How good are Conquistadors? (AoE2)

[@LoTuSasdaf365]

One hard to quantify weakness of Conquistadors is that once your opponent sees you're playing Spanish they will definitely expect a fast castle into Conqs, so they will try to disrupt that or prepare a counter. That's also the reason meme strategies like full feudal archers often catch the opponent off guard and end up working surprisingly well. You could say that's the true Spanish Inquisition.

[@Predator20357]

I think that shows just how good Conqs are. It’s not really a weakness if the best move for an opponent is to prevent them from showing up. Because if they don’t then they have to deal with the threat.

[@RemoteEars]

I like how the meme strategy you're referencing is directly from a previous SOTL video,lol

[@grammaton3773]

Thats why i always play FF into archers as Spanish. Nobody expects that. I count that as conq. strenght.

[@voidgods]

@@grammaton3773 Yep it's definitely a strength because now it's the opponent who becomes predictable, not you.

[@teddyhaines6613]

That's not as much of a weakness as you'd think. The only reliable solution to conquistadors is to kill the Spanish player before they can get to them, which works on a map like Arabia, but is less reliable on, say, Nomad, where Spanish are a top 3 civ because the meta skews so heavily towards fast castles and they effectively get an extra villager in dark age because of their build speed bonus. There, even though the conq play is incredibly predictable, it's also really hard to stop, because conquistadors have such high base attack that they can outmaneuver and overwhelm even their counters such as elite skirms or camels. And on top of the unit's stats, there are also tempo-related advantages to conquistadors, namely how they don't really depend on upgrades, while their counters do. Elite skirmisher is a slow and expensive upgrade, and you also need blacksmith techs to make them strong enough to stand their ground as well as a university and ballistics to ensure the conqs can't outmicro you or escape engagements easily. The conqs also lend themselves to a strategy of offensive castle drops, which helps secure map control, neutralizes your town centers and lets the conqs fall back in case you have enough skirms or camels or crossbows to worry them. This all allows a Spanish player on Nomad to frustrate players much more skilled than themselves. Hell, I'm 1300 at best, but I once soloed a 1700 player in a Nomad team game even though he was going full elite skirm, because I zoned him off of gold with castle drops and kept taking engagements against his skirms before they could build up enough numbers to be threatening.

[@MaZe741]

lets not forget that they will be healed by mounted monks, so this really pushes the hit and run tactic above and beyond

[@mbvglider]

conqas and donqas

[@jordinagel1184]

15th-century tiqui-taca

[@pax6833]

I think a lot of pros undervalue missionaries.

[@mbvglider]

@@pax6833 Pros generally value range over mobility. Pros usually make monks to defend against mounted units and collect relics in early Castle Age. Monks cover 65% more area with +2 range, making them way better at conversion. Pros don’t often leave their mounted units standing still, so they tend to be fine with just leaving monks at home and sending damaged units back. Managing missionaries takes a lot of work. They’re good but monks work just fine for most purposes.

[@pax6833]

@@mbvglider issue I see is that pros tend to lose a LOT of monks sometimes, plus monks can't keep up with a raiding army I'm not saying regular monks are bad, just that I think missonaires are undervalued

[@OutlawEmpire]

Doesnt matter how good they are, i just love this castle unit

[@lilith4961]

I know, they are so cool lol

[@acehughj4527]

Lucky you they're not just cool and loved they're genuinely good and meta! What a nice unity of traits eh.

[@richardusspqr6955]

Based

[@Nutellafuerst]

@@acehughj4527cries in teutonic knight

[@acehughj4527]

@@Nutellafuerst every new shit that ignores armor is pain. They should receive a 'half of bonus damage or attacks that ignore armor is negated' to compensate, and get a 5 resource cost reduction in either food or gold.. would make them better by a bit

[@gabrielnelson]

Looking at the tech in this unlocked a memory for me. When I was little and playing AOE2 I used to research technologies not for what they would do, but for how cool the thumbnail art looked lol

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

Heated shot looks SO cool!

[@GarkKahn]

@@jefffinkbonner9551 Normally researched it first, didn't realize its use until many years later haha

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

@@GarkKahn It looks very powerful and impressive

[@unoriginalcopy9844]

this is exactly what i used to do. I always recruited the coolest units

[@nakoni]

This is what i still do

[@martinpfefferle2558]

I think you're overlooking the benefit of burst/front-loaded damage. It's similar to Urumi and Coustillier, by hitting hard at the beginning they can reduce enemy numbers suddenly resulting in less return fire.

[@daigonnasema]

Yes, the lancherster's law are nut in this case

[@MrMarinus18]

I actually would like to see a unit that takes that further. A arquebusier that costs half a population space and is dirt cheap. It would have a high attack but an extremely low firing rate, 0% accuracy and basically no bulk whatsoever. I would think their DPS should be roughly equal to a similar value of crossbowmen/arbalasts but be heavily front loaded. Also with accuracy being the main limiting factor rather than power.

