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This article is about the technology in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms. For the unit in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - upcoming naval rework, see Carrack (unit). |
Carrack is a technology in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms that is unique to the Portuguese and can be researched at the Castle. Once researched, it increases the armor of ships by +1/+1. With the upcoming naval rework, it will be replaced by Circumnavigation.
Tactics[]
The Portuguese already have very good ships with +10% hit points due to their civilization bonus. Carrack becomes very handy for Portuguese players in open water maps where naval combat is commonplace. It should be treated as a Dock technology and it is recommended to research Careening first due to the gold cost. When combined with Careening, Carrack provides a substantial boost to a Portuguese player's anti-ship defense making the Portuguese navy arguably the most resilient in the game.
Unlike Careening, Carrack also increases the melee armor of ships. Since (Fast) Fire Ships deal 1 melee damage, this technology makes some Portuguese ships more resistant to enemy Fire Ships. For example, researching Carrack increases the time it takes for an enemy Fire Ship to sink a Portuguese War Galley from 9.5 seconds to 12.5 seconds. This can also be useful on maps with large amounts of "swampy" or amphibious terrain (i.e. Water Nomad, Bog Islands, etc.), as these often see ships fighting with melee units.
Trivia[]
- Historically, the Carrack was a type of ship developed by the Genoese in the 15th century before being adopted by the Spanish and Portuguese for oceanic travel. Because of this, it is rather odd for this technology to fall into the Portuguese tech tree rather than the Italians'. However, it could possibly mean that the Portuguese are simply incorporating the beneficial traits of the Carrack into their ships to make them sturdier.
