Infantry unit (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the infantry units in Age of Empires II. For the armor class, see Armor class: Infantry. For infantry units in other games of the series, see Infantry.

Infantry in Age of Empires II is one of the four combat forces on land, the other ones being archers, cavalry, and siege weapons.

General information

Infantry units are (with a few exceptions) non-ranged foot soldiers, who in general have comparatively low armor and hit points and are relatively slow. Weak at first glance, they can be extremely important since they are the cheapest unit branch, are available very early in the game, are created quickly, and usually hold a medium to high attack.

Regular infantry units are trained at the Barracks only. The Militia is the first available unit there and the only military unit available in the Dark Age.

Unique infantry units are naturally trained at the Castle. There are two exceptions: Huskarls can be trained at the Barracks also (after Anarchy is researched) and Condottieri are available at the Barracks because they are a team bonus.

File:Pikeman2.jpg

The Pikeman, the no. 1 cavalry counter

All infantry units cost food and gold, with the lone exception of the Spearman line, which costs food and wood.

While inferior in general to archers and cavalry when pitched against each other, infantry units have two advantages: Firstly, their low cost (especially in terms of gold) makes casualties more forgiving and secondly, there is no cheap counter to easily mass against infantry as opposed to archers, which are easily countered with Skirmishers, and cavalry, who are usually countered with Pikemen.

Due to their low speed and zero range, infantry units struggle heavily against Monks.

Units that excel at battle against infantry are: Hand Cannoneers, Cataphracts, Slingers, Teutonic Knights, Jaguar Warriors, and Plumed Archers.

List of infantry units

Marked with yellow background are unique units.

Infantry unit	Building	A	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	ROF	LOS	Sp	F	W	G	TT	Ci
File:MilitiaIcon.jpg Militia	Barracks		40	4	0	1	0	2.03	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	31
Man-at-Arms	Barracks	File:Feudal-age-reseach.jpg	45	6	0	1	0	2.03	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	31
File:LongswordsManIcon.jpg Long Swordsman	Barracks	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	60	9	0	1	0	2.03	4	0.9	60	0	20	21	31
File:2HandedswordsmanIcon.jpg Two-Handed Swordsman	Barracks		60	12	0	1	0	2.03	5	0.9	60	0	20	21	30
Champion	Barracks		70	13	1	1	0	2.03	5	0.9	60	0	20	21	25
Spearman	Barracks	File:Feudal-age-reseach.jpg	45	3	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	31
File:PikemanIcon.jpg Pikeman	Barracks	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	55	4	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	30
Halberdier	Barracks		60	6	0	0	0	3.05	4	1	35	25	0	22	23
Eagle Scout	Barracks	File:Feudal-age-reseach.jpg	50	4	0	2	0	2.03	6	1.1	20	0	50	32	3
File:EagleWarriorIcon.jpg Eagle Warrior	Barracks	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	55	7	0	3	0	2.03	6	1.15	20	0	50	32	3
File:EliteEagleWarriorIcon.jpg Elite Eagle Warrior	Barracks		60	9	0	4	0	2.03	6	1.3	20	0	50	20	3
Woad Raider	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	65	8	0	1	0	2.03	3	1.2	65	0	25	10	1
Elite Woad Raider	Castle		80	13	0	1	0	2.03	5	1.2	65	0	25	10	1
Throwing Axeman	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	60	7	0	0	3	2.03	5	1	55	0	25	17	1
Elite Throwing Axeman	Castle		70	8	1	0	4	2.03	6	1	55	0	25	17	1
File:HuskarlIcon.jpg Huskarl	Cas / Bar	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	60	10	0	6	0	2.03	3	1.05	80	0	40	16	1
File:HuskarlIcon.jpg Elite Huskarl	Cas / Bar		70	12	0	8	0	2.03	5	1.05	80	0	40	16	1
Samurai	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	60	8	1	1	0	1.93	4	1	60	0	30	9	1
Elite Samurai	Castle		80	12	1	1	0	1.93	5	1	60	0	30	9	1
File:Crusade avatar.png Teutonic Knight	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	80	12	5	2	0	2.03	3	0.7	80	0	40	12	1
File:Crusade avatar.png Elite Teutonic Knight	Castle		100	17	10	2	0	2.03	5	0.7	80	0	40	12	1
File:VBRSK.jpg Berserk	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	54	9	0	1	0	2.03	3	1.05	65	0	25	14	1
File:VBRSK.jpg Elite Berserk	Castle		62	14	2	1	0	2.03	5	1.05	65	0	25	14	1
Jaguar Warrior	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	50	10	1	1	0	2.03	3	1	60	0	30	20	1
Elite Jaguar Warrior	Castle		75	12	2	1	0	2.03	5	1	60	0	30	20	1
Kamayuk	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	60	7	0	0	1	2.03	4	1	60	0	30	10	1
Elite Kamayuk	Castle		80	8	1	0	1	2.03	5	1	60	0	30	10	1
Condottiero	Barracks		80	9	1	0	0	1.93	6	1.2	50	0	35	13	1
Shotel Warrior	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	40	16	0	0	0	2.03	3	1.2	50	0	35	8	1
Elite Shotel Warrior	Castle		50	18	0	1	0	2.03	3	1.2	50	0	35	8	1
Gbeto	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	30	10	0	0	5	2.03	6	1.25	50	0	40	17	1
Elite Gbeto	Castle		45	13	0	0	6	2.03	7	1.25	50	0	40	17	1
Karambit Warrior	Castle	File:Castle-age-reseach.jpg	30	6	0	1	0	2.03	3	1.2	25	0	10	6	1
Elite Karambit Warrior	Castle		40	7	1	2	0	2.03	3	1.2	25	0	10	6	1
Average	N/A	N/A	59.4	9.5	0.8	1.3	0.6	2.11	4.5	1.05	53.4	2.2	27.8	16.4	21.9

