“ | Ranged cavalry armed with pistols. Good against cavalry and artillery. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Ruyter is a ranged light gunpowder cavalry unit in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Dutch, which replaces the Dragoon, and can be trained at Stables, Forts, and Fluyts once the Fortress Age is reached.
Overview[]
The Ruyter wields pistols in combat and works best in groups to eliminate groups of heavy cavalry and hand shock infantry. Compared to the Dragoon, they operate almost identically in combat, albeit with lower individual stats. They counter artillery at range, but fare even better if set to melee mode, as long as the enemy does not have heavy infantry in melee mode guarding the cannons, in which case stagger mode would be best.
However, Ruyters take only 1 population slot, making them very population effective. It is also one of the Dutch Royal Guard units, meaning each unit can be upgraded higher than other Dutch units. They are also significantly cheaper, as coin is barely an issue for Dutch players due to the presence of Banks. The Ruyter costs mainly coin, and thanks to the Dutch Settler sharing the coin resource cost, the Ruyter fulfills a similar economic niche to Musketeers within standard civilizations, which use Food for both of those units of theirs. Finally, Ruyters work well with the Dutch infantry units because they all benefit from Arsenal upgrades. Be sure to research Ranged Cavalry Caracole to help improve both their offensive and defensive capabilities.
Upgrades[]
The Ruyter starts at the Veteran level, giving them +20% hit points and attack.
If they are made available in the Commerce Age with the "TEAM House of Aviz" Home City Card, Ruyters will be automatically upgraded to Veteran once the player reaches the Fortress Age.
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Carabineers | 850 wood 850 coin |
Upgrades Ruyters to Carabineers (+40% hit points and attack, and +1 ranged attack range) | |
Imperial Carabineers | 1,500 wood 1,500 coin |
Upgrades Carabineers to Imperial Carabineers (+50% hit points and attack); requires Carabineers |
Consulate Carabineer[]
“ | Ranged cavalry armed with pistols. Good against cavalry and artillery. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Carabineer is a counterpart of the Ruyter, which starts with +10% hit points and attack.
Upgrades[]
The Carabineer is automatically upgraded in the Fortress Age, Industrial Age, and Imperial Age:
- +20% hit points and attack
- +30% hit points and attack, +1 ranged attack range
- +50% hit points and attack
Civilization differences[]
- The Japanese can get Carabineers by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate which provides Dutch Expeditionary Force and Dutch Expeditionary Army that includes 8 and 16 Carabineers respectively.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Heavy cavalry, hand shock infantry, artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light infantry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%) |
Attack | Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Yoga (+5%) |
Resistance | Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) |
Range | Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) |
Line of Sight | Town Watch (+3) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2) |
Speed | Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) |
Train time | Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%) |
Cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards[]
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Ruyter
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Red | Shipment that can be sent twice |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
Dutch[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Belgian Revolution | Turns all Pikemen, Halberdiers, and Ruyters into Revolutionaries; costs 500 food, 500 wood, 500 coin | |
7 Ruyters | Ships 7 Ruyters | |
11 Ruyters | Ships 11 Ruyters | |
9 Ruyters | Ships 9 Ruyters | |
13 Ruyters | Ships 13 Ruyters | |
17 Ruyters | Ships 17 Ruyters | |
Dutch Counter Cavalry Force | Ships 10 Halberdiers and 4 Ruyters | |
Cavalry Combat | Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack | |
Riding School | Cavalry train time -40% | |
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; Pikemen, Halberdiers, Skirmishers, Hussars, and Ruyters cost +10% | |
Guard of Honor | Upgrades Ruyters to Royal Guard (if not already); Ruyters get +200% hand attack but all hand attack multipliers removed; upgrades Dragoons to Independence Dragoons (Guard Dragoons with a lance hand attack); Independence Dragoons can be trained at Stables, Forts, and Fluyts (if revolting from the Dutch) | |
Wagon Warfare | War Wagons replace Ruyters at Stables, Forts, and Fluyts; upgrades War Wagons to Imperial; costs 1,000 wood | |
Wanderlust | Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed | |
Lee's Continental Light Dragoons | Ships 12 Carbine Cavalry; turns all Ruyters into Carbine Cavalry; Carbine Cavalry replace Ruyters at Stables, Forts, and Fluyts; upgrades Carbine Cavalry to Guard and allows them to be upgraded to Veteran |
- "Guard of Honor" is available upon revolting to Brazil.
