Halberdier

War elephant: 28

Camel: 26

Ship: 17

Fishing ship: 17

Mameluke: 11

Eagle Warrior: 1

Standard building: 1

Infantry: 0

Spearman: 0

Anti-leitis: 0

Castle age: 6

imperial age: 6

The **Halberdier** is an infantry unit in *Age of Empires II: The Conquerors* that can be trained at the Barracks upon reaching the Imperial Age. An upgrade of the Pikeman, it has a huge attack bonus against cavalry, particularly elephants.

Halberdiers are weak against almost any units outside the cavalry class, but make up for it by being one of the cheapest military units in the game. Additionally, no gold is required to train them, making them "trash units".

## Tactics

Like its predecessor, the Pikeman, the main purpose of the Halberdier is countering cavalry units. With 32, their attack bonus against cavalry is so huge that two Halberdiers can bring down even a Paladin. They can be paired with siege units and protect them from melee cavalry attacks. They become a lot more valuable in the late Imperial Age since at that time gold is usually running very low, often resulting in "trash wars". There, Halberdiers hold advantage against the Hussar, the Magyar Huszar, and they even are valuable against Skirmishers despite the fact that Skirmishers deal bonus damage to them, because they have a minimum range the Halberdiers can exploit. Genitours also receive huge bonus damage from Halberdiers, but they can hit-and-run them, probably making them the best choice against Halberdiers in trash wars.

Halberdiers need to be massed in order to be effective, but they are cost effective against all cavalry units, even Cataphracts. Ranged cavalry like Cavalry Archers or certain unique units like the Mameluke can handle them, though, when micromanaged properly. However, Leitis with even two Relics collected just need three strikes to kill Halberdiers, which means that they can defeat even a large group of Halberdiers, but they are still cost effective against them.

## Civilization bonuses

* Burmese: Halberdiers have +3 attack. Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
* Byzantines: Halberdiers are 25% cheaper.
* Celts: Halberdiers move 15% faster. Halberdiers can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
* Chinese: Technologies that benefit Halberdiers are 20% cheaper.
* Goths: Halberdiers are 35% cheaper and have +3 attack against standard buildings. With Perfusion researched, researching Squires is 100% faster.
* Japanese: Halberdiers attack 33% faster.
* Lithuanians: Halberdiers move 10% faster. With Tower Shields, they receive an additional +2 pierce armor.
* Koreans: Halberdiers cost 20% less wood.
* Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
* Slavs: Tracking is free.
* Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Halberdiers don't cost gold.
* Tatars: Halberdiers deal 50% more damage from higher grounds.
* Teutons: Halberdiers have +2/+0 armor.
* Vietnamese: Conscription is free.

## Team bonuses

* A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
* A team containing Goths: Halberdiers are created 20% faster. Researching Tracking, Squires, and Arson is 20% faster.
* A team containing Teutons: Halberdiers are more resistant to conversion.
* A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
* A team containing Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 50% faster.

## Changelog

### *The Conquerors*

* Goths: Bonus damage against buildings is +1.
* Halberdiers have +16 attack against camel units and ships.
* Franks: On release, cannot train Halberdiers. With patch 1.0b, it was added to their technology tree.

### *The Forgotten*

* Halberdiers now have +17 attack against camel units and ships.

### *The African Kingdoms*

* Arson introduced.
* Malians: On release, can train Halberdiers. With patch 4.8, it is removed from their technology tree.

### *Rise of the Rajas*

* With patch 5.7, Halberdiers deal +26 damage against camel units.
* With patch 5.8, Halberdiers gain +16 attack against the new Mameluke armor class, effectively making them deal 5 damage less to Mamelukes due to changes of the unit's armor class system.

### *Definitive Edition*

* Koreans: Halberdier costs -15% wood.
* Halberdiers -5 attack vs Mameluke armor class (from +16 to +11).
* Tracking removed; all infantry receive +2 LOS upon reaching the Feudal Age.
* Goths: With update 36202, bonus damage against buildings is +3.
* Tatars: Initially cannot train Halberdiers. With update 35584, Halberdiers are added to their technology tree.
* Teutons: With update 35584, starting in the Castle Age, Barracks units gain +1/+0 armor. With update 36906, they gain another +1/+0 armor in the Imperial Age.
* Lithuanians: With update 36906, Tower Shields grants +2 pierce armor instead of +1.