Skirmisher — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

Skirmisher — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

The Skirmisher is countered by Man-at-Arms, Knight and Eagle Scout. It is a Archer / Counter Unit unit of the Skirm Line, and it wins against Archer, Cavalry Archer and Hand Cannoneer.

Class

Archer / Counter Unit

Line

Skirm Line

Available to

All civilizations

Elite upgrade

Elite Skirmisher

Cost

25 35

The Skirm Line

• Skirmisher
• Elite Skirmisher
• Imperial Skirmisher

Skirmisher stats

The Elite Skirmisher upgrade changes the values marked with an arrow. Everything else — cost, class and the civilization bonuses that apply — stays the same.

Hit points

30 →35

Melee attack

0

Pierce attack

2 / 3s →3 / 3s

Range

4 (min. 1) →5 (min. 1)

Melee armour

0

Pierce armour

3 →4

Speed

0.96

Accuracy

90%

Line of sight

6 →7

Training time

26s →22s

What counters the Skirmisher?

Hard counters beat the Skirmisher decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.

• Man-at-Arms hard High melee attack, good armor
• Knight hard High damage, Skirms have no armor vs. melee
• Eagle Scout hard High pierce armor and speed – Skirmisher arrows do almost nothing
• Huskarl UU hard Attack bonus vs. archers (+6)
• Long Swordsman hard High melee attack
• Eagle Warrior hard High pierce armor and speed – Skirmisher arrows do almost nothing
• Monk soft Conversion

What does the Skirmisher counter?

One representative per unit line — the whole line behaves the same way in this matchup.

• Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers + high pierce armor
• Cavalry Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Hand Cannoneer hard Attack bonus vs. archers – applies to Hand Cannoneers too
• Champi Scout soft Pierce + anti-archer

Unique units the Skirmisher beats

• Arambai hard Attack bonus
• Blackwood Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Camel Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers + high pierce armor
• Chakram Thrower hard
• Chu Ko Nu hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Composite Bowman hard Attack bonus + pierce armor
• Conquistador hard Attack bonus vs. mounted archers, almost no pierce armor
• Fire Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Flaming Camel hard Pierce damage
• Genitour hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Genoese Crossbowman hard Attack bonus + high pierce armor
• Grenadier hard High pierce armor, target has almost none
• Janissary hard High pierce armor, target has almost none
• Kipchak hard Attack bonus + high pierce armor
• Longbowman hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Mangudai hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Plumed Archer hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Throwing Axeman hard Attack bonus
• War Wagon hard Attack bonus vs. archers
• Rattan Archer soft Attack bonus, cheap

Other units the Skirmisher beats

• Ratha (Ranged) UU hard Attack bonus + pierce armor
• War Chariot (Barrage) UU hard
• War Chariot (Focus Fire) UU hard
• Fire Lancer soft
• Petard soft Pierce damage vs. low HP
• Rocket Cart soft Cheap ranged mass; target has only 45–70 HP

Units the Skirmisher has a damage bonus against

Bonus damage says how hard the Skirmisher hits these units, not that it wins every fight — some of them still beat it by outranging or outrunning it.

• Imperial Skirmisher hard Skirm Line
• Spearman hard Spearman Line
• Pikeman hard Spearman Line
• Halberdier hard Spearman Line

Civilizations that improve the Skirmisher

17 civilizations have a bonus or unique technology that affects this unit.

For the strategy behind these matchups — when to build counters, how to mix them and which civs do it best — see the Archer Counters guide.