"Ranged infantry armed with the Japanese longbow. Good against infantry."
—In-game description
The Yumi Archer is an archer in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Japanese and can be trained at Barracks and Atakabune, and by a Daimyo.
Overview 
Edit
The Yumi Archer is a Japanese archer with a high attack that is good against heavy infantry and light cavalry, and has a very long range. The Yumi Archer has regular unit upgrades, that increase its hit points and range to 20, making it the third longest ranged archer in Age of Empires III. The only two that have longer range are the Longbowman (22, 26 with Yeomen) and the Arrow Knight (30).
It has an attack bonus as a card from the Home City, it has aura boosts from the Daimyo and Shogun, it can have the passive attack boost from the Japanese Consulate, and it can have the passive attack or speed boost from the Golden Pavilion, making it powerful in combat as it progresses through the Ages.
Upgrades Edit
| Age | Improvement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Disciplined Yumi
| 200 wood, 100 coin | Upgrades Yumi Archers to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) |
 |  Honored Yumi
| 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades Yumi Archers to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Yumi |
 |  Exalted Yumi
| 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Yumi Archers to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Yumi |
Further statistics Edit
As the Yumi Archer is unique to the Japanese, only improvements available to them that are shown in the following table.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights |
| Weak vs. | Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0x multiplier vs. villagers) Seminole Bowyer (+25%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
|
| Speed |  Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Other |  Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As the Yumi Archer is unique to the Japanese, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affect them are shown in the following tables.
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Yumi Archer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dutch
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry gets +15% hit points |  | 10 |
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack
| Ranged infantry gets +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 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Scout Infantry
| Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 5 Yumi Archers
| Ships 5 Yumi Archers | | 1 |
 14 Yumi Archers
| Ships 14 Yumi Archers | | 1 |
 9 Yumi Archers
| Ships 9 Yumi Archers | | 10 |
 16 Yumi Archers
| Ships 16 Yumi Archers | | 25 |
 Yumi Archer Attack
| Yumi Archers get +20% attack | | 10 |
 Way of the Bow
| Yumi Archers get +15% hit points, +2 LOS, and +2 range | | 25 |
 Onin War
| Infantry gets +33% siege attack | | 40 |
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Dueling School
| Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Archaic Soldier Training
| Pikeman, Crossbowman, Longbowman, Macehualtin, Aenna, Cetan Bow, and Yumi Archer train time -50%; Old Han Army, Standard Army, and Ming Army train time -25% | | 10 |
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- Yumi Archers are depicted inaccurately in the game. A close view shows that the bows of the in-game Yumi Archers are symmetric, however, the strongly asymmetric design is an important characteristic of the traditional yumi. Ironically, this fact is even mentioned in the game's history text but not implemented in the Yumi Archers' design.
- The Yumi Archer is a mix between a regular archer and a Skirmisher. Their ranged Rate of Fire is 1.5 opposed to most other archers Rate of Fire of 3.0. The Yumi (unlike other archers) fires immediately instead of having a long drawing animation. Because of that, they can be used for hit-and-run tactics much more effectively than other archers.
History Edit
"The word “yumi” means either a long or short bow used in kyudo, the ancient Japanese art of archery. The traditional yumi stands at over 6 feet fall, often dwarfing the archer, and is made from laminated bamboo, wood, and animal hide, in a process that is still the same today as it was two thousand years ago. The yumi’s unique asymmetric design, where the upper and lower curves differ, is a style that dates to around 250 BCE. It is believed the asymmetric shape was designed for use on horseback, so the bow could be switched from one side of the horse to the other with relative ease."
Gallery Edit
