| “ | Slow, infinite source of Coin. Limited to 10 gatherers. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Estate (Plantation before the Definitive Edition) is an economic building in Age of Empires III that is available once the Fortress Age is reached (if the "Advanced Estate" Home City Card has been sent, it can be built in the Exploration Age). It is an infinite source of coin that can be gathered by villager-type units and acts as a replacement to the trading system in previous games.
Each villager tasked to the Estate gathers 0.5 coin per second, which is lower than mines (0.6 coin) until improved by Estate technologies, Home City Cards, and/or native technologies. Up to 10 villagers can work on an Estate at a time, though due to collisions between units it is best to only use 7 per Estate.
Since Settlers in the Estate wander around while working, the Estate's actual gathering rate is approximately 30% lower than what is written in the tooltips.
Asian civilizations have the Rice Paddy instead, which combines the functions of a Mill and the Estate. The African civilizations have the Field, which has the same function as the Rice Paddy, but operates on a slower gathering rate. The Mexican civilization has the Hacienda, which combines the functions of a Mill, Estate, and Livestock Pen.
Tactics[]
Most civilizations who can build Estates have access to the "Advanced Estate" Home City Card, which reduces their cost by 31% and allows them to be built in the Exploration Age. The cost can be lowered by another 40% with the Land Grab card for a total of 71% cost reduction, but only if Land Grab is sent before "Advanced Estate" – when sending the cards in the other order the cost reduction is only 58.6%. This is due to the hidden, different discount types the two cards use.
3v3[]
The following requires the Deccan or Silk Road maps. It also requires a Japanese ally (TEAM Chonindo), and an ally with TEAM Rum Distillery; see Home City Card for a navigation box to individual civilization cards.
The gather rate cap for a Settler at an Estate is 88.25 coin per minute per gatherer, or 1.471 coin per second, which can be attained with the Economic Theory, TEAM Chonindo, Rum Distillery, TEAM Rum Distillery, Cigar Roller, Royal Mint, and Textile Mill cards, Excessive Taxation, Fasting, and Punjabi New Year upgrades.
The gather rate cap for the Coureur des Bois and Cree Coureur des Bois is 94.5 coin per minute per gatherer, or 1.575 coin per second, while the Settler Wagon is 194 coin per minute per wagon, or 3.233 coin per second with the Guild Artisan card.
Technologies[]
| Age | Technology | Cost | Effect | Civ. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Earth Ceremony
|
185 food 150 wood |
Villagers gather coin from mines, Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, Mountain Monasteries, and Haciendas 10% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 10% faster | NA |
 |
 Earth Gift Ceremony
|
380 food 320 wood |
Villagers gather coin from mines, Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, Mountain Monasteries, and Haciendas 20% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 20% faster; requires Earth Ceremony | |
 Bookkeeping
|
300 food 300 wood |
Villagers gather coin from Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas 10% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 10% faster | EU | |
 Tezcatlipoca Worship
|
900 coin | Ships 1 Skull Knight for every 4 minutes the game has passed, up to 30 minutes |  | |
 Maple Festival
|
250 food 250 wood |
Ships 500 coin for every 10 minutes the game has passed, up to 30 minutes |  | |
 Gun Trade
|
250 wood | Wakina Rifles and Rifle Riders get +15% attack |  | |
 |
 Homesteading
|
400 food 400 wood |
Villagers gather coin from Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas 20% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 20% faster; requires Bookkeeping | EU |
 Refineries
|
600 food 600 wood |
Villagers gather coin from Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas 30% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 30% faster; requires Homesteading | ||
 Coca Cultivation
|
500 food 500 wood 500 coin |
Estates generate 0.8 coin/sec. |  | |
 |
 Excessive Tribute
|
1,000 food 1,000 wood |
Villagers gather coin from Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas 50% faster; Haciendas autogather coin 50% faster; fishing boats gather coin from whales 50% faster; requires Earth Gift Ceremony | NA |
Further statistics[]
| Building strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Nothing |
| Weak vs. | Everything |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  State Constitutions (+25%; United States only) Flying Buttress (+20%) Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
|
| Line of Sight |  Gas Lighting (+4)
|
| Build time |  Sudanese Hakura System (-30%) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25%)
|
| Cost | Sudanese Hakura System (-30% wood) Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
|
| Other |  Viracocha Worship (can be built by Builder Travois; Inca only) Berber Ghorfas (reduces the speed of nearby enemy units by 30%) Folwarks (gives 90 food upon constructing)
|
| Penalties |  Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost; John Black's Mercenaries only) Code Napoleon (+25% cost; French only)
|
Home City Cards[]
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Estate
| Some cards are highlighted with: | |
| Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
| Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
All[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Improved Buildings
|
Buildings get +40% hit points (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans) | |
 TEAM Improved Buildings
|
Buildings get +40% hit points | |
 Advanced Estate
|
Ships 1 Estate Wagon; Estates get +100% hit points, -31% cost, and can be built in the Exploration Age |  |
 Land Grab
|
Mill, Estate, Farm, Livestock Pen, Rice Paddy, Sacred Field, and Hacienda cost -40% and build time -75%; Village cost -30% and build time -60% | |
- "Improved Buildings" is available to Europeans (except the Maltese) and Native Americans (except the Inca).
