Top unique units?
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LukaSlovenia29
Emperor
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Pictish warrior is a clear best for me. Very strong, comes very early and most importantly, grants faith on kills.
(Venetian GM is the very best, but it's too unique to really count).
(Venetian GM is the very best, but it's too unique to really count).
tu_79
Deity
It comes to mind:
Conquistador (Spain), Nau (Portugal), mandelaku (Songhai), Musketeer (France), Legionnaire (Rome), zulu warrior (zulu), Ship of the line (England). Possibly samurai, berserker, mohawk. Mehal Sefaris and inmortals are beast defending.
Conquistador (Spain), Nau (Portugal), mandelaku (Songhai), Musketeer (France), Legionnaire (Rome), zulu warrior (zulu), Ship of the line (England). Possibly samurai, berserker, mohawk. Mehal Sefaris and inmortals are beast defending.
pineappledan
Deity
Samurai, Mohawk and SotL get most of their power from UAs.
Imo, the best, standalone units are:
Imo, the best, standalone units are:
- Sea Beggar (instant level 4 promotions with armory, ultra-high CS)
- Legion (pilum is crazy-good, highest CS in era, a bit of utility outside combat too)
phantomaxl1207
King
Sea Beggar also comes earlier. It has 3 base promotions and the ability to capture Ships. Has the most going for it.
Y.O.
Warlord
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Good luck facing Sweden once Carolean are online and he's up for some war. Starts with march (a must have promotion IMO), splash damage to all units around it when it advances from winning a battle, bonus from stacking with a GG, and I'm pretty sure the unique promotion is kept upon upgrade. And this is without's Sweden's UA, which completely makes facing an army of Caroleans a pain.
LukaSlovenia29
Emperor
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Some later UUs are great, but if I'm starting with Pictish Warriors, I can snowball early on (making it hard for civs with later UUs to make a comeback) + I can cripple basically any other civs (perhaps the only exception being the Aztecs with upgraded Jaguars) in the very early game, rendering their later UUs moot. Also, Pictish Warriors are great for ensuring a religion which is one of the biggest factors in winning a game, something that basically no other UU helps with.
pineappledan
Deity
By themselves, samurai and Mohawk warriors are pretty rubbish. The best thing about samurai are the promotions they get from the dojo. The Mohawk is utter crap without forest movement
Hunnic horse archer is also pretty low. Just accuracy I, a little more RCS and no horses
Hunnic horse archer is also pretty low. Just accuracy I, a little more RCS and no horses
Maori warriors
Pictish warriors earn faith on kills and have movement on hills. I find the utility more useful than the raw power of hoplites in general, but both are good
Mad Madigan
Prince
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Top picks in no particular order:
- Sea Beggar (Best naval UU IMO, even better than the great Ship of the Line due to its combination of free promotions, unit capturing, higher CS, and earlier tech unlocking. Allows the Netherlands to take control of the sea at a really important period of the game, and a smart human player can leverage that to control the oceans for the rest of the game.)
- Samurai (They are not that great on their own but their double XP and GG generation promotions tie perfectly into Japan's UA, and combined with the Dojo promotion they can rival just about any other melee UU throughout the rest of the game, ASSUMING you can keep them alive and highly leveled.)
- Impi (Still some of the most terrifying offensive infantry in the game, especially combined with their special UB promotions)
- Slingers (They sit on mountains and pelt the enemy to death with stones, and can run away when charged. One of the most defensive early-game units, and their promotions stick with them through the ages giving the Inca extra-great ranged defense units all through the game.)
- Mandekalu Calvary (Again, not that great on their own, but prior to the Spearman/Pikeman upgrades with the last patch these were the absolute best at early-game city-sacking rushes. Combined with their UA and special promotions they are lightning fast and can generate a lot of early gold that feeds back into your economy when you're trying to rush down neighbor's capitals in the early game. The "Scissors" to the Slinger's "Paper".)
- Pictish Warrior (Competes closely with Hoplites and Immortals, but I give best pick to Pictish due to the Faith on Kills ability which allows the Celts to consistently power their way into an early religion. Controlling a religion is still very powerful, enough to make Pictish a top pick even though their Faith generation goes away once they upgrade to Pikemen.)
