Age of Empires 2 Cavalry Counters

Age of Empires 2 Cavalry Counters

How do you counter cavalry in Age of Empires 2?

Use the Spearman line. A Halberdier has +32 attack bonus against the cavalry class, so it deals 36 damage per hit to a Knight and kills it in 3 hits while costing 35 food + 25 wood and no gold. Camels are the mobile alternative at +18 for the Heavy Camel Rider.

Cavalry is the one unit class with two genuine, large attack bonuses aimed at it — which is why counters here are about picking the right one, not about positioning. The catch is speed: the whole Spearman line moves at 1.0 against 1.35 for the Knight line and 1.5 for Hussars, so Halberdiers hold ground and camels do the chasing.

• The Spearman line has the biggest bonus. +15 for the Spearman, +22 for the Pikeman, +32 for the Halberdier against the cavalry class. No other unit in the game comes close, and none of the three costs gold.
• Camels are the fast version. Camel Rider +9, Heavy Camel Rider +18, Imperial Camel Rider +18 — less bonus damage, but 1.45 speed means they catch what Halberdiers cannot.
• Camels are not cavalry themselves. Camels carry their own armor class, so an enemy Halberdier hits them with +26 instead of +32 and an enemy camel gets +9 instead of +18. Mixing camels into a Knight army does not make it immune, it just changes the numbers.
• Monks are a cost play, not a damage play. A Monk costs 100 gold. A Knight, Cavalier and Paladin each cost 60 food + 75 gold. Every conversion pays for the Monk and hands you the unit.
• Archers do not counter cavalry. An Arbalest deals 6 pierce damage against 2 to 3 pierce armor — 25 hits for a Knight, over 50 for a Paladin. Arrows are for the enemy Halberdiers, not for the Knights.

How do you counter Knights in AoE2?

Halberdiers kill a Knight in 3 hits (36 damage per hit against 100 HP and 2 melee armor) and cost no gold. Without the Halberdier upgrade, a Pikeman needs 5 hits and a Heavy Camel Rider 5. The Knight itself costs 60 food + 75 gold, so every trade favors the counter.

The Knight is the Castle Age benchmark: 100 HP, 10 attack, 2/2 armor and 1.35 speed. It beats archers, infantry and villagers, and the games players lose to it are the games where no anti-cavalry unit was ever built. Both real counters — the Spearman line and camels — are available in the same age.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  +32 vs. the cavalry class on top of 6 base attack = 36 damage per hit against 2 melee armor, so 3 hits per Knight. Costs 35 food + 25 wood and no gold. Downside: 1.0 speed and a 3-second reload, so it only works where the Knight has to engage.
• 
  Pikeman Hard Counter
  +22 plus 4 base attack = 24 per hit, 5 hits per Knight. Same cost and the same Castle Age availability — this is the counter you actually have when Knights first appear, before Halberdier is researched.
• 
  Heavy Camel Rider Hard Counter
  +18 plus 7 base attack = 23 per hit, 5 hits per Knight, at 1.45 speed and 120 HP. The counter for chasing Knights in the open field and the primary answer for Saracens, Hindustanis and Gurjaras, none of which have the Halberdier.
• 
  Camel Rider Hard Counter
  +9 plus 6 base attack = 13 per hit, 8 hits per Knight. Noticeably weaker than the Heavy version, but it is the Castle Age camel and it still outruns anything the Knight can do to your economy.
• 
  Monk Hard Counter
  A Knight costs 60 food + 75 gold; a Monk costs 100 gold. Converting one swings 135 resources and puts a Knight on your side. Keep Monks behind the Pikemen — they have 30 HP and die to a single Knight charge.
• 
  Mameluke Hard Counter
  Saracen unique unit: +9 vs. cavalry on top of 8 attack, thrown from 3 tiles, so it damages Knights without taking melee hits back. 7 hits per Knight, 11 for the Elite version's +12 at 10 attack against a Paladin. Expensive at 55 food + 85 gold.
• 
  Camel Archer Soft Counter
  Berber unique unit. It has no cavalry bonus at all — its +4 (Elite +6) is against cavalry archers. Against a Knight it is 7 pierce attack against 2 pierce armor, about 20 hits. It kites, it does not counter.

How do you counter Cavaliers in AoE2?

