Frigate

Frigate
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Ship War ship
Civilization(s)	See description
Age	Fortress Age*
Training
Trained at	Dock (Europeans, Federal Americans, and Indians) Port (Hausa)
Cost	500 Wood 500 Coin
Train time	40 seconds
Train limit	3 1 (Hausa)
Statistics
Hit points	2,000
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	7.5
Line of Sight	34
Garrison	50
Ability	Transports land units
Special ability	Broadside Attack
Train XP	100
Kill XP	100
Ranged attack
Damage	90 Siege
Area of Effect	1
Range	30
Rate of Fire	2.0
Bonus damage	0.5× vs. Artillery

“	Frigate. Heavy war ship.	”
—In-game description

The Frigate is a military ship in Age of Empires III that can be trained at the Dock once the Fortress Age (Industrial Age in the vanilla Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs) is reached. It is one of the strongest and most durable warships in the game.

Frigates are available to European civilizations except Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign), the Indians, the United States, and the Mexicans. The Hausa can train them through the British Alliance Age-up.

Overview

The Frigate, with a base hit points of 2,000, it has 800 more than the next warship, the shore-ravaging Monitor. As the Monitor can't really fight anything tougher than a Caravel, this is the high-end ship-to-ship warship of choice for use past the Fortress Age. Moreover, because of its long sight radius and relatively good speed for its large size, it can also double up for exploration although the large hull may make steering and maneuvering somewhat more cumbersome and clunky. Like all warships, the Frigate can transport 50 units, and blast close-to-shore buildings and units. However some buildings such as fully upgraded Outposts or Forts will decimate the ships. The Frigate can be upgraded to an Imperial Age Man-of-War (Ship of the Line). Frigates can also be upgraded at a Dock with the Armor Plating and Carronade bonuses.

Special ability

• Broadside Attack: Fires a volley of cannon shots at an enemy within attack range, with doing 40×5 siege damage in an Area of Effect of 1 with a ×2.0 multiplier against ships. 60 seconds cooldown.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
Imperial Age	Imperial Men-o'-War	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Frigates to Imperial Men-o'-War (+50% hit points and damage)

Civilization differences

• The Hausa can train 1 Frigate for 1,000 influence at the Port when allying with the British, which has +30% hit points and damage in the Imperial Age, but cannot be upgraded to an Imperial Man-o'-War.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ships, infantry and buildings close to shore
Weak vs.	Artillery especially Culverins, defensive structures
Improvements
Hit points	Armor Plating (+50%) Heavy Riverboats (+25%; Hausa only) Byzantine Legacy (+15%) Tar Kilns (+10%)
Attack	Carronade (+25%) River Skirmishes (+25%; Hausa only) Percussion Lock (+50% Broadside Attack damage) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Hausa only)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) Öresund Customs (auto gather 0.5 coin)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Frigate

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Shared

Card	Description	Age
Advanced Dock	Dock damage +100%, heal work rate for ships +85%; war ship train time -33%
1 Frigate	Delivers 1 Frigate
Improved Warships	War ship hit points and damage +25%
TEAM Improved Warships	War ship hit points and damage +10%
Naval Gunners	War ship damage +20%
European Cannons	War ship damage +15%, Line of Sight and ranged attack range +2
Admiralty	Dock war ship technology cost and research time -60%

• "Advanced Dock" is not available to Africans.
• "1 Frigate" is available to Europeans (except the Maltese), Indians, Mexicans, and United States.
• "TEAM Improved Warships" is available to the Chinese and Maltese.
• "Naval Gunners" is available to the British, French, Italians, Maltese, Russians, Swedes, and United States.
• "European Cannons" is not available to Europeans.
• "Admiralty" is not available to Africans.

