Age of Empires 2 Infantry Counters

Age of Empires 2 Infantry Counters

How do you counter infantry in Age of Empires 2?

Use siege and gunpowder, not archers. A Mangonel deals 40 melee-type damage and kills a Champion in 2 shots; a Hand Cannoneer has a +10 bonus against the infantry class for 26 damage per hit and needs 3. An Arbalest needs 14 hits, because a Champion has 1 pierce armor and no unit in the archer line has an infantry bonus.

Infantry is the cheapest gold-efficient frontline in the game, and it splits into two groups that need opposite answers. The Militia line is durable and slow, so area damage and bonus damage beat it. The Spearman line is fragile and exists to die to ranged units. Getting this backwards — sending Arbalests at Champions, or Champions at Halberdiers — is the most common counter mistake in the game.

• Only three things have an infantry bonus. Hand Cannoneer +10, Cataphract +9 (Elite +12), Jaguar Warrior +5 (Elite +6), plus the Scorpion at +1 and the Inca Slinger at +4. The archer line has none at all.
• Siege damage counts as melee-type. So infantry armor barely matters: Mangonel 40, Onager 50, Siege Onager 75 against 40 to 75 HP units that walk in formation. A Siege Onager one-shots a Champion.
• The Spearman line has 0 pierce armor. And both the Arbalest (+3) and the Elite Skirmisher (+4) have a bonus against it. An Arbalest deals 9 damage per hit to a Halberdier, killing it in 7.
• Infantry is slow. 0.96 speed for the Militia line, 1.0 for the Spearman line, 0.8 for the Teutonic Knight. Every ranged unit that keeps its distance wins by default — the exceptions are the Eagle Warrior line at 1.15 to 1.3 and a handful of unique units.
• Cavalry is not an infantry counter. A Knight needs 8 hits to kill a Champion and takes 9 in return. Use cavalry to reach the siege and archers behind the infantry, not to fight the infantry itself.

How do you counter Champions in AoE2?

Area damage and Hand Cannoneers. A Mangonel deals 39 damage per shot to a Champion's 70 HP and 1 melee armor — 2 shots — and a Hand Cannoneer's +10 infantry bonus makes 26 per hit, 3 hits. Arbalests are the trap answer: 5 damage per hit, 14 hits.

The Champion is the endpoint of the Militia line: 70 HP, 14 attack, 1/1 armor, 0.96 speed, and only 50 food + 20 gold, which makes it the most gold-efficient melee unit in the game. Its weaknesses are speed and its 1 pierce armor — but 1 pierce armor still means an Arbalest deals only 5 damage per shot, so the answer is bonus damage or area damage, not arrows.

• 
  Onager Hard Counter
  50 melee-type damage in an area against 1 melee armor: 2 shots per Champion, and Champions advance in formation, so each shot hits several. A Siege Onager at 75 damage kills one outright per shot.
• 
  Mangonel Hard Counter
  39 damage per shot, 2 shots per Champion, from 7 range against a unit that moves at 0.96. The Castle Age version of the same answer at 160 wood + 135 gold.
• 
  Hand Cannoneer Hard Counter
  17 attack plus a +10 bonus against the infantry class = 26 damage per hit, 3 hits per Champion, from 7 range. The single most efficient anti-Champion unit in the game, and the reason massed Champions stop working in Imperial Age.
• 
  Elite Cataphract Hard Counter
  Byzantines: 12 attack plus +12 against the infantry class = 23 damage per hit, 4 hits per Champion, with 150 HP and 1.35 speed. It also carries 12 armor in the cavalry class, so anti-cavalry bonuses barely touch it — the one melee unit that beats infantry head-on.
• 
  Elite Jaguar Warrior Hard Counter
  Aztecs: 19 attack plus +6 against the infantry class = 24 damage per hit, 3 hits per Champion. The bonus is +5 for the base version and +6 for the Elite — a real advantage in the infantry mirror.
• 
  Scorpion Soft Counter
  11 pierce attack plus +1 against infantry = 11 damage per hit, 7 hits per Champion — but the bolt passes through every unit in a line, so a single shot into a marching column hits several Champions. Positional, not raw damage.
• 
  Arbalest Soft Counter
  5 damage per hit against 1 pierce armor, so 14 hits per Champion. It works in mass because Champions cannot close 5 tiles at 0.96 speed, but per resource it is one of the weaker options — bring siege instead.

How do you counter Halberdiers and the Spearman line in AoE2?

Shoot them. The whole Spearman line has 0 pierce armor, and both the Arbalest (+3) and the Elite Skirmisher (+4) carry a bonus against it: 9 and 7 damage per hit, so 7 and 9 hits for a 60 HP Halberdier. A Hand Cannoneer needs only 3 hits.