The same counters, one age later and with more hits needed: 120 HP means 4 Halberdier hits, 5 Pikeman hits and 6 Heavy Camel Rider hits. The Cavalier is the Imperial Age upgrade of the Knight — not the Castle Age one — so you meet it alongside Halberdiers, not before them.

Cavalier stats are Knight stats with 20 more HP and 2 more attack: 120 HP, 12 attack, 2/2 armor, 1.35 speed, same 60 food + 75 gold. Nothing about the counter changes qualitatively, but the unit survives long enough to kill more of your Spearmen on the way in, so mass matters more than in Castle Age.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  36 damage per hit, 4 hits per Cavalier. Still the most gold-efficient answer in the game — a Cavalier costs 75 gold, a Halberdier costs none.
• 
  Heavy Camel Rider Hard Counter
  23 per hit, 6 hits, and 1.45 speed against the Cavalier's 1.35. The reliable open-field option, because Cavaliers can simply walk away from Halberdiers.
• 
  Monk Hard Counter
  Conversion value rises with the enemy's upgrades — a fully upgraded Cavalier converted for 100 gold is the largest single swing available at that point of the game.
• 
  Elite Camel Archer Soft Counter
  Berbers. Useful as a mobile harasser, but be clear on why: 8 pierce attack against 2 pierce armor, no cavalry bonus. It wins by kiting, and only against unsupported Cavaliers.

How do you counter Paladins in AoE2?

Halberdiers, in numbers: 36 damage per hit against 160 HP is 5 hits, and a Paladin costs 60 food + 75 gold against a gold-free Halberdier. The Imperial Camel Rider needs 7 hits, the Elite Mameluke 8. Do not use archers — an Arbalest needs over 50 hits against 3 pierce armor.

The Paladin is 160 HP, 14 attack and 2/3 armor at 1.35 speed. It kills Halberdiers quickly one on one, which is exactly why the counter is mass and not quality: five Halberdiers cost 175 food + 125 wood and no gold at all, and they remove a unit the enemy paid 75 gold for.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  +32 lands undiminished against the Paladin's 2 melee armor: 36 per hit, 5 hits. A group of 6 or more trades decisively because the Paladin's 14 attack needs 5 hits per Halberdier in return — and yours cost no gold.
• 
  Imperial Camel Rider Hard Counter
  Hindustani exclusive and the strongest camel in the game: 140 HP, 8 attack plus +18 = 24 per hit, 7 hits per Paladin. The only anti-cavalry unit that genuinely holds its own against Paladins in a straight fight.
• 
  Elite Mameluke Hard Counter
  Saracens: 10 attack plus +12 vs. cavalry = 20 per hit from 3 tiles range, 8 hits per Paladin without taking melee damage back. Note the bonus is smaller than the Heavy Camel's +18 — the value is the range, not the bonus.
• 
  Monk Hard Counter
  A Paladin costs 60 food + 75 gold as a unit. Converting one for 100 gold removes the enemy's best unit and adds it to yours. Pair with Halberdiers so the Monk survives the channel.
• 
  Obuch Soft Counter
  Polish unique unit. It has no cavalry bonus — 8 attack (Elite 10) against 2 melee armor — but its hits strip enemy armor, which raises the damage every other unit of yours deals. A support unit for a Halberdier line, never a solo counter.

How do you counter Hussars in AoE2?

Halberdiers kill a Hussar in 2 hits — 38 damage per hit against 75 HP and 0 melee armor — but at 1.0 speed they cannot chase 1.5. Station them at your Siege and your economy, and use Heavy Camel Riders (3 hits, 1.45 speed) to actually run Hussars down.

The Hussar is 75 HP, 7 attack, 0/2 armor, 1.5 speed and costs 80 food and no gold. It exists to raid villagers, kill Monks — it has +12 against the Monk class — and delete siege weapons. You will not catch it; you can only make the places it wants to go unprofitable.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  38 damage per hit against 0 melee armor = 2 hits per Hussar, the fastest kill of any cavalry unit. The problem is never the damage, it is being in the right place: put Halberdiers with your siege line and inside your base, not in the open field.
• 
  Heavy Camel Rider Hard Counter
  25 per hit = 3 hits, and 1.45 speed against 1.5 is close enough to force the engagement. 120 HP against the Hussar's 7 attack means it survives a long chase.
• 
  Imperial Camel Rider Hard Counter
  Hindustanis: 26 per hit = 3 hits and 140 HP. Overkill against an 80-food unit, but it ends Hussar raids outright.
• 
  Camel Archer Soft Counter
  Berbers, and again with no cavalry bonus: 7 pierce attack against the Hussar's 2 pierce armor. Its actual use is against cavalry archers, where its +4 does apply.

