Caballería Tigre

Tiger Cavalry excel against archers thanks to their speed, high pierce armor (though the Wei lack Plate Barding Armor), and attack bonus. Their veterancy ability allows them to kill generic Elite Skirmishers and Crossbowmen in two hits after scoring one kill, and generic fully upgraded Castle Age Cavalry Archers in four hits, while Elite Tiger Cavalry can kill generic Arbalesters and Hand Cannoneers in two hits. Their attack bonus against land siege units also makes them extra dangerous against them. Despite this big strength they have against archers, Genoese Crossbowmen and Composite Bowman are still notable threats once massed, but Tiger Cavalry can defeat them sooner as well. The Tiger Cavalry's durability against archers starts lower compared to the Paladin, and it needs at least three veterancy buffs for the durability to be at least equal. Without veterancy buffs, it takes 49 Arbalester shots (up to 62 with the veterancy buff fully stacked) before dying, while the Paladin takes 60, with Savars and Sicilian Cavaliers with Hauberk taking even more, as they take 83 shots and 70 shots respectively. However, the Tiger Cavalry has the advantage of needing fewer hits to take down Arbalesters (two hits as opposed to the three that Paladins need, for instance). Even with their veterancy ability, they are still handled easily by anti-cavalry units such as Pikemen and Camel Riders, not helped by their lack of innate melee armor. Their veterancy ability can enable them to win against Knights if they've gotten a kill or two beforehand, as each kill lets them take a Knight out one attack sooner, but with no veterancy, a Tiger Cavalry will lose one-on-one. Even with Ming Guang Armor, Tiger Cavalry are only decent in melee fights, losing against Paladins and Cavaliers with good civilization bonuses or unique technologies, such as Malians or Bulgarians, though veterancy can potentially swing the fight in their favor against Cavaliers. However, Tiger Cavalry are still defeated in both equal numbers and resources by the stronger melee cavalry unique units such as Boyars, Leiciai (especially boosted by the Relic bonus), Konniks, and Monaspas (when used in large groups), as well as by both War and Battle Elephants. Without Ming Guang Armor, Konas also become a major threat, as the low melee armor of Tiger Cavalry can be exploited by the Kona's ability to do increased damage when hit points are lowered. They lose to the stronger infantry such as Jaguar Warriors (that have their own combat promotion ability), Teutonic Knights, Samurai, Kamayuks, and Liao Dao. The Tiger Cavalry can be seen as the opposite of the Leitis, made to dominate fights against most ranged units and lasting longer when raiding, at the cost of being much weaker as a melee fighter, but can hold with the veterancy ability (much like how Leiciai dominate melee fights, but have low durability against ranged attacks, while having a chance to do high damage once they get close). If Cao Cao is nearby, Tiger Cavalry gain +10% attack speed - not enough to make the Tiger Cavalry a better melee fighter, but nonetheless helps its performance against archer units. Their higher gold cost than Knights can make massing Tiger Cavalry in longer games a bigger challenge in 1v1. In team games, however, Tiger Cavalry can offer a potent choice with trading being an option to make up for the high gold cost. Monks are an ideal pairing with Tiger Cavalry to help preserve their veterancy by healing them, though Tiger Cavalry themselves are vulnerable to conversions due to Wei lacking Heresy. To cover their weaknesses, Tiger Cavalry can be paired with Elite Skirmishers or Xianbei Raiders against Halberdiers, and Halberdiers against Camel Riders. To mitigate their weaker performance in melee combat, the Wei Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry is a perfect option: with Ming Guang Armor, it can attain a high enough melee armor to hold out against several strong melee units, while also being easy to mass from Stables, and their low durability against ranged attacks can be covered by the tankiness of the Tiger Cavalry. These army compositions can be more effective with Cao Cao boosting their attack speed.