Their siege weapons are also average since they lack the Siege Onager and Siege Ram. They lack a lot of late-game economic technologies: Gold Shaft Mining (which was added for them in The Forgotten), Stone Shaft Mining, Guilds and Crop Rotation. The fact that their Spearmen have a faster attack and can kill cavalry units even faster than normal somewhat makes up for this but they still lack the speed of the Camel so are less effective when chasing fleeing cavalry. They also lack the Bloodlines upgrade (Until The Forgotten), putting them at a disadvantage in cavalry battles. This is in addition to not having the Camel Rider. In contrast to their infantry they have fairly weak cavalry, missing the Paladin and Hussar upgrades and the final armor upgrade. They are decent at trash wars, as their Halberdiers and Elite Skirmishers can be fully upgraded and their Light Cavalry can be fortified with Bloodlines. The Japanese also have full archer technologies and all monk technologies, except Heresy. They lack the Heavy Demolition Ship, but this does not need be a negative since the resources would be better spent on Galleons or Fishing Ships. They also have an effective navy, with fishing ships gaining extra hit points and their Galleons gaining more line of sight. Civilizations that rely on infantry units will also be at a disadvantage against the Japanese due to the faster attack speed of Japanese infantry. This is a big advantage in the late game when most civilizations rely heavily on their unique units. The Japanese unique unit is the Samurai, a formidable infantry unit that has a fast attack and attack bonus versus other unique units. Their infantry attack faster than those of other civilizations giving their infantry an edge in large battles.

5.2 Disadvantages vs other civilizations.

5 Compared advantages and disadvantages.

3.3 Strategy Changes in the Definitive Edition.

3.2 Strategy Changes in The African Kingdoms.

Aoe 2 best civ