[@leonardorivelorivelo9253]

Doesnt matter the stats, the conquistadors have the drip, the style and the gold I wish there were more gunpowder castle age units like the conquistador, since irl arquebus and other Hand cannons were already being used in small numbers

[@ahmicqui9396]

I really hope Malay get split just like the Indians did. A Javanese civ could get a wonderful java arquebus unit. Actual Malay people didn't use gunpowder as much and even major powers like Malacca had no idea how to really combat guns.

[@et34t34fdf]

Arquebus are just sad imo. Slow, minimum range, stats arent that impresssive for its cost either.

[@CrnaStrela]

@@ahmicqui9396 while we at it, I'd like to have Keris fighters too, Javanese soldiers didn't use karambit, at least not as their main weapons.

[@Rider-lo9vt]

You just cannot comparison between conquistador's arquebus and handcannon it's an utterly different things. just like comparison with the Civil War muzzle-loaded rifle and HK-416.

[@et34t34fdf]

@@Rider-lo9vt Yeah, one of them is strictly better than the others, except for infantry, where HCs have their niche. What the hell does Arquebus excel at? Again, they are slow, have minimum range, and are expensive and not actually tanky.

[@emedi.09]

Spanish have great bonuses IMO. Even if not the strongest civ, it's certainly fun to play with and they even have the meme factor with supremacy which can lead to actually great plays in longer games

[@deathpawn9]

cracks me up how much better supremacy is than flemish revolution. sure u dont get the ai of a martial unit so u gotta micro way harder but they’re so fucking tough castle drops cannot be stopped

[@scintillam_dei]

See my series proving the Spnaish Empire was bigger than the British. Idiots count desrts but not oceans. Cue the idiots:

[@tobiasfeil1993]

The bombard elephant had me laughing out loud. Probably because there's some truth in the fact that the devs tend to just combine 2 known concepts with new civilizations.

[@srijitmajumder99]

Then you probably have never played AoE3. That THING is THERE. Except the fact that... Its actually balanced there with its main purpose of destroying buildings. And its pretty much the only standard ranged siege Delhi can produce.

[@tobiasfeil1993]

@@srijitmajumder99 haha nice! No I haven't

[@davidpereira5969]

@@srijitmajumder99 iirc in age 3 it replaces the falconet (a anti building/ship/infantry artilery), and while its better than the falconet vs buildings (more damage and range i think?), its weaker vs infantry and kinda dies to it

[@AlphaSquadZero]

@@srijitmajumder99 But AoE2 doesn't limit the effectiveness of bombard units to only being able to damage buildings.

[@FoolRegnant1]

Some type of bombard elephant would make a lot of a sense as a unique unit for a Thai civ - they used elephants, but also adopted Portuguese artillery really early

[@suddenllybah]

It's ... funny that Conqs' advantage of not needing as much tech to be maxed out at Castle Age exists, because it's literally a gunpowder unit, but because it doesn't require chemistry or archer attack upgrades, it is cheaper to tech out. which then becomes a disadvantage, because Imperial gives all other cav archer UUs extra damage and attack through the blacksmith, while having similar unique upgrades as the conq.

[@onecoolswordr.r.7791]

Great video Spirit, super awesome to see my favorite unit in the game getting it's own video! Many a private game I have terrorized my friends with this unit.

[@scintillam_dei]

See my video "Hell March Spain."

[@RLP92]

In my opinion the conquistador shine the brightest when you put them behind a line of paladin. Although this is someone late game as the upgrade paths are not cheap, Adding these two units in one group more than doubles their worth. Both are gold intensive units but you should have some leftover gold from not having to pay gold for blacksmith upgrades and the Spanish have their insane team bonus. The same principle works great with the Hindustanis (upgraded) hand cannoneer and imperial camels.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

Well, you can also use hussars or halberdiers (or a mix of both) and try to replenish the whole time the front line. And in case you see the front line will fail, take back the conquistadors to a safer place to save lots of invested gold until you are ready to advance again

[@RLP92]

@@elduquecaradura1468 Your absolutely right that halberdiers and hussar can do the job as frontline in most of the time. But in situations where the enemy uses bombard canon or onagers to snipe your conquistadors I prefer to have something beefy with relatively high speed to detach from the main line and deal with the situation. I feel halbedier are too slow for this role and hussar too flimsy. As spanish you can offcourse make bombard canons yourself to deal with these but that makes your army sluggish

[@scintillam_dei]

Indians beat Alexander and Genghis Khan with one of their many arms tied behind their back. SO Indians should be the OP of OP civilizations, and have a special bonus called "drink cow piss" which enables them to withstand difficult situations better than others. Also, "eat human flesh like Aghori Hindus" which enables them to add gold by eating the bodies of their enemies because Hinduism is enlightening.

[@daigonnasema]

@@RLP92 use the fucking supremacy villager to destroy those beefy onager! If they want to target villager, shot them down :))

[@belisarian6429]

@@RLP92 Personally I like hussar, conq, donk combo, spanish hussars are fully upgraded so they can take a hit and in late game there is no problem to stream them continuously in battle, and donks are there to keep your gold army in top shape. That way your army has punch and you are not burning gold too much. (and also is mobile)

[@BrownFoxWarrior]

Very good, because they are one of the more fashionable units in the game.

[@slater2001]

agreed

[@scintillam_dei]

DE ruined them. HD is better than the cartoony hunchbacked version.

[@Tocaraca]

6:50 these values are all incomplete; you are taking their "frame delay" values as they are shown in the Advanced Genie Editor, without also completing the calculation by factoring in their Attack Animation Duration and Frames Per Angle. Here is the actual correct order for attack delays for these units: 1. Conquistador/Elephant Archer (both 0.4s) 3. Kipchak/Mangudai (both 0.5s) 5. Arambai (0.6s) 6. Camel Archer (0.63s) 7. Ratha (0.67s) 8. Heavy Cavalry Archer (0.88s) 9. Cavalry Archer (0.9s) 10. War Wagon (1.0s) You can find these values on the AoE2 wikia pages, except for the ratha, where it incorrectly says it's 0.33 (which is quite obviously false if you have any experience with that unit).

[@Davtwan]

I do like how their power decreases in Imperial. They get a strong spike in Castle Age that slowly drops off over time.

[@2nightwehunt]

Would you consider making similar video for the Arambai? Seems like a right time for it as it just got buffed!

[@bartelvandervelden9894]

Perhaps that one should wait for the reason that it isn't clear yet how the buffs change the status and use of the unit (and perhaps it'd soon get another round of buffs or nerfs, if the buffs don't reach the intended goal)

[@2nightwehunt]

@@bartelvandervelden9894 I dont think Parthian tactics applying to them can change how you use the unit and if it does, isnt a SOTLs vid the perfect way to get an understanding of how and to what degree are they better? Arambai has been nerfed quite a long time ago which made Burmese plummet in popularity - imo this buff is just what they needed to be balanced- a little better lategame scaling. The second point you made is a good one, its possible that this is not the final state.

[@victorrenevaldiviasoto9728]

I just got my ass kicked by arambais, I just couldn't push thru

[@Lucinat0r]

hes already done one

[@2nightwehunt]

@@Lucinat0r Well, no.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

They also synergise really well with the Spanish bonus to building speed. Very quickly in Castle Age a Spanish player can have a castle up, and then 3 Conqs is an effective raiding force even before you build a mass of them.

[@PotatoMcWhiskey]

Absolute Poggers on the new sotl video

[@lucasgarcia5427]

Interesting fact nobody asked: The plural for Conquistador is Conquistadores

[@Staklihen]

It's always good to know.

[@daarom3472]

@@Staklihen not as impressive as the plural for Leitis being Leiciai.

[@Ataximander]

Let's pretend the 'e' is silent

[@ricardohoang8452]

Ouch! Montezuma forgot about that fact

[@CountingStars333]

In Spanish maybe.

[@BlueShellshock]

I always felt like Conquistadors are dominant as the single unit you need in Castle, but that the idea was that they needed to offset their weaker Imp by being part of a comp. Given their BS upgrades are easy to pick up, it's a little easier to get some upgraded Hussars (or Halbs) to serve as a meat shield the same way Mongols do, only with less health on the trash and more armor piercing on their 'cavalry archer'.

[@kodys2087]

Everyone wants Bombard Elephants for a new Thai civ but that just seems like it’d have all the issues of Persian War Elephants and pre-balance change Ballista Elephants. This is to say nothing about canons mounted on elephants being a rarely used unit from 200+ years after the generally accepted end of the AoE2 time period.

[@exeggcutertimur6091]

Counterpoint about the rarity: paladins. Supposedly there were only ever 12 at one time.

[@Alias_Anybody]

Yeah, it's a bit of an eccentric unit even for AoE3.

[@kodys2087]

@Exeggcuter Timur Charlemagne doesn't just hand out that title to anybody! In all seriousness, "paladin" in AoE2 just means the best Heavy Cavalry that money can buy, which we know was far more common.

[@srijitmajumder99]

@@Alias_Anybody Then you probably have never played AoE3. That THING is THERE. Except the fact that... Its actually balanced there with its main purpose of destroying buildings. And its pretty much the only standard ranged siege Delhi can produce.

[@Alias_Anybody]

@@srijitmajumder99 I said it IS an eccentric unit. I meant that it wasn't that much of a thing in real life and is more based on the "rule of cool", even in the appropriate time frame.

[@Orion-yd4dy]

Finally, a video on my favorite unit!

[@patricklml5811]

One thing to understand about the conquistador, is that you should never let them fight melee counters like bullfighters or camels, because when you get to them in melee they will lose and the resources spent will hurt.

[@robertlewis6915]

bullfighters?

[@jrizzelli]

tf is a bullfighter

[@2spicyleaf6334]

@@robertlewis6915 HEYYAAAAA HEYYYY

[@robertlewis6915]

@@2spicyleaf6334 hey yerself

[@michaelandreipalon359]

The Spearmen line, I guess.

[@talmagejones]

I don't know what you think, but I feel like it would be cool to see a video that looks at the training time and cost for each castle unique unit compared. It could be cool to also incorporate things like HP, damage, armor, etc and examine the correlations to see which UU's present the "best bang for your buck."

