Mercenary (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit type in Age of Empires III. For other uses of the term, see Mercenary.

A Barbary Corsair

Mercenaries are specialist units in Age of Empires III.

Overview

There are two types of Mercenaries:

• Outlaws
• Mercenaries

Outlaws

In the Colonial Age, only outlaw units are available for training. Outlaws are like mercenaries, they are improved versions of units, but, unlike mercenaries, are the improved version of very basic units. They usually cost more population but less coins compared to mercenaries. The types of outlaws available are fixed depending on the map.

Examples are Renegado, which are improved Skirmishers and Pirates, which are improved Rodelero.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries can be shipped from the Home City, trained in the Saloon or trained from a Spanish Galleon (with a card shipment). Unlike standard unit shipments (such as military units and Villagers), mercenaries cost large amounts of coin (usually ~100 coin per unit), 1000 coin for Fortress Age shipments of a large squad, and 2000 for Industrial Age shipments of small armies of varied units. The mercenaries themselves are tougher versions of their normal counterparts. They usually cost more coins but less population compared to outlaws.

Examples of mercenaries include Swiss Pikemen, which have greatly increased HP and 22 attack compared to the normal 8, and Hackapells, which do not have a significant durability bonus compared to normal cavalry but the 121 attack (compared to the normal Hussar's 36 in the Fortress Age, when you can get them) tends to make up for this somewhat. Also, although not technically a mercenary, the shipments provided by the 'Church Upgrade' cards function similarly to mercenaries, such as Kalmucks (Dragoons) for the Russians and L'Armée D'Imperial (27 Grenadiers by the Industrial Age) shipments for the French, as you pay a load of resources and can only order them once, although this doesn't use up a shipment card. When a player constructs a Saloon, the mercenaries they train will vary depending on the map and are randomly available every game.

NOTE: Mercenaries are not available in the demo version.

Available Mercenaries

Outlaws

Outlaw	Use	Base unit	Maps
Pirate	Melee Infantry	Rodelero	Amazonia, Carribean, Hispañola, New England, Orenoque, Patagonia, Saguenay
Renegado	Ranged	Skirmisher	Andes, Bayou, California, Carolina, Great Lakes, Great Plains, New England, Rockies, Texas
Comanchero	Ranged Cavalry	Dragoon	Andes, Araucania, California, Great Lakes, Great Plains, Northwest Territory, Painted Desert, Pampas, Patagonia, Saguenay, Sonora, Texas, Yucatàn, Yukon
Pistolero	Musketeer	Musketeer	Amazonia, Araucania, Bayou, Carolina, Orenoque, Painted Desert, Pampas, Rockies, Sonora, Unknown, Yucatàn, Yukon
Wokou Pirate	Hand Infantry	Rodelero	Borneo, Indochina
Dacoit	Ranged Infantry	Musketeer	Deccan, Indochina, Himalayas, Silk Road
Thuggee	Ranged Infantry	Skirmisher	Deccan
Wokou Ronin	Melee Infantry	Samurai	Mongolia, Siberia
Wokou Horseman	Cavalry Archer	Cavalry Archer	Himalayas, Mongolia, Siberia, Silk Road, Yellow River
Wokou Monk	Archer Infantry	Yumi Archer	Yellow River

Mercenaries

Mercenaries	Use	Base unit
Arsonist	Grenadier	Grenadier
Jaeger	Skirmisher	Skirmisher
Black Rider	Ranged Gunpowder Cavalry	Dragoon
Landsknecht	Hand Infantry	Halberdier
Hackapell	Cavalry	Uhlan
Highlander	Musketeer	Musketeer
Stradiot	Cavalry	Hussar
Li'l Bombard	Artillery	Great Bombard
Fusilier	Musketeer	Colonial Militia
Elmeti	Melee Cavalry	Lancer
Swiss Pikeman	Melee Infantry	Pikeman
Mameluke	Melee Cavalry	Hussar
Barbary Corsair	Melee Infantry	Rodelero
Manchu	Cavalry Archer	Horse Archer
Ronin	Melee Infantry	Samurai
Ninja	Spy	Spy
Jat Lancer*	Melee Cavalry	Lancer
Iron Troop*	Infantry Archer	Crossbowman
Yojimbo Cavalry Archer*	Ranged Cavalry	Horse Archer

( * ) Requires the Atonement card from Home City