Zapotec Lightning Warrior

Zapotec Lightning Warrior
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Melee infantry Native warrior
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Trading Post on a Zapotec settlement Native Embassy
Food	40
Wood	60
Training time	30 seconds
Training limit	15 per Zapotec settlement
Statistics
Hit points	210
Resists	10% vs. Melee
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	12
XP train bounty	10
XP bounty	10
Melee attack
Damage	12
Multipliers	×2.5 vs. Cavalry ×2.0 vs. Shock infantry ×2.5 vs. Heavy infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	24
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Zapotec warrior armed with a shield and a sword to counter Infantry and Cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Zapotec Lightning Warrior is melee heavy infantry native warrior in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that can be trained at a Trading Post built on a Zapotec settlement which replaces the Aztecs in the expansion, thus the Zapotec Lightning Warrior acts as a replacement to the Aztec Jaguar Warrior.

Overview

The Zapotec Lightning Warrior is similar to the Aztec Jaguar Prowl Knight. It is capable of countering both heavy infantry and cavalry, much like its Aztec counterpart, but it is cheaper, has less siege damage and melee damage, and has a low melee resistance. It can prove to be a cost-efficient unit and an all-around combatant due to its availability in the Commerce Age.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Zapotec Warrior Societies	200 wood, 150 coin	Upgrades Zapotec Lightning Warriors to Elite (+25% hit points and attack)
	Champion Zapotec	400 wood, 300 coin	Upgrades Zapotec Lightning Warriors to Champion (+40% hit points and attack); requires Zapotec Warrior Societies
	Legendary Native Warriors Exalted Natives	1,500 food, 1,500 wood	Upgrades native warriors to Legendary/Exalted (+50% hit points and attack)

The Legendary Native Warriors improvement is available in the Capitol for European civilizations and in the Town Center for Native American and Asian (as Exalted Natives) civilizations.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, Shock Infantry, heavy infantry, buildings
Weak vs.	Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Corselet (+25%, Spanish only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Cherokee War Dance (+20%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only) Corselet (-15% speed, Spanish only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Zapotec Lightning Warrior

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times All Card Description Age HC level Native Treaties Each different allied native tribe sends a shipment of their respective native warriors 1 Native Warriors Native warriors cost -25% 10 Native Warrior Combat Native warriors get +25% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Native Warrior Societies Native warrior train limit +30% 25 Blood Brothers Upgrades native warriors to Elite/Disciplined and Champion/Honored (if not already) 25 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 The Native Treaties and Native Warriors cards are available to European and Native American civilizations. The Native Treaties card ships 5 Zapotec Lightning Warriors if the player had built a Trading Post on a Zapotec settlement. The Native Warrior Combat card is available to French and Haudenosaunee. The Blood Brothers card is available to Aztecs, French, Germans, Haudenosaunee, Portuguese, Russians, Lakota, and Spanish. The TEAM Native Warrior Societies card is available to Aztecs, Dutch, Haudenosaunee, and Lakota. The Fencing School card is not available to Chinese, Haudenosaunee, Japanese, Ottomans, and Lakota. Asians Card Description Age HC level Native Alliance Native warrior train limit +20% and cost -10% (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 1 Native Warrior Hitpoints Native warriors get +30% hit points and +10% speed (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 10 Native Warrior Attack Native warriors get +30% attack and train time -25% 10 The Native Alliance card is not available to the Chinese. The Native Warrior Hitpoints card is not available to the Japanese. The Native Warrior Attack card is not available to the Indians. Aztecs Card Description Age HC level 9 Zapotec Allies Ships 9 Zapotec Lightning Warriors; costs 500 coin 1 24 Zapotec Allies Ships 24 Zapotec Lightning Warriors and upgrades them to Elite (if not already); costs 1,000 coin 10 30 Zapotec Allies Ships 30 Zapotec Lightning Warriors and upgrades them to Elite (if not already); costs 2,000 coin 40 Chinese Card Description Age HC level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Acupuncture Unit train time -20% 10 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 French Card Description Age HC level Wilderness Warfare Coureurs des Bois, Skirmishers, and native warriors get +20% hit points 25 TEAM Improved Native Warriors Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack 1 Indians Card Description Age HC level Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Haudenosaunee Card Description Age HC level Infantry Attack Infantry get +15% attack 10 Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Infantry Combat Infantry get +15% hit points and attack 25 TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level Onin War Infantry get +33% siege attack 40 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Lakota Card Description Age HC level Wind Runner Infantry get +10% speed 10 Black Arrow Native warrior train time -85% 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry get +15% attack 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Zapotec Lightning Warriors have 11 hand attack, 30 siege attack, train in 20 seconds, and have a x2.0 multiplier against cavalry and x1.5 against shock infantry.

Definitive Edition

• Zapotec Lightning Warriors have 12 hand attack, 24 siege attack, train in 30 seconds, and have a x2.5 multiplier against cavalry, x2.0 against shock infantry, and x2.5 against heavy infantry.

The African Royals

• Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with update 50830, the Zapotec Lightning Warrior portrait has been updated.

In-game dialogue

Main article: Zapotec#In-game_dialogue

Trivia

• The weapon used by the Zapotec Lightning Warrior is a Macuahuitl, or obsidian sword, similar to one used by the Jaguar Prowl Knight.

History

“

The Zapotec, a Mesoamerican people who developed an advanced civilization, inhabited cities as well as towns, their homes built from stones and mortar. They had an early written language system, which perhaps influenced other Mesoamerican writing systems developed as by the Aztec, Maya, and Mixtec. One of the most powerful and sacred forces of nature to the Zapotec was lightning, personified by Cociyo or the Thunder God. Images of the Thunder God often reflected a serpentine nature, perhaps mirroring the undulating movements of lightning as it strikes the earth. Dressed for battle in lightweight yet sturdy cotton armor, the lightning warrior was an elite infantryman feared throughout Mesoamerica during the 1500s.

”

Gallery

The Lightning Warrior's history portrait

An in-game Zapotec Lightning Warrior model