[@Cardyall]

I'm from Brazil, and I usually just watch videos from viper, and know, what viper and the fact that I'm brazilian has in common, but think of this as 2 distincts informations. So what I'm he to tell is that I have ever liked Spanish in age2, and after seeing your video, I'm here to say that I like it very much, and I'll be here now on. I hope you have a great day.

[@arcan762]

Not me always getting chemistry to increase their attack 👀

[@agusmaroli8645]

Guerra... Santiago... EEEEEEHHHH!

[@ZorroCeleste1]

A ELLOS.

[@thebabylonian109]

DEGODADO

[@Titantr0n]

0:17 Me who doesn't even own the game: "Yes, tell me more".

[@ComfyDents]

I was superised that Chemistry doesn't affect Conqs. After twelve years there are still things I don't know. And Spanish used to be one of my favourite civs. Supremacy vills fast building bombard towers were fun against AI.

[@kelvinsomnia]

Yeah, the tech says it adds “one attack to ranged units (except gunpowder)” or something like that. So it also wouldn’t affect hand cannons or janissaries

[@AtticusKarpenter]

@@kelvinsomnia because its actually unlocks gunpowder units, you can say that +1 attack from chemistry is part of their baseline (pretty high) attack. This breaks at unique gunpowder units that somehow exist in Castle Age without chemistry (thats supposedly include knowledge about making gunpowder and guns) so conquistadors and janissaries must be shooting from technomagic handcannons

[@ailius1520]

Easiest way to win a sword fight: Bring a gun and ride a horse.

[@praevasc4299]

I think a slight plus for conquistadors is that you can also have a couple missonaries accompany them for some healing, and they can actually keep up with them, unlike other civilisations where you want to heal mounted units with monks but the monks are too slow to keep up with them. Or is healing conquistadors with a few missionaries rarely done at the highest level?

[@CrnaStrela]

From what I see, it was rarely done in highest elo, they just rush conq do some raids then retreated if opponent send mass skirms waiting for knight switch or siege push. Also I think this is just Viper but once the amount of conqs on the field are plenty enough he would research herbal medicine and put injured conqs inside castle to let them heal, which is faster and more economic than making missionaries.

[@Progeusz]

Missionaries can't keep up with conqs, that's the thing. 1.1 speed vs 1.3. Not to mention you could spend that monastery wood and missionary gold on other things, like making two more conqs. Unlike monks, you can't even use the missionaries to pick up relics. Donkeys are useless.

[@praevasc4299]

@@Progeusz Hm, it would be interesting to do a deeper analysis about this, for example at what number of conqs is it better to have two more instead of having healers.

[@maximilianmusterhans4659]

That's a pure meme tactic, because in pratice it costs way too much micro to be worth it.

[@Progeusz]

@@praevasc4299 Having more conqs is always better.

[@TheWalterZabel]

Love this series! Plzz do Genoese Crossbowmen, they feel so strong. There is no informative video as good and complete as yours out there

[@PurpleBraveGiraffe]

conquistador is the single best unupgraded unit in the game

[@0nni1998]

The unit that pretty much carries the whole civ.

[@IndexInvestingWithCole]

What else can Spanish even do

[@hikatoyshi]

@@IndexInvestingWithCole Archers

[@readsomebooks666]

Paladins and trash units.

[@ChewingGumFlavor]

Spanish have Fully upgraded Champion, Paladin, Halb, Skirm, Hussar and bonus on HC, BBC, and fanatic monk. But conq is so good most people don't even bother with anything else until late game.

[@0nni1998]

@@ChewingGumFlavor Fully upgraded but also mostly generic since Spanish don't really have good bonuses for any of them. Plus having no good eco bonus means that they always need conquistadors to save the day.

[@Drrobverjones]

Spanish have been my favorite civ for a few years now.

[@highhorseo7875]

That would be nice for Conqs to benefit from Chemistry and Ballistics. Gives them a little bump to keep up with the other Imperial units while still making sense.

[@dirkauditore8413]

No ty

[@scintillam_dei]

Conquistador armour should make obsidian arows futile.

[@highhorseo7875]

@@scintillam_dei agreed lol

[@WWFanatic0]

Something that is overlooked with the Imperial Age is that while regular cav archers close the gap, they have to spend a lot more to do it. Take the Mangudai. It's elite upgrade is about the same as the Conquistador's but to get their full potential they need bracer, chemistry, and ballistics. That's an extra 600 food, 575 gold, and 300 wood. Considering the elite upgrade is already 1100 food and 675 gold that means 1700 food, 1250 gold and 300 wood for all the imperial upgrades for Mangudai. That's a hefty amount. Plus the university upgrades are sequential taking 160 seconds to complete. It doesn't sound like a lot but it's a longer window and delay for full power that often gets overlooked.

[@xthetenth]

Elephant fact: elephants should not be confined to a single room, they live their best lives with the ability to roam a large area.

[@Pigsplayterraria]

War elephants are trained well then…

[@buildingman]

Always enjoy these breakdowns.

