Lancers are one of the least-used units in the game. Many people write Lancers off because of their obvious inferiorities to other types of cavalry in cavalry's typical role. They have very low health, which means they lose one on one to all other factions' cavalry, and they die extremely fast to all types of damage. They also have a very high trample deceleration, which, combined with their low health, means they will do minimal damage to any decent sized force (that isn't archers of course) that they attempt to trample, and will die very quickly to crush revenge (the damage that trampled units give to the cavalry that crushes them). To top it off, Lancers have a low pierce resistance, which means even archers are a danger to them. What many people do not realize, however, is that Lancers are not meant to be used as typical cavalry. If you are using a Lancer as you would a Knight or a Spider Rider, you are using it wrong. Lancers excel in several areas, but only if you know how to use them effectively. Above all, remember that Lancers are the atypical and unique tier 1 cavalry unit, and they should NOT be used like any of the other tier 1 cavalry.
Roles
The Harasser: Lancers are, despite their low health, one of the best harassers in the game. They require extraordinary amounts of micro because of their vulnerability to all types of damage and their mediocre damage output. However, if used correctly, they can be devastating.
Lancers are not the type of harasser to hit resource building after resource building under heavy fire. Instead, they should be used as hit-and-run guerrillas. They also require constant micro because of their fragility, and the need to constantly pull them in and out of battle. They have several advantages over other types of harassment, but these advantages are nullified after 1-2 resource buildings kills (sometimes even less depending on the resilience of the resource building in question). You should always be careful of being too carried away in your harassment.
Lancer’s main advantage is their speed. They are the fastest cavalry in the game, and at rank two, they get a 10% speed bonus, allowing them to easily outdistance any unit save fliers and Glorfindel.
This means that a Lancer can come in much faster than other harassers, seriously cutting down the time that an enemy has to react. In addition, after taking down their first resource building, they can outdistance pursuers on their way to the next target. However, after 1-2 resource buildings, an enemy will have had time to pull together a counter, such as a pike, hero, another cavalry battalion, or even a decent sized force of swordsmen, all of which can easily decimate a Lancer. This means that you should constantly be careful of getting too greedy, and retreat your Lancers speedily after they take down a resource building or two. Also, make sure you get a good clump for maximum damage output, allowing you to take down an enemy building as fast as possible.
Speed also helps a lot in a retreating. Lancers, especially at rank two, can quickly outdistance any pursuers and get away from any attempt at a confrontation made by an opponent. In addition, at rank two, their ability to heal means that they can quickly recover from any damage even without spending the resources on a well or Mystic Fountains.
The Anti-Cavalry-Harasser:As effective as Lancers are at harassing, they are equally effective at preventing the same type of harassment from being used against you, but only with support. As I stated before, a Lancer
will lose to any other cavalry in a one-on-one confrontation. This means that you will need a Mithlond Sentry or a pike-archer combination behind a Lancer for support, and a good deal of concentration to keep it alive.
Using a Lancer as an anti-cavalry unit also requires an intense amount of micro. When you see an enemy cavalry unit coming for your Mallorn Trees, use your Lancer's extraordinary speed to get to it quickly. When you have arrived, do not engage in a head-on confrontation. Instead, flank the enemy unit when it aims for your Mallorn Tree. If they decide to ignore you, your Lancer can quickly destroy them with the flanking damage bonus. However, many people will try to turn and fight. If this happens, as soon as you see the enemy unit begin to turn, retreat your Lancer. If they try to follow, lead them into a stealthed Mithlond Sentry (see
Noviyo's Stealth Guide for more information on this tactic), or into your following pike-archer combination. If they turn around and aim for your Mallorn Tree again, repeat this tactic. This will give your pike/pike-archer combo ample time to arrive and chase away or kill the enemy cavalry. If the enemy cavalry has been damaged, you can chase it down with your Lancer and kill it before it can get away and regenerate.
The Fort Killer:That Lancers are very good at taking down Forts is a little-known fact. Normally, Lancers die very quickly to structural fire, and do little damage to Forts. However, Lancers are perhaps the unit that benefits most from upgrades in the entire game. Two fully upgraded Lancers can take down an unarmored Fort with ease, and three can take down one with defenses quickly. In both cases, the Lancers can then usually take down the rest of the base quickly and efficiently, provided they are not under too much fire.