- "Wagon Warfare" and "Wanderlust" are available upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.
- "Lee's Continental Light Dragoons" is available upon revolting to the United States.
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card card.
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack |
Italians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Sengoku | Unit upgrades cost -20% | |
Good Faith Agreements | Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades) | |
Bakufu | Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +5% speed, +10 Line of Sight and train units 15% faster; land military unit train time -20%, artillery and banner army train time -10% instead |
Lakota[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Mustangs | Cavalry and shock infantry cost -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 |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Mariachi | For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed |
Portuguese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM House of Aviz | Dragoons, Ruyters, Cavalry Archers, Rifle Riders, Musket Riders, Yabusame, and Carbine Cavalry can be trained in the Commerce Age; Zamburak, Eagle Runner Knight, Bolas Warrior, Black Rider, and Ming Army train time -15%; Mongolian Army train time -7% |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight |
Dutch[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
7 Ruyters | Ships 7 Ruyters | 1 | |
11 Ruyters | Ships 11 Ruyters | 1 | |
9 Ruyters | Ships 9 Ruyters | 10 | |
13 Ruyters | Ships 13 Ruyters | 10 | |
17 Ruyters | Ships 17 Ruyters | 40 | |
Dutch Counter Cavalry Force | Ships 10 Halberdiers and 4 Ruyters | 25 | |
Cavalry Combat | Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack | 10 | |
Riding School | Cavalry train time -40% | 10 |
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack | 10 |
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack | 25 |
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades | Unit upgrades cost -20% | 1 | |
Good Faith Agreements | Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-400 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades) | 1 |
Portuguese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Early Dragoons | Dragoons, Ruyters, Cavalry Archers, Rifle Riders, Musket Riders, and Yabusame can be trained in the Commerce Age; Zamburak train time -15%; Ming Army and Mongolian Army train time -7% | 1 |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Scouts | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight | 1 |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Inquisition | All units get +10 Line of Sight | 10 |
Trivia[]
- Due to a bug, upgrading the Ruyter to Carabineers and Imperial Carabineers does not change their model, while the Consulate Carabineer Ruyters change their model as they get auto-upgraded. This has been fixed in the Definitive Edition.
- Royal Guard and Consulate Ruyters are named after the carabiniers (although the Dutch word "karabinier" would be more appropriate).
- With update 14.43676, the Ruyter got an actual carbine after upgrading it to Carabineer.
- As stated in the in-game history, "Ruyter" is cognate with the German "Reiter", which is also in the game as a Mercenary unit (Black Rider).
History[]
“ | Ruyters were a light cavalry who used pistols as their primary weapon. These soldiers were known as "Riders," and often carried several pistols with them - even having aids or servants whose job it was to carry extra pistols - because they wouldn't have time to reload the weapons when in range. Short-range fire with pistols was often deadly, but even shots that were not immediately lethal usually killed due to infection or disease because of the state of medicine at the time. Ruyters were able to fire their relatively small arms while on the move and this mobility made them fierce combatants. Ruyters wore light armor and carried several sets of pistols. They were known to carry sabers and axes as sidearms for use when their complement of loaded pistols had been spent. | ” |
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Dragoon
- Cavalry Archer – Ottoman and Russian equivalent
- Eagle Runner Knight – Aztec equivalent
- Musket Rider – Haudenosaunee equivalent
- Rifle Rider – Lakota equivalent
- Zamburak – Indian equivalent
- Yabusame – Japanese equivalent
- Hakkapelit – Swedish substitute. Note that it's a ranged heavy cavalry useful against infantry
- Carbine Cavalry – United States equivalent