Desert Archer
Desert Archer is ranged infantry in Age of Empires III, available from the Commerce Age; obtained through Tavern (Europeans), Monastery (Asians), Watch Tower (Africans), Lombard (Italians).
Recorded values
- Available
- Commerce Age · Tavern (Europeans) ; Monastery (Asians) ; Watch Tower (Africans) ; Lombard (Italians)
- Training
- 28 sec · 3 population · 21 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 100 hit points · 30% ranged resistance · 4.25 speed · 26 line of sight
- Ranged attack (long)
- 20 base damage · range 16-22 · attack interval 3.0 · bonus damage: 2.5x vs. Light ranged cavalry; 2.5x vs. Ranged shock trooper; 1.75x vs. Heavy infantry; 0.6x vs. Cavalry; 0.6x vs. Shock troops
- Ranged attack (short)
- 12 base damage · range 2-16 · attack interval 1.5 · bonus damage: Same as ranged attack
- Siege attack
- 12 base damage · range 12 · attack interval 3.0
- Hand attack
- 12 base damage · attack interval 1.5 · bonus damage: 2.0x vs. Light ranged cavalry; 2.0x vs. Ranged shock trooper; 1.75x vs. Heavy infantry; 0.75x vs. Cavalry; 0.75x vs. Shock troops
Role, availability & values
Production is available through Tavern (Europeans), Monastery (Asians), Watch Tower (Africans), or Lombard (Italians). It has 100 hit points and 30% ranged resistance. It moves at 4.25 speed and uses 3 population. Training costs 30 Food and 75 Coin; it takes 28 seconds to train. Attack profile: Ranged attack (long): 20 damage at range 16-22; every 3.0 seconds. Ranged attack (short): 12 damage at range 2-16; every 1.5 seconds. Siege attack: 12 damage at range 12; every 3.0 seconds. Hand attack: 12 damage; every 1.5 seconds.
Matchup & timing
Keep this ranged unit behind a screen and let it fire before melee troops can reach it.. If Light ranged cavalry, Ranged shock trooper, and Heavy infantry close in, use the hand-attack bonus while the rest of the formation protects the line.
Current cost and dual-range attacks
The Desert Archer is a Commerce Age outlaw foot archer introduced with The African Royals. It costs 30 food and 75 coin, trains in 28 seconds, occupies three population, and has 100 hit points with 30% ranged resistance. It moves at speed 4.25 and sees 26 range. It has two ranged modes. At long range, it deals 20 damage from range 16 to 22 every 3 seconds. At short range, it deals 12 damage from range 2 to 16 every 1.5 seconds. Both attacks have a 2.5 multiplier against light ranged cavalry and ranged shock troopers, a 1.75 multiplier against heavy infantry, and a 0.6 multiplier against cavalry and shock troops. Its melee attack deals 12 damage every 1.5 seconds with similar target bonuses, and its siege attack deals 12 damage at range 12 every 3 seconds. The long shot reaches farther, while the short mode fires more frequently when an enemy closes.
Target choice and combat positioning
The Desert Archer is especially useful against heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry, and ranged shock troops. Its long-range attack lets it begin firing before many infantry units can respond, while the short-range mode maintains a faster cadence when the battle collapses to close quarters. It is not a replacement for a standard skirmisher in every matchup: cavalry and hand shock troops take reduced damage, and heavy cavalry, counter-skirmishers, and artillery can punish the outlaw. Keep it behind a screen and use the 26 line of sight to spot threats early. Its 4.25 speed is insufficient to reliably escape cavalry once caught, and its three-population cost makes a lost group expensive. Choose the attack mode based on distance rather than moving the entire group into danger to preserve long-range shots.
Map pool and recruitment
The Desert Archer appears on African and desert maps, including Arabia, Congo Basin, Darfur, Dunes – The Eye, Gold Coast, Great Rift, Highlands, Horn, Ivory Coast, Lake Chad, Lake Victoria, Niger Delta, Niger River, Pepper Coast, Saharan Routes, Sahel, Sudd, Swahili Coast, and Tassili. European civilizations use a Tavern, Asian civilizations a Monastery, African civilizations a Watch Tower, and Italians a Lombard to recruit outlaws when the unit is in the map pool. African civilizations are restricted to a set of Desert outlaws across maps, while Lakota players can receive Desert Archers through Outlaw Band or Bandit Gang shipments. Argentina and Maya revolutions can also include them in random outlaw shipments, and Haiti can train them from Battleships when available in the Tavern pool.
