“ | Fast cavalry good at raiding villagers or buildings. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Steppe Rider is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of the Standard Army or (since the Definitive Edition) as part of the Mongolian Army.
Overview[]
Steppe Riders have a fairly low attack and hit points, but they are cheap and can be fielded in large numbers. They have a high multiplier against infantry, making them equally effective against units like Skirmishers and Crossbowmen as a Hussar. They are also classified as a siege unit, giving it good resistance to building fire, but making them especially vulnerable to Minutemen fire. Steppe Riders are not used as much beyond the Commerce Age, as the Chinese have other, superior hand cavalry units that become available to them at that time.
The Mongolian Scourge card increases Steppe Riders' attack against Villagers to that of a Hussar, making them extremely good raiders. They are a lot easier to mass-produce, as they are cheaper and are shipped in larger numbers. This card is fairly important if a player is planning on raiding a lot with Steppe Riders, as a single Villager with Great Coat and Blunderbuss (or other civilizations' equivalent) will quite easily beat a Steppe Rider in melee. Steppe Riders' biggest advantage as a unit is their excellent siege.
Exalted Steppe Riders are almost exactly as strong as un-upgraded Hussars, but cost only one population. This, along with the Chinese population bonus, makes them good to mass and to deathball in the late game. They combine this characteristic (being population-efficient fast cavalry units) with the Keshik from their shared Mongolian Army. They also share many important Home City Card upgrades.
Upgrades[]
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Disciplined Steppe Rider | 100 wood 50 coin |
Upgrades Steppe Riders to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) | |
Honored Steppe Rider | 300 wood 300 coin |
Upgrades Steppe Riders to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Steppe Rider | |
Exalted Steppe Rider | 750 wood 750 coin |
Upgrades Steppe Riders to Exalted (+40% hit points and attack); requires Honored Steppe Rider |
Further statistics[]
As Steppe Riders are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Infantry, buildings, Villagers (with Mongolian Scourge Home City Card), artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, ranged shock infantry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%) |
Attack | Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% vs. Frontier fortification) |
Resistance | Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance) |
Speed | Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5) |
Train time | Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40% Mongolian Army; -20% Standard Army) Quechuan Diet (-15%; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) Akan Fontomfrom (-10%; Standard Army) Immigrants (-10%; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) |
Cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost; Standard Army and Mongolian Army) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards[]
As Steppe Riders are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Steppe Rider
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Standard Army Hitpoints | Chu Ko Nus and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points | |
10 Steppe Riders | Ships 10 Steppe Riders | |
7 Steppe Riders | Ships 7 Steppe Riders | |
16 Steppe Riders | Ships 16 Steppe Riders | |
Old Han Reforms | Chu Ko Nus, Qiang Pikemen, Keshiks, and Steppe Riders get +50% hit points and attack but Old Han Army, Ming Army, Standard Army, and Mongolian Army cost +25% | |
Mongolian Scourge | Steppe Riders get +1.0 attack multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0 attack multiplier against heavy cavalry and shock infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5 attack multiplier against infantry and -0.17 against heavy infantry | |
Beiyang Army | Ships 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks; upgrades Steppe Riders and Keshiks to Disciplined (if not already); costs 800 food | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5% | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% |
French[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack |
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.
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% |
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 |
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 Hidalgos | Pikeman, Crossbowman, Aenna, Cetan Bow, Longbowman, Otontin Slinger, Yumi Archer, and Pavisier train time -40%; Old Han Army train time -30%; Jungle Bowman, Plumed Spearman, Fulani Archer, Desert Archer, Puma Spearman, Insurgente, Standard Army, and Ming Army train time -15% | |
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Standard Army Hitpoints | Chu Ko Nus and Steppe Riders get +15% hit points | 10 | |
10 Steppe Riders | Ships 10 Steppe Riders | 1 | |
7 Steppe Riders | Ships 7 Steppe Riders | 1 | |
16 Steppe Riders | Ships 16 Steppe Riders | 10 | |
Mongolian Scourge | Steppe Riders get +1.0 attack multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0 attack multiplier against heavy cavalry and shock infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5 attack multiplier against infantry and -0.17 against heavy infantry | 25 | |
Beiyang Army | Ships 8 Steppe Riders and 8 Keshiks; upgrades Steppe Riders and Keshiks to Disciplined (if not already); costs 1,000 food | 25 | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | 40 | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20% | 10 | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% | 10 |
French[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | 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 |
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 Archaic Soldier Training | Pikeman, Longbowman, Crossbowman, Aenna, Cetan Bow, Macehualtin, Yumi Archer, and Old Han Army train time -50%; Standard Army and Ming Army train time -25% | 10 | |
TEAM Inquisition | All units get +10 Line of Sight | 10 |
Changelog[]
The Asian Dynasties[]
- Steppe Riders have 6.75 speed and a obstruction radius of 0.79.
- Exalted Steppe Rider increases Steppe Rider hit points and attack by 50%.
Definitive Edition[]
- Steppe Riders have 7.25 speed and a obstruction radius of 0.65.
- Steppe Riders are now trained as part of the Mongolian Army.
The African Royals[]
- With update 61213, Exalted Steppe Rider increases Steppe Rider hit points and attack by 40%.
History[]
“ | The Mongol army of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one of the most effective fighting forces of all time, centering its battlefield strategy on the tenets of flexibility, mobility, and siege. Clad in light armor, horse archers rode and fought independently of cumbersome supply lines, collecting valuable reconnaissance information as they disrupted enemy positions and sowed seeds of panic. Their tactic of swift advances and false retreats often left the steppe riders out of harm's way but within arrow range for their attack. As the warriors attacked, mounted couriers relayed messages across various fronts and within the combined army, which consisted of a variety of different units working together. When the Mongols prepared for a final siege, they brought engineers to the front. Siege engines and rockets were deployed to scatter enemy formations, and to isolate pockets of troops to keep supplies or reinforcements from reaching them. | ” |