How good is the Huskarl?

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Analysis and discussion about the Goths's anti-archer unique unit: the Huskarl.
0:31 Goth Huskarl overview
2:35 Huskarl vs ranged units
3:59 Huskarl vs melee units
5:45 Goth + Pikeman
6:20 Imperial age upgrades
7:20 Creation speed
8:00 Elite Huskarl vs ranged units
10:05 Elite Huskarl vs melee units
11:58 Final thoughts
13:00 Sponsor
___________________________________________________________
Patreon: / spiritofthelaw
Background music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
Game: Age of Empires II Definitive Edition

[@lmnisop5516]

Oh boy. Here comes a goths overview. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Siouxsie and the Banshees

[@samarthnagar3856]

Omg yes omg yws

[@chingamfong]

I hope he doesn't replace the legendary "Goth game plan"

[@TheMoonchild12]

In the goth meta Bauhaus is better imo

[@xShifty38x]

Yes!!

[@themanflesh6327]

Shame the Rosetta Stone isn’t a research tech in this version. But the Sisters of Mercy Meta does better, unless you’re fighting in the Fields of the Nephilim. Then you’re screwed, especially if your opponent is an Alien Sex Fiend.

[@alephkasai9384]

I can't believe I watch content about this game. The only reason i have heard about this game is because of this channel, the only reason why I know so much about this game is this channel, I do not play it, I do not have it. Yet the way he presents his videos enthralls me.

[@Dylyinyang]

same

[@calebbridges4748]

I haven't played in a long time but I think I get it. Good presentation and neat theory to think on regardless of if you play.

[@pierre-mariecaulliez6285]

@@calebbridges4748 Last time I played AoE2, auto reseeding farms weren't a thing...

[@thomashightower7881]

​@@pierre-mariecaulliez6285I would say same, but I played a game as Goths just yesterday

[@kevinfogle7929]

It's a great game. I've been playing since 1999.

[@WWFanatic0]

You know what a Square Space sponsor means: another fantastic Spirit of the Law pun.

[@TheOhioNews]

That's the content I'm here for

[@Ashadowtotheworld]

By this point im starting to become more interested in SOTL's Side Hussles 😄😄😄

[@vincentbeton]

He would be a fool not to push this one. Summer is coming up and you can't expect people to keep touching grass with their behinds

[@AvyScottandFlower]

Ngl, the 1st time he sponsored "a website of his" I actually looked for said site, lol Don't remember what he was supposedly even selling, but I became interested 😅

[@fugonee]

Can we just appreciate just how many new side hustles SOTL has👏👏

[@JJBeauregard1]

As a kid I didn't like the Huskarl but for a weirder reason than you might expect. It was because of a pet peeve of mine where I hated it when a civ's unique unit couldn't be fully upgraded and Goths don't have the final infantry armor. My little kid's brain didn't comprehend "balance" yet and was outraged how they could backstab a civ with an infantry UU and not even give it full armor upgrades, haha.

[@markusdegenhardt8678]

11

[@benedictjajo]

11

[@kikaioshin6700]

If it makes you feel any better there are still many adult players who think like your kid self did

[@tehesprite502]

11

[@kartiksaraf4676]

@@kikaioshin6700 are you talking about me?

[@user-iu3cu8yj3p]

Good luck with your new smoothie shop. I can’t wait to try Spirit of the Straw.

[@winterFox2r]

Spirit of the Straw. Made of material that is _not_ paper.

[@AntonioZL]

His petshop sidehustle, Spirit of the Paw, is doing great!

[@boejiden1942]

Did you hear about his lumber company, Spirit of the Saw?

[@CG-eh6oe]

1:28 Goths don't have access to arson. However, their civ bonus is +3 in imp, so an overall +3 is still correct.

[@voyagerdeepspaceexploratio5023]

I didn't even know that, but Goths are already powerful without it. What makes them much more fearful is the fact they also have hand cannons and even bombard cannons. Probably its a matter of balancing because their archers are pretty trashy.

