Stradiot

Stradiot
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Mercenary
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Saloon (Americans) Palace (Africans) Lombard (Italians)
Population	3
Coin	300
Train time	50 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	585
Resistance	30% Ranged
Speed	7.25
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	30
XP kill bounty	30
Hand attack
Damage	56 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	30 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Trample attack
Damage	37 Hand
Area	3
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	Hand cavalry mercenary from the Balkans.	”
—In-game description

The Stradiot is mercenary heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III. It performs similarly to an improved Hussar, putting it in between the Mameluke and the Hackapell.

Overview

The Stradiot is the middle ground between the Mameluke and the Hackapell, in terms of both hit points and attack. Therefore, although having no attack bonuses, it is quite a powerful unit. They are effective in combat against artillery and light infantry. Being one of the fastest cavalry units in Age of Empires III, they can also be useful for raiding. However they are weak against heavy infantry, light cavalry, and, being mercenaries, Spies and Ninjas.

Although the Stradiot carries a short spear, it does not count as a Lancer unit.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Light infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Red Lancers (+0.2 melee multiplier against infantry; Dutch only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Yoga (+5%) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance	Kapikulu Corps (+10% hand resistance; Ottomans only) Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Philhellenism (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Philhellenism (-10%) Yemeni Relations (exchanges cost for 50% coin, 50% influence; Ethiopians only)
Other	Multinationalism (ships 8 random European mercenaries) Red Lancers (ships 5 Stradiots; Stradiots can be hired at the Tavern and are classified as lancers; Dutch only)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) Red Lancers (-10% melee multiplier against heavy infantry; Dutch only)

Home City Cards

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

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time		N/A
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Villager for the Indians)		10
Outlaw Combat	Outlaws and mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack (also upgrades Filibusters to Veteran for Baja California; costs 750 coin for Baja California, Hungary, and Revolutionary Mexicans)		N/A

• "Cavalry Combat" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish.
• "Riding School" is available to Europeans (except the Maltese and Spanish) and Indians.
• "Outlaw Combat" is available to the Mexicans upon revolting to Baja California and Europeans upon revolting to the Barbary States, Hungary, and Mexico.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%		10

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
Dutch States Army	Mercenary train time -15% and shipments arrive time -20%, and get +7% speed (except Napoleon Guns and Li'l Bombards); enables training of Highlanders at Barracks, Royal Horsemen at Stables, and both at Tavern; Pikeman, Halberdier, Skirmisher, Hussar, and Ruyter cost +10%

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Blandengues	Hand cavalry cost -20%
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed

• "Blandengues" is available to the Germans, Italians, and Spanish upon revolting to Argentina.
• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead		10
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed; +4 Uhlans		25
Improved Mercenaries	Mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack; +3 Uhlans		10

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Sahelian Kingdoms	Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack; mercenaries and outlaws get +10% hit points and attack

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack instead; +1 Hindu Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry and cavalry get +15% hand attack
Broken Lance Company	Ships 3 Papal Lancers and 1 Stradiot; costs 300 food, 300 wood, 300 coin
Albanian Company	Ships 4 Bosniaks and 4 Stradiot; costs 500 food, 500 wood, 500 coin

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 Line of Sight and train units 15% faster; land military unit train time -20%; Banner army train time -10%		10

Lakota

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%		10

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 260% faster

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Plan of Casa Mata	[Plan] Turns all Dragoons into Chinacos; hand cavalry get +5% speed; costs 250 food, 250 wood
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Hire Balkan Stradiots	Ships 6 Stradiots; costs 1,000 coin		10
Ottoman Mercenary Army	Ships 6 Barbary Corsairs, 4 Stradiots, and 3 Mamelukes; costs 2,000 coin		25
5 Stradiots and 1 Mameluke	Ships 5 Stradiots; +1 Mameluke		N/A

• "5 Stradiots and 1 Mameluke" is available upon revolting to Egypt.

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry get +15% attack		10
Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand cavalry get +15% hit points		10
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% attack
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% hit points
German Mercenary Contracts	Mercenaries get +20% hit points and attack; Jaegers and Landsknechts can be trained at Barracks and Galleons; Black Riders can be trained at Stables and Galleons

United States

Card	Description	Age
Poker	Ships 13 random mercenaries; up to 3 random mercenaries available at Saloon; costs 3,500 coin
Indiana Mobilization	Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; unit train time (except Heavy Cannons), technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Hamilton's Own	Ships 4 Napoleon Guns and 2 Li'l Bombards; mercenaries get +25% hit points and attack; costs 2,500 coin
Seminole Ponies	Ships 9 Hussars; hand cavalry get +15% hit points and attack, and +5% speed; cavalry train time -10%

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
• "Hamilton's Own" is available upon selecting the New York Federal State.
• "Seminole Ponies" is available upon selecting the Florida Federal State.

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• The Stradiot's in-game description is "Light cavalry mercenary from the Balkans."

Definitive Edition

• The Stradiot's in-game description is "Hand cavalry mercenary from the Balkans."

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 14.43676, Stradiots shipped by the Red Lancers technology received new models.

In-game dialogue

The Stradiot speaks Albanian.

• Select 1 Po? - Yes?
• Select 2 Gati - Ready
• Select 3 Komandë? - Command?
• Move 1 Po - Yes
• Move 2 Do e bëj - I'll do it
• Move 3 Do ta bëj - I will do it
• Attack 1 Sulm! - Attack!
• Attack 2 Në beteje! - To battle!
• Attack 3 Po! - Yes!

History

“

The Stradiotto were originally the cavalry of Giorgio Castriota, an Albanian who was raised a hostage of the Ottoman court, which named him Iskander Bey. He escaped his captivity and led a rebellion against the Ottomans that expelled them from Albania. His forces, the remnants of which were the Stradiots, used guerilla tactics and the rugged Albanian terrain to repel the Ottoman Turks. The Stradiots were later employed as mercenaries by the Venetians in the sixteenth century. These cavalrymen were unruly and could be counted on to break off from a fight to raid camps or supply trains. They wore turkish clothes, including baggy pants and shirts and turkish mail, but eschewed turbans for European helmets. They typically carried short spears called assegai that had points on both ends, but also used swords, maces, and crossbows.

”

Gallery

An in-game Stradiot

The Stradiot's history portrait

The Stradiot's Concept Art.

In-game Stradiot in the Definitive Edition

In-game Stradiot after researching the Red Lancers technology since update 14.43676