Slinger

Overview

A ranged unit whose attacks are especially dangerous to infantry.

Availability and investment

Slinger becomes available in Castle Age. Its listed production context is Incas. The listed cost is not separately recorded and the training time is 25 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.

• Ranged attack: 4
• Hit points: 35
• Melee armor: 0
• Pierce armor: 0
• Ranged attack: 4
• Range: 5
• Line of sight: 7
• Reload time: 2 seconds
• Movement speed: 0.96
• Accuracy: 90%

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: Archer
• Armor class: Skirmisher
• Slinger deals +4 bonus damage to units in the Infantry class
• Slinger deals +1 bonus damage to units in the Spearman class
• Slinger deals +4 bonus damage to units in the Monk class
• Slinger deals +3 bonus damage to units in the Siege weapon class
• Slinger deals +3 bonus damage to units in the Ram class

Related unit plan: Slinger anti-infantry and ram defense

Slinger: Slingers give American civilizations a ranged option against infantry and Monks, with an additional role against slow, non-ranged siege. Their value is match-up specific: use them to answer a threat that the rest of the army would otherwise struggle to remove Add a small Slinger group after scouting infantry or a ram push. Keep them behind a screen and focus fire on the exposed counter unit; against rams, escort the Slingers so cavalry or ranged siege cannot pick them off while they attack Their attack and minimum range limit performance in some fights, and ranged siege can threaten them from outside their comfort zone. Do not use Slingers as a universal archer line or leave them exposed to cavalry