The Caravel is one of the first military ships available in the game other than the Galleon or Fluyt. Although it is one of the weakest warships in the game, it is relatively inexpensive and still carries quite high DPS, costing only 300 wood and 100 coin and can be built in a short amount of time. The Caravel is very useful at exploring uncharted waters because it is not big as other large ships so it can move faster and can store troops inside it and transport them faster. It can also be used to clear out weak coastal enemy positions at beaches as well as harassing enemy Fishing Boats. The Caravel is also one of the only warships that can harvest from fish and Whales just like Fishing Boats, with a gather rate of 0.67 and 0.5.
Caravels are one of the easier ships to repair at a Dock due to their low hit points, this means a player can withdraw a damaged vessel and have it back in the fight in a relatively short period of time.
The Spanish may want to use Galleons and Privateers instead, due to the "Spanish Galleons" and "TEAM Inquisition" cards.
Most civilizations can ship Privateers during the Commerce Age. Though they lack a Caravel's speed and ability to gather resources, they are tougher and possess greater line of sight than most ships in that Age.
Asian civilizations which can ally with the Portuguese at the Consulate will be able to research the Exploration Fleet technology, which ships one Caravel with three Petards.
Fishing Boats and Caravels gather 30% faster (also +1 Villager for the Indians)
10
1 Caravel
Ships 1 Caravel (also +1 Villager for the Indians)
1
2 Caravels
Ships 2 Caravels
1
Improved Warships
Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +1 Villager for the Indians)
10
Admiralty
Caravel train limit +4; Galleon train limit +2; Frigate and Monitor train limit +1 (also +1 Villager for the Indians)
1
Since the Caravel is only available for European civilizations (except the Ottomans) and the Indians, the Advanced Docks and Admiralty cards are only relevant to them.
The Portuguese has the TEAM Fish Market card instead of Fish Market.
The 2 Caravels card is available at a level 10 Home City for the Indians.
The Caravel uses a low-pitch version of the voice clips of the Musketeer (depending on their language).
The model for the Caravel is actually based on a carrack. The real caravel doesn't have a forecastle, and the caravel's sails are triangular lateen sails.
Caravels were developed by Portuguese shipwrights in the fourteenth century, and were initially used to explore the coast of Africa. They had two masts with square sails and one forward triangular, or lateen, sail. They were relatively small ships and wide for their length, giving them a shallow draft and the ability to sail safely in shallow waters. These two factors made them extremely popular with explorers until the Spanish Galleon took over about 200 years later.
Broadside Attack: Fires a volley of cannon shots at an enemy ship within attack range, with each shot doing 100 siege damage. 60 seconds cooldown.
Armor Plating (+50%)
Carronade (+25%)
Percussion Lock (+50% Broadside Attack damage)
Town Watch (+2)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Gill Nets (+15%)
Long Lines (+30%)
Excessive Taxation (+50% from whales)
Huron Fish Wedding (+20%)
Navajo Craftsmanship (+20% from whales)
Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only)
High Crusade (-5% hit points, Knights of St. John only)