[@areyouapoo]

they remove it after a patch, they used to had arson, maybe SOTL didn't notice that

[@adamgarbaczewski]

@@areyouapoo Goths lack Arson for quite some time already, I played them several months ago and they didn't have it

[@CG-eh6oe]

@@areyouapoo Goths have not had arson since the launch of DE.

[@areyouapoo]

@@CG-eh6oe they do have arson until update 36202, if according to fandom wiki

[@RMOB]

Another bonus of the huskarls is the ability to block passages. Very comum in other games like Elder Scrolls.

[@klop3re]

😂

[@predwin1998]

They are also sworn to carry your burdens.

[@BlueShellshock]

The fact 6 Huskarl can handle a full TC is part of what makes them terrifying. A lot of raiding units are just after villagers, Hussar don’t just kill a TC, and you don’t leave a lone ram to ‘raid’ TCs. But Goth is spamming Huskarl and forgetting about them, shoving 5-10 loose in multiple locations, slowly crippling farms and whittling buildings.

[@oom-3262]

yep, also the fact that they instantly come out of barracks and cost literally pennies, so its gonna be on the battlefield and you know it

[@ohlookitisacat7404]

@@oom-3262 It's hilarious tbh. I feel like I am roleplaying Darklord who sends wave after wave of endless minions against a few heroes and watches them slowly die to an unending flood.

[@ursleiter5611]

Goth Re-Overview! My body is ready. That football comparison is still in my mind; Probably from the civ overview Intro. ^^

[@Jokie155]

5:26 It took me way too long to realize that the Warrior Priest was healing the Woad Raider. For some reason I thought it was somehow doing the victory celebration from AoE III.

[@stewartdigsmario]

Man was fortnite dancing on the Huskarl

[@quangluantran6160]

"Sir!! We ran out of arrow!!" Huskarl came in after took down an abalester: "I bring 69!"

[@duytoannguyen6055]

so we just pick the arrows from him and "return" them back to our enemies?

[@adamgarbaczewski]

@@duytoannguyen6055 that's a very good idea, I practiced that before

[@Elastane]

nice

[@Nazuiko]

Nice.

[@Nazuiko]

@@duytoannguyen6055 Legend has it that a Chinese general took advantage of a foggy morning to set up straw dummies, knowing that his army was lacking in the wood to make arrows with. But the enemy would be all too happy to send some over for them, landing softly in the straw dummies ripe for the picking

[@KaiHinLkh]

A bit disappointed the Teutonic knight didn't show up in the comparsion being the ultimate Huskarl killer.

[@mctrump957]

Huskarls have the ultimate counter to Teutonic Knights. Powerwalking

[@koldyn2193]

@@mctrump957 true! why fight if you can walk away with a style!

[@g7majoh125]

@@mctrump957nah we want to see the true Ai experience with Huskarls walking into the teutonic meatgrinder

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

Goths can just make Hand Cannoners though.

[@benedictjajo]

​@@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavanaand teutons can make ironclad Siege Onager. What's your point?

[@JakobusMaximus]

You need a scooter business with that segway skill. Top notch, 10/10.

[@boejiden1942]

Scooter of the law.

[@skate4086]

I've never played this game, but this recommended video was so good that I watched all the way through.

[@stuartmacaulay5761]

There will be a ton of analysis you won't understand but in real games, it is terrifying sometimes. Imagine the enemy sneakily builds 3-4 barracks behind your base and these guys flood in constantly unexpectedly. Even if you try to make the right unit, you simply cannot make enough of it to keep away the flood lol.

[@saltine6754]

8:36 I liked the small detail where the huskarls are just perfectly aligned to block all oncoming arrow shots with their shields

[@tilmanr.3299]

I can't wait for the updated goth overview, it's been so many years, since this classic dropped. I hope he doesn't change the intro tho :D By far my fav civ!

[@justskip4595]

I hope he never uses any intro ever, I hate intros, outros and other such things that make the viewing worse and annoying.

[@voyagerdeepspaceexploratio5023]

Yes I wouldn't mind an overall rework of all the old civs such as Burmese, a civ I really enjoy lately. Some of your old videos are still from the HD edition. A lot has changed since then. I remember playing Khmer with BBC in the HD, those were good times, but it had to be nerfed because their scorpion and elephant combo is already strong enough. Burmese are lovely, they not only have a very strong wood eco (free woodcutter upgrades) but also a free infantry bonus, giving them the edge in early militia rushes as well as almost aztek level champions later on. Their halbs are also very strong due to this bonus. Then you get one of the strongest elephants in the game, depending on what you face they may even the be toughest because they have so much pierce armor.

[@tilmanr.3299]

​@@justskip4595SotL Intros are really cool tho. Not just some random music and some bs amateur effects, but a collection of cool ingame stuff and from prev. videos.

[@adamgarbaczewski]

Goths are the best :D

[@7636kei]

inb4 an updated slide of _the_ Gothic game plan xD

[@9051team]

I don't know how Good they are, but I know they look Damn Good

[@jamesinciardi5099]

I love these videos! Thank you, Spirit! My favorite video of all time is an old one: Most Underused Units.

[@mcgan8749]

6:50 No, the champion doesn't have more melee armor than the long swordsman anymore. You can even see it at 7:03 IIRC, the champion never had more than 1 base melee armor. It's just that for most of AoE2's existence, the champion was the only unit in the militia line to have any base melee armor. But now, it starts with the long swordsman instead.

[@seidmadr2024]

Awesome! Goths are my favourite faction, and a deep dive into the Huskarl is nice! Can't wait for the Goth overview.

[@nathanialblock8480]

One of my favorite ways to play goths is to fast castle into knights and then transition to infantry spam for imperial age and having the stables built let’s me grab light cav for hand cannons and siege if needed it’s really flexible and takes advantage of goth’s strengths and gives you cover options for their weaknesses

[@MaxCheng95]

Guess the Goths overview will come soon. I love the original and looking forward to see how the new one would look like

[@m13579k]

Hide yo crossbows, hide yo cav archers cuz Huskarls be spamming everyone out here.

[@jeroen92]

I mix in champions AND halbs and it really amplifies everything

[@inductivegrunt94]

Being able to mass a powerful anti-building, anti-archer, rush infantry unit is really good. I say Huskarls are really good. They're not too OP, but still really powerful. This might be a hint as to a Goth Overview video in the future.

[@CallOfGamer2012]

Keeping up with unit analysis even though I don't play or watch any actual gameplay 🗣️🔥

[@jasonsmith1950]

huskarls vs hand cannons: If there isn't anything in front of the hand cannons, the huskarls will win (even against Italian discounted hand cannons). Hand cannons may be usable as a counter, but require a meat shield (otherwise the huskarls will swiftly slaughter them).

[@TheLogotero]

This guy is so consistent with his videos, i want to be like that at work

[@micahbush5397]

What I'd like to know is why the Huskarl was given to the Goths; their real-life counterparts were employed as guards by Norse and Saxon nobility. While a similar role existed among the Visigoths, they would be more accurately called _Gardingi._ (And either way, I doubt they would have been equipped with muscle cuirass.)

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

Imagine in context how epic it must look a lone huskarl downing a whole elephant with an archer sitting on top.

[@L3monsta]

That still only counts as one! -Gimli

[@mattshu]

Growing up with AOE2, these were one of my favorite units. They just slapped. Quick and clean killing.

[@JJBeauregard1]

The Huskarl is an infantry Unique Unit done right, imo. Many infantry UUs in AoE2 immediately enter a discussion about whether or not they're even worth making over the same civ's (often times with its own bonuses) champions but the Huskarl carves out an entire different niche for itself as an anti-archer unit and therefor fills a * unique * role for the Goths as a whole.

[@benedictjajo]

Bro, they are only viable because of their unique tech Perfusion. Tell me honestly, would you have 10+ barracks spamming cheap champions or 2-4 castles producing Huskarls. Without perfusion, nobody is gonna use the unit just because they are great against archers over the cheap champions.

[@llSuperSnivyll]

@@benedictjajo I mean, they are not saying Huskarls are great, but rather that you don't use it like a regular infantry unit.

[@benedictjajo]

​@@llSuperSnivylllike i said, perfusion makes them look great.

[@Magrior]

8:01 The Huskarl making his ancestors from the Battle of Hastings proud!

[@reubendias18]

Spirit of the Goth would have been a nice apparel site.

[@yuuya5985]

SOTL's new website introduction is always a must-watch for me! 11

[@ponchopalmera4917]

10 minutes and 1k views. This speaks of quality content ❤️

[@RawmanFilm]

Goths! Huskarls used to be (at my peer-groups elo) extremely strong. Probably my most built unit and my most played civ :D

[@paulh462]

Goth civ review coming up - YEAH.

[@restorasenrisei9991]

Hmm. So a quick takeaway here is... Mix with Spears when there's Cavalry, Mix with Swords when there's Infantry. I mean, Good to have a overwhelming Infantry option for all weathers I guess.

[@jeromemartel3916]

The only huskarl I respect is the one that says: "Folstag ate my cattle and hurled my cabin in the river!"

[@spartanxmonster]

Can we get a "1 Tip for each Victor's and Vanquised Scenerio". Those missions are kicking my butt on the higher difficulties! I can handle Seljuk and Temujin, but Komemnos! Holy cow! What the heck!

[@_pk_]

I sense a Goth overview coming *Proceeds to get bamboozled*

[@gagegogo]

I have to comment at 1:20 that bonus damage against buildings is listing Arson. This tech got removed from goth tech tree long ago due to already having a civ bonus working this way.

[@heisen8640]

If I'm not wrong. Goths don't get arson

[@bademume449]

yep, they lost it due to their bonus against buildings.

[@mickethegoblin7167]

Yeah, I hate that

[@o_b0m_de_guerr432]

I loved the original specially that ""is already gone bad'

[@MaximusLight]

Man, I don't know why but that sponsor has me feeling really motivated

[@stoopidyoutubehandle]

This unit baffled young me and my AOE2 friends, we ask ourselves: What armor in real world that absolutely blocks projectiles but doesn’t even provide basic melee defense more than a mere villager’s newly loomed pants. We enjoy inventing a proper explanation for bonker units more than playing the actual game.😂 It was good to be young.

[@boejiden1942]

I remember back in the day when the castle and barracks Huskarls wouldn't all be selected when double clicking one of them. Bugged me so much...

[@mikewazowski7477]

Babe wake up SOTL just dropped new vid

[@hyperN1337]

The thing with the whole 'Huskarls suck in melee' more than often implies things are in a vacuum, whereas the true Goth experience often involves sending hilariously skewed resources amounts of units to fight what should otherwise counter them. A champion might beat a Huskarl. But you know what a Champion can't beat? Six Huskarls.

[@mauriesvanheteren8457]

I know someone who always calls this unit: 'goth dudes' or 'goten gasten' in Dutch. He is a bit of an older man, so doesn't remember all names so well..

[@timvanheteren6936]

Atleast he faces Lyx!

[@darkdill]

Gotta wonder which UU you plan to deep-dive next. Maybe the Teutonic Knight?

[@Yamaazaka]

6:32 😂 fr I always yearn for that last armor as goths

[@lincolnvolk7609]

Spirit of the la hire!!

[@calilaployploy2827]

you should also do a list of how good is for every unique unit

[@wandraak58]

I remember a completely baffled goth huskarl spammer, when he lost against my Armenian composite bowmen recently... It´s a really fun match-up .

[@teddys5775]

Goths are very fun if you want to be very aggressive. Use that aggression to get the eco bonus to offset your disadvantages and flood the map

[@StarshadowMelody]

and then the warrior priest starts healing the woad raider

[@andresm.t.3054]

Hi! I have a good question to you: When it's good to use the tdchonolgy Conscription that make military buildings work faster, but to mantain military unit production continue, you must have more resources and/or villagers

[@DevlJoe]

At 3:22 I feel like Kipchak should have been included in the lineup here too

[@clarkisaac6372]

The husk is more resistant to missile attacks and deals more damage to ranged units. Best to use for players who'd like to attack archers, guns or castles...

[@Squiggums799]

YESS IT'S HAPPENING! EVERYBODY STAY CALM!

[@ryzae6202]

2:00 also bonus damage vs conquistador

[@arcomegis9999]

I'm still waiting for any possible buff, unique techs, team bonus or even a new unique unit reference to the Gothic Cavalry.

[@streamofthought8662]

as an old goth otp, iv made myself many a huskarl

[@NeocaridinaShrimpGuy]

Hi law, spirit of the guys here.

[@agaifi]

Hey SotL of the Law, please consider making a video on the bulgarian bagains 2h swordsman, especially vs trash units!

[@heartsickruben]

I really wanted that chair...

[@anirudhdad2739]

Only thing i dont like is that new civs or techs on some old civs have made other generic units as high as huskarl range armor with other benifits considering goths sacrifice a lot of things to be this specialized

[@anarchel]

Spirit of the law singlehandedly growing the economy with a new business ever other week!

[@biggali]

Goths don't get arson. It was removed when they buffed their civ bonus vs buildings to give +1/2/3 in feudal/castle/imp.

[@lukasvideosify1596]

Interesting! But when you come with much bigger numbers like 2:3 or even 1:3 you can even kill knights cost efficiently. I think you should have included that in your video.

[@Killz0mbies]

Huskarl & spear line, sprinkle in hussars if you're getting chewed up by melee units. They don't cost gold....

[@SporadicUploads1]

This game and the balance is all fun to interact with but having mathematical precision and correct answers takes the fun out of the game and makes it into a spreadsheet with sort-of nice trim, and lets the payers who treat it that way be the serious and valid players. It would be better if this was mysterious, unfixed, situational... a game

[@nshs1234]

As a mongol player.. My go to is lancers backed up by scorpions with drill. Let me know if there is a better mongol combo against goths. The lancer has stack ability and the scorp take care of halbs in the mix.

[@brph-js8jn]

I remember in an old Goths Civ Overview video, the Huskarl was seemingly overpowered with little cost effective counters. What made them weaker?

[@cannnds]

SOTL, please don’t forget to insert the goth game plan strategy again

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

I wonder what content the bizarro universe SotL channel - Letter of the Law - covers?

[@soythelubu5389]

7:00 wait shouldnt it be +2 versus eagles and building for huskarls?

[@nozyspy4967]

I can confirm that Composite Bowmen are NOT a hard counter to Huskarl, despite ignoring their armour. The Huskarl are so fast, and the Composite Bowmen have shorter range that once the distance is closed that anti-archer bonus damage shreds the Comp Bows. They are a brilliant soft counter, but need massing and will not kill full goth spam!

[@TurboDiego37]

Yeah they work like hand cannons in the sense that you need something to act as a meatshield for them. Thankfully Armenians have 100 hp Champions

[@MrTJK1492]

Will we see a video on the ratha a strong unit in theory but how it is in practice?

[@TheAwkwardGuy]

I thought you might also compare units by creation time. Like let's say 50 Huskarls vs 20-30 whatever else that might be trained a bit slower.

[@PurpleWarlock]

I wanted a Swiss civ added. Both Goths somewhat fill that spot.

[@hansoskar1911]

Halb/Huskarl is such a good composition bc it asks the opponent to micro 2 diffrent units careflly or take a horrible fight while you can concetrate on other tasks. like an attack on ther other side. in the matchup vs the Hand Cannoneer the kicker is that Huskarls still die fast but they are fast and 2 hit if they actually get to attack and thereby cut through a blob of Hand Cannoneers with little fuzz.