Spearmen, Pikemen and Halberdiers exist to kill cavalry and nothing else — 3 to 6 attack, 45 to 60 HP, 1.0 speed and no armor of any kind. They are always escorting something more valuable, so the goal is to remove them before the fight starts rather than to win a fight against them.

• 
  Arbalest Hard Counter
  6 attack plus a +3 bonus against the Spearman line against 0 pierce armor = 9 damage per hit, 7 hits per Halberdier, from 5 range against a unit that moves at 1.0. The classic answer, and it costs 25 wood + 45 gold against their 35 food + 25 wood.
• 
  Hand Cannoneer Hard Counter
  17 attack, +10 against the infantry class and +1 against the Spearman line = 28 damage per hit, so 3 hits per Halberdier. The fastest way to strip a Halberdier escort off a cavalry-archer or siege army.
• 
  Elite Skirmisher Hard Counter
  Its bonus against the Spearman line is +4 — larger than the Arbalest's +3 — for 7 damage per hit and 9 hits per Halberdier. It deals less because its base attack is only 3, but it costs no gold at all, which makes it the efficient choice when you are gold-starved.
• 
  Onager Hard Counter
  50 melee-type area damage, 2 shots per Halberdier, and Halberdiers cluster around the unit they are protecting. The standard way to break a Halberdier-plus-siege push.
• 
  Scorpion Hard Counter
  12 damage per hit including the +1 infantry bonus, 5 hits per Halberdier, and the bolt passes through the whole line. Cheap at 75 wood + 75 gold.
• 
  Elite Cataphract Hard Counter
  The one cavalry unit that beats Halberdiers: 24 damage per hit with its +12 infantry bonus (3 hits), while its 12 armor in the cavalry class cuts the Halberdier's +32 down to +20 — 24 damage back against 150 HP, so 7 hits. Everything else mounted loses this fight.
• 
  Heavy Cavalry Archer Soft Counter
  7 pierce attack against 0 pierce armor at 1.4 speed against 1.0 — it cannot be caught and never has to stop. Slow at 9 hits per Halberdier, but it costs the Halberdier player their entire escort over time.

How do you counter Eagle Warriors in AoE2?

Champions. The Champion has +8 attack against the Eagle Warrior class, for 22 damage per hit and 3 hits per Eagle Warrior. Do not use archers or Skirmishers: an Elite Eagle Warrior has 4 pierce armor, so an Arbalest needs 30 hits and an Elite Skirmisher — which has no Eagle bonus at all — needs about 60.

Eagle Warriors are the Mesoamerican cavalry substitute: 55 HP and 3 pierce armor, rising to 60 HP and 4 pierce armor with 1.3 speed for the Elite version, at 20 food + 50 gold. They are built to absorb arrows and chase siege, and they carry bonuses against Monks (+8, Elite +10), cavalry (+3, Elite +4), siege weapons (+3, Elite +5) and camels (+2, Elite +3).

• 
  Champion Hard Counter
  14 attack plus +8 against the Eagle Warrior class = 22 damage per hit against 0 melee armor, so 3 hits per Eagle Warrior. This is the designated hard counter, and it is a melee unit — not a Skirmisher. The Two-Handed Swordsman carries the same +8 for 20 damage per hit.
• 
  Hand Cannoneer Hard Counter
  Its +10 infantry bonus applies: 13 damage through 4 pierce armor plus 10 = 23 per hit, 3 hits per Elite Eagle Warrior. The one ranged unit that genuinely works against them.
• 
  Mangonel Hard Counter
  40 melee-type damage ignores their pierce armor completely — 2 shots per Eagle Warrior. Beware their +3 (Elite +5) siege bonus and 1.3 speed: keep the Mangonel behind your Champions.
• 
  Paladin Soft Counter
  14 attack against 0 melee armor = 5 hits per Elite Eagle Warrior, with 160 HP against their 9 attack. It wins comfortably one on one but costs 75 gold against their 50, and their +4 cavalry bonus eats into the margin.
• 
  Long Swordsman Soft Counter
  Carries +6 against the Eagle class for 15 damage per hit, 4 hits per Eagle Warrior. The Castle Age answer if you have not reached Champions yet — Man-at-Arms only has +2.

How do you counter Man-at-Arms in the Feudal Age?

Archers plus walls, and not Spearmen. Man-at-Arms is a Feudal Age unit with 45 HP, 6 attack and 1 pierce armor — an Archer deals 3 damage per hit, so it takes 15 hits and only works in numbers behind a palisade. Spearmen have no infantry bonus and lose the fight outright.

