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A renewable source of food. Similar to a Farm, but in water.
Age of Empires II description

The Fish Trap is an economic building in Age of Empires II that becomes available once the Feudal Age is reached. It provides 715 food. Only Fishing Ships can lay the foundation for a new Fish Trap, but can be constructed by both the Fishing Ship and Villager. However, only the Fishing Ship can collect food from Fish Traps.

Tactics and placement[]

Fish Traps may only be gathered by one Fishing Ship at a time. Fish Traps are very weak and do not hinder movements of friendly or enemy ships. An enemy Fishing Ship can take over a Fish Trap and begin harvesting it simply by right clicking it.

Unlike Farms, Fish Traps could not be reseeded at the Dock. This was changed in the Definitive Edition, where they can be reseeded and/or toggled for automatic reseed.

Fish Traps should always be placed right next to Docks in order to keep the moving distances of the Fishing Ships as short as possible, preferably zero. That maximizes their productivity. Fishing Ships always position themselves on the left side of a Fish Trap, therefore it is slightly more efficient to build Fish Traps on the right side of the Dock to minimize the moving time for the Fishing Ships.

Fish Traps and Farms are about equally productive, but Fish Traps are more cost efficient. Despite this, the Fish Trap is one of the least used of all buildings and structures. It is only used in certain situations when the player runs out of space on their island, there is no more fish around, and they need to gather food for survival in late Imperial Age. Also, Fish Trap working Fishing Ships are much harder to protect than Farmers, since they cannot be walled or flee in a Town Center for shelter. Therefore, they are sunk rather easily. Also before the Definitive Edition, they could not be queued up to be automatically reseeded, unlike Farms, which means they required more micromanagement in the late game. In the Definitive Edition, an option exists to automatically rebuild Fish Traps indefinitely.

However, two civilizations appreciate Fish Traps:

  • CivIcon-Japanese Japanese Fishing Ships have an increased work rate. That makes the Fish Trap a lot faster than Farms for the Japanese.
  • CivIcon-Malay Malay Fish Traps only cost 67 wood (just 7 more than a Farm) and provide 3 times food, making them approximately 4.5 times as cost effective than a generic Fish Trap.

Comparison to Farms[]

Farmers gather relatively faster from Farms than Fishing Ships gather from Fish Traps, however up until the late Imperial Age they are less effective cost-wise (also considering that Fishing Ships themselves cost wood). The actual gathering speed between them may vary due to traffic between gatherers and actual Farm/Fish Trap placement.

Building Overall food provided Food generated per wood
Farm 175 2.92
Farm + Horse Collar 250 4.17
Farm + Heavy Plow 375 6.25
Farm + Crop Rotation 550 9.17
Fish Trap 715 7.15

Upgrades[]

Creation speed GillnetsDE Gillnets (+20%, Fishing Ships only)
TreadmillCraneDE Treadmill Crane (+20%, Villagers only)

Civilization bonuses[]

  • CivIcon-Burgundians Burgundians: Can research Gillnets in the Feudal Age. Gillnets costs -33% food.
  • CivIcon-Byzantines Byzantines: Fish Traps have +20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
  • CivIcon-Chinese Chinese: Researching Gillnets is 10%/15% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
  • CivIcon-Italians Italians: Researching Gillnets is 33% cheaper.
  • CivIcon-Japanese Japanese: Fishing Ships build and gather food from Fish Traps 5%/10%/15%/20% faster in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
  • CivIcon-Malay Malay: Fish Traps are 33% cheaper and provide 3x food.
  • CivIcon-Persians Persians: Researching Gillnets is 15%/20% faster in the Castle Age/Imperial Age.
  • CivIcon-Romans Romans: Villagers build and repair Fish Traps 5% faster.
  • CivIcon-Spanish Spanish: Villagers build Fish Traps 30% faster. Receive 20 gold after researching Gillnets.

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

  • Fish Traps take 15 seconds to build.
  • Fish Traps do not receive anti-building damage.

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

  • Fish Traps now take 53 seconds to build.

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

  • Fish Traps now take 40 seconds to build.

AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last Khans[]

  • Fish Traps can now be queued and have the automatic rebuild option at the Dock.

AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West[]

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

Trivia[]

  • If a Malay player starts fishing from a Fish Trap that was initially built by another civilization, it will still provide three times more food (2145 food). If a non-Malay player fishes from a Fish Trap that was built by the Malay, the Fish Trap will only provide 715 food.
    • A slight quirk can be exploited by converting a non-Malay Fish Trap to a Malay one before converting it back, which will cause the food provided to be reset to 715, even if the food provided prior to it being converted by a Malay Fishing Ship was below 715.
  • Fish Traps (and Farms) are the only buildings which can be repaired by Monks (and Missionaries), but only Monks of the same player owning the Farm or Fish Trap (not allies'). In the case of Fish Traps, it still costs the same amount of wood to repair the same amount of damage, and while Monks can repair from their healing range, they do so much slower than Villagers (for Fish Traps near the shore). Monks do not start repairing the player's Fish Traps automatically, unlike healing nearby allied units.

History[]

Dried and salted fish were valuable commodities in the Middle Ages because they were a source of protein that could be transported and store. Cod caught off Iceland and Norway was an especially valuable resource. Fishing technology improvements included the fish trap that allowed the netting of fish migrating up rivers and in coastal areas.

Gallery[]

Buildings in Age of Empires II
Civilian buildings
EconomicTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · Dock aoe2de Dock · Fish trap aoe2DE Fish Trap · Mill aoe2de Mill · FarmDE Farm · Market aoe2DE Market · Lumber camp aoe2de Lumber Camp · Mining camp aoe2de Mining Camp · Feitoria aoe2DE Feitoria · Folwark Folwark · Ao2de caravanserai icon Caravanserai · AoE2 MuleCart Mule Cart
ResearchBlacksmith aoe2de Blacksmith · University AoE2 DE University
ReligiousAoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · MonasteryAoe2DE Monastery
MiscellaneousHouse aoe2DE House · Wonder aoe2DE Wonder
Military buildings
ProductionBarracks aoe2DE Barracks · Archery range aoe2DE Archery Range · Stable aoe2DE Stable · Siege workshop aoe2DE Siege Workshop · Dock aoe2de Dock
Fortified productionCastle aoe2DE Castle · Harbor aoe2de Harbor · Krepost icon updated Krepost · Aoe2-icon-donjon Donjon
TowerTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center · AoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church · Outpost aoe2de Outpost · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Watch Tower · Guard Tower icon AoE2DE Guard Tower · Keep icon AoE2DE Keep · Bombard tower aoe2DE Bombard Tower
WallPalisade wall aoe2de Palisade Wall · Palisade gate aoe2DE Palisade Gate · Stone wall aoe2de Stone Wall · Gate aoe2de Gate · Fortified wall aoe2de Fortified Wall · Gate aoe2de Fortified Gate
Scenario Editor buildings
AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of KingsBridge · MonasteryAoe2DE Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Dome of the Rock · Pyramid aoe2DE Great Pyramid · MonasteryAoe2DE Mosque · Pavilion big icon AoE2DE Pavilion · Pyramid aoe2DE Pyramid · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Accursed Tower · Accursed tower aoe2DE The Tower of Flies · Market aoe2DE Trade Workshop · Yurt thatch big aoe2DE Yurt
AoE2-DLCicon-1 The ConquerorsWonder aoe2DE Monument · SeaGateDE Sea Gate · Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Sea Tower · Sea Wall icon AoE2DE Sea Wall
AoE2-DLCicon-2 The ForgottenAmphitheatre aoe2DE Amphitheatre · Aqueduct aoe2DE Aqueduct · Wonder aoe2DE Arch of Constantine · Fortified wall aoe2de City Wall · Amphitheatre aoe2DE Colosseum · Keep icon AoE2DE Fire Tower · Palisade wall aoe2de Fortified Palisade Wall · Castle aoe2DE Fortress · Castle aoe2DE Poenari Castle · Wonder aoe2DE Quimper Cathedral · MonasteryAoe2DE Temple of Heaven · Wooden Bridge
AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African KingdomsBarricade aoe2DE Barricade · Fence aoe2DE Fence · Accursed tower aoe2DE Fortified Tower · 2de granary new icon Granary · Hut small aoe2DE Hut · Wondericon Palace (removed) · Aoe2de storage icon new Storage · Tent small aoe2DE Tent
AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the RajasTent army small aoe2DE Army Tent · Wonder aoe2DE Gol Gumbaz · Wonder aoe2DE Sanchi Stupa
AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last KhansWonder aoe2DE Aachen Cathedral · Chain aoe2DE Chain · Gate aoe2de City Gate · Wonder aoe2DE Dormition Cathedral · Wonder aoe2DE Rock Church · Wonder aoe2DE Sankore Madrasah · MonasteryAoe2DE Shrine · Wonder aoe2DE Tower of London
Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the DukesAoe2de pagan shrine icon Pagan Shrine
AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of IndiaWonder aoe2DE Minaret of Jam
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