[@benedictjajo]

You forgot something, Goths are terrible against infantry civs. They can swarm, sure, but infantry civs counter habls/Huskarls hard. 1000 Huskarls can't beat 200 TKs. Let that sink in. Even other infantry civs will do great against that composition.

[@hansoskar1911]

@@benedictjajo thats why you dont make it against infatry civs. usually full Champion spam. genius. I know.

[@benedictjajo]

​​@@hansoskar1911full champions swarm still lose to Tks and other infantry civs- slavs, aztecs, Japanese etc. Genius who?

[@hansoskar1911]

@@benedictjajo yes and these are bad matchups in Imp for that reason. it wont work every time but Perfusion can actually pull out a victory when it looks like you are out of options: take fight at max pop (you gonna lose but thats ok) get up to max pop again, way faster than anyone the opponent. and then take another fight. if you win you never let the opponent get to max pop again. even bad fights are good when you fight ~90 vs ~30 army.

[@pauliesoprano1787]

Spirit when you make is video for how to good is samurai???

[@lscibor]

Was kinda hoping for more in depth comparison of militia line or maybe other units, and huskarls against buildings. Maybe video about damaging building in general, since the sheer amount of various building armors makes it kinda confusing. Doesn't seem that there's video about this, at least not during last 6 years?

[@trystanclemenceau2071]

I do think he made a building armor vid, might be very old though but I'm pretty sure I've watched one

[@trystanclemenceau2071]

Nvm I found it for you "Masonry, Architecture and Building Armor" from 4 years ago

[@lscibor]

@@trystanclemenceau2071 Yeah, I see it now, thanks.

[@graphitebendy]

1:45 I think you made a woopsie, SoTL.

[@TheSacredMaster]

Spirit of the Lawn Chair hahahahaa nice

[@bristleback3614]

how much arrow a huskarl can take? Hurkarl :" yes"

[@tuzzioavila]

yes.

[@Ewie7]

Plz try 0ad. I would love to see your tips and trick in the game

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

The full infantry composition is weak to Hand Cannoneers or Champions (they are only soft countered by Goth Champions and hard counter Elite Huscarls and Halberdier), especially as it is very expensive to get to, mostly because of the unique techs. Though, the Goths do have a pretty good tech ⚙ tree, so they can add in supporting units. Goths are mostly a map 🗺 dependent civ, liking maps with lots of hunt 🦌 and ones where the players are close together so they can make use of their good laming and Drush.

[@psiignoramus9486]

Huskarls may need +1 base melee armor. They’re wearing what looks like cuirass armor. Wouldn’t that provide melee protection?

[@hw_yozoraVODS]

The only addition i'd like to make is that, goths almost NEVER had balanced numbers/resources against anyone. Since they have cheap AND they are created in 6 seconds. Your opponent might have 10 halberds but you gonna have 60 huskarls with 3 barracks in a snap

[@NikiK57]

I only just noticed that huskarls have armor six pack, lol.

[@nefftron1]

Please keep "Goth Game Plan" in the civ overview update

[@manansuthar9859]

i think Goths overview coming next.

[@Sea_catch]

Same video request again! Analysis of winning water in Nomad, and how much you should invest in water

[@voiceofreason2674]

If you're experienced in this game, but are still terrible. Learn the goth D-Rush. I've been playing forever and still stink but the goth militia rush is a beast in 1v1s and team games down in the 700s. Build a barracks and archery range on the enemy base and keep a tide of spears and skirms. But those big waves of huskarls with rams or trebs are what gets you the win. I don't naturally enjoy goths i like celts franks viets and berbers, but my slow azz gets results with goths.

[@junnyak47]

Experienced but terrible. Thats me in a nutshell. Been playing this games since i was 14. Im now 35 😆