The Man-at-Arms rush is a Feudal Age all-in, not a Castle Age threat: it upgrades from the Militia at the Barracks and beats villagers, Spearmen and unprotected Archery Ranges. Because both Man-at-Arms and Archer move at 0.96, you cannot kite it — you have to stop it with walls, numbers, or by hitting the economy that is paying for it.

• 
  Archer Hard Counter
  3 damage per hit through 1 pierce armor, so 15 hits per Man-at-Arms — this only works as a mass, and only behind a palisade or gate, because both units move at 0.96 and it cannot be kited. It is still the correct answer, because Archers cost wood and gold rather than the food a Feudal aggressor has already spent.
• Palisade Wall and Tower Hard Counter
  The Man-at-Arms has 6 attack and no bonus against buildings beyond +2 against standard buildings. Walling your economy converts the entire rush into wasted food, which is why it is the standard response at every level of play.
• 
  Scout Cavalry Soft Counter
  1.2 speed against 0.96 lets it disengage freely, and 2 pierce armor makes it durable, but 3 attack means 15 hits per Man-at-Arms. Use Scouts to kill the villagers and hunt behind the push, not the Man-at-Arms themselves.
• 
  Spearman Soft Counter
  Weak here: the Spearman has 3 attack, 45 HP and no bonus against infantry, while the Man-at-Arms deals 6 damage per hit. Spearmen are for Scouts, not for the Militia line.

How do you counter unique infantry — Huskarl, Teutonic Knight, Samurai and others?

Read the armor value first. The Huskarl has 6 to 8 pierce armor, so use melee (a Champion needs 5 hits). The Teutonic Knight has 7 to 10 melee armor, so use ranged (its 0.8 speed means it never catches an archer). The Samurai has +12 against unique units, so answer it with generic units instead.

Unique infantry is defined by one lopsided stat each, and the counter follows from that stat rather than from the unit's role. The table below lists HP, both armor values and speed for each.

• Huskarl (Goths) 60 HP, 10 attack, 0 melee and 6 pierce armor — Elite version 70 HP, 12 attack and 8 pierce armor, plus a +6 (Elite +10) bonus against the archer class. Archers are useless against it; a Champion deals 14 damage per hit for 5 hits, a Mangonel 40 for 2.
• Teutonic Knight (Teutons) 90 HP and 7 melee armor, Elite 110 HP and 10 melee armor, but only 0.8 speed and 2 pierce armor. Melee is pointless — a Champion deals 4 damage per hit against the Elite version. Shoot it instead, or simply walk away: it is the slowest infantry unit in the game.
• Samurai (Japanese) 70 HP, 10 attack, 1/1 armor, with +10 (Elite +12) against the unique-unit class. It is built to kill other unique units, so send generic ones: an Arbalest needs 16 hits but takes nothing in return, and a Mangonel needs 2 shots.
• Serjeant (Sicilians) 50 HP and 2 melee armor, Elite 85 HP with 6 melee and 3 pierce armor. The Elite version resists both damage types — a Champion deals 8 per hit (11 hits) and an Arbalest 3 per hit (29 hits). Use siege: a Mangonel deals 34 damage through 6 melee armor, 3 shots. The base Serjeant is far softer at 5 damage per Arbalest hit, 10 hits.
• Woad Raider (Celts) and Shotel Warrior (Ethiopians) Both trade armor for speed and burst: Woad Raider 70 HP (Elite 85) at 1.17 speed with 1 pierce armor; Shotel Warrior 45 HP and 16 attack at 1.2 speed with 0 armor. Neither survives contact with siege — a Mangonel kills either in 2 to 3 shots — and archers handle the Shotel Warrior at 8 hits.
• Berserk (Vikings) and Obuch (Poles) Berserk 54 HP (Elite 62) with self-healing, Obuch 80 HP (Elite 95) that strips enemy armor on hit. Both have 1 to 2 armor in each category, so ordinary massed Arbalests work — the regeneration and the armor-stripping only matter in extended melee fights you should not take.
• Condottiero (Italians) and Karambit Warrior (Malay) Condottiero 80 HP at 1.2 speed with 0 pierce armor and +10 against gunpowder units. Karambit Warrior 30 HP (Elite 40) but half population space, so it always arrives in overwhelming numbers. Area damage is the only efficient answer to Karambits; the Condottiero dies to any archer at 6 damage per hit.

AoE2 infantry stats — HP, armor and speed

Which units have an attack bonus against infantry in AoE2?

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

Unique infantry — which stat decides the counter?

Which civilizations counter infantry best?

Summary — Counter Cheat Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions