Goat

The Goat is a herdable animal and food source in Return of Rome, Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires III. Goat (Unconvertible) is also a miscellaneous unit in Chronicles: Battle for Greece.

Age of Empires

Goat
Herdable animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Hit points	7
Speed	0.7
Line of Sight	3 (uncontrolled) 2 (when controlled by a player)
Maximum food	100
Recommended no. of shepherds	4-6

Goats were originally planned for Age of Empires, but went unused. A building called the Pasture would have allowed players to train them as a faster way of gathering food than Farms.

They were officially added to the game with Return of Rome.

Age of Empires II

Goat
Herdable animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms
Hit points	7
Speed	0.7
Line of Sight	3 (uncontrolled) 2 (when controlled by a player)
Maximum food	100
Recommended no. of shepherds	4-6

Goats were introduced in The African Kingdoms, and are often found on Africa-themed maps as an alternative to Sheep. Goats are a common food source that is beneficial in the early stages of a developing game when building many Farms is not yet affordable. Their statistics and use are the same as Sheep; they have 7 hit points, hold 100 food, and the same speed, and can be converted by other players.

They may also be used to scout around in early stages of the game, although their poor Line of Sight, slow movement, and possibility of being stolen by the enemy means this is of limited effectiveness.

Unconvertible

Goat
Unit information
Introduced in	Chronicles: Battle for Greece
Type	Scout unit
Internal name	Goat (Unconvertible)
Statistics
Hit points	50
Speed	0.7
Line of Sight	2

Unconvertible Goats were introduced to Age of Empires II with the release of Chronicles. They are not livestock and will not be automatically converted to other players, but Priestesses and Monks are able to convert enemy Unconvertible Goats. Military units are unable to attack enemy Unconvertible Goats. However, Villagers can attack them, using a bow and arrows and changing their name to Hunter, as when tasked on huntable animals. When tasked on an allied Unconvertible Goat, Villagers will likewise switch to bow and arrows and change their name, but will not attack. Although enemy Unconvertible Goats can be killed by Villagers in this way, they are not huntables and do not provide any food. Their name in the Scenario Editor is Goat (Unconvertible).

Unconvertible Goats appear in the following campaign scenarios:

Battle for Greece

• The Battle of Marathon: Several Uncovertible Goats can be discovered and captured by the player as Gaia units. These have increased speed, at 1.10. Combined with the fact that they cannot be targeted by enemy units, this makes them useful as scouts for exploring the map, despite their low Line of Sight.

Age of Mythology

Goat
Herdable animal
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Hit points	5
Cheat code	GOATUNHEIM
Hack armor	0%
Pierce armor	10%
Speed	2.50
Initial food	50
Maximum food	300
Fatten rate	12 food/min
Decay rate	12 food/min
Recommended no. of shepherds	4-7

• Retold
• Original

“	Villagers can gather Food from livestock animals.	”
—In-game description

“	This animal can be herded back to your town. It will fatten over time.	”
—In-game description

The Goat in Age of Mythology is less common than the Pig, but more common than the Cow, and is typically found on Greek-themed and island maps, such as Archipelago and Islands. They are also found on some Norse-themed maps, like Ghost Lake. When first found, Goats hold 50 food, but they fatten over time (at a base rate of 0.35 food per second) up to a maximum of 300 food.

In Tale of the Dragon, Goats can be created by using the god power Year of the Goat, available to worshipers of Fu Xi. This god power spawns from 3 to 12 Goats, depending on the casting player's current Age. Using the cheat code GOATUNHEIM grants the Goatunheim god power, which turns most units in the map into Goats.

Further statistics

Technologies

• Husbandry: +30% fattening rate

Changelog

Age of Mythology

• Goats have 20 hit points. They gather food at 15 food per minute and decay at 18 food per minute.

Retold

• Goats have 5 hit points.
• With update 17.27932, they decay at 12 food per minute.
• With update 18.27100, they gather food at 12 food per minute.

History

“	Scientific name -- Capra aegagrus Size -- 20 - 300 lbs., 4' at shoulder Diet -- infamously omnivorous, but traditionally grass, twigs, berries and bark The goat is one of the smallest domestic ruminants. Domestic goats are descended from the Bezoar goats found throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, particularly the island of Crete. Both sexes of most goats have horns and beards. Horns can be curving or corkscrew-shaped, but most have a sharp inside edge. They can have long or short hair that is silky or coarse, depending on habitat and breeding manipulation. Goats are bred for their wool, leather, meat, milk and occasionally dung. More people consume dairy products from goats than from any other animal. Unlike many domestic animals, goats are excellent foragers, and need little food from their owners. Overgrazing by goats has become an environmental problem in many parts of the world.	”
—In-game History section

Trivia

• Goats were the first revealed herdable units, and can be seen from certain E3 2001 screenshots, and a Nvidia screenshot.
• A cut random map known as Golden Fleece had players capture and control an eponymous special Goat. This special Goat is still accessible in the Scenario Editor.
• The cheat god power Goatunheim turns all units on the map into Goats.

