Ashigaru Musketeer
The Ashigaru Musketeer is the Japanese Commerce Age Heavy Infantry unit in The Asian Dynasties, also available in Definitive Edition. It combines a 12-range musket with a close-range yari attack, so it can fire while approaching and threaten Cavalry that tries to engage it in melee. It performs the general frontline role of a Musketeer but is faster, more expensive and has a distinct Japanese upgrade line. Ashigaru have higher baseline hit points and ranged damage than the standard Musketeer, while their melee damage against Cavalry and Shock troops is lower. They therefore reward a player who uses ranged volleys and the Japanese upgrade economy instead of treating them as a direct copy of the European unit.
Recorded values
- Available
- Commerce Age · Japanese Barracks; Fort; Daimyo; Atakebune; American Citadel
- Training
- 33 sec · 1 population · 12 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 170 hit points · 20% hand resistance · 4.5 speed · 16 line of sight
- Hand attack
- 10 damage · 1.5 attack interval · bonuses: 3.5x vs. Cavalry; 2.63x vs. Shock troops
- Ranged attack
- 24 damage · 12 range · 3.0 attack interval
- Siege attack
- 21 damage · 6 range · 3.0 attack interval
Role, cost & baseline
A standard Ashigaru costs 80 Food and 40 Coin, takes 33 seconds to train and uses one population. It has 170 hit points, 20% hand resistance, speed 4.5 and line of sight 16. Its ranged attack deals 24 damage at range 12 with a 3.0 second interval. The hand attack deals 10 damage every 1.5 seconds and has a 3.5 multiplier against Cavalry. Its Shock troop multiplier is 2.625 in the later Definitive Edition data; the Asian Dynasties listing uses 2.0. The siege attack deals 21 damage at range 6, also at a 3.0 second interval. Training and defeating one each grant 12 experience. This profile explains the apparent dual role: the ranged attack is the main source of sustained damage, while the melee bonus makes a Cavalry charge riskier. The low population cost lets Japan field a wide formation, but the Food and Coin bill still competes with Yumi Archers, upgrades and age advancement.
Training, upgrades & version details
Japanese Barracks are the regular production site from the Commerce Age. Ashigaru Musketeers can also be obtained through a Fort, Daimyo, Atakebune or American Citadel where that mode and roster allow it. The Japanese Home City contains shipments of 5, 7, 8 and 14 Ashigaru Musketeers as well as Ashigaru Musketeer Attack. The standard army cards can turn a shipment into immediate reinforcement, while attack and combat cards suit a deck built around keeping the unit line active. The upgrade sequence is Disciplined Ashigaru in the Fortress Age for 200 Wood and 100 Coin, increasing hit points and damage by 20%; Honored Ashigaru in the Industrial Age costs 600 Wood and 600 Coin, adds 30%, and requires Disciplined; Exalted Ashigaru in the Imperial Age costs 1,500 Wood and 1,500 Coin, adds 50%, and requires Honored. These are separate investments with age and prerequisite gates, so later bonuses are unavailable if the preceding rank has not been researched. Meiji Restoration changes the unit into the Exalted Meiji Musketeer, reduces its Coin cost by 5, and reduces its hit points and damage by 40% as part of that transformation. Do not combine the post-restoration profile with the ordinary Ashigaru stats.
Matchups and timing
Ashigaru are useful when the Japanese army needs a durable gunpowder line that can fire into approaching Infantry and discourage Cavalry from diving onto its back line. They pair naturally with Yumi Archers: Ashigaru absorb the close engagement while the archers add ranged damage. Samurai can add melee pressure and siege, while Naginata Riders reach opposing ranged units and artillery. Ashigaru still lose efficiency when they are forced to walk through sustained Skirmisher or other Light Infantry fire, and Artillery punishes dense formations. Their close-range Cavalry bonus does not make them invulnerable: protect the line from artillery and counter-infantry, and avoid letting faster Cavalry choose when and where to engage. Spread a large group if enemy guns can hit several units at once. Focus fire on one threat at a time so the high ranged rate becomes a meaningful reduction in the enemy force rather than scattered damage.
