Konnik

The Konnik is a special unique unit, as it has two lives: the first time mounted, the second dismounted. This quirk makes the unit not only durable, but also versatile, as they can mess with the possible anti-cavalry units the opponent may have. While the mounted version is weak against Camel Riders and the Spearman line, the Dismounted version is not; and vice versa, the typical counters for infantry do not affect the mounted version. Neither version is particularly strong against archers; however, with both forms included, Konniks are still better than the Knight line against ranged attacks. Any clever opponent must mix two types of counter-units against a mass of Konniks, with some units doing good against both forms (see Counters). Konniks are also high-value units like the Knight, which makes them one of the topmost priorities for conversion. When facing Monks, one of these three scenarios may happen: * The player deletes the mounted Konnik, turning it into a Dismounted Konnik and negate the conversion temporarily (the Monk must now target the Dismounted Konnik as they will still retain their conversion ability). * If Heresy is not researched and the player does not delete the mounted Konnik, it will be converted as usual. * If Heresy is researched, the Konnik stands a chance as it will die and turn into a Dismounted Konnik belonging to the original player. The Castle Age unique technology Stirrups gives them an attack speed boost of 33%, which drops the mounted version's Rate of Fire from 2.4 (slowest melee attack in cavalry) to 1.8 which is the same as that of Knights and Cavaliers, their standard counterparts, and better than that of a Paladin (1.9). Stirrups does not affect the Dismounted version, which makes it the slowest attacking infantry unit outside of the trash Spearman line (3). The Dismounted Konniks are also special in the infantry branch, being tied with the Militia for being the only non-specialized unit (the others being Eagle units themselves, Kamayuks, and Condottieri) to not have an attack bonus against . With Stirrups, a mounted non-Elite Konnik is comparable to a Knight without Stirrups, while a fully upgraded mounted Elite Konnik is better than a Cavalier without Stirrups. This makes the Konnik incredible as a shock troop, able to raid and soak damage. In addition, they turn into infantry when killed, so for any Bulgarian player, they should prefer them over the Knight line in most situations. It takes 3 seconds for a Dismounted Konnik to get back into the fight after being dismounted. The unit cannot be interacted with during this animation, as technically the Dismounted Konnik is spawned only after the death animation of the Mounted Konnik has been completed. As an infantry unit, Dismounted Konnik is affected by infantry-related technologies (Blacksmith technologies, Arson, Squires) and receives a +4 attack vs. . The infantry non-Elite version is a little weaker than a Long Swordsman, with the exception of the attack. The Elite Dismounted version can be seen as a frail Two-Handed Swordsman with a slightly better attack value but slower attack rate. They also have a 5 tile Line of Sight, which is better than Knights (4) and Cavaliers (4), and the same as Paladins (5), which are its equivalents in the mounted form. The Dismounted Konnik has , which is less than Long Swordsmen (6), Two-Handed Swordsmen (7), and Champions (7), which are its equivalent in dismounted form. They also have the same speed as all their equivalents. === Counters === Despite the quirk the Konnik has, there are several units in the game that represent a threat for both versions of the unit: * Samurai: Since both versions of the unit are unique units, and neither form is particularly good against heavy infantry, the Samurai being the fastest attacking unit mops up both forms of the unit. * War Elephant and Battle Elephant: They win on the basis of their sole raw stats. * Boyar and Teutonic Knight: Both units have high melee armor, so they are a heavy threat to Konniks. * Genoese Crossbowman: An archer unit with 5 to 7 (Elite) attack bonus against cavalry, thus able to deal quickly in large numbers with mounted Konniks. Dismounted Konniks as infantry units are slow with low hit points, so they can be easily killed by Genoese Crossbowmen, which have the same damage output against infantry as an Arbalester. Although depending on micro and positioning, it can still be a favorable trade for the Konniks. * Mameluke: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have the advantage of mobility and range over the Dismounted Konnik (which moves much slower). * Flemish Militia: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have better stats than the Dismounted Konnik, meaning they can kill them more easily. * Leitis: The high attack of Leiciai ignores melee armor and can be further increased by Relics, which means Leiciai can cost-effectively kill Konniks by a large margin. * Composite Bowman: It acts as an archer version of the Leitis. When massed, they threaten both mounted and Dismounted Konniks. * Liao Dao: With rather high stats in melee combat, bleeding ability, and damage reflection with Lamellar Armor, they are a major threat to both mounted and dismounted Konniks. * Bolas Rider: Being a mounted archer that is faster than the Konnik, with a charged attack and attack bonus against cavalry, it is an effective unit against both mounted and dismounted Konniks. With Malon researched, even larger groups of Konniks have trouble dealing with them. ; Units with partial strengths, which are good in some situations, include: * Berserk with Chieftains: They regenerate hit points, have decent HP and melee armor, and have bonus attack against mounted Konniks, so they can defeat them cost-effectively. * Kamayuk: They deal bonus damage against cavalry and have the same fire rate as the Militia line, so the mounted Konnik must avoid them. They are statistically inferior to Dismounted Konnik, but when massed, their range creates a problem for both versions of the Konniks. * Cataphract: They can have an edge over Konniks without Stirrups, kill Dismounted Konniks in few hits, and massed Elite Cataphracts with Logistica can also be an issue. The lower base attack of the Cataphract in the Castle Age, and Byzantines missing Blast Furnace in the Imperial Age, leads to the Cataphract being less of a problem to the mounted Konnik, even though it is threatening against Dismounted Konniks, especially in post-Imperial Age, when it also attacks 41% faster than its opponent. * Centurion: They have higher stats than Konniks overall, and with the charge attack obtained by Comitatenses they can deal with Konniks effectively, despite costing more. * Monaspa: Despite Monaspas losing against Konniks in individual combat, Monaspas can scale their attack up to 22 if they are massed up to 29 or more units. Combined with their high melee armor and self regeneration, they can deal with Konniks very effectively, especially with their lower cost. * Jaguar Warrior: Since update 141935, Jaguar Warriors now have high attack that allows them to do big damage to not just dismounted Konniks, but also the mounted one, while Konniks can still deal well when Jaguar Warriors aren't more boosted with their kills (especially when Stirrups is researched), fights once Garland Wars is researched start to become more in favour of Jaguar Warriors, killing fully upgraded Elite Konniks cost effectively.