Age of Empires III

Goat
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Herded animal Sheep or goat
Civilization(s)	Africans Chinese Japanese
Age	Exploration Age
Training
Trained at	Livestock Market (Africans) Village (Chinese) Livestock Pen (Japanese)
Cost	100 Food
Train time	10 seconds
Train limit	30
Statistics
Hit points	20
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	9
Resource amount	50-300 food ()
Fatten rate	0.2/s 0.375/s at Livestock Market 0.75/s at Livestock Pen, Farm, Village, Hacienda
Gatherers	8
Resource generation
Auto gather	0.08/s XP ()
Requires	Indians only

“	Herd animal. Fattens over time. Fattens faster if tasked on a Livestock Pen, Farm, or Village.	”
—In-game description

Goats are animals that fatten over time, much like Sheep. Each Goat starts out with 50 food and progressively fattens over time. The maximum amount each Goat can acquire is 300. The Chinese receive a free Goat at the start of every game, can train Goats from the Village, and can sent the Great Migration Home City Card to deliver a one-time muster of Villagers and fattened Goats, and the Year of the Goat card to deliver a one-time muster of Goats.

The Pilgrimage improvement, available at a Trading Post built on a Sufi Mosque settlement, will provide a shipment of Fattened Goats every 2 minutes for 30 minutes, providing up to 15 Fattened Goats.

The Japanese also have access to the Goat (named Shrine Goat) through a single Livestock Pen that may be obtained through the Consulate by allying with the Dutch.

Gathering rates

Resource	Source	Gathering rate
		per second	per minute
All resources	Shrine	0.1075	6.45
Food	Hacienda	0.1	6
Wood		0.15	9
Coin		0.068004	4.08024
XP	Sacred Field	0.14	8.4
Influence	Livestock Market	0.05 0.15 (fattened)	3 9 (fattened)

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Nothing
Improvements
Fatten rate	Navajo Shepherds (+100% auto gather; +30% from Livestock Pens, Farms, Villages, Livestock Markets, and Haciendas) Large Scale Gathering (+50% from Farms; Native Americans only) Selective Breeding (+25% from Livestock Pens, Farms, Villages, Livestock Markets, and Haciendas) Punjabi New Year (+10% from Livestock Pens, Farms, Villages, Livestock Markets, and Haciendas)
XP generation rate	Navajo Shepherds (+30%) Punjabi New Year (+10%) Ritual Bovine (+10% from Sacred Fields)
Shrine resource generation rate	Navajo Shepherds (+35%) Punjabi New Year (+10%)
Influence generation rate	Transhumance (+0.15)
Hit points	Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+2; before the Definitive Edition)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%)
Other	Pilgrimage (delivers 1 Fattened Goat for every 2 minutes of game time, up to 30 minutes) Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 9/18 Goats carrying additional 70 food, if the Oromo Alliance was chosen for the Ethiopians to reach the Industrial/Imperial Age respectively; delivers 7/9/18 Goats carrying additional 70 food, if the Fulani Alliance was chosen for the Hausa to reach the Fortress/Industrial/Imperial Age respectively) Cow Loans (fattened herded animal sold at Livestock Markets spawns an unfattened one; Africans only) Royal Banquet (sells for 50% of its food as influence; Africans only) Día de Muertos (+5 XP for every lost; Mexicans only)

Home City Cards

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

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)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

All

Card	Description	Age
Stockyards	Herded animals gather work rate for Livestock Pen, Farm, Village, and Hacienda +30%

• "Stockyards" is available to Europeans (except the Dutch and Portuguese), Federal Americans, the Chinese and Haudenosaunee.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

British

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Wool Staple Ports	Herded animal auto gather work rate and gather work rate for Village, Livestock Pen, Hacienda, Farm, and Livestock Market +20%; Indian herded animal auto gather work rate for XP +20%; Japanese herded animal gather work rate for Shrine +25%

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Great Migration	Each Town Center, Command Post, and Village spawns 1 Villager and 1 Fattened Goat
Year of the Goat	Each Town Center, Command Post, and Village spawns 2 Goats
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%
Acupuncture	Unit (except monk) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5%

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Xhosa Foods	Delivers 1 Large Pile of Squash and 4 Piles of Squash (900 food), 3 Cows, 3 Goats, 3 Sheep, and 1 Homestead Wagon

• "Xhosa Foods" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Moroccan Leather	Cattle grants 50 influence when harvested; sheep or goat grants 30 influence when harvested
Kilishi Jerky	Cattle food carry capacity +100; sheep or goat food carry capacity +60

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%
Goraksha	Herded animal auto gather work rate for XP +80%; Sacred Cow food cost -25; +1 Hindu Villager

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%
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

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Stockyards	Herded animals fatten 30% faster when tasked to Livestock Pens, Farms, and Villages		1

• "Stockyards" is available to Europeans (except the Dutch and Portuguese), the Chinese and Iroquois.

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Wool Staple Ports	Herded animals fatten 20% faster and 20% faster when tasked to Villages, Livestock Pens, and Farms; Indian herded animals generate +20% XP; Japanese herded animals generate +25% resources/XP when tasked to Shrines		10

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Great Migration	Each Village and Town Center spawns 1 Villager and 1 Goat		25
Year of the Goat	Each Village and Town Center spawns 2 Goats		1
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage		40
Acupuncture	All units' (except monks, Heavy Cannon, Flying Crow, and Summer Palace banner army) train time -20%		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		25
Goraksha	Herded animals generate +80% XP; Sacred Cows cost -25 food; +1 Villager		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

History

“

Scientific Name: Capra aegagrus Approx. Size: 3 ft. to shoulder Diet: Grasses, tree branches, shrubbery The wild goat is one of the most common goat species. It lives a nomadic existence, often found in mountainous regions across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Adaptively agile