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Offshore Support	War ship damage +15%, Line of Sight and ranged attack range +2
Baltic Fleet	Delivers 1 Frigate and 1 Monitor
Lantakas	Artillery, building, and ship damage +15%
Rhode Island Militia	Delivers 10 State Militia and 5 Militiamen; Caravels, Galleons/Fluyts, Frigates, and Ironclads get +10% ranged attack damage per garrisoned State Militia and/or Militiaman (up to +60%); fully replaces Crossbowmen/Longbowmen, Pikemen, and Halberdiers with State Militia at Barracks, Forts, and on the map; grants Veteran State Militia; enables Guard State Militia

• "Offshore Support" is available to the Germans, Maltese, and Ottomans.
• "Baltic Fleet" is available to the Russians and Swedes upon revolting to Finland.
• "Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.
• "Rhode Island Militia" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Advanced Port	Port damage and heal work rate for ships +100%; war ship train time -33%
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%
Foreign Trading Companies	Adds 0.75 to export trickle rate; banner army export cost -15%; Indian unit cost +2.5% (Hindu Villager, Fishing Boat, and Sacred Cow cost +5% instead), +1 Hindu Villager
Bombay Marine	Ship train time -30%, train bounty +30%; +1 Hindu Villager
2 Frigates	Delivers 2 Frigates, +1 Hindu Villager

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
1 Frigate	Delivers 1 Frigate
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
Egyptian Fleet + 1 Privateer	Delivers 1 Frigate and 1 Monitor, +1 Privateer

• "Egyptian Fleet + 1 Privateer" is available upon revolting to Egypt.

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
Navigation School	War ship cost and train time -20%
Naval Infantry	Enables Caravels to train Crossbowmen, Ordinance Riflemen (if available), Pikemen, and Halberdiers; Monitors and Ironclads to train Musketeers, Cassadores, and Grenadiers (if available); Frigates to train all Barracks units; Battleships to train all Barracks units and Grenadiers; Caravels, Frigates, Monitors, Ironclads, and Battleships now tagged as recruiting ships

Russians

Card	Description	Age
Russian North Fleet	Delivers 1 Frigate and 1 Monitor
TEAM Cold Water Port	War ship cost -15%

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10
Armada	War ship hit points +20%, Line of Sight +2; enables Caravels to train Barracks units; Frigates to train Stable and Artillery Foundry units; Monitors to train Mortars; Battleships to train Barracks, Stable, and Artillery Foundry units

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Baltic Fleet	Delivers 1 Frigate and 1 Galleon
Vasa	Delivers 1 Battleship; Frigates and Galleons return 100 coin, and Battleships 200 coin when sunk by enemy unit; costs 1,000 coin

United States

Card	Description	Age
Virginia Oak	Docks, Fishing Boat, Sloop, and Frigate hit points +15%
Indiana Mobilization	Delivers 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game, including this one; unit train time, technology research time, Age up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Connecticut Shipwrights	War ship train time -50%; building build time -35%; artillery train time -15%, Heavy Cannon train time -10% instead	Imperial Age

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
• "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Frigates are available in the Industrial Age.

The Asian Dynasties

• Frigates are available in the Fortress Age.

Trivia

• One of the random names that a British Frigate may have is Agamemnon.

History

“

Frigates changed a lot over time, but began as lean, fast, well-armed ships used for scouting, raiding trade routes, and filling in the line of battle when the larger battleships were scarce. Early frigates carried messages and important passengers. Later, their single deck of 20 to 30 cannon was doubled to two decks of 40 to 60 cannon. British frigate captains still using the swift, lighter frigates were ordered not to engage the heavier, deadly American frigates unless the odds were two-to-one in the British captain's favor. Approximate weight: 950 tons. Length: 150 feet.

”

Gallery

An in-game Frigate

The side view of the Frigate

Frigate model

A Frigate sailing along the coast

A Frigate sailing the sea with fog

A naval combat between two Frigates

In-game European Frigate in the Definitive Edition

In-game Ottoman Frigate

Frigate image from the Compendium section

See also

• Fuchuan – Chinese counterpart
• Tekkousen – Japanese counterpart
• War Dhow – Ethiopians counterpart
• Xebec – Hausa counterpart