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Ethiopians

Dive Raze raze-setter + late Arbalest carry. Gbeto is "probably the best razing unit in the game" per community consensus (though technically Gbeto = Malians; Shotel serves the fast-flanker role for Ethiopians).

Spawn unit Starting age Kills to Castle Kills to Imp Razes to vill Cap Interval
Shotel Warrior (Elite once unlocked). Some CBA versions co-spawn Arb Castle 75 550 2 100 7 s

⚡ Quick reference

  • Baseline: food/gold on age-up, free Pikeman, foot archers +18% atk speed. UU Shotel Warrior. UTs Royal Heirs, Torsion Engines (Siege +0.5 blast radius; ram trample).
  • Requiem v294: starting age Castle; kills-to-Castle 75; razes-to-vill 2.
  • CBA role: raze-setter + late Arbalest carry. Gbeto is "probably the best razing unit in the game" per community consensus (though technically Gbeto = Malians; Shotel serves the fast-flanker role for Ethiopians).
  • Post-vill: Arbalest + Halb + Torsion Engines siege.
  • Weak vs: cavalry dives on fragile Shotels.

📜 Deep playbook

🏛️ Standard DE profile

  • Civ bonuses:
  • Archers and Skirmishers fire 18% faster.
  • Receive 100 food and 100 gold each time they advance to the next age.
  • Pikemen and Halberdiers +5 attack vs. Camels and Standard Buildings? — actually the DE bonus is: Villagers carry +15 food from farms (recent patch). Verify against current DE.
  • Mining Camp techs are free.
  • Team bonus: Archery Range units +1 line of sight.
  • Unique units: Shotel Warrior (Castle UU, fast, low-HP, high-attack infantry). Regional UU: none.
  • Unique techs:
  • Castle Age: Royal Heirs — Shotel Warriors train nearly instantly (train time reduced to ~4 seconds).
  • Imperial Age: Torsion Engines — Siege weapons have larger blast radius.
  • Notable missing techs: no Plate Barding Armor, no Paladin, no Bombard Tower, no Hoardings. Full Arbalester, full Halb, full Hussar, Siege Onager and BBC available.
  • Walls: Palisade, Stone, Fortified.

🏰 CBA REQUIEM v294 profile

(v294 numbers: Fandom wiki, retrieved 2026-08-21)

  • Starting age: Castle (Requiem v294 start table).
  • Spawn unit: Shotel Warrior (Elite once unlocked). Some CBA versions co-spawn Arb — not listed in the v294 wiki table — ask in the Requiem Discord for v294.
  • Spawn interval / cap: 7 s per Castle; cap 100.
  • Kills to Castle / Imperial: 75 (Castle) / 550 (Imperial).
  • Razes to first villagers: 2.
  • Free starting tech: Squires; Silver unique tech enabled in Imperial Age — Royal Heirs is a strong candidate.
  • Silver-UT unlock: not listed in the v294 wiki table — ask in the Requiem Discord; unlocks Elite Shotel and Torsion Engines.
  • Available buildings: standard whitelist; BBC likely available given DE parity.

CBA role & archetype

  • Primary role: Dive / raze. Shotel is glass-cannon melee — the fastest, hardest-hitting infantry in raw DPS terms.
  • Secondary role: cleanup on wounded targets due to high per-hit damage.

🌅 Opening play (minute 0–3)

  • Position mid-flank. Shotels die to any ranged clump but delete anything they touch.
  • Set spawn short — Shotels are precious; long walks are wasted units.
  • Patrol in short, aggressive bursts — 8-10 unit clumps with cav-archer/Arb support from teammates.
  • Take fights: wounded units, isolated cav, house-cluster razes.
  • Refuse fights: mass Skirm, mass Arb, any Mangonel in position.

⚔️ Kill accumulation strategy

  • Safe kill farm: Franks (Paladin, high HP but no pierce), Teutons (slow Teutonic Knights), Persians (Elephants — Shotel bonus vs elephants? No, but raw DPS still shreds them).
  • Avoid feeding: Britons, Ethiopian mirror, Vietnamese, Mayans, Chinese.
  • Anti-caging: never overcommit; Shotel dies in 2 Arb volleys.

🏚️ Raze allocation

  • 1-raze priority. Ethiopians want villagers to add Arbs + BBC behind the Shotel screen.

👷 Post-villager composition

  • Wall order: front wall first, backwall, gate patch.
  • Standard build: 2 Barracks (Shotel/Halb), 3 Ranges (Arb + Skirm), 1 Siege Workshop (Ram).
  • Imperial composition: Elite Shotel + Arbalester + BBC + Siege Onager. This is one of the strongest late-game comps in CBA.
  • Silver-UT priority: Torsion Engines first (bigger SO/BBC AoE is game-swinging), Royal Heirs second (raw Shotel reinforcement speed).

⚖️ Strong against / Weak against

  • Strong vs: Franks, Teutons, Persians, Goths (Arb shreds Huskarl if you kite properly — wait, Huskarl has pierce armor, so use Shotel there), Berbers.
  • Weak vs: Mayans (Plume + Eagle), Vietnamese Rattan, Britons on hill, Chinese CKN.

🤝 Team synergies

  • Best partners: Britons (Arb doubling), Turks (BBC + Shotel dive), Koreans (Onager + Shotel), Cumans (Kipchak peel + Shotel dive).
  • Conflict: pairing with another fragile-infantry civ (Aztecs Jag, Vikings Berserker) leaves no tank.

🎮 Key micro rules

  1. Never A-move Shotels — always patrol so they don't overshoot into Arb range.
  2. Focus wounded targets; Shotel's DPS is wasted on full-HP tanks.
  3. Torsion-buffed SO is your win condition — protect the Siege Workshop location.
  4. Keep 5 Halbs per Shotel clump as cav-peel.
  5. Ram-push razes with Shotel escort — do not send Shotel alone to raze TC-adjacent houses.

Common mistakes: skipping BBC (Ethiopians have one of the best); over-relying on Shotel without Arb backing; researching Royal Heirs before Torsion.

🔒 Version-locked (Requiem v294)

  • Age-up food/gold bonus is inert in CBA (you start Imperial).
  • Torsion Engines effect (blast radius) is DE-standard.