[@LeicaFleury]

Do this for every unique unit if you want I love them!

[@MGFamilytree]

I’d like to mention they have amazing bonus vs trebs that other gunpowder does not good for those treb snipes to save a treb war

[@derikaem8021]

Tip against conqs: dont waste res on armor upgrades. They usually wont help you

[@dirkauditore8413]

So its better to just invest on attack upgrades for your elite skirms/knights to fight conqs?

[@derikaem8021]

@@dirkauditore8413 for skirms: get 1st armor. It lets you take 4 (or 3.5) shots. 2nd doesnt help. For kts prioritize husbandry, numbers, bloodlines, numbers, numbers, numbers. At some point get bs techs. In straight fights against the conqs, attack is better. But if you need to dive under her castles, then armor could be better. And if you want to counter-raid, then armor is good for sure. So, ud say once you have 20 kts with bl and husb, get armor if you want to counter raid or get attack if you're still on the defense

[@dirkauditore8413]

@@derikaem8021 Thx thats cool advice

[@derikaem8021]

@@dirkauditore8413 and u could also save even more by not building a blacksmith at all

[@florian2442]

2:25 does ballistics not affect conquistadors? I thought the spanish gunpowder got that, or does it only affect their cannon galleon?

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

I was playing the HD version, and something weird happened: a transport ship started moving across land, instead of unloading troops. It got destroyed by a castle, the units inside were gone.

[@kevintrang6447]

The troops were taken to Brazil

[@richeybaumann1755]

I really like the Spanish for the same reason I like the Turks and the Bohemians- if I can make it to the late game, I just throw all in to gold and food, mass 20 or 30 of them, and suddenly damage doesn't matter. If enemies cluster units like Skirmishers, misses don't miss anymore. They aren't great against buildings, but they raid super well since they can one-shot half a dozen villagers from mines or wood lines.

[@shiryu22]

those gunshot sounds are so satisfying/terrifying

[@haroldburrow4363]

As I've improved at the game (about 1500 now) I've noticed conquistadors are a perfect example of the bell curve meme. Low elo and high elo players love them, but I rarely see them in my mid level games as players seem to have a harder time doing damage with them.

[@MightyAlien1221]

Low elo just sending them in and let them do their thing while high elo won't fight in imperial most of the time^^

[@daisychain5125]

I'd say they're considered the best Nomad unit at all elos (that understand Nomad and play it uniquely, so not all elos I guess). Not convinced they see much more use in high elo than mid elo: they're decent in any map where you can FC Castledrop because they shine in low numbers in low economy games, and they're godlike if those maps are also open and unpredictable (so Nomad comes first).

[@haroldburrow4363]

@@daisychain5125 Fair, i'm not much of a nomad player, just arabia, arena, and whatever flavor of the month is on the roto. The majority of what I see is just scouts or archers into knights and boom.

[@daisychain5125]

@@haroldburrow4363 Yes, that's what you'll see on Arabia. Conqs are not really viable on Arabia from a certain level, not different at top level.

[@cuellorojo]

The ability to trade blankets and mirrors for gold and silver also aid them greatly…

[@HobGobMob]

Why conquistadors and janissary are so good - it's easy to explain - they are gunpowder units in castle age, and gunpowder is imperial age tech, so it's like having imperial units in castle age. 😅

[@nestor_srb]

I'm wondering why Hand Cannoneer wasn't mentioned in comparison. Good video regardless.

[@niksutliff]

Only available in imperial age, and not really comparable to a Conquistador.

[@Toonrick12]

@@niksutliff *Laughs in Bohemian*

[@koyaanisqatsi7404]

The matchup vs the imperial Counterparts would be interesting, too. They beat knights in Castel, but do they beat paladins? They beat skirms, but do they beat fully upgraded? At what point do I need to run from fights?

[@dirkauditore8413]

I dont think they beat paladins, the power spike paladins get is very strong. But i haven't tested it, i could be wrong

[@GargoyleZoo]

I don't even play this game, I just like to listen to this man say numbers for 15 min

[@arkan5000]

Conqs have the coolest voice lines too Si? Voy! Guerra! Santiago!

[@LeicaFleury]

De grado.

[@FreeOutsystems]

They are good because a stock conquistador has insane stats. And the only big upgrades they need is the same they share with knights

[@0344478]

Super vid SotL. Thank u!

[@tulisotilas]

That smoke trail mod for gunpowder is a must-have

[@calibula95]

the Conquistadors being historycally stronger vs Eagle Warriors is just too fun for me.

[@cmlcml415]

One of the biggest nightmare back in Castle Blood old times

[@Augustus_Imperator]

Knights + Conquistadors it's a big W combo

[@scarletcroc3821]

Kinda feels like they need some sort of buff to keep them relevant in imperial age. Chemistry affecting them would be a good start. Just feels odd to have such a powerful unit not benefitting from almost any imperial age tech and even their elite upgrade is honestly okay for the amount you’re paying

[@galliman123]

They don't need a buff, they're extremely strong used in combination

[@rubz1390]

0:43 was this something that was done historically? How did they keep the animals calm?

