Berber Nomad
Berber Nomad is economic unit in Age of Empires III, available from the Exploration Age; obtained through Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom. Its listed ability is Gathers resources (faster from natural sources but slower from Mills, Estates, Farms, Rice Paddies, and Fields); Builds buildings; Claims treasures; Stronger and faster in groups.
Recorded values
- Cost
- 150 Food
- Available
- Exploration Age · Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom
- Training
- 30 sec · 1 population · 15 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 170 hit points · 20% ranged resistance · 4.0 speed · 18 line of sight
- Hand attack
- 10 damage · 1.5 attack interval · bonuses: 5.0x vs. Llama, 16
- Ranged attack
- 4 damage · 4-12 range · 3.0 attack interval · bonuses: 5.0x vs. Treasure guardian; 4.0x vs. Huntable; 2.0x vs. Pet; 2.0x vs. Artillery; 0.5x vs. Villager
- Siege attack
- 5 damage · 6 range · 3.0 attack interval · bonuses: 3.0x vs. Resource enclosure
Role, availability & values
Production is available through Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom. It has 170 hit points and 20% ranged resistance. It moves at 4.0 speed and uses 1 population. Training costs 150 Food; it takes 30 seconds to train. Attack profile: Hand attack deals 10 damage. Ranged attack deals 4 damage. Siege attack deals 5 damage. Hand attack bonuses: 5.0× against Llama, 16. Ranged attack bonuses: 5.0× against Treasure guardian, 4.0× against Huntable, 2.0× against Pet, 2.0× against Artillery, and 0.5× against Villager. Siege attack bonuses: 3.0× against Resource enclosure*. Special ability or role: Gathers resources (faster from natural sources but slower from Mills, Estates, Farms, Rice Paddies, and Fields); Builds buildings; Claims treasures; Stronger and faster in groups.
Matchup & timing
Hand attack is especially effective against Llama, 16 (5×). Ranged attack is especially effective against Treasure guardian (5×), Huntable (4×), Pet (2×), Artillery (2×). Siege attack is especially effective against Resource enclosure (3×). Its reduced multipliers against Villager (0.5×) make it less suitable for those targets. Use ranged fire to focus Treasure guardian, Huntable, Pet, and Artillery before they can close; hold the melee attack for Llama, 16 when they enter contact; reserve the siege attack for Resource enclosure. Keep a frontline between this unit and threats that can reach it safely.
Role, cost and group bonus
The Berber Nomad is a villager unit added in The African Royals for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. It is recruited through a Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom. The current listed cost is 150 Food, train time 30 seconds, population 1 and a cap of five per kingdom. It has 170 hit points, 20% ranged resistance, speed 4.0 and line of sight 18. Berber Nomads become stronger and faster when grouped: each nearby Nomad within 20 range adds 5% hit points and 0.1 speed, up to a 50% hit-point bonus. This rewards keeping them together, but grouping economic workers also makes them vulnerable to a single raid or area attack.
Natural resources versus farms
The Nomad’s defining economic tradeoff is a 33.4% bonus when gathering natural resources and a 33.3% penalty at economic buildings. In the listed rates, a hunted animal provides 1.12 Food per second and a Berry Bush or Cherry Orchard 0.89; a herdable provides 2.67. Trees yield 0.67 Wood and mines, Tribal Marketplaces and Mountain Monasteries yield 0.8 Coin. By contrast, a Mill yields 0.45 Food, and Farms, Rice Paddies, Fields and other enclosures are slower than their ordinary baseline. This means Berber Nomads reward map control and resource rotation. They are strong on hunts and mines but should not be assigned to an agricultural economy without accounting for the penalty.
Gathering and expansion plan
The Nomad’s Food cost makes continuous production compete with age-up and military spending. Train up to the settlement cap when safe, then use the group bonus to improve both worker durability and mobility. Send the group to natural Food sources, nearby trees and mines, and move them as those resources are depleted. A Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom is required, so scout and protect the settlement before investing. Hausa players have a special route to train five Berber Nomads for 120 Influence each through Town Centers or Native Embassies after choosing the Berber alliance for an age-up. That alliance is a civilization-specific option and does not apply to every faction.
Do not confuse the group bonus with safety
The added hit points and speed help a group move between resources and survive incidental damage, but they do not turn workers into combat units. Their listed ranged attack is only 4 damage and primarily has special bonuses against Treasure Guardians, huntable animals, pets and artillery; their hand attack is 10. Ordinary military units can defeat them, and Oprichniks are especially dangerous. Keep the Nomads within reach of an Outpost or Town Center, scout before shifting to a forward mine and retreat early when cavalry appears. A fast worker group that escapes a raid preserves both the investment and its gathering bonus.
Use buildings and natural sources efficiently
The slower building-gather rates make the choice between natural resources and enclosures important. A Mill or Estate can offer safety and predictable long-term gathering, but the Nomad gathers from them more slowly than an ordinary villager. Use them when natural sources are exhausted, contested or too far away to defend, not as the automatic default. The player can mix worker types and resource sites where the civilization permits, keeping Berber Nomads on natural sources and other workers on farms. The group bonus encourages assigning several to the same zone, but leaving the full group on a single exposed hunt can make it an easy target.
