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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the unit in other games of the series, see Fire Ship. |
| “ | Warship that spews fire at close range. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Fire Ship is a ship in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Dock once the Castle Age is reached. It is a ship with a "flamethrower" mounted on the bow, and has an attack bonus against other ships. It must come in very close to enemy ships in order to attack, upon which is spews fire at very fast rate - about 4 times per second. Fire Galleys are automatically upgraded from Fire Ships when the War Galley upgrade is researched.
Tactics[]
The Fire Ship has +20 hit points, +1/+1 attack, +2 anti-fishing ship attack, +2 pierce armor, +0.05 movement speed, and -29 seconds of training time. As the War Galley upgrade also grants equally impactful buffs to the Galley and Demolition Raft, it is worth picking up immediately.
Fire Ships are good counters to most ships and deal damage quickly. They may even be employed in shallows against ground troops to good effect. However, Demolition Ships are excellent counters to Fire Ships due to the proximity with which a Fire Ship has to attack. Korean Turtle Ships are also threats to Fire Ships due to their low range. The low range also means that War Galleys have a much easier time engaging en masse, so in large-scale engagements, War Galleys will prevail. Fire Ships have a very rapid attack speed but a low attack per "flame", they also have substantial anti-ship armor allowing them to easily close the distance between other ships and tear into enemy ships while under fire. Despite its extremely effective attack and high armor, the Castle Age Fire Ship is slower than a War Galley. With proper micromanagement, Galleys can use hit-and-run tactics against them.
Fire Ships are mostly used as a support unit for other ships as the Fire Ships can rapidly sink masses of Galleons, Cannon Galleons, and other Fire Ships. Fire Ships are a great escort for Transport Ships along with Galleons.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Transport Ships, Fishing Ships, buildings in the shoreline, melee units in the shallows, War Galleys, Cannon Galleons, Rams |
| Weak vs. | Demolition Ships, Turtle Ships, Longboats, towers, Castles, ranged siege units on the shoreline |
| Upgrades | |
| Range |  Greek Fire (+1, Byzantines only)
|
| Armor |  Careening (+0/+1) Carrack (+1/+1, Portuguese only)
|
| Speed |  Dry Dock (+15%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
|
| Creation speed |  Shipwright (+54%)
|
| Train cost | Shipwright (-20% wood)
|
| Upgrades |  Fast Fire Ship
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Aztecs: Fire Ships are created 11% faster.- Berbers: Fire Ships move 10% faster.
- Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Byzantines: Fire Ships fire 25% faster.
- Celts: Fire Ships can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Fire Ships are 10%/15% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
- Georgians: Fire Ships receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage on higher elevations.
- Italians: Researching Careening, Dry Dock, and Shipwright is 33% cheaper. Upgrading to Fast Fire Ship is 33% cheaper.
- Koreans: Fire Ships cost -20% wood.
- Persians: Fire Ships are created 15%/20% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age. Careening is researched 15%/20% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age. The upgrade to the Fast Fire Ship and Dry Dock are researched 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Fire Ships have +10% hit points and cost -20% gold.
- Spanish: Researching technologies that benefit Fire Ships provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Fire Ships deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
Team bonuses[]
- Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Fire Ships are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Fire Ships are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Fire Ships have 100 hit points.
- Fire Ships have 6 pierce armor and 4 armor against anti-ship attacks.
- Shipwright reduces the wood cost by 20%.
The Conquerors[]
- Fire Ships have 6 pierce armor and 5 armor against anti-ship attacks.
- With patch 1.0b, Shipwright also decreases train time by 35%.
- Heresy introduced.
The Forgotten[]
- Fire Ships have 120 HP.
- Byzantines: Greek Fire introduced.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Fire Ships have 7 pierce armor and 6 armor against anti-ship attacks.
- Fire Galley introduced.
- With patch 4.8, Fire Ships have Ballistics-like behaviour.
- Portuguese: Fire Ships cost -15% gold.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Fire Ships have 6 pierce armor again.
Definitive Edition[]
- Koreans: Initially, Fire Ships cost -15% wood. With update 39284, they cost -20% wood.
- Portuguese: With update 39284, Fire Ships cost -20% gold. With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, siege units and ships are now resistant to armor-ignoring attacks similarly to buildings.
History[]
| “ | The Byzantines alone in the West carried forward the ancient traditions of ship building into the Middle Ages. Their improvement over the trireme was the fire ship, a narrow and fast warship powered by both oars and lateen sails. The fighting power of these ships was provided partly by marines, archers, and catapults, but the secret weapon of the Byzantine navy was Greek fire. This extremely volatile mixture was squirted out of hoses from the bow of the fire ship and ignited on contact with air. Fire was a devastating weapon against wooden ships and the enemies of the Byzantines could not stand up to fire ships spraying Greek fire. Other civilizations acquired the secret of Greek fire at times, but it was so closely guarded and dangerous to use that it is lost today. | ” |
Trivia[]
- The Fire Ship is based on the Byzantine Dromon galleys and their Greek fire siphons. However, it is incorrectly depicted without oars.
- The Fire Ships are the only units in the game without an integer range.
- The Fire Ship and the Fast Fire Ship are the only units in the game to deal positive melee and pierce damage both.
- Fire Ships deal bonus damage against the cheat unit Saboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same unit class as ships.
Gallery[]
