology lacks at least the Ring Archer Armor or to nerf it more Leather Archer Armor; while also the technology should be a bit costly. We already have Trash Archers with the Persian Kamandaran technology and this idea may be applied to the Hand Canoneer, but as the Hand Canoneer by itsellf is a powerful unit its cost should be a mixture of wood and Food.
9. Hand Canoneer variant unit that can tear down armor: The Polish Obuchs can do this, maybe a ranged version of an obuch should be a type of Hand Canoneer

Cavalry Archer bonuses

1. Cavalry Archer with bonus attack: Cavalry archers only have an attack bonus against the Spearman line, Mongol Mangudai can be seen as a Cavalry Archer variant with a bonus attack against siege units, the same goes for the Genitour being a "mounted Skirmisher" that haves bonus attack vs archers and the Berber Camel archer which is the " camel" version of a Cavalry archer with bonus vs other Cavalry Archers, Saracens cavalry archers used to have attack bonus against buildings but that was removed. In this sense bonuses like having attack bonus againts trash units, Gunpowder units, Infantry, non-ranged cavalry, Monks and Villagers are still available to take.
2. Cavalry Archer and Heavy Cavalry Archer available one age earlier: Probably Cavalry archers at Feudal Age may be overpowered so in this case the bonus should state that they should be created slower or having less hit points or attack and these statistics should become normal once in Castle age.
3. Having an " Imperial Cavalry Archer" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Cavalry Archer should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in range, attack, Hit points speed and Armor than the other specialized Cavalry Archers from other civilizations, such as Mongols, Turks, Tatars or Cumans.
4. Cavalry archer with better armor: Tatar Silk armor already increases cavalry archer armor in +1/+1, however there is room for a huskar like Cavalry archer with +2 pierce or a Teutonic like Cavalry Archer with +2 melee
5. Cavalry archer that transforms into an archer when killed: Bulgarians have the Konnik which is a cavalry similar to the Knight line that becomes an infantry similar to the Militia line but weaker. Maybe this concept can be applied for a Cavalry archer unique unit that does something similar.
6. Cavalry Archer with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is a posibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. Considering Cavalry Archers have range while being highly mobile probably a " charge attack" for this type of units should deal much less damage than the Coustilier charge and the recharge time should be longer. Maybe this version of the ability should be named " sniping attack".
7. Cavalry archer with an attack that ignores Armor: Dark Paladin X already suggested this trait for a unique unit in his Tibetan Civilization concept. This is clearly the cavalry archer version of a Lithuanian Leitis
8. Having a unique technology that changes the gold cost of the Cavalry Archer into Food Cost: We already have Trash Archers with the Persian Kamandaran technology and this idea may be applied to the Cavalry archer, and in this regard the civilization that may posses this should lack the Heavy Cavalry Archer upgrade and maybe Parthian tactics as well. Since Cavalry Archers are much more mobile than Crossbows their cost should be a mixture of food and wood instead of just wood unlike with Persian Kamandaran crossbows.
9. Cavalry Archers with +2 attack: The Magyars have Cavalry archers with +1 attack and +1 range out of Recurve Bow, however there is still room for a a Cavalry Archer with better Attack than the Magyar ones but not better range.
10. Cavalry Archers with +2 Range: The Magyars have Cavalry archers with +1 attack and +1 range out of Recurve Bow, however there is still room for a a Cavalry Archer with better Range than the Magyar ones but not better Attack.
11. Cavalry Archers with one extra arrow: The Cuman Kipchaks are the closest to this but they fire 3 arrows (and 4 arrows in the elite version) with less frame delay and better attack rate but less hit points and overall resilience, so a cavalry archer that fires two arrows will not be the same as a Cuman Kipchak and it may be done for a unique technology.
12. Heavy Cavalry Archer upgrade is free: A bonus like this may enable the player to focus on aging up to imperial while keep on raiding the opponent economy.
13. Cavalry Archer that only ocuppies half population: This can be done for a unique unit, and much like the Malay Karambit this unit should be very weak and two of them should be compared in stats to a regular Cavalry Archer.