How do you counter Scout Cavalry and Light Cavalry in AoE2?

Spearmen. A Spearman deals 18 damage per hit to a Scout Cavalry (3 base attack plus +15, against 45 HP and 0 melee armor) and costs 35 food + 25 wood. In Castle Age the Pikeman upgrade takes it to 26 per hit, killing a Light Cavalry in 3 hits.

Feudal Age Scouts have 45 HP, 3 attack and 1.2 speed — they cannot kill a defended villager, they pick off stragglers, hunt and Monks. The counter window is short and the Spearman is available from the Barracks in Feudal Age, which is the whole reason it exists.

• 
  Spearman Hard Counter
  +15 vs. cavalry plus 3 base attack = 18 per hit, 3 hits per Scout Cavalry. 35 food + 25 wood, available in Feudal Age. Two or three next to your hunt and your mining camps stops a Scout rush entirely.
• 
  Pikeman Hard Counter
  Castle Age upgrade: 26 per hit, 2 hits per Scout Cavalry and 3 per Light Cavalry. The same unit doing the same job against the upgraded threat.
• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  Imperial Age: 38 per hit against 0 melee armor, 2 hits per Light Cavalry. Relevant because Light Cavalry and Hussars keep raiding long after Feudal Age.
• 
  Camel Rider Soft Counter
  13 per hit against a Knight, 15 against a Scout — but the Camel Rider is a Castle Age Stable unit and arrives too late for a Feudal Scout rush. Build it if you are a camel civ heading into Castle Age, not as an answer to Feudal pressure.

How do you counter camels in AoE2?

Halberdiers, again — they carry +26 against the camel class as well, for 32 damage per hit and 4 hits per Heavy Camel Rider. Champions are the cost answer: camels have no bonus against infantry, so a Champion trades 14 damage per hit against the camel's 7.

Camels are their own armor class, which is why an army of camels is not simply a cheaper Knight army. They take less from anti-cavalry bonuses than the Knight line does — a Halberdier's +26 instead of +32, an enemy camel's +9 instead of +18 — and they have no armor at all: Camel Rider 100 HP, Heavy Camel Rider 120, Imperial Camel Rider 140, all at 0/0 and 1.45 speed.

• 
  Halberdier Hard Counter
  +26 against the camel class plus 6 base attack = 32 damage per hit against 0 melee armor. 4 hits for a Camel Rider or Heavy Camel Rider, 5 for the 140 HP Imperial Camel Rider — and no gold spent against their 60.
• 
  Champion Hard Counter
  Camels have no bonus against infantry, so this is a plain stat fight the Champion wins on cost: 14 damage per hit against 0 melee armor (8 to 10 hits) while taking only 5 to 7 back through its 1 melee armor. 50 food + 20 gold against 55 food + 60 gold.
• 
  Pikeman Hard Counter
  +18 against camels plus 4 attack = 22 per hit, 6 hits per Heavy Camel Rider. The Castle Age answer, available the moment camels are.
• 
  Monk Soft Counter
  115 resources per camel converted for 100 gold. Worthwhile but not decisive — camels are among the cheaper gold units, and at 1.45 speed they close on a Monk quickly.
• 
  Arbalest Soft Counter
  Camels have 0 pierce armor, so an Arbalest deals its full 6 damage per hit — 20 hits for a Heavy Camel Rider. Slow, but completely safe from 5 range against a unit with no ranged attack.

AoE2 cavalry unit stats — HP, armor, speed and cost

Which units have an attack bonus against cavalry in AoE2?

How many hits does it take to kill each cavalry unit?

Which cavalry resists anti-cavalry bonus damage?

AoE2 camel stats and how many hits they take

Which civilizations have the best cavalry counters?

Summary — Counter Cheat Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions