Obuch Élite

thumb|left The Teutonic Knight is the most powerful infantry unit in the game. Fully upgraded, they have 110 hit points, 21 attack, 13 melee armor, and 6 pierce armor. They can defeat fully upgraded Paladins more effectively than fully upgraded Halberdiers, but the latter are still much more cost-effective against cavalry. Teutonic Knights are tough enough to beat almost every unranged unit in a one-on-one fight, but even with their high melee armor, high hit points, and powerful attack, they prove to be vulnerable to units such as the War Elephant and the Cataphract, as well as double-teaming from infantry who have bonuses against them, such as Samurai or Jaguar Warriors, both of which can defeat the Teutonic Knight in mass battles. The Leitis deserves a separate mention here since its attack ignores melee armor, which essentially puts the Teutonic Knight helpless and prone against them. The Obuch is also a major threat to them, as every Obuch's attack removes armor, so Obuchs can easily reduce the Teutonic Knights' major advantage and leave them prone to the attacks of other units, but Teutonic Knights will beat Obuchs on their own. The Urumi Swordsman, with the charge attack, and the attack that can ignore armor with Wootz Steel which affects all Dravidian melee units, is another trouble to Teutonic Knights. And finally, the Liao Dao is another major threat, with bleeding damage that ignores armor and damage reflection with Lamellar Armor, essentially making their high melee armor worthless. Their biggest disadvantage, however, is their slow speed. They are slower than nearly every other non-Monk/siege unit in the game. This puts them at a disadvantage against ranged units, as all of them can hit-and-run them, though Elite Skirmishers are ineffective against them due to their low damage. Their slow speed also makes them unable to force engagements, except against units that can kill them before they can get within range (except for rams/Armored Elephants, which are easily countered by most melee units). This makes them a poor offensive unit for basing army compositions around, especially when combined with their lack of raiding potential. They are also some of the most expensive infantry units in the game. Against Monks, Teutonic Knights may have some conversion resistance due to the Teutons' team bonus, but their slow speed still makes it likely that they will be converted. This is further compounded by the Teutons lacking Light Cavalry and having poor archers, though Heresy is available if needed. To address this, Teutonic Knights' inherent conversion resistance was increased from 0 to 3 with update 141935, on top of their already existing team bonus and making Monks a less effective counter. As a result, no conversions can occur before the 11th conversion interval, with conversion guaranteed by the 13th interval. The best partner for the Teutonic Knight are siege weapons. With their increased melee armor due to Ironclad, they can support Teutonic Knights against almost any kind of threat. Scorpions and Mangonels tackle archers and Bombard Cannons work well against siege. Unfortunately, they compete with the less expensive Halberdier for this role. The biggest threat to this combination are siege weapons on the other side, especially other Bombard Cannons and long-ranged Onagers, because they hit the entire army very hard and can also hit approaching Teutonic Knights before being reached due to their slow speed.