[@rtbold2999]

Love your videos! But….here I would really like to have seen conqs vs cav archers in a head to head. Also, a deeper comparison to Arambai would be fun.

[@idkmyname5332]

maybe you could dedicate a video to the mameluke? it is interesting combining a ranged melee attack and a bonus vs cavalry

[@leonardomonterubbiano3414]

And also Arambai!

[@ithadtobeaname7327]

I hate playing against Conquistadors. Nothing you *can* do, also *feels* right. You go scrims -> is gunpower unit + is much faster and can just not fight the scrims You go pikes -> kekw You go Cav -> get kited into a choke point You go Archers -> they either win the trade, and if not they just run away and raid your eco I do like the concept of the unit, but its feels so terrible to deal with them.

[@dirkauditore8413]

Ranged units are still your best bet. And monks for the first 3-4 conqs they will send

[@holyhandgrenadeofantioch2234]

Having the powerspike in castle nicely catches the idea of landing on shore of the new world and out-teching the locals while they have the superior numbers. It's that Semi-Historical flavour in everything that makes Aoe2 civ design so interesting (and i guess hard to balance for the designers). Really annoyed me running around with them in the El Cid campaign though... 1050ad spanish gang members doing mounted drive-bys x]

[@jaredbills72]

I'd like to see a video like this for the mangudai.

[@mikelivingood7797]

I would prefer conqs to lose an attack in castle and gain two in imp being 15 and 20. This would place them more in line with jannissaries which have 17 and 22.

[@markburke1396]

Yeah I would like them to be better in Imp. Not sure how, higher attack and quicker reload maybe?

[@mikelivingood7797]

@@markburke1396 Using Janissaries as a guide , dropping them to 15 attack in castle and boosting them to 20 attack in Imp should have the desired result. I think you need to stay below Janissary, as greater speed is a valuable asset. I think they need more in their upgrade because they don't gain the other Imp upgrades besides armor.

[@kevrotherham1350]

Great stuff SPirit, can you tell devs the celtic civs need a christmas buff. Kepp the vids comin good sir

[@WhateverNameIsStillAvailable]

I wish you had tested whether it is a good strategy to move conqs in closer to archer units since their accuracy increases more from up close like the arambai. In CBA you learn that archers counter arambai but if you micro them in their face, arambais actually obliterate archers.

[@NTclaymore]

I havnt been able to play AoE for like. 2½ year now. Still watch every video tho!

[@QaRajhCreations]

In lieu of this, can we get a similar video about how BAD the Arambai is? Not just among special units, but among general units in general. This is still the case after the December patch.

[@superdupersubby]

Did their campaign the other day and agree they are awful, so costly for such inaccuracy unless at near point blank range. Need to be micro'd to be effective

[@dirkauditore8413]

They nerfed them to the ground. I dont get the DE team sometimes...

[@avmrb42]

Having to deal with 2 spanish players spam rushing conquistadors is just impossible they destroy everything you throw at them, the castle age version really needs a nerf to damage after they increased bullet speed. The best counter I found was camels with husbandry but that's it.

[@Phil-xs5xq]

Micro monks bro

[@ConqCapson]

Expecting a video for janissaries. How good they are at castle age and how bad they are at imperial

[@AokiZeto]

1:28 @spiritofthelaw how come the camel arche just gain 10 hp while all the other ranged cavalry gain 20hp out of bloodline? :o

[@Ma-xz1pi]

Thanks for your content. Would you mind to make a video about janissary? :) Another one strong castle age unit which has analogs in castle age and interesting to compare with other range units including bohemian handcannons and how their advantages and downsides transition into imperial age

[@kOaMaster2]

Hey SOTL, In my opinion you forgot to mention one of the key differences when comparing damage output: while it‘s true that other units like Cav Archer have a similarish damage output, they do not have that instantanously like the Conquistador! So while a Conq does full damage after the (super short) frame delay, it takes the Cav Archer up to 6s to do the same damage - a period within the unit can take damage themselves any can‘t barely move. This is the main reason why for example mangonels do not well vs Conqs.

[@kabukijo3148]

Hope some day we see civs overview on AOE 4

[@DaedalusDM]

So had the Aztecs imported and tamed camels, they would've been okay. Got it.

[@張議燆]

Cons actually serves as a semi-melee unit, the DPS loss from low accuracy is equal to bad targeting system wasting time. Put that in mind we can understand that cons works like slower steppe lancer with much higher range, which is not so tanky but delivers a very hard and efficient alpha strike, and we all know that steppe lancer used to be so broken that they have to fix it.

[@Ghostofpast]

Rick May, you'll always be #1 !

[@willemverheij3412]

Combined with the faster firing cannon galleons and bombards, it really makes them the best gunpowder civ I think. Or at least the most versatile one in that field.

[@apparentlyplant9309]

LOL now I'm excited for bombard elephantos, thanks SotL

[@abdullahtokgoz]

Nice content. Chakram Throwers (Before vs after new patch) please.