- "TEAM Improved Buildings" is available to the Inca, Indians, and Maltese.
- "Advanced Estate" is available to Europeans (for the Dutch in the Commerce Age) and Lakota.
- "Land Grab" is available to Europeans and Native Americans (except the Inca).
Inca[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Terrace Farming
|
Villagers gather food from Mills, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas and coin from Estates, Rice Paddies, Fields, and Haciendas 20% faster; Haciendas autogather food and coin 20% faster; Farm and Estate build time -75%, and their technologies research time -25% | |
Lakota[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Camp Movements
|
Ships 2 War Hut Travois; buildings' build time -25%; Town Centers, Community Plaza, Markets, Corrals, War Huts, Farms, Native Embassies, Estates, and Docks can now be transformed into a Travois to be built elsewhere | |
Native Americans[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Agrarian Ways
|
Farm and Estate technologies (except Large Scale Gathering, Excessive Tribute, and Big Buttons) are free | |
 Old Ways
|
Big Button technologies cost -50% | |
- "Agrarian Wars" is not available to the Lakota.
Ottomans[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Flood of the Nile
|
Ships 4 Settlers; Settler train limit +4; each Mill spawns 100 food; each Estate spawns 100 coin; villagers gather from Berry Bushes, Mills, and Estates 10% faster |  |
- "Flood of the Nile" is available upon revolting to Egypt.
Spanish[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Salitrera
|
Ships 3 Estate Wagons; Estates generate 0.8 coin/sec. | |
 Chipotle Tactics
|
Ships 500 food; receive food when an enemy or own building is destroyed equal to 20% ~ 40% of its total cost | |
- "Salitrera" is available upon revolting to Chile.
- "Chipotle Tactics" is available upon revolting to Mexico.
United States[]
| Card | Description | Age |
|---|---|---|
 Advanced Homesteading
|
Ships 2 Homestead Wagons; Mills and Estates get +15 Line of Sight and supports 10 population | |
 Green Mountain Boys
|
Arrives fast! All existing and newly constructed Mills and Estates spawn 3 State Militia | |
 Connecticut Shipwrights
|
Ship train time -50%; building build time -35%; artillery train time -15%, Heavy Cannon train time -10% instead | |
 The Alamo
|
Ship 16 Minutemen; when destroyed by enemies, your buildings spawn a number of Minutemen equal to 1.5% of their cost rounded up | |
- "Green Mountain Boys" is available upon selecting the Vermont Federal State.
- "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.
- "The Alamo" is available upon selecting the Texas Federal State, and spawns 9 Minutemen when an Estate is destroyed.
All[]
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Buildings
|
Buildings get +40% hit points (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans) | |
10 |
| Advanced Estate
|
Estates get +100% hit points, -31% cost, and can be built in the Exploration Age | |
25 |
| Land Grab
|
Mill, Estate, Farm, Livestock Pen, Rice Paddy, and Sacred Field cost -40% and build time -75%; Village cost -30% and build time -60% | |
25 |
- "Improved Buildings" is available to Europeans and Native Americans.
- "Advanced Estate" is available to Europeans (for the Dutch in the Commerce Age) and Lakota.
- "Land Grab" is available to Europeans and Native Americans.
Indians[]
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM Improved Buildings
|
Buildings get +40% hit points | |
10 |
Native Americans[]
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agrarian Ways
|
Farm and Estate technologies (except Large Scale Gathering, Excessive Tribute, and Big Buttons) are free | |
25 |
| Old Ways
|
Big Button technologies cost -50% | |
40 |
- "Agrarian Wars" is not available to the Lakota.
Changelog[]
Age of Empires III[]
- The building is called "Plantation".
- Plantations cost 800 wood and give 160 XP when built and 320 XP when destroyed.
Definitive Edition[]
- The building is called "Estate".
- Estates cost 600 wood and give 120 XP when built and 240 XP when destroyed.
- Originally, the Inca had no Estate build limit, like other civilizations. With update 3552, the Incas had an Estate build limit of 20. With update 20322, the Incas have an Estate build limit of 10.
Bugs and glitches[]
- In the original Age of Empires III, Estates placed too closely together (side by side with no space between them) may cause some villagers to "migrate" to the adjacent Estate. This bug also occurs with Mills and, to a lesser degree, Farms and Rice Paddies.
History[]
Age of Empires III[]
| “ | A plantation is a large farm where crops are cultivated. They were common in the southern United States as well as in parts of the Caribbean. Many historical plantations used slave labor. In the United States, plantations are associated with a distinct type of architecture known as the Plantation House. | ” |
Definitive Edition[]
| “ | An Estate is a large land holding where crops are cultivated. They were common across the United States as well as parts of the Caribbean. | ” |
Trivia[]
- Even though the crops of the Plantation/Estate are meant to be cotton, as seen in the pre-Definitive Edition icon, the actual model is of grapevine. Coincidentally, this makes it more appropriate for European maps.
- References to an early design for the Plantation/Estate can be found in the string table file, it functioned similarly to a Tribal Marketplace and could only be built "near native resources, such as Tobacco."
Gallery[]
