Fire Lancer

Overview

A gunpowder infantry unit that opens combat with a charged short-range volley before switching to melee.

Availability and investment

Fire Lancer becomes available in Castle Age. Its listed production context is Chinese. The listed cost is not separately recorded and the training time is 35 seconds. This tells you when it can first join an army and which resources must be reserved alongside Villager production, upgrades, and other military lines.

Combat profile

The available combat values are included here so the numbers can be read as a profile rather than an isolated list. Hit points and armor describe how long the unit can remain exposed; attack and any bonus damage describe what it threatens; range, reload, accuracy, and movement describe how reliably it can engage or disengage. A value shown for a whole upgrade line applies to the listed stages as recorded, so compare the stage names instead of treating the line as one base unit.

• Hit points: 65
• Melee armor: 1
• Pierce armor: 0
• Line of sight: 7
• Reload time: 2 seconds
• Movement speed: 0.96

Field use

Preserve space between this unit and melee attackers so it can keep firing. Pair it with a screen, focus fire on reachable targets, and avoid letting a faster force surround it.

Armor classes and counters

Armor-class bonuses are separate from base attack and the target’s melee or pierce armor. The class list below shows the unit’s documented combat categories and bonus-damage relationships; use it to judge matchups instead of relying on the unit label alone.

• Armor class: Shock infantry
• Armor class: Infantry
• Armor class: Gunpowder unit
• Fire Lancer deals +5 bonus damage to units in the Cavalry class
• Fire Lancer deals +4 bonus damage to units in the Camel Units class
• Fire Lancer deals +5 bonus damage to units in the Elephant Units class
• Fire Lancer deals +4 bonus damage to units in the Ship class
• Fire Lancer deals +2 bonus damage to units in the Ram class
• Fire Lancer deals +1 bonus damage to units in the Standard building class

Related unit plan: Fire Lancer charged anti-cavalry screen

Fire Lancer: Fire Lancers can help answer cavalry by combining an infantry role with a charged ranged opening strike. Their armor and opening burst give them a different feel from conventional Pikemen, but the role remains situational Use Fire Lancers as a forward screen when the opponent commits cavalry, then let their opening attack soften the charge before the melee line connects. Keep them with a ranged or cavalry-support force so they are not isolated after the first exchange Archers and especially Hand Cannoneers can punish them, and other shock infantry can contest them at close range. Do not send Fire Lancers into a ranged formation expecting their cavalry role to protect them