| “ | Wei unique Mounted Archer with a charged ranged attack. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Xianbei Raider is the second unique unit of the Wei in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms. It is an anti-infantry mounted archer unit that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Castle Age is reached.
It replaces the Cavalry Archer line for the Wei, but has no Elite upgrade.
Ability[]
It has a charged attack which fires five arrows against units (excluding siege weapons) and recharges over 30 seconds. The projectiles of the charge attack are shot together, have 5 speed, 100% accuracy, and deal 1 pierce attack, +4 vs Spearmen and +1 vs infantry. In addition, even missed targets receive 100% damage.
This charge attack supplements the standard attack.
Tactics[]
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The Xianbei Raider is a weak mounted archer, both in terms of hit points and attack, due to which it cannot be directly compared to the Cavalry Archer. Its hit points without Bloodlines are same as the Archer-line's. Its attack is pretty low, the same as the Archer's. However, the Xianbei Raider gets +1 attack vs infantry, and its charge attack has five projectiles which deal a total of five damage, similar to the Crossbowman's attack. The charged projectiles are even stronger against spearman units, dealing approximately 30 damage before Parthian Tactics. Lastly, the Xianbei Raider attacks 11.1% faster than the Archer (and can be enhanced if Cao Cao is near them). The biggest drawback of the unit is its long attack delay, which is slightly worse than the Cavalry Archer's.
It costs only 60 wood, 25 gold, which is the mean of the Archer's and Cavalry Archer's costs in total resources. The unit is super cheap on gold, making it extremely affordable in the late game, and as a mounted archer, it is very easy to keep alive. Lastly, it is trained at the Archery Range in 26 seconds, which is very similar to the Crossbowman, ensuring that production is easily available. Unlike other mounted archers, Xianbei Raiders can obtain high melee armor with Ming Guang Armor, at a total of 8, which makes them very durable against low-attack units such as Hussars or Karambit Warriors.
Unit comparison[]
 Xianbei Raider
|
Generic  Cavalry Archer line
|
 Cuman  Kipchak line
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 60 wood, 25 gold | 40 wood, 60 gold | 60 wood, 35 gold |
| Other attack properties | Charged attack that fires 5 arrows and recharges over 30 seconds | Additional projectiles have 0 melee attack and 3 pierce attack, which helps against rams and Monks | |
| Other tech tree properties |  Tuntian - generates 1.2 food/min
|
 Heresy
|
Heresy +5% speed over Husbandry in Imperial Age |
 Castle Age
|
Cavalry Archer
|
Kipchak
| |
| Training time | 26 seconds | 37 seconds | 20 seconds |
| Hit points | 35 | 50 | 40 |
| Pierce attack | 5 | 6 | 4 + 2* |
| Accuracy | 80% | 50% | 90% |
| Attack bonuses | +3 vs Spearman +1 vs infantry |
+2 vs Spearman | +1 vs Spearman |
| Rate of Fire | 1.8 - 1.53
|
2 - 1.8
|
2.2 - 1.87
|
| Attack delay | 0.91 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Armor | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Line of Sight | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Upgrade cost and time |
N/A | 900 food, 500 gold 50 seconds |
1,100 food, 1,000 wood 65 seconds |
 Imperial Age
|
 Heavy Cavalry Archer
|
 Elite Kipchak
| |
| Training time | 26 seconds | 30 seconds | 20 seconds |
| Hit points | 40 | 60 | 45 |
| Pierce attack | 4+4 | 7+4 | 5+3 + 3* |
| Range | 4+3 | 4+3 | 4+2 |
| Attack bonuses | +3 vs Spearman +1 vs infantry |
+4 vs Spearman | +1 vs Spearman |
| Rate of Fire | 1.53 | 1.8 | 1.87 |
| Attack delay | 0.91 | 0.88 | 0.5 |
| Armor | 8/6 | 5/6 | 5/6 |
| Line of Sight | 6 | 6 | 6 |
- * As a general case, it is considered that secondary projectiles deal minimum damage and have 100% accuracy.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Slow melee units, especially Spearmen, Villagers |
| Weak vs. | Archers, camel units, defensive structures, siege weapons |
| Conditional matchups | Horse cavalry, Monks |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Fletching (+1, regular and charged attack) Bodkin Arrow (+1, regular and charged attack) Bracer (+1, regular and charged attack) Chemistry (+1, regular and charged attack) Parthian Tactics (+2 vs Spearmen, regular and charged attack)
|
 Range
|
Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
|
| Accuracy |  Thumb Ring (increases accuracy to 100%) Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor |  Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1) Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1) Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2) Parthian Tactics (+1/+2) Ming Guang Armor (+4/0)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
|
 Attack speed
|
Thumb Ring (+18%)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Ability | Tuntian (Passively generate 1.2 food/min)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight |  Tatars (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Magyars (+25%)
|
Changelog[]
The Three Kingdoms[]
- Originally, the Xianbei Raider did not have the unique unit armor class and its anti-infantry attack did not translate to the Condottiero. With update 144358, both issues were fixed.
- With update 147949, Xianbei Raider attack was increased from 4 to 5. The charge attack now also shoots the main projectile with 5 damage, in addition to the existing 5 projectiles with 1 damage each, and the charge attack is now properly affected by Parthian Tactics.
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Xianbei Raider.
Trivia[]
- The unit is named after the Xianbei, a proto-Mongolic people who ruled the eastern Eurasian steppe from about 300 BC to 300 AD, then their descendants formed their own kingdoms in the later periods (e.g. Northern Wei, Tuyuhun, and Rouran Khaganate). The Xianbei were considered the ancestors of the Khitans and Mongols.
- Fully upgraded, the Xianbei Raider has the highest melee armor of all archer units in the game at 8.
Gallery[]