Civilization support and upgrades
The Nomad can receive general villager gathering and hit-point improvements, as well as upgrades that affect natural resources or particular agricultural sources. Because its base strengths and penalties differ by source, a general gathering bonus applies differently in practical value: improving a strong hunt compounds its advantage, while upgrading a slow farm source may not fully remove the penalty. Hausa alliance access can make the unit part of a broader influence economy. Check each card or technology’s exact wording and eligible source. Native settlement units and upgrades can change with map, civilization, edition and balance patch.
Version and strategy notes
The current profile reflects Definitive Edition balance. Earlier updates listed 180 Food and 35 seconds, while the current version lists 150 Food and 30 seconds. Gathering modifiers, XP values and some source classifications have also been revised. A build order that assumes the former cost can miscalculate the age-up or settlement timing. The unit’s durable group economy is most valuable on resource-rich maps and in matches where the player can rotate safely. If the map is barren or the opponent controls the natural sources, use alternative villagers and protect the remaining safe economy rather than forcing Nomads into their slower building-based role.
Practical assignment pattern
Keep a small group gathering from a safe hunt or mine, then move the group before the source is exhausted or the enemy reaches it. Build an Outpost or use army patrols to cover the next destination. When natural resources become unsafe, switch to an enclosure only after comparing the slower rate with the risk of remaining exposed. The unit’s special value comes from gathering where ordinary workers are vulnerable and moving as a resilient group; preserve that advantage through scouting and relocation.
A gathering route that fits the unit
Keep Berber Nomads on hunts, berries, trees and mines where their natural-resource bonus applies. Move them before the source is exhausted and gather close enough to an army or Outpost that a raid cannot trap the group. Use agricultural buildings only when natural sources are unsafe or depleted.
Avoid overcommitting to a settlement
The five-unit cap per Berber kingdom encourages a limited group, not unlimited worker production. Before claiming another site, compare its cost and defense burden with the resources the extra Nomads can gather. Hausa alliance access is useful when it fits the influence plan, but should not be mistaken for ordinary Town Center production.
How the group bonus affects assignments
The group effect rewards nearby Berber Nomads, so they can move between natural resources as a compact team. Each nearby member adds five percent hit points and 0.1 speed, and hit points cap at a 50% increase. At the cap, adding more workers does not continue increasing durability, though each still gathers. Splitting the group across distant resources loses some of the shared benefit; keeping every worker together can also expose more of the economy to one attack. Balance the bonus against safe access and resource distribution.
Hausa access and Influence cost
Hausa can train five Berber Nomads for 120 Influence each after choosing the Berbers alliance for an age-up, at the Town Center or Native Embassy in the listed ages. This route converts the Hausa special resource into workers and can accelerate gathering when Food is reserved for age-up or troops. It is still limited by the five-per-kingdom rule and requires an available allied production site. Check that the alliance also supports the planned military or technology choices before selecting it solely for workers.
Resource movement
Move the group between hunts and mines as they deplete, keeping natural-source bonuses active and avoiding long idle walks.
When the bonus is not enough
If enemy pressure removes safe natural resources, switch to protected buildings or other villager types rather than losing Nomads to preserve an ideal gathering assignment.
Training timing
Because each worker costs 150 Food and requires settlement access, add them when natural sources can support their upkeep and the age-up remains affordable. A full group gathered safely can provide strong returns, while producing all five into a raid path risks losing a large investment at once.
Production cap
Respect the settlement limit and keep the site protected for replacements.
Field note
Keep them together when their natural-source gathering bonus is most useful.
Protect the group
Their shared bonus rewards nearby units, but military cover still matters.
Berber worker tied to a kingdom
The Berber Nomad is an Exploration Age economic unit recruited from a Trading Post or Tambo on a Berber kingdom. It costs 150 Food, takes 30 seconds to train and is limited to five per kingdom. A Nomad has 170 hit points, 20% ranged resistance, speed four and sight 18. It gathers resources, builds structures and claims Treasures. Its gathering profile favors natural sources and is slower at Mills, Estates, Farms, Rice Paddies and Fields. Nomads also become stronger and faster in groups, so recruit them together and keep their work concentrated where their natural-source bonus applies. The limited cap and high Food cost make each one a deliberate economic choice rather than a replacement for unlimited Settlers.
Protect a small, high-value workforce
Use Berber Nomads on hunts, mines and other natural sources where their gathering advantage can repay their cost. Avoid shifting them to an agricultural building if ordinary workers gather there more efficiently. Their ranged attack has bonuses against Treasure Guardians, huntables, pets and artillery, but only half damage against Villagers; this supports Treasure clearing and defense rather than worker raids. Group benefits encourage keeping the five-unit workforce together, yet sending all Nomads to one exposed resource creates a vulnerable target. Build a safe Trading Post or Tambo on the Berber kingdom and escort the group when collecting a guarded Treasure. The kingdom also supplies access to Berber Native technologies and units, so protect the settlement connection as part of the economic plan.