Gate (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires III. For the building in other games of the series, see Gate.

“	A gate in the wall. Prevents enemies from entering a town.	”
—In-game description

The Gate is a defensive structure in Age of Empires III. Its purpose is to have an opportunity to let friendly units through Walls while keeping enemies out. Unlike in Age of Empires II where the Gate is built as a separate structure, Walls are simply clicked on and selected to become a Gate.

Overview[]

The Wall, Church (for European civilizations), or Mosque (for the Ottomans) provides the Bastion upgrade for Gates, along with Walls, granting +400% hit points.

Further statistics[]

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Bastion (+600%; Europeans only) City Walls (+600%; Africans only) Redoubts (+400%; Federal Americans only) State Constitutions (+125%; United States only) Flying Buttress (+20%) Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
Line of Sight	Gas Lighting (+4)
Build time	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25%)
Cost	Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood) Redoubts (-20%; Federal Americans only) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
Other	Yoruba Eredo Legacy (grants +1 XP upon building)
Penalties	Bastion (+80% build time; Europeans only) City Walls (+80% build time; Africans only) Redoubts (+70% build time; Federal Americans only) Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost; John Black's Mercenaries only) Code Napoleon (+25% cost; French only)

Home City Cards[]

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

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team

All[]

Card	Description	HC level
Improved Buildings	Buildings get +40% hit points	10
TEAM Improved Buildings	Buildings get +25% hit points	10
Heavy Fortifications	Grants all defensive building upgrades (if not already); costs 250 wood	25
Extensive Fortifications	Frontier fortifications, Walls, and Forts get +25% hit points; Outpost build limit +100%	1

"Improved Buildings" is available to Europeans and Federal Americans.
"TEAM Improved Buildings" is available to the Inca, Indians, and Maltese.
"Heavy Fortifications" is available to Europeans (except Germans, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish) and Federal Americans.
"Extensive Fortifications" is available to Europeans (except Germans, Portuguese, and Russians) and Mexicans.

Chinese[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Great Wall	Walls get +600% hit points and +500% build time		10

Ethiopians[]

Card	Description	Age
Gondarine Architecture	Buildings get +25% hit points; Town Centers and Palaces get +50% hit points instead; Mountain Monasteries get +100% hit points instead; Walls get +225% hit points instead

Hausa[]

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Ancient Kano Walls	TEAM Wall hitpoints are improved by nearby military units
TEAM Hausa Gates	Walls and Gates return their cost when destroyed; Gates, Bastion, City Walls, and Redoubts cost -50%
Gatekeepers	Grants City Walls; Gates increase the attack of allied units in an Area of Effect of 15 around them by 5%

Inca[]

Card	Description	Age
Extensive Fortifications	Frontier fortifications, Walls, and Strongholds get +25% hit points; War Hut build limit +100%
TEAM Inca Walls	Walls get +150% hit points
Monumental Architecture	Buildings get +30% hit points; Town Centers get +35% attack

Indians[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Mughal Architecture	Building cost -20% wood and build time -30%; Wonder build time -16% instead; +1 Villager		40
Extensive Fortifications	Frontier fortifications, Walls, and Agra Fort get +25% hit points; Castle build limit +100%; +1 Hindu Villager		1

Italians[]

Card	Description	Age
Freemasons	Architects get +25% speed and construct buildings 65% faster, and Walls 36% faster instead

Japanese[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Extensive Fortifications	Frontier fortifications and Walls get +25% hit points; Castle build limit +100%		1

Mexicans[]

Card	Description	Age
Presidios	The General can build Outposts; Fort build limit +1; Walls cost -20%; Outposts cost -30%; Forts cost -40%; Outpost, Wall, and Fort build time -20%
Campeche Fortifications	Bastion available at Walls
Talavera Architecture	Buildings get +30% hit points, -30% build time, and grant coin upon being built instead of XP	Imperial Age
Maya Architecture	All buildings except Forts get +30% hit points; buildings now give food as well as experience when built; grants Redoubts

"Talavera Architecture" is available upon selecting the Puebla Federal State.
"Maya Architecture" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

Native Americans[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Extensive Fortifications	Frontier fortifications and Walls get +25% hit points; War Hut build limit +100%		1

"Extensive Fortifications" is available to the Haudenosaunee and Lakota.

Portuguese[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Improved Walls	Walls get +200% hit points		10

Russians[]

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Sevastopol	Town Center, Wall, Blockhouse, and Fort build time -50%		40

United States[]

Card	Description	Age
Connecticut Shipwrights	Artillery train time -25%, buildings' build time -35%, and warships' train time -50%	Imperial Age

"Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Changelog[]

Age of Empires III[]

Gates have 3,000 hit points and 7 LOS.

The WarChiefs[]

The Sioux do not have access to the Gate.

Definitive Edition[]

Gates have 1,500 hit points and 1 LOS.
The Lakota have access to the Gate from the Industrial Age.

Trivia[]

Unlike its counterpart in Age of Empires II, if friendly units cause the Gate to open, enemy units cannot pass nor keep the Gate open.
Gaia controlled units such as trade carts, stagecoaches, trains, birds, etc. will cause Gates to open and close.
No in-game Gate model resembles the Gate's unit portrait. This is due to the fact that the Gate shown by the unit portrait was an early version, which can be seen in some pre-release screenshots.
Although they have a construction time in the prototype file, the Gates are built instantly by selecting the "Build Gate" upgrade from a Wall.

History[]

“	Early fortifications in the New World were palisades constructed of sharpened tree trunks driven into the ground side by side to form walls. Some of these palisade walls, especially when a little green, were remarkably effective at withstanding bombardment by artillery because they could flex as they were hit, rather than splintering, like dried wood, or shattering, like masonry walls. More effective than either wood or stone at withstanding bombardment were the bermed earthworks famously ringing star forts like Fort McHenry. A fort in the era of cannon was a series of sculpted plains, ditches, bastions, and walls of earth and stone that maximized lines of sight and fire for defenders.	”
—In-game history