Volunteer

Volunteer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry
Civilization	See description
Age	Revolution
Training
Trained at	Fort
Food	40
Coin	75
Training time	Spawns automatically at each Fort once Volunteer card arrives and then when new Forts are created
Statistics
Hit points	140
Resists	50% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.75
Line of Sight	24
Population	1
XP train bounty	12
XP bounty	12
Melee attack
Damage	10
Multipliers	x3.0 vs. Heavy infantry, Light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knight x0.75 vs. Cavalry and Coyote Runners
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	30
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	24
Rate of Fire	4.5
Siege attack
Damage	15
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Skirmisher with low hitpoints, but a strong attack. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Volunteer is a ranged gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition that can only be obtained if the player revolts with the United States after the Volunteers shipment card has been sent. Once the Volunteers card arrives, each Fort spawns 4 Volunteers for free, and then each new Fort created will spawn 4 Volunteers as well. The unit cannot be trained; however, it is displayed on its stats that it costs 40 food and 75 coin.

This unit is exclusive to the United States, a revolutionary nation; only the French, British, Dutch and Swedes can obtain them.

Overview

Like the Skirmisher, the Volunteer has a long-ranged attack that is suited to kiting the enemy from afar. They are strong at countering and defeating heavy infantry and ranged cavalry, but highly vulnerable to melee cavalry and artillery due to their relatively low hit points and a weak melee attack. Since these units spawns freely after their shipment card has been sent, and they require Forts for that, it is hard to mass, unlike the Skirmisher. However, since the United States has the Infinite Fort shipment card (like all revolutions), it is viable to have a sizeable army of Volunteers if the player manages to have at least 5 Forts or more, and since the United States also lets the player spawn a Gatling Gun with each Fort, it is advisable to keep pairing them with Gatling Guns.

Typically, they are used to create a strong mass ranged platform to support the rest of the army. Their long range ensures they can put all their damage to bear as fast as possible and makes them easy to control while kiting. They are effective against enemy Skirmishers and other ranged infantry, but their counter-damage wards off cheaper heavy infantry attacks in melee, as well as harassment from fast ranged cavalry. When in position near enemy Settlers, their range also makes them effective at harassing them while not committing too much to a bad position should a fight occur. When fighting heavy infantry, it is advisable to take an Armory towards the time of the Industrial Age, in order to unlock Counter Infantry Rifling for an effective extra 33% attack against those units. Volunteers are capable of sieging buildings, but this is a risky strategy due to the poor positioning required to do so, along with slow speed and low siege damage. It may be better to use them defensively in support of Falconets, Gatling Guns, or Halberdiers instead.

Comparisons

Compared to the Skirmisher, Volunteers have +20 hitpoints, slighlty better movement speed, better resistance against ranged attacks, and much better attack overall. However, as they cannot be trained normally, it is in many situations better to just train regular Skirmishers (except in the case of the British, who lack Skirmishers).

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights
Weak vs.	Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Counter Infantry Rifling (+1.0x multiplier vs. heavy infantry) Paper Cartridge (+15%) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Thin Red Line (-25% speed British only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Volunteer

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch Card Description Age HC level Infantry Attack Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% attack 10 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Infantry Combat Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% hit points and attack 25 French Card Description Age HC level Long-range Infantry Hitpoints Crossbowmen and Skirmishers get +15% hit points 10 TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 TEAM Early Skirmishers Skirmishers, Cassadores, Forest Prowlers, Wakina Rifles, and Black Flag Army can be trained in the Colonial Age; Longbowman, Strelet, Macehualtin, Gurkha, and Yumi Archer train time -20% 25 Wilderness Warfare Coureurs des Bois, Skirmishers, and native warriors get +20% hit points 25

See also

• Cassador
• Forest Prowler
• Wakina Rifle
• Arquebusier
• Gurkha
• Skirmisher