The Dharmapala is the unique unit of the Tibetans in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It is a mounted archer whose attack is unaffected by pierce armor, but only against units. In addition, the Dharmapala is immune to conversion.
Dharmapalas can be upgraded to Elite Dharmapalas in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Dharmapala, when compared to other cavalry archers, are slightly cheaper and has a faster training time, but they have less hit points and base attack. Combined with the Tibetans lacking access to Bloodlines, this makes the Dharmapala very vulnerable to most attacks without proper protection. Despite their low hit points and lose base attack, the Dharmapala's attacks ignores pierce armor, making them very suitable against units with high pierce armor (i.e. Huskarls, Malian infantry, Rattan Archers, Eagle Warriors, and battering rams). However, the player should still hit-and-run with the Dharmapala, as many of the units (especially the Huskarl and Eagle Warrior) still does bonus damage against them. Their high mobility and low frame delay, combined with their access to Khampa Bloodlines, makes the Dharmapala a strong unit in hit-and-run tactics. The Dharmapala also cannot be converted by enemy Monks, making them a better alternative to light cavalry for "sniping" enemy Monks (as light cavalry does have a chance to be converted by enemy Monks).
Dharmapalas also benefit from the Amdo Bow Imperial Age unique tech, adding extra firepower to their attacks. Keep in mind that the extra projectile fired by the Dharmapala does not ignore pierce armor, and the damage from the extra projectile can still be reduced by pierce armor.
Despite their strengths, the Dharmapala still have several weaknesses. Having a low hit point pool makes them unable to trade effectively with most ranged units, especially units with relatively high hit point pool (such as Elephant Archer, Ballista Elephant, and War Wagons) and especially anti-archer and anti-cavalry archer units such as Genoese Crossbowmen, skirmishers, and Camel Archers are still a considerable threat to the Dharmapala, though they will receive a lot of damage from the Dharmapala. Likewise, fast moving cavalry units (especially camels) and siege weapons such as Magonnels and Scorpions are a big threat to the Dharmapala. And while the Dharmapala can trade effectively well with Eagle Warriors, they cannot trade well against Mayan Eagle Warriors due to their high hit point pool with El Dorado.
The choice between regular cavalry archers and the Dharmapala depends on what opponents the player is facing. For convenience, it's generally better to build regular cavalry archers, as the cavalry archers have more hit points and attack than the Dharmapala, and can be trained from the Archery Range as opposed to the Castle for the Dharmapala. However, the Dharmapala is more useful when dealing with units with high pierce armor such as Huskarls, Malian infantry, and Rattan Archers, and should be considered over cavalry archers when dealing with high pierce armor units. In addition, the Dharmapala cost less gold when compared to the cavalry archer, making them more ideal in low gold situations.
The Dharmapala is often mixed in with light cavalry or Steppe Lancers, as both the light cavalry and Steppe Lancers are affected by Khampa Bloodlines like the Dharmapala, hence allowing the Tibetans to have cheap, regenerating cavalry units that can help protect the Dharmapala.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Slow and non-ranged units, high pierce armor units (i.e. Malian infantry, Huskarls, Eagle Warriors, and Rattan Archer), Rams, Monks |
| Weak vs. | Kamayuks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Huskarls, Skirmishers, Genitours, Mangonels, Scorpions, camel units, Rattan Archers, most ranged units (especially ranged units with high HP pool like the Ballista Elephant, War Wagon, and Elephant Archer) |
| Upgrades | |
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Parthian Tactics (+2 attack against Spearmen) Amdo Bow (gives an extra projectile)
|
| Range | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
|
| Firing rate |  Thumb Ring (+11%) (+22% after researching Amdo Bow)
|
| Accuracy | Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%) Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor |  Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, Berbers and allies only)
|
| Other | Khampa Bloodlines (gives regeneration ability)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite Dharmapala
|
Team bonuses[]
- A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Dharmapalas are created and upgraded 25% faster, and Conscription, Khampa Bloodlines, and Amdo Bow are researched 25% faster.
- A team containing Britons: Researching Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics is 20% faster.
- A team containing Bulgarians: Researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 50% faster.
- A team containing Huns: Researching Husbandry is 20% faster.
- A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
- A team containing Tatars: Dharmapala have +2 LOS.