Bloodlines

Effect

+20 HP for mounted units

Details

Age

Feudal

Building

Stable

Research Time

50s

Category

cavalry

Cost

• Food: 150
• Gold: 100

Affected Units

scout-cavalry, light-cavalry, hussar, winged-hussar, knight, cavalier, paladin, camel-rider, heavy-camel-rider, imperial-camel-rider, battle-elephant, elite-battle-elephant, steppe-lancer, elite-steppe-lancer, cavalry-archer, heavy-cavalry-archer, camel-scout

Meta Context

Bloodlines is the single most universal Castle Age technology. It adds +20 HP to all Cavalry, Cavalry Archers, Scout-line, and Camel-line units, costing only 150F/100G. For any cavalry-based civilization, Bloodlines is non-optional — researching it is the first decision after hitting Castle Age in 99% of pro games. The +20 HP makes Knights survive 1-2 extra hits in trades, which compounds dramatically across an army of 20+ units. Civilizations that lack Bloodlines (Vikings before 2020, Lithuanians, Aztecs, Mayans, Burmese) suffer measurable disadvantages in cavalry engagements.

Patch History

Bloodlines was added in The Conquerors expansion (2000) and has remained virtually untouched in cost or effect across two decades. The 2023 patch slightly increased its cost from 150F/100G to 175F/100G to slow down rush-civilization snowballs, but the change was reverted in 2024 after community feedback. The most notable recent change was 2020's decision to give Vikings access to Bloodlines (they previously lacked it) — a buff that pushed Vikings from B-tier to A-tier on Arabia.

Pro-Level Usage

In every cavalry-civilization pro game, Bloodlines is researched within 30 seconds of hitting Castle Age. The "Bloodlines timing" — when does the opponent finish researching it — is a key tracking metric for casters and analysts. T90Official notes Bloodlines completion in nearly every cast. The advanced macro: pre-research Bloodlines as soon as Castle Age clicks, before sending villagers to Castle drop sites — this saves ~20 seconds in the snowball window.

In-Depth Counters

Bloodlines itself can't be countered — it's a passive HP buff. The strategic answer is timing: if you know your opponent's Bloodlines is delayed (by Monk play, by raids on their gold, by an early aggression), engage their cavalry before the +20 HP lands. Anti-cavalry counters (Pikemen, Camels, Monks) work regardless of Bloodlines — but factor +20 HP into your kill-count math. A 6-hit kill window becomes 7 hits, which can lose engagements at the edge.