Cavalry Bonuses

General Cavalry Bonuses

1. Sanctity and Fervor benefitting Cavalry: Bohemians have something like this for their villagers so this concept can be applied to Cavalry. this way that civilization will have faster Cavalry that also has some more hitpoints from Castle Age onwards unlike Cumans or Franks which get better speed and HP respectively for free. However in order to keep balance that civilization should lack Husbandry and the Paladin upgrade at least in its tech tree for keeping game balance
2. Husbandry available at Feudal Age: Having this technology an age earlier may be a good balanced Cavalry bonus unlike Bloodlines ( which having that technology available at Dark Age may be unpractical), and still the player has to research it, and it can be a balanced bonus that may aid on a Scout rush .
3. Non-Camel Stable units regenerate hit points but in a very slow pace. The regeneration should be a lot slower than the Viking Berserk regeneration without Berserkergang. In the case of this bonus the main advantage comes out after winning battles since the player has to rely less on Monks or buildings for healing the troops, Considering Knights and Battle Elephants have high Hitpoints depending on the regeneration ratio this bonus may be overpowered or balanced but applied to the Scout cavalry line it is a better idea since this unit is mostly overlooked when healing.
4. Cavalry returns part of its cost if killed. this Idea was proposed in the Beta Version of Lords of the West as a Bonus of Burgundians, and it was removed in favor of early Cavalier with half priced stable technologies so it wasn't an official bonus. Probably if this idea is retaken the refund should be lower than originally proposed
5. Relics improve Cavalry in some way ( except for adding more attack): Lithuanians already have the extra attack bonus for Heavy Cavalry per each relic captured ( max +4), similar bonuses to this may enable to repeat an already existing bonus but in a better way and still be balanced because that would rely on relic availability. Scout Cavalry may be excluded from a bonus like this because of their cheapness ( like the Scout cavalry is excluded from the Lithuanian cavalry bonus)
6. Stable units with better frame delay: The Frame Delay is a hidden atribute all units have that delays the first attack when the unit is tasked to do so, the lower the frame delay the better for a unit when microing so lowering the frame delay of Stable units can be a good bonus that is still on the table as no civilization has addressed it as a bonus.
7. Armor upgrades for the Cavalry at the blacksmith are free: Magyars already have the Attack upgrades at the Blacksmith for free but this benefits both Infantry and Cavalry. Getting the armor upgrades for free is much more focused since each type of units has their own line of blackmith armor upgrades.
8. Bloodlines and Husbandry are free: This may seem similar to the Frank HP bonus for cavalry and the Cuman Speed boost for cavalry respectively but in reality is not the exac same since in the long run the Franks hitpoints for the Paladin is better than having Bloodlines and the speed boost for Cumans is better than having Husbandry
9. All Cavalry +1 Line of Sight: This can be ok for a team bonus but if not it can be a minor bonus and may be stacked with the other more specific team bonuses that benefits cavalry.

Scout Cavalry Line Bonuses

1. Creating a Stable spams a Scout Cavalry. Since most of the Stable units are very powerful this idea may only be applied to the Scout line or probably at most the Camel Line and Steppe lancers. since the Scout line is the weakest and cheapest cavalry probably the civilization bonus should state something like " each new stable spams one Scout Cavalry at Feudal and Castle Age and 2 since Imperial Age"
2. Scout Cavalry with bonus attack vs other units aside the monk: Scout Cavalry only have an attack bonus against the Monks, however the Magyar Huszar ( which can be consedered a unique variant of the Scout Cavalry) has attack bonus againts siege units , Winged Hussar also haves attack bonus vs gunpowder units and Poles grants bonus damage against archers as a team bonus. However there is still room for having more variants of the Scout Cavalry line that may have attack bonuses vs Buildings, other Cavalry and Infantry,for example.
3. Stables available at Dark Age, Scout Cavalry upgrades available one age earlier: Probably being enabled to create Scout Cavalry at Dark Age may be a good bonus if made in a proper manner, The player will still have to create a Barracks and a Stable, however maybe their training time should be longer than in Feudal Age. Light Cavalry in Feudal Age may be also a bit overpowered so those probably should still have to be produced at Castle age.
4. Scout Cavalry with better armor: Tatar Silk armor already increases Scout cavalry line armor in +1/+1, and Indians gives +2 pierce armor to this unit however there is room for a Teutonic like Hussar with +2 melee ( or maybe even +3 melee) considering the Teutons can't upgrade their Scout Cavalry to Light Cavalry.
5. Scout Cavalry that transforms into an infantry when killed: Bulgarians have the Konnik which is a cavalry similar to the Knight line that becomes an infantry similar to the Militia line but weaker. Maybe this concept can be applied for a Scout Cavalry unique unit variant that does something similar.
6. Scout Cavalry with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is a posibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. Considering Scout Cavalryline are much cheaper than knight like units while being weaker, its charge attack should be also proportionately weaker.
7. Scout Cavalry line with better attack attack: The Malians have Farimba that gives all their cavalry +5 attack however this is traduced into +3 since they lack the last attack upgrade at the blacksmith and Can't upgrade Light Cavalry to Hussar so there is room for a Hussar with +3 attack
8. Scout Cavalry costing half population space: Since this unit is already cheap any civilization that may have something like this may also has to lack some key upgrades for the unit probably being unabled to research the Hussar upgrade. otherwise this can be done for a Unique Unit variant if the hussar or for a unique technology.
9. Scout Cavalry that can damage armor: The polish unique unit the Obuch have this quirk so there is the posibility of having also a cavalry that tears down armor.

Knight Line Bonuses

Note: The Knight line is arguably one of the most powerful units in the game if not the most due to its resielience, attack and mobility; so balancing any bonus for this unit should be taken wth care:

1. Knights with bonus attack: Knights does not have Bonus Attack vs units except Persian Knights and the Knights of civilizations allied to the persians since they give +2 attack vs archers as a team bonus, Byzantine Cataphhracts may be seen as a Knight variant that is good against infantry and Burmese Manipur Cavalry gives all cavalry including Knights attack bonus vs buildings. So here there is still room for Knight bonuses or Unique unit variants of the knight in regards of giving this type of cavalry attack bonuses against, siege units, villagers, Monks and other Cavalry
2. Having an " Imperial Paladin" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Paladin should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in attack, Hit points, speed and Armor than the other specialized Paladins or cavaliers from other civilizations, such as Franks, Persian, Lithuanians or Cumans. This however is unlikely to happen since upgrading this unit is expensive so the upgrade should also be really expensive as well.
3. Knight that can damage armor: The polish unique unit the Obuch have this quirk so there is the posibility of having also a cavalry that tears down armor.
4. Knight that deals Trample Damage: The amount of trample damage should be proportional to the attack of the unit, and probably it should be implemented as a unique technology rather than a bonus
5. Knight costing half population space: This may be a good idea for a unique unit variant of the Knight line which of course should follow the logic of the Malay Karambit making 2 of them equally effective than a normal knight.
6. Having the Mounted version of a Throwing Axeman: the Closest to a long ranged melee cavalry is the Mameluke which is more similar to a Camel rider; and Arambai and Conquistadors deal pierce damage rather than melee. So here is room for a Knight ranged variant
7. The Cavalier upgrade is free; Paladin upgrade cost less: The closest thing to this is the burgundian bonus but this is not quite the same since this should be an Imperial age bonus.

Camel Rider Line Bonuses

1. Creating a Stable spams a Camel Rider. A Bonus like this should be stated as " Each stable spams one Camel Rider since Castle age" and no more than one.
2. Camel riders with better or more attack bonuses: Camel riders have attack bonuses vs ships and Cavalry, The Indian Team bonus also gives them attack bonus vs buildings. It is still possible however to imagine Camel Riders with even better attack bonuses vs Cavalry or with attack bonuses vs, Infantry, Archers, Villagers, Gunpowder etc.
3. Camel Riders Attack Faster: Bulgarians which Have Stirrups ( Cavalry units attack 33% faster) lack Camel Riders so there is room for a civilization that haves Camel Riders that attack faster.
4. Camel Riders created faster: Two of the three of the civilizations that haves a speed boost for the stable ( Franks and Huns) Don't have Camel Riders ( however the Hun one is a team bonus) and Cuman unique technology " Steppe Husbandry" does not apply to their Camel Riders so here is room for a bonus or a technology that may help to spam Camels much faster.
5. Camel riders available one age earlier: Probably being enabled to create Camel Rider at Feudal Age may be a good bonus if made in a proper manner, however maybe their training time should be longer than in Castle Age and it also probably may ned to be weaker in Feudal Age. Having the Heavy Camel Rider at Castle Age, it is also a good idea.
6. Camel rider with better Armor: Indians have +2 pierce armor for Camel Riders as a bonus but lacks Plate Barding Armor at the Blacksmith so it basically is like having that upgrade for free but with no benefit to the melee armor to their Camel Riders ( They can also upgrade Camel Riders to Imperial Camel Riders which may be the reason to not have the last Blacksmith upgrade for cavalry). So in this sense it is posible to still have another camel civilization that furthers up the pierce armor of the Camel rider up to +2 or +3 and having Plate Barding Armor at the same time. There is also still the posibility of having a Teutonic-Knightish Camel Rider with much better melee armor.
7. Camel Rider that transforms into a Spearmen type unit when killed: Bulgarians have the Konnik which is a cavalry similar to the Knight line that becomes an infantry similar to the Militia line but weaker. Maybe this concept can be applied for a Camel Rider unique unit variant that does something similar.
8. Camel Rider with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is a posibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. Considering the Camel rider has the very specific niche of being a type of cavalry good against cavalry, its charge attack should also has to reflect its bonus damage in some way.
9. Camel Rider that deals Trample Damage: The amount of trample damage should be proportional to its attack. It can be good as a Unique technology.
10. Camel Rider that can damage armor: The polish unique unit the Obuch have this quirk so there is the posibility of having also a cavalry that tears down armor.
11. Camel Rider costing half population space: This may be a good idea for a unique unit variant of the Camel Rider line which of course should follow the logic of the Malay Karambit making 2 of them equally effective than a normal Camel Rider.
12. Having a unique technology that changes the gold cost of the Camel Rider into food cost: We already have something similar with the Magyar Huszar, but that unit is more a light cavalry variant of the normal Hussar rather than a variant of the Camel Rider so its not quite the same and this is specially notorious because the attack bonuses of the Camel Rider. For balancing this idea any civilization that may have this unique technology should have it as an Imperial Age Unique technology and it may lack the Heavy Camel Rider upgrade.
13. Heavy Camel Rider upgrade is free: This may help to better defend against cavalry when aging up.
14. Having a Gunpowder variant of a Camel Rider for a unique unit: This can be a mix between a Conquistador and a Camel rider with attack bonuses vs melee units rather than ranged cavalry unlike Berber Camel Archer.
15. Camel Riders hav better Line of Sight : This can be ok for a team bonus.

