The King's Return - AOE III

A powerful king unit with many abilities. Shah can boost all units hp making him very critical for your empire. Shah is very important to keep the villagers HP at good health so keep an eye on him. Unlike regular heroes, if shah is killed you can only train a new one but at slow training rate. Instead of "Sharpshooter" ability the Shah is a skillful hunter, a new ability called "Game Hunting" will allow you to kill any animal or guardian with a single arrow shot (you can target both pet animals & guardians). The Shah himself is a melee unit armed with a sword. He has much better attack/hp than European explorer but lesser bonus against guardians. Additionally, the Shah has HomeCity gather point allowing the player to send shipments directly to him. One of the major Techs that will affect the Shah is the "Centralized Authority" making the Shah the supreme Authority over the Persian empire. The "Centralized Authority" will actually reduce all military units hp & attack but at the same time will grant the Shah the ability to boost all military units hp & attack.

There are 2 types of villagers for Persians : 1) Peasants & 2) Middle Class Citizens. They are exactly the same except for one thing: only Middle Class Citizens are affected by "Khums" gold collecting. Unlike regular villagers, Persian villagers will start with only 40% hp at first age. Villager HP will be increased by each age advancement. Additionally, Shah will boost overall villagers HP as well as nearby villagers HP.

The highest religious authority in the empires. He has a basic low gold trickle rate. The most important ability of this unit is called Khums (Khums or Fifth is a 20% religious obligation tax that must be paid on all people's income). Each Middle Class Citizen will increase Allamah's gold auto-gather rate by 6%. In the same time all Middle Class Citizens gather rate will be decrease by 20% (see the table above right to the villagers section.

Allamah pray at mosques & shrines to collect faith resources (same as Mullahs). He can research "Grand Fatwa"

Persian healer who can pray at shrines & mosques to collect Faith ( a unique resource to Persians). Faith can be used to research "Spiritual & Psychological Techs". While regular techs will improve things permanently, the "spiritual & psychological techs" effect will be temporary for short period of time. Additionally Mullah can research "fatwa" which require faith resources to enable hunting certain animals as well as allowing other "religiously prohibited" things (like allowing the player to train non-muslim mercenaries). For more information about fatwas see Persians under "New Civilizations" section.

Musketeer-type unit. Like the Russian musketeer, the Ghulam will cost 25% less but also has 20% less hp & attack. However, upgrading to veteran/guard/imperial will increase the cost of Ghulam by a total of 15% (i.e. when you reach imperial upgrade, Ghulam cost will be only 10% less than regular musketeer but will remain with 20% less hp/attack).

Skirmisher-type unit that will start almost as the European counterpart. Upgrading the to Guard Tofangchi will be different though. You can either upgrade it as:

1. Guard Tofanchi : which will boost hp/attack by 25% only (European skirmisher guard boost by 30%).

2. Jazāyerchi : your unit range will be 24, damage will increase by 35% and hp will increase by 15% only. Additionally, the speed will be decreased by 0.25 making it slower than regular skirmisher (The Jazāyer (جزایر), a flintlock musket, was of a much heavier calibre than their European counterparts and consequently had a greater range as well as improved accuracy.

Shia militant group whom mostly consisted of Turkmen tribes. They are powerful cavalry units whom would demand political & provincial governorship , burdening the empire's economy & competing with Shah for authority. Qizilbash are powerful cavalry unit with high hp & attack BUT with a twist. Each Qizilbash unit will reduce villagers' overall gather rate by %1. The more Qizilbash units you have the more burden they will put on your economy.

The Qizilbahs version of Cavalry Archer. Unlike the Qizilbash unit, this unit won't affect villagers' gather rate.

Heavy armored elephant. Unlike Indian elephants, this unit has slower speed but will need less pop. Good against infantry & has a small bonus against hand cavalry.

Persian Artillery unit. It has a great attack, fast speed (5.5) and long range of 26 (same as falconet) but will take more time to limber/unlimber than regular artillery pieces (the camel need to sit down/get up in order to unlimber/limber). Despite the gatling camel advantages, when unlimbered the camel will sit down in order to fire, thus you won't be able to move the unit in unlimber mode.