Total War Three Kingdoms: Cavalry Guide

Cavalry Guide

Cavalry units move rapidly, which means they can outmanoeuvre infantry and choose where to engage. This makes them versatile and grants them a range of uses on the battlefield.

Other Total War Three Kingdoms Guides:

• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Factions
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Armies
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Siege
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Characters
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Administrators
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Guide to Relations

• Total War Three Kingdoms: Buildings Guide
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Food Guide
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Diplomacy Guide
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Commandery Guide
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Unit Abilities and Types
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Spies & Espionage Guide
• Total War Three Kingdoms: Public Order Guide

Their speed and mass combine to deal major impact damage when they charge, reflected by their high melee charge bonus rating. If cavalry are locked in static melee with an enemy unit, it’s useful to pull them out of combat, set them up to charge again and deal more impact damage. This is known as cycle charging.

Cavalry make an excellent counter to archers, as they can manoeuvre around the enemy army to reach them, and are useful for running down or chasing routing troops from the field, as routing troops will not recover morale while continuously engaged.

Polearm infantry, with their braced and charge reflection VS mounted abilities, should never be charged face-on by cavalry. They are best pinned by swordsmen or spearmen, with cavalry performing flank or rear charges, where they cannot bring their polearms to bear.

Shock Cavalry

• Shock cavalry wield lances, and cause tremendous impact damage. They are therefore best used when charging, and are the best type of cavalry to use against other cavalry. When their charge bonus has faded, they do not deal as much damage over time as melee cavalry, and should be pulled out and cycle-charged to maintain optimal damage output.

Ranged Cavalry

• Ranged cavalry carry bows, granting them the ranged damage of archers combined with the speed and manoeuvrability of cavalry. Due to their cavalry speed and mass, they can still cause impact damage when charging, though are less effective at this than shock or melee cavalry.

Melee Cavalry

• Melee cavalry are armed with swords and shields, so are better able to weather arrow-fire, and deal greater damage over time when locked in melee than shock or ranged cavalry.