Technologies

Listed below are all technologies that benefit infantry units. Marked with yellow background are unique technologies. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Technology	Researched at	Age	Civilization	Effect
Tracking	Barracks	II	All	Increases Line of Sight by +2
Squires	Barracks	III	27	Increases speed by +10%
Arson	Barracks	III	All	Increases attack vs standard buildings by +2
Forging	Blacksmith	II	All	Increases attack by +1
Iron Casting	Blacksmith	III	All	Increases attack by +1
Blast Furnace	Blacksmith	IV	27	Increases attack by +2
Scale Mail Armor	Blacksmith	II	All	Increases armor by +1/+1
Chain Mail Armor	Blacksmith	III	All	Increases armor by +1/+1
Plate Mail Armor	Blacksmith	IV	26	Increases armor by +1/+2
File:Herbal Medicine.png Herbal Medicine	Monastery	III	26	Garrisoned units heal 4x faster
Heresy	Monastery	III	19	Converted units die instead of changing color
Faith	Monastery	IV	28	Increases conversion resistance
Conscription	Castle	IV	All	Increases creation speed by +33%
File:Unique-tech.jpg Garland Wars	Castle	IV	Aztecs	Increases attack by +4
File:CastleAgeUnique.png Kasbah	Castle	III	Berbers	Creation speed for Castle units increased by +25%
File:CastleAgeUnique.png Royal Heirs	Castle	III	Ethiopians	Creation speed of Shotel Warriors increased
File:Unique-tech.jpg Bearded Axe	Castle	IV	Franks	Throwing Axeman range increased by +1
File:CastleAgeUnique.png Anarchy	Castle	III	Goths	Huskarls can be created at Barracks
File:Unique-tech.jpg Perfusion	Castle	IV	Goths	Barracks work faster by +100%
File:Unique-tech.jpg Couriers	Castle	IV	Incas	Increases Kamayuks, Slingers, and Eagles armor by +1/+2
File:Unique-tech.jpg Forced Levy	Castle	IV	Malay	Militia line gold cost removed
File:Unique-tech.jpg El Dorado	Castle	IV	Mayans	Eagle Warrior hit points increased by +40
File:Unique-tech.jpg Druzhina	Castle	IV	Slavs	Infantry does Area of Effect damage
File:CastleAgeUnique.png Chieftains	Castle	III	Vikings	Infantry attack against cavalry and camels increased by +5 and +2, respectively
File:Unique-tech.jpg Berserkergang	Castle	IV	Vikings	Berserk regeneration rate increased

Civilizations

A lot of civilizations rely on a strong infantry, the Aztecs, Burmese, Japanese, Slavs, and Vikings arguably have the strongest infantry of all civilizations.

The Celts, Goths, Incas, Malians, and Teutons also have very prominent infantry.

The Incas are the only civilization to have access to all infantry units and technologies.

Civilization bonuses

The following civilizations have bonuses that specifically benefit infantry units:

Burmese: Infantry units have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Byzantines: Pikemen are 25% cheaper.
Celts: Infantry moves 15% faster.
Ethiopians: Pikeman and Halberdier upgrades are free.
Goths: Infantry is 35% cheaper. Infantry has +1 attack against standard buildings.
Japanese: Infantry attacks 25% faster (starting in the Feudal Age).
Malians: Barracks units have +1/+2/+3 pierce armor in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
Slavs: Tracking is free.
Vikings: Infantry units have +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Team bonuses