[@raynightshade8317]

Forgot the Kipchak in the unit comparisons

[@jasonsmith1950]

I remember a game where I was playing Italians versus Spanish. They went Conquistadors, and I eventually managed to get some condos out. They used hit-and-run tactics, and my poor condos didn't even reach the Conqs. (Granted, I didn't have a large number of condos as I didn't have many resources at that point but even if I did have a large mass, Conqs are faster than Condos). I concluded that Condos are not a counter to conquistadors.

[@tobiasfeil1993]

"History tells us this should work out OK for the Conquistador" 😁👌💯

[@tomquirk6767]

Absolutely savage

[@Ant_Har]

You've had me at bombard elephant!

[@thescribe509]

I've always said the Conquistador is the best castle-age unit bar none, and the reason why it's so lackluster in Imperial age is because it becomes the best castle-age unit in an age where everything is better than a castle-age unit. It's the best college player going to the major leagues. It didn't get worse, everyone else just got jacked. Sure, they improved a little, but that's not enough in prime time.

[@dirkauditore8413]

Theyre kinda overpowhered in castle age, cant have them also being op in imperial age.

[@jeramyneeley3351]

Hope you're doing well SotL.

[@quoniam426]

Conquistators can really benefit from the special Spanish unit, the Missionary, thr mounted monk. Able to follow them more closely than bare foot monks could, they become super valuable to your conquistadors HP over time. Adding some Paladins/Cavaliers to take hits can also help. The mounted Spanish army combo is thus, Conquistadors as Damage dealers, Cavaliers/Paladins as Tanks and Missionary as Healers. If you micro them well, you're unbeatable. Of course, adding some siege to destroy casltes, walls and towers as well as some strategic production can be the nail in the coffin for the enemy. Indeed, all of this is really expansive. You need a very strong eco, trade and relics, LOTS of relics.

[@rustmonster1e]

The first time I played this game I built three conquistadors two trebuchets and conquered the world. So I kicked the difficulty up by one and was doing a lot better the second time around only to have the computer come in 10 minutes into the game with more soldiers than I had people

[@Payneonline]

Series idea : an analysis of each unique unit. HOURS of content :D

[@ryanforgo3500]

For one of the conquistador counters. This is a very specific counter As i play malians a lot i find the best counter to conquistador is malians light cavalery. Probably only winged huzzar, magyar huzzar and malian light cavalery though. because they all tend to have 2-3 extra attack above average hussars. And the 2 armor conquistadors have actually makes them very hard to kill with the average hussars. To put it in simple numbers though Hussar does 7 damage +4 for a total of 11. So they ONLY deal 6 damage to the 5 "total armor" maxed out conqusitadors. So average maxed hussar neads 15 hits to kill an elite co quistador which is actually CRAZY when you think about it as a melee vs cav archer match up. Malian/ magyars deal 9 " which is technically a 50% ish boost" and winged deals 8. Bringing the total number of hits required to 10 for the first 2 and 12 for the winged. For the first 2 impodtant to note malians sometimes win but mostly " very close" lose 1 vs 1 but they only have light cav with lower health, still maas produced in stables. needless to say maygars win bur can't be massed easily "also close" but in both caaes you are paying much less than half the price. " considering gold high value i can mass 3-4 light cav for a price of 1 conquistador" Average hussars however, i would argue are actually COUNTERED by the conquistador as needing 15 hits to kill them you won't be killing them even with double the numbers when it is an EASY win for maygar hussar. Ofc, i am not being entirely accurate here but my point is there is a world for those strong/hussar civs to counter the conquistadors. That say the 33% attack faster hussar is actually weak because his wind up is just as fast as the other hussaars which means if the conquistadors are "hitting/running" faster attacking hussar would end up just the same as the average ones. If conquistadors are standing in place average hussars need about 1.5 : 1 ratio to win malians aboit 1.2:1 and magyars can win easily in a 1:1. If the guy is trying to hit and run it goes up to 2:1 or 2.5:1 for average hussars. 1.6:1 to malian light cavs " still a very good trade rss wise" and i thing magyars still win 1 to 1 even then as they are a little too fast.

[@ivanstrydom8417]