Upgrade planning, cards & history
The unit has a strong but expensive upgrade ceiling. The source describes a late-game or Treaty-style Ashigaru reaching roughly 500 hit points and 80 ranged damage, with melee output around 140 against Cavalry and 105 against Shock troops after a deep stack of civilization, Arsenal, Home City, ally, Daimyo, Shogun, native and treasure bonuses. Those figures describe an exceptional fully improved force, not a unit produced from the ordinary Barracks with no upgrades. The regular Japanese tools listed for stacking include the Golden Pavilion passive and Arsenal improvements, Dutch improvements accessed through the Consulate, Ashigaru attack shipments, Japanese Consulate bonuses, Daimyo and Shogun effects. Because several benefits occupy different systems, plan the sequence around the game length and the resources available; buying every improvement immediately can delay the army and its economy. A one-population unit makes these percentage bonuses unusually efficient in a massed force, but it remains vulnerable to the same counter classes if the formation is caught without support. The page also notes that Ashigaru are not cost-efficient by hit points and damage when compared directly with standard Musketeers; their extra speed is a major part of the tradeoff. In ordinary matches, use the Japanese production and upgrade options that are affordable before spending toward the full Treaty ceiling. In Definitive Edition, the unit is tagged as Musket infantry since update 23511. The listed melee multiplier against Shock troops changed from 2.0 in The Asian Dynasties to 2.625 with update 13.27885, so an older guide can show a different matchup number without describing a different unit. Melee presentation also differs: earlier versions showed a bayonet, while Definitive Edition uses a yari spear. Historically, ashigaru were common enlisted soldiers who became more significant as Japanese armies adopted firearms; matchlocks associated with them were tanegashima rather than the exact modern musket implied by the game name. This historical note is setting context, not an additional in-game ability. The Home City card list also includes TEAM formations, including options named for other civilizations, while the Japanese deck itself contains the direct Ashigaru shipments and the attack card. Read a card by its current tooltip and age before building around it: a card that delivers a fixed group is an immediate reinforcement, whereas an upgrade or combat effect can influence later production as well. This distinction matters when balancing the unit against Japanese age-up and Shrine investments. The normal unit profile remains the baseline for comparison, and card effects should be added only when the chosen deck and game version actually provide them.
Upgrade chain, counters and Meiji Restoration
Japanese Ashigaru upgrades can raise the unit well beyond its base profile. Disciplined Ashigaru costs 200 Wood and 100 Coin for +20% hit points and damage; Honored Ashigaru costs 600 of each resource for a further +30% and requires Disciplined; Exalted Ashigaru costs 1,500 of each for +50% and requires Honored. Meiji Restoration changes the unit into the Meiji Musketeer and reduces its Coin cost by five, but also reduces hit points and damage by 40%, so compare that trade-off with the ordinary Exalted line. Skirmishers, Archers and Artillery remain dangerous counters. The often-cited extreme Ashigaru profile depends on stacking several Japanese and allied upgrades and is not a normal base statistic.
Japanese Home City cards and their effects
The Japanese deck offers several direct shipments: 5 and 7 Ashigaru for earlier reinforcement, 8 for a later shipment, and 14 for a larger Fortress Age delivery. Ashigaru Musketeer Attack adds 15% attack. Close Combat adds 15% hit points and one point to the Cavalry hand-attack multiplier, changing how the unit answers a mounted charge. Onin War increases Infantry siege attack by 33%, while Bakufu improves Daimyo and Shogun movement, sight and training speed rather than directly changing Ashigaru statistics. These cards solve different problems: shipments add bodies immediately, combat cards improve a continuing army, and leader cards make mobile production or command more efficient. Check the chosen deck and age before counting on a specific card.
Stacking bonuses and reading exceptional statistics
The highest cited Ashigaru figures describe a heavily upgraded army, often in Treaty play, rather than the ordinary Barracks unit. Japanese options include Golden Pavilion bonuses, Arsenal research, Consulate support, Ashigaru cards and effects from Daimyos or the Shogun. Other eligible technologies and treasures can add health, attack, speed, resistance, range or faster training; those bonuses depend on the ally, map and selected cards. For example, the Imperial Meiji Army provides a large late-game increase, while Japanese Isolation and Smokeless Powder add attack in their eligible setups. Compare the actual technology and card list before applying an upgrade to a match. Stacking increases the value of the unit's one-population cost, but it does not erase its vulnerability to Light Infantry and Artillery.
Shock Troop bonus and classification updates
The current Ashigaru Musketeer has a 2.63× hand-attack multiplier against Shock Troops; this was 2.0× before update 13.27885. Its Musket Infantry classification was added at update 23511. The distinction matters when reading old counter charts or technology descriptions: current tags and the current bonus belong to the present unit profile, while the earlier multiplier and classification describe older update states.