 |
This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Galley. |
| “ | All-purpose Warship with ranged attack. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
| “ | All-purpose warship with ranged attack. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
| “ | Small, fast ship with weak attack. Used to scout the water and for early attacks on enemy fishing fleets. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Galley is a ship in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Dock once the Feudal Age is reached. Galleys are small, fast ships primarily used for scouting and attacking other units vulnerable to attack.
Tactics[]
Whilst being a relatively weak naval unit compared to its successors, the Galley is effective in numbers, able to take out enemy ships with ease, providing their numbers are great enough. They are also effective at wiping out enemy Fishing Ships and other economic units within close proximity to the coast.
Unfortunately, they lose against enemy Fire Galleys, which do not need to be massed. This makes the Fire Galley a better default option than the Galley, while the Galley will usually not start to be a better choice until the Castle Age, when it can be upgraded to the War Galley. The Galley does have a valuable niche in shore bombardment, as neither the Demolition Raft nor Fire Galley can fulfill this.
Further statistics[]
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Transport Ships, Fishing Ships, buildings and melee units on the shoreline |
| Weak vs. | Fire Galleys, towers, Castles, ranged units on the shoreline |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1) Ballistas (+2, Romans only)
|
 Range
|
Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Cilician Fleet (+1, Armenians only)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor |  Careening (+1  pierce) Carrack (+1  melee / +1 pierce, Portuguese only)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Dry Dock (+15%)
|
| Resource cost |  Shipwright (-20% wood)
|
| Creation speed | Shipwright (+54%)
|
| Civilization bonuses | |
|---|---|
 Hit points
|
 Portuguese (+10%)
|
 Regeneration
|
 Bengalis (15 HP/min)
|
| Attack |  Tatars (+20% damage {+50% instead of +25%} from higher elevation)
|
| Additional projectiles |  Armenians (+1 arrow {deals 1 pierce damage})
|
| Armor |  Romans (+1 melee / +1 pierce)
|
| Damage resistance |  Georgians (-20% damage {-40% instead of -25%} on higher elevation) Jurchens (-50% friendly fire damage)
|
 Attack speed
|
 Saracens (+25%)
|
| Movement speed
|
 Berbers (+10%)
|
| Resource cost |  Koreans (-20% wood) Portuguese (-20% gold) Vikings (-15%/-15%/-20% in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age)
|
| Creation speed |  Aztecs (+15%) Persians (+10%/+15%/+20% in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age)
|
| Upgrading |  Chinese (-10%/-15% cost in the Castle/Imperial Age) Italians (-33% cost) Persians (+15%/+20% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age)
|
| Other | Romans (+5% repair speed)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight |  Japanese (+4)
|
| Upgrading | Portuguese (+25% faster)
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Bohemians: Chemistry is available in the Castle Age.- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost -50% food.
- Burmese: Devotion and Faith are 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Galleys can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Galleys are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Italians: Careening, Dry Dock, Shipwright, Ballistics, and Chemistry are 33% cheaper.
- Persians: Careening is researched 15%/20% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age. Dry Dock is researched 20% faster.
- Spanish: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost no gold. Technologies that benefit Galleys provide 20 gold each when researched.
- Turks: Chemistry is free.
- Wu: Careening and Dry Dock are available one Age earlier; -75% cost and research time.
Team bonuses[]
- Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer are researched 80% faster.
- Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
- Malians: Ballistics and Chemistry are researched 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Galleys are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Galleys train in 36 seconds.
The Conquerors[]
- With patch 1.0b, Galleys train in 60 seconds.
Return of Rome[]
- Romans:
- Upon release, Ballistas made War Galleys fire 33% faster. With update 87863, Ballistas gives them +2 attack.
- With update 87863, Galleys have +1 melee / +1 pierce armor.
Chronicles: Alexander the Great[]
- With update 158041, Galleys gain the long-range warship armor class.
History[]
| “ | Warships largely disappeared in Europe during the Dark Ages because no civilization other than the Byzantines possessed the wealth and organization necessary for maintaining any sort of navy. As the centuries passes, a few small warships again appeared in the Western Mediterranean. These were oar-powered galleys used primarily for scouting and chasing down pirates that plagued sea trade. The best warship in the West were built and maintained by the Byzantines, who alone had carried on their shipbuilding traditions since ancient times. | ” |
| —Unit description | ||
Trivia[]
- Galleys, Fire Galleys, and Demolition Rafts are the only units in the game who share an upgrade: War Galley.
- Before The Forgotten, the Galley was the only warship available in the Feudal Age.
- Historically, galleys were propelled by oars. Given that in-game Galleys are propelled by a single sail and not oars, this makes them a type of sloop or possibly catboat, and not galleys. Fire Galleys, on the other hand, are properly named, since they are propelled by oars.
Gallery[]
The Galley line, with the Galley on the left
Original unit sprite
A group of Galleys
All Galleys in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors
Armenian Galley line (left) firing an extra projectile (arrow)
All Galleys introduced in the HD Edition's expansions
Galley sprite without sail in the Definitive Edition