Outlaw upgrades and economy
The Desert Archer's food-heavy outlaw price can be helpful on African maps where coin is less common than food. It uses both food and coin, but the 30-food and 75-coin mix shifts more cost toward food than many mercenary units. Outlaw upgrade technologies improve it in later ages: Compunction, Folk Heroes, or Nomadic Bandits grants 30% hit points and damage in the Industrial Age and 50% in the Imperial Age, according to civilization group. General archer, ranged cavalry, and infantry improvements may also apply where available. This makes the unit scale with an outlaw deck, but the 28-second training time and three-population cost still make replacements an investment. Preserve experienced groups and pair them with anti-cavalry units.
Version notes
The Desert Archer is a Definitive Edition outlaw and its unit tags changed through updates; it is treated as light infantry from update 13.9057 and archaic infantry from update 13.4412. Older profiles used different coin cost, population, attack values, and ranges. The current long range is 16–22 and the short range is 2–16; before later changes, the ranges were shorter. The two firing modes are the defining feature to remember when comparing it with other outlaw archers.
Switching fire modes in a mixed army
Use the 16–22-range shot while the target is still distant, then let the short-range mode take over once units close. The long attack fires more slowly but reaches beyond most foot archers; the short attack trades range for a faster 1.5-second cadence. Both modes retain the same target multipliers, so the player does not lose its anti-heavy-infantry or anti-light-cavalry role when the opponent closes. Its melee attack is only a fallback, and its three-population cost makes close combat risky. In a mixed outlaw force, pair Desert Archers with cavalry that can engage heavy cavalry and hand shock troops, the targets that the archer damages poorly. Use their high sight to detect an approach and reposition before artillery can establish a firing lane.
Upgrades and outlaw role in African armies
The Desert Archer combines an outlaw's map-dependent availability with an archer's target bonuses. African factions can field the Desert Archer alongside Desert Warriors and Desert Raiders regardless of the map, while other factions depend on the regional outlaw pool or shipments. General archer attack improvements raise both firing modes, and age-based outlaw upgrades improve hit points and damage. Keep its attack mode and cost profile in mind when evaluating bonuses: it still uses three population and remains vulnerable to artillery even after its hit points increase.
Outlaw experience
The current profile awards 21 experience for training or defeating a Desert Archer. Account for that bounty when deciding whether to expose a small group to a counterattack.
Long-range outlaw with a rapid close volley
The Desert Archer is an African-map outlaw related to the Fulani Archer. It has strong damage at long range and a faster rate of fire at short range, giving it a flexible but positioning-sensitive attack. On African maps, outlaws commonly use more Food and less Coin than their counterparts; that resource shift can make them easier to afford when Coin is limited. Keep the unit at range when possible and avoid being caught by Cavalry.
Compare the outlaw’s cost with its role
Desert Archers can provide ranged pressure without a standard military building queue, but their outlaw population and access limits still matter. Use them to target infantry or protect a resource line, then add Heavy Infantry to screen enemy Cavalry. Upgrades depend on the Saloon or equivalent and the relevant African map rules. If the opponent moves into artillery or cavalry, do not continue spending on Archers without a protective response.
Range bands, attack modes and counters
Desert Archer is an Outlaw archer with several attack profiles, so the attack selected and its range band matter. Its current ranged profile reaches from 16 to 22, while the earlier band was 12–20 before update 43871; another attack currently reaches 2–16, compared with 2–12 before that update. The current anti-ranged multipliers are 2.5× against Light Ranged Cavalry and Ranged Shock Troopers, up from 2.0× before update 13.58326. Its modifier against Heavy Infantry is currently 1.75×; it was 2.0× before update 13.18214. Current modifiers against Cavalry and Shock Troops are 0.6×, versus 0.75× before update 13.58326. The unit uses three population now, compared with two before update 13.18214. Its long ranged reach supports skirmishing and class-specific pressure, but the high population cost and Cavalry weakness make screening and target choice important.