Missionary
Missionary is Spanish, Ethiopians (requires Jesuits Alliance), Peru special-purpose unit in Age of Empires III, available from the Commerce Age; obtained through Church, Cathedral (Peru), Steamer (Gran Colombia). Its listed ability is Increases the attack of the player's units (34 Area of Effect, stacks with other Missionaries) (with the "Unction" card).
Recorded values
- Available
- Commerce Age · Church; Cathedral (Peru) ; Steamer (Gran Colombia)
- Training
- 30 sec · 0 population · 10 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 200 hit points · 10% ranged resistance · 7.0 speed · 12 line of sight
- Healing
- range 12
- Hand attack
- 5 base damage · attack interval 1.5
- Ability
- Increases the attack of the player's units (34 Area of Effect, stacks with other Missionaries) (with the "Unction" card)
Role, availability & values
Production is available through Church, Cathedral (Peru), or Steamer (Gran Colombia). It has 200 hit points and 10% ranged resistance. It moves at 7.0 speed and uses 0 population. Training costs 50 Wood and 50 Coin; it takes 30 seconds to train. Attack profile: Healing: range 12. Hand attack: 5 damage; every 1.5 seconds. Special ability or role: Increases the attack of the player's units (34 Area of Effect, stacks with other Missionaries) (with the "Unction" card).
Matchup & timing
The Missionary’s 7.0 speed lets it follow mounted forces, but its 200 hit points make an exposed aura costly. Healing is available by default; the area attack bonus requires the Unction card and affects nearby units. Keep it behind cavalry during a push and withdraw it when the army retreats, rather than leaving the healer in the first contact.
Mounted healing and current unit statistics
The Missionary is the Spanish mounted healer and a fast support unit available from the Commerce Age. It costs 50 Wood and 50 Coin, trains in 30 seconds, has a train limit of 10, uses zero population under the current rules, and has 200 hit points with 10% ranged resistance. Its speed is 7.0, line of sight is 12, and healing restores 10 hit points per second to a friendly unit within range 12. Its five-damage hand attack is negligible. Use its speed to stay near a moving force, but do not mistake it for a cavalry fighter: it is weak against all combat classes and should avoid direct engagement. Spanish players can train Missionaries at the Church and send them from the Home City. Ethiopians can access them through the Jesuits alliance from the Commerce Age onward, paying 100 Influence; that route also provides a Church Wagon able to build a Church. A Peru revolution can train them at the Church or Cathedral after sending the Lima card. Team cards can grant additional Missionaries to Japanese or Mexican allies, so other players may obtain the unit through a teammate’s deck. These sources are separate from the standard Spanish production route and may have different limits or availability. Missionaries can garrison in buildings that accept Villagers, and a garrisoned Missionary contributes to a Town Center’s attack. This can protect a healer during a raid or allow a spare support unit to add defensive fire, but keeping it outside the building is necessary for it to heal the field army. Its zero population cost makes a full group unusually space-efficient; the limit of 10 still restricts how many can be trained normally. Older versions charged one population, cost 100 Wood and 100 Coin, had 300 hit points and took 40 seconds to train. Use current Definitive Edition values when comparing older build orders. The Unction Home City Card grants the Missionary an attack aura for friendly Spanish Infantry and Cavalry in radius 34. Each Missionary adds 2.5% attack, and the effects stack; ten can raise eligible units to roughly 1.28 times their prior attack. The aura applies to units directly controlled by the Spanish player, not allies or the Missionaries themselves. In current rules it does not buff Artillery or Ships. Older versions used a smaller radius and larger per-unit percentages, and previously affected additional unit classes, so old screenshots and guides can overstate the current bonus. Keep Missionaries with the fighting formation to maintain the aura while healing wounded troops between volleys. The aura improves attack but adds no hit points or resistance to the army. A compact group can be vulnerable to splash damage, and the healer line can be intercepted if it trails too far behind. Spread the Missionaries enough to avoid a single area attack while keeping the combat units within their radius. Use their speed to withdraw when cavalry threatens, and keep an escort near them when the army is split. Team Inquisition and Town Watch can improve vision for the Spanish force, but neither replaces careful positioning. Healing is most valuable after a fight when expensive units survive with damage. Pull the army behind a safe line, let Missionaries restore its health, then return to the map before the opponent can exploit the pause. The healer cannot prevent a unit from being killed by focus fire, and health regeneration is not instant, so retreat wounded troops early. Missionaries fill a different role from the standard Priest and from the Spanish Explorer: their mount provides mobility, their healing is short-range, and Unction supports only eligible Spanish units. Check the current card and civilization route before building a strategy around the aura.
Position the aura without exposing the healers
The Unction formation works best when the Missionaries trail just behind the Spanish combat units: close enough for the 34-radius bonus and range-12 healing, but far enough back to avoid becoming the first target. Split the group across the rear edge of the army if the enemy has splash damage. Since Unction affects direct Spanish-controlled units only, allied troops do not gain the attack bonus even when standing beside the aura. This distinction matters in team fights: Missionaries can still heal friendly units, while the damage increase is limited to qualifying Spanish Infantry and Cavalry. The aura and healing serve different parts of the battle, so maintain spacing that allows both without turning the support group into a vulnerable clump.
Mounted healer with a limited train cap
The Missionary is a mounted Spanish religious unit with a train limit of ten in the documented profile. It can be garrisoned in the same buildings as Villagers and counts toward a Town Center’s defensive garrison attack. Its mobility helps it follow Cavalry and reach injured units, while its small cap prevents it from becoming an unlimited healing army.
Keep the healer behind the cavalry
Missionaries support an army by healing and repositioning, not by trading with enemy units. Protect them from ranged fire and avoid sending them ahead of the force they are meant to heal. Some map or alliance conditions can grant Missionaries to other civilizations, so check the relevant card and production source. Their rules differ from the Priest, Padre and Warrior Priest, which have separate combat, population and ability profiles.