Trading Post

The Trading Post is a building in Age of Empires III.

Overview
It replaces the old fashioned trade system of carts, boats and caravans of the previous games. It can also be built on a Native American or Asian settlement site in order to forge an alliance with the tribe and to get access to their unique units and improvements.

Unlike most buildings, Trading Posts cannot be built anywhere on the ground. It can only be built on a square-shaped site found near Native American/Native Asian settlements and Trade Routes. When having a post on a Native American or Native Asian site, the building can train different Native American and Native Asian units depending on the civilization which lives there.

When having a post by a Trade Route, a non-huntable NPC trader will constantly walk past the Post giving experience. When upgraded to a Stagecoach at Colonial Age, the player will have an option to toggle the experience income into Coin, Food or Wood. The stagecoach moves faster as well. In the Industrial Age the Stagecoach can be further upgraded into a train which gives more income and additionally moves faster than the stagecoach. The player can send a card from their home city ("Advanced Trading Post") that reduces trading post cost to 150 Wood (-40% cost) for European and Native American civilizations, 120 wood (-40% cost) on The WarChiefs maps, 200 wood (-20% cost) for Asian civilizations and 160 wood on The WarChiefs maps. The card will also boost the buildings Hit Points by 50% (33% for Asian civilizations) and enables the buildings weak counter attack (25 damage, x0.25 vs. villagers, 3.0 fire rate and 0-8 range).

Shipments
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; margin-bottom:0px; margin-top:1px;" ! sab="1148"| Click for a list of Trading Post related home city cards
 * - sab="1147"
 * - sab="1149"
 * sab="1150"|

Ottomans

 * }

Bugs

 * It is sometimes possible for trading post sites to be generated on broken terrain, this means you cannot construct a trading post on these sites. Most notably this can occur on the New England map.
 * This problem has been addressed in recent patches, occurring with less frequency.