Battle Elephant Bonuses

Only 4 civilizations has access to the Battle Elephant which increases the potential for bonuses to this unit.

1. Battle Elephants with more attack bonuses: Battle Elephants have attack bonuses against buildings, the Burmese ones also furthers this attack bonus up by +6. Still it is posible to imagine Battle elephants with attack bonuses against Archers, Infantry, Cavalry, Gunpowder, Unique units or Siege Units
2. Battle Elephants Attack Faster: The closest to this is the Khmer Tusk swords which adds +3 attack to the Battle elephant , but attacking faster and having better damage output is not the same in the practice.
3. Battle Elephants created faster: The only way currently to create Battle elephants faster from one stable is by having a Hun ally so the door for getting a bonus or unique technology that enables for creating Battle elephants much Faster is still open.
4. Elite Battle Elephant available in Castle age: Being enabled to create Battle Elephants on Feudal age is too much but maybe having an early upgrade bonus for the Elite one at Castle Age may be ok
5. Having an " Imperial Battle Elephant" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Battle Elephant should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in attack, Hit points, speed and Armor than the other Battle Elephants as well as being overall inferior to the Persian War Elephant
6. Battle Elephant with much better Melee armor: The Burmese have Howdah Unique technology which increases in +1/+1 the Battle elephant Armor, still there is room for having a bonus or Unique technology that may give the battle elephant an even better Melee Armor but not better pierce armor perhaps for a total of +3 melee armor at Imperial Age, making the unit " teutonic knight" like.
7. Battle Elephant with much better Pierce armor: The Burmese have Howdah Unique technology which increases in +1/+1 the Battle elephant Armor, still there is room for having a bonus or Unique technology that may give the battle elephant an even better Pierce Armor but not better Melee armor Making the unit "huskarl" like.
8. Battle Elephant that transforms into a Heavy Infantry type unit when killed: Bulgarians have the Konnik which is a cavalry similar to the Knight line that becomes an infantry similar to the Militia line but weaker. Maybe this concept can be applied for a Battle Elephant unique unit variant that does something similar.
9. Battle elephant with increased Trample Damage: Battle elephants already do Trample damage but this ability may be further up for a bonus.
10. Having a unique technology that changes the gold cost of the Battle Elephant into Wood cost: Turnbing the Battle Elephant into a " trash unit may be done as an Imperial age unique technology but any civilization that may have that upgrade should lack the Elite Battle elephant upgrade and maybe even Plate Barding Armor
11. Elite Battle Elephant upgrade is free:
12. Having a Melee Ranged Battle Elephant variant for a Unique unit: This can be done the Steppe lancer / Kamayuk way giving a unit based on the Battle Elephantunit +1 range, and still having trample damage otherwise it can be done the Throwing Axeman way.
13. Having a Gunpowder variant of a Battle Elephant for a unique unit: This can be a mix between a Hand Canoneer and a Battle elephant. Otherwise it can be a mix between a Bombard Cannon and a Battle Elephant.
14. Elephant units with better line of Sight: This can be ok for a team bonus that should affect Persian War Elephants, Indian Elephant Archers, Khmer Ballista Elephants, Battle Elephants and any posible Elephant unique unit.
15. Battle Elephant that can damage armor: The polish unique unit the Obuch have this quirk so there is the posibility of having also a Battle Elephant that tears down the armor of the targeted unit ( not the units that receive trample damage). in the specific case of Elephants maybe this quirk should also apply against buildings unlike the Obuch.

