A Fishing Boat working in Age of Empires III
Fishing is another means of gaining food in the Age of Empires series on water or hybrid maps. It involves using Villagers or ships to gather food from fish. Fishing is available in every game in the Age of Empires series.
Overview[]
A villager fishing in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Fish are quite common on most maps that contain water and they provide plenty of food. Either a Villager or Fishing Boat/Ship can be used for fishing, although a Villager can only reach fish near a shoreline or in shallow water. Fish have no hit points, and do not flee or fight back, making them a relatively easily obtainable and early source of naturally-occurring food.
Age of Mythology was the first game not to include shore-fishing (due to how rarely fish spawn close enough to the shoreline due to algorithms and their obstruction radii).
Age of Empires[]
In Age of Empires, Villagers and Fishing Boats can gather both fish and Whales. However, Villagers can only fish from the shore, that features Shore Fish, while Fishing Boats have access to fish anywhere on the map.
Fishing vessels have a gathering rate of 0.4 food per second, which is the slowest rate in the game. Foraging and farming are a slightly faster 0.45 food per second, hunting is 0.4725 food, and Villager fishing is an incredibly speedy 0.6 food. Therefore, it is advisable to save shoreline-accessible fish for Villagers, who can deposit the food in a Town Center, Storage Pit, and (in Return of Rome) Dock. However, Shore Fish occupy just a single tile (whereas other types are 2×2 tiles), so multiple Villagers can easily run out of space to gather from a single source. Unfortunately, fish supplies are limited and run out soon, especially Shore Fish.
List of fish[]
- Salmon - 250 food
- Shore Fish - 250 food (200 food since Return of Rome)
- Tuna - 250 food
- Whale - 300 food (removed since Return of Rome)
Since Return of Rome, fish from Age of Empires II were also added:
Age of Empires II[]
As with Age of Empires, both Villagers and Fishing Ships can fish in Age of Empires II.
Out of all fish, Shore Fish are the only type that is typically accessible to Villagers from the shore, and as in the first game, only occupies one tile. On some maps they are replaced by Box Turtles, which function identically. All the other fish are found in deeper water, and take 2×2 tiles. In the Scenario Editor, it is possible to stack fish without changing placement restrictions, thus creating practically inexhaustible sources of food, and to place ocean fish along the coastline.
Fishermen have a 0.43 gather rate, making it the second fastest food gather rate for a Villager. A fisherman can stock food for the player at a Mill or a Dock.
Fishing Ships gather food at a rate of 0.28 food per second from Shore Fish, and at the rate of 0.49 food per second from deep-sea fish. Additionally, Fishing Ships can build Fish Traps. They are otherwise similar to Farms in that once all the food they provide has been used up, they are depleted. A new Fish Trap will then have to be built.
However, with The Forgotten's Gillnets technology, Fishing Ships' gather rate is increased by 25%. Furthermore, with the Malay civilization's inclusion in Rise of the Rajas, Fish Traps provide +200% food and are cheaper, often making them a decent alternative to Farms. Although still costing more than a Farm (100 wood rather than 60), such a Fish Trap provides more food than a Farm, even one with Crop Rotation researched (715 food). Furthermore, the Definitive Edition added the ability to queue Fish Traps at the Docks and auto-renew them.
Usually, fishing is preferred by civilizations who have a distinct advantage in fishing, or by those that lack Crop Rotation. Civilizations that are much better at fishing over farming include the:
- Dravidians - Fishermen and Fishing Ships carry +15.
- Italians - Fishing Ships are 15% cheaper; researching Gillnets, Careening, Dry Dock, and Shipwright is 33% cheaper.
- Japanese - Fishing Ships have double hit points, +2 pierce armor, and work 5%/10%/15%/20% faster in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Malay - Fish Traps are 33% cheaper and provide 3× food.
List of fish[]
- Box Turtles - 200 food
- Dolphin - 350 food
- Dorado - 225 food
- Marlin - 350 food
- Perch - 200 food
- Salmon - 225 food
- Shore Fish - 200 food
- Snapper - 225 food
- Tuna - 225 food
Age of Mythology[]
In Age of Mythology, Fishing Ships are used to catch fish. Unlike in the previous games, fish shoals are inexhaustible. Furthermore, once the two fishing technologies, Purse Seine and Salt Amphora, are researched, fishing is often superior to farming. However, Fishing Ships are more vulnerable to attack than Farms and may need defending. As only one Fishing Ship can gather from a shoal of Fish at one time, the player will have to venture out to sources further away to increase their revenue, which can be risky.
None of the five cultures in Age of Mythology has any technologies or other advantages that make them better at fishing. Each is as good as the other, except for in certain general mechanics. For example, the Egyptians have slightly slower gathering rates across the board, but can compensate for this with their empowerment mechanic.
List of fish[]
- Anchovy - Infinite food (beta only)
- Herring - Infinite food
- Mahi-mahi - Infinite food
- Perch - Infinite food
- Salmon - Infinite food
- Shark - Not gatherable
Age of Empires III[]
In Age of Empires III, fishing boats can not only gather food from fish, but coin from Whales as well. Also, many war ships can fish, although some of them are less cost-efficient when doing so.
The following war ships can gather from fish:
- Bandit Catamaran
- Battle Canoe
- Canoe
- Caravel
- Chincha Raft
- Fune
- Galley
- Marathan Catamaran
- Order Galley
- Sloop
- Steamer
- Tlaloc Canoe
- War Canoe
- War Junk
List of fish[]
- Bass - 500 food
- Carp - 500 food
- Catfish - 500 food
- Cod - 500 food
- Mahi-mahi - 500 food
- Mola Mola - 500 food
- Salmon - 500 food
- Sardines - 500 food
- Squid - 500 food
- Tuna - 500 food
- Fishing Ground - 10,000 food
Age of Empires IV[]
| “ | Use Fishing Boats to gather Food from the Deep Water Fish. Once depleted, Deep Water Fish will return after a while and can be gathered again. |
” |
| —Age of Empires IV description for Deep Water Fish | ||
As in Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, both Villagers and Fishing Boats can fish in Age of Empires IV. There are two kinds of fish featured in the game. Shoreline Fish contain 500 food and disappear when depleted. Deep Water Fish begin with 1,000 food and replenish after being depleted, at a rate of 50 food every 10 seconds. While Villagers can only gather from Shoreline Fish, Fishing Boats can gather from both. Like Fishing Boats, Villagers can drop off food at the Dock, regardless of its source.
For Villagers, Shoreline Fish have the fastest gather rate in the game, at 1 food per second, and while it can thus seem tempting to move all Villagers to gather from Shoreline Fish, the fact that they are usually spaced far apart reduces the actual efficiency of gathering from them. They are also usually located relatively far from the Capital Town Center on most maps, which can leave Villagers open to raids. Despite the gather rate of Fishing Boats not being particularly fast (at 0.65 food and 0.75 food per second for Shoreline and Deep Water Fish respectively), their benefit lies in being able to scale up quickly through multiple Docks. Therefore, on hybrid or naval maps, it is usually better to keep Villagers gathering wood and gold, and Fishing Boats gathering food. The Byzantines can also use fishing to generate Olive Oil, with their Villagers dropping off an additional 10% when gathering from Shoreline Fish, and their Fishing Boats dropping off an additional 20% when gathering from both kinds.
List of fish[]
- Shoreline Fish - 500 food
- Deep Water Fish - 1,000 food*
Trivia[]
- During development, villagers in Age of Mythology were originally able to fish. The feature was dropped, most likely due to issues of how far away fishing spots spawned in random maps, and due to the large obstruction radius of fish in that game.
- Settlers were originally intended to fish in Age of Empires III as well, but the feature was likewise removed.
- Shore Fish were originally intended to appear in Age of Mythology, according to the presence of unused models in the Multiplayer Alpha. They were, however, cut when villager fishing was removed.
- At one point, sharks could be fished as well, as they have a selection ring. The feature was most likely removed to avoid controversy.
- Whales in Age of Empires III are functionally similar to fish, except they provide an infinite amount of coin instead of a finite amount of food, and can only be gathered by four boats at a time. Like fish, they can also be gathered by light warships, such as the Caravel and unique equivalents.
- Oysters are another marine animal, present in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Similar to whales in Age of Empires III, they can be harvested by Fishing Ships and Villagers for gold, rather than food; unlike whales, they are not infinite.
Gallery[]
In-game[]
Icons[]
| Resources in the Age of Empires series | |
|---|---|
| Common | Food · Wood · Gold/Coin · Stone* |
 Age of Mythology |  Favor |
 Age of Empires III |  XP ·  Export ·  Influence |
 Age of Empires IV |  Bounty ·  Vizier Point ·  Olive Oil |
| Extractable resource sources in the Age of Empires series | |
| Common | Tree · Gold Mine · Stone Mine* · Berry Bush · Farm (I · II · M · III · IV) · Animals (Fish · Herdable animal) |
 Age of Empires II |  Fish Trap ·  Oysters ·  Pasture |
| Age of Mythology |  Dwarven Mine ·  Jade Mine |
| Age of Empires III |  Cherry Orchard ·  Coal Mine ·  Copper Mine ·  Crate ·  Diamond Mine ·  Estate ·  Field ·  Hacienda ·  Mango Grove ·  Mill ·  Rice Paddy ·  Rock · Salt Mine ·  Silver Mine · Tin Mine |
| Age of Empires IV |  Olive Grove |
| * not used in Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III | |