Honorable Mentions:
- Caroleans, Musketeers, Legion, and Ships of the Line (for all being solid choices that can be the best units of their era unless certain other Civs are in play that outclass them)
- Nau, Merchant of Venice, and Siege Tower (for their utility, which is difficult to compare to pure military units)
- Sea Beggar (Best naval UU IMO, even better than the great Ship of the Line due to its combination of free promotions, unit capturing, higher CS, and earlier tech unlocking. Allows the Netherlands to take control of the sea at a really important period of the game, and a smart human player can leverage that to control the oceans for the rest of the game.)
- Samurai (They are not that great on their own but their double XP and GG generation promotions tie perfectly into Japan's UA, and combined with the Dojo promotion they can rival just about any other melee UU throughout the rest of the game, ASSUMING you can keep them alive and highly leveled.)
- Impi (Still some of the most terrifying offensive infantry in the game, especially combined with their special UB promotions)
- Slingers (They sit on mountains and pelt the enemy to death with stones, and can run away when charged. One of the most defensive early-game units, and their promotions stick with them through the ages giving the Inca extra-great ranged defense units all through the game.)
- Mandekalu Calvary (Again, not that great on their own, but prior to the Spearman/Pikeman upgrades with the last patch these were the absolute best at early-game city-sacking rushes. Combined with their UA and special promotions they are lightning fast and can generate a lot of early gold that feeds back into your economy when you're trying to rush down neighbor's capitals in the early game. The "Scissors" to the Slinger's "Paper".)
- Pictish Warrior (Competes closely with Hoplites and Immortals, but I give best pick to Pictish due to the Faith on Kills ability which allows the Celts to consistently power their way into an early religion. Controlling a religion is still very powerful, enough to make Pictish a top pick even though their Faith generation goes away once they upgrade to Pikemen.)
Honorable Mentions:
- Caroleans, Musketeers, Legion, and Ships of the Line (for all being solid choices that can be the best units of their era unless certain other Civs are in play that outclass them)
- Nau, Merchant of Venice, and Siege Tower (for their utility, which is difficult to compare to pure military units)
lunker
Warlord
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Played an America game recently and felt the same, but they have a few noteworthy benefits:
- can spawn with range promo if trained from military academy
- keep all bonuses on promotions (ignore terrain, GA from victories (negligible))
I'm partial to Nau's because they pay for themselves. You can fool the AI into thinking you are a military powerhouse, which you kind of are at sea. Cataphracts can hit hard against all units and cities and can make use of fortify. They also have Cover I, kinda crazy.
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tu_79
Deity
And being american, he wears glasses. I mean, extra sight. Not negligible in my opinion.
I don't think the conquistador is top tier, but man do I love them. The extra sight and settling are nice, but the fact that you have the strongest unit at that point of the game....and then make them 20% stronger at base is just awesome. These guys can just mow through their contemporaries.
lunker
Warlord
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I'm just talking about the GA from victories. It's like 100% of enemy unit's CS. And I dunno if I would count +1 sight as part of the unit.
Either way minutemen are a so-so unique unit for me.
Galbias
Prince
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It's probably pretty obvious but the strongest UUs are the ones that are also boosted by a Civ's ability/building. With that in mind Impis are personal pick for strongest, they do really well against other melee units and tear ranged units to shreds (and frequently end up taking single-digit damage from ranged attacks thanks to all the Buffalo promotions).
I'm not huge on Naga-Mallas, they're tougher and earlier than the unit they replace but they lose the agility that's the selling point of the mounted ranged line in the first place. That and I don't think they have any retained promotions except maybe Feared Elephant.
Brazil's UU is mostly useless in combat, and it's hard to tell exactly how much you get from the exploration yields.
Horse Archer has a bit of overlap with the Horsemen that Attila is going to want to be spamming and isn't terribly great even in a vacuum.
Comanche Rider is also pretty weak, especially considering how late it comes.
Minutemen I wouldn't say are super amazing but the extra mobility they have is a decent enough boost on top of all the other minor bonuses.
I'm not huge on Naga-Mallas, they're tougher and earlier than the unit they replace but they lose the agility that's the selling point of the mounted ranged line in the first place. That and I don't think they have any retained promotions except maybe Feared Elephant.
Brazil's UU is mostly useless in combat, and it's hard to tell exactly how much you get from the exploration yields.
Horse Archer has a bit of overlap with the Horsemen that Attila is going to want to be spamming and isn't terribly great even in a vacuum.
Comanche Rider is also pretty weak, especially considering how late it comes.
Minutemen I wouldn't say are super amazing but the extra mobility they have is a decent enough boost on top of all the other minor bonuses.
tu_79
Deity
If you are counting UA into UU, then this should be accounted. +1 sight is very useful.