Steppe Lancer Bonuses

Only three civilizations have access to the steppe lancer which gives this unit the potential to be featured on more civilizations with other bonuses

1. Steppe lancers with attack bonuses: The Steppe lancer main feature is its +1 range and they do not have attack bonuses. Still a civilization that gives steppe lancers a bonus attack can be a good idea
2. Steppe Lancers attack faster: The +1 ranged attack combined with a faster attack can be a good feature that may aid in raiding.
3. Steppe Lancers available one age earlier: Being enabled to create Steppe lancers on Feudal age May be a bit Overpowered unless the Steppe lancer on feudal age has less attack Hit points and being created slower than in Castle Age.
4. Having an " Imperial Steppe Lancer" upgrade: like other similar bonuses suggested here an along with the two existing ones ( Imperial Skirmisher and Imperial Camel Rider) an Imperial Steppe Lancer should be overall better than its predecessor but still inferior in attack, Hit points, speed and Armor than the other current three Steppe lancers as well as being overall inferior to the Paladin.
5. Steppe Lancer with much better Melee armor: The Tatars have Silk Armor Unique technology which increases in +1/+1 the Steppe Lancer armor, still there is room for having a bonus or Unique technology that may give the Steppe Lancer an even better melee armor but not better pierce armor perhaps for a total of +3 melee armor at Imperial Age, making the unit " teutonic knight" like.
6. Steppe Lancer with much better Pierce armor: The Tatars have Silk Armor Unique technology which increases in +1/+1 the Steppe Lancer armor, still there is room for having a bonus or Unique technology that may give the Steppe Lancer an even better pierce armor but not better melee armor perhaps for a total of +3 pierce armor at Imperial Age, making the unit " Huskarl" like.
7. Steppe Lancer that transforms into a ranged Infantry type unit with a lance but no bonus attack when killed: Bulgarians have the Konnik which is a cavalry similar to the Knight line that becomes an infantry similar to the Militia line but weaker. Maybe this concept can be applied for a Steppe Lancer unique unit variant that does something similar.
8. Steppe Lancer with Trample Damage:Their trample damage should apply to units near the Steppe lancer and not to units on the range of the steppe lancer, this can be done for a Unique Technology.
9. Having a unique technology that changes the gold cost of the Steppe LAncer into Wood cost: Turning the Steppe Lancer into a " trash unit" may be done as an Imperial age unique technology but any civilization that may have that upgrade should lack the Elite Steppe Lancer upgrade.
10. Elite Steppe Lancer upgrade is free:
11. Steppe Lancer with better line of Sight: This can be ok for a team bonus but since currently there are only 3 civilizations with Steppe Lancers this is unlikely to happen soon.
12. Steppe Lancers with more attack: Probably +3 attack could work ok and if made as a bonus it should be staggered ( +1 in Castle age, +2 in Imperial for a total +3)
13. Steppe lancers tha resist bonus attack: Sicilians have a bonus like this but they don't have Steppe Lancers so the door is open for a bonus like this applied to this unit
14. Steppe lancers with smaller collition size: Originally Steppe Lancers had a very small collition size that made the unit overpowered, but maybe if done as a bonus and if the collition size is small but not that small it may work ok as a bonus.
15. Creating a Stable spams a Steppe Lancer. A Bonus like this should be stated as " Each stable spams one Steppe Lancer since Castle age" and no more than one.
16. Steppe Lancer with a " charge attack", This may seem unlikely but is a posibility on the table as the Burgundian Coustilier already have this mechanic. Considering the Steppe Lancer has +1 range this idea may be implemented on a Unique Unit variant of the steppe lancer or as a Unique Technology. Of course the damage output should be proportional to its normal attack
17. Steppe Lancer costing half population space: This may be a good idea for a unique unit variant of the Steppe Lancer which of course should follow the logic of the Malay Karambit making 2 of them equally effective than a normal Steppe Lancer.
18. Steppe Lancer that can damage armor: The polish unique unit the Obuch have this quirk so there is the posibility of having also a cavalry that tears down armor.