I would love a Spanish civ rework NB 1.Kingdom of Aragon Early Medieval Civ Knight+monk civ Crusader (Kite shield+Nasal helm + chainmail) sword and spear infantry,Knights,crossbows, monk, (Reconquista) focus.(Rams + Trebs + siege tower) With a blend of Moorish + Christian European crusader unit skins. Castelio de Lorca or Castelio de la Mota UU castle : Unctioned Knight: Same stats as a cavalier/regular and Paladin/elite but it gains + 2 attack when in the vicinity of a Monk/Missionary. UU Monastery: Missionary (Shared with Castile) Brilliant to use in tandem with Unctioned Knights, to heal them and provide an attack boost. (And to convert enemies) UT1: Inquisition (Monks convert faster) UT2:Men of Asturias/The Order of Calatrava - Knight line gain a slight cost increase but they + Unctioned Knight have an increase in HP as well as +1 melee armour. Civ bonus1:Can create SW/siege tower in feudal age + siege towers are cheaper. Civ bonus2: Builders work 30% faster. Civ bonus3: Blacksmith upgrades don't cost gold. Civ bonus4: Infantry + crossbows exiting a siege tower gain a +1 attack buff for 60 seconds. Team Bonus: Trade units generate +25% gold. Barracks: Champion - Crusader skin : Nasal helm, Kite shield + sword Halb - Crusader skin : Nasal helm, Kite shield + Spear Stable Paladin Hussar (Berber allies skin) AR Crossbow (With Bracer) CA Elite skirm (Berber Allies skin) SW Siege Tower (From feudal age) Siege ram Mangonel Monastery: Monk Missionary Dock: Galion Fast Fire Heavy demo No cannon galleon Full Blacksmith University: Lacks BBT Lacks treadmill crane Wonder: Torre Del Oro 2. Kingdom of Castile. Late Medieval civ Naval,gunpowder,Pike civ With a focus on Conquistadors, cannon galleons, gunboats, halbs and hand cannon. (Pike and shot) (BBC,BBT) 15th century Sword infantry (Plate armour) Exclusively European skins such as the skins in DE3 Spain. Castelio de Bellver Castelio de Peñafiel. UU:Conquistador UU dock: Gunboat - small single cannon/gun Boat. Somewhat expensive, but powerful boat good at blasting ships from a medium distance. Fire rate and damage between A galleon and cannon galleon , Brilliant for targeting demolition ships , only slightly stronger than galleon anti building damage. Less HP than a galleon but also slightly faster. UU Monastery: Missionary (Shared with Aragon) Castle age Barracks UU Rodelero: Fast-moving sword and buckler infantry Good for countering gunpowder units + pike men + siege + monks. Weak vs Cav, archers,Skirmishers, defensive buildings, sword line. UT1:Spanish Treasure fleets - Gold brought back from the new world help to pay for new Gallions: Gallions gold cost removed. UT2: Tercios (Pike and shot): Pikemen in the vicinity of hand cannoneers gain + 2 attack Civ bonus 1:Age up to Castle age is cheaper. Civ bonus 2: Gunpowder units fire 18% faster. Civ bonus3:Cannon Galleons benefit from Ballistics (fire faster, more accurately). Civ bonus 4:Gain access to Rodelero,Gunboat and Garrochistas Civ bonus 5: BBT are built faster. Team Bonus:Grants Cannon galleon to allies whom do not have it. (Mezzo canoe allies) And grants faster moving cannon galleons to allies whom do have access to them. Barracks: Champion Caudillo Halb - Good against cavalry and buildings. (slight Extra building damage) Castle age UU Rodelero: Fast-moving sword and buckler rapier infantry Good for countering gunpowder units. Upgrades to Espadachins Rodelero deal less damage against infantry and buildings compared to the champion but its high speed and resistance to gunpowder makes them good vs siege and gunpowder , weak vs cavalry,archers, average vs infantry similar to long swordsmen and when upgraded to Espadachins they are similar to two handed swordsmen. Weak anti building damage compared to the champion even with arson. Agile swordsmen with a buckler could better evade the deadly iron of densely packed pikes and could take formations apart from the inside. Thus they are strong vs spear line but are quite weak against skirms. Stable Knight - Garrochistas Spanish lancer (Similar to Cavalier) Very weak to conversions. Slightly stronger vs spear line than a cavalier but much weaker to camel units than a cavalier. . Light cav AR Hand cannoneer Crossbow men (Lacks bracer) Elite skirm (Messo allies skin) SW BBC ram mangonel Monastery: Monk Missionary Dock: UU: Gunboat - small single cannon/gun Boat. Somewhat expensive, but powerful boat good at blasting ships from a medium distance. Fire rate and damage between A galleon and cannon galleon , Brilliant for targeting demolition ships , only slightly stronger than galleon anti building damage. Lacks heavy demo Lacks Fast fire ship Blacksmith Lacks bracer Lacks plate boarding armour University: Lacks Heated Shot Lacks Siege Engineers No Sappers Wonder:Alcázar de Segovia Or Cathedral of Seville

[@lautaromoreno3916]

Aaaaah, I remember old times playing with friends. Playing with the Spanish was just an act of cowardly, they were pretty much banned from our matches, all due to us not knowing how to stop those damned conquistadores.

[@juliandiazpascielli2383]

The correct therm for conquistadors it´s conquistadores

[@ashutoshagrawal3419]

bombard elephant sounds like a cool UU for a new deccan civilization.

[@DangerDucking]

I just noticed that ballistics has an icon of shooting at a castle, which is a stationary target....

[@matthewami]

They were broken when first released, but now that we have more civ’s who specialize in camels and trash units they’re downgraded to OP.

[@KingStix]

tempo unit that are pretty useless in the true late game

[@VyssAlare]

Is inaccuracy actually that negative of a trait once your conq blob becomes capable of 1 shoting their target when microing? Would it not allow excess damage to spread a little and increase value? A negative trait in small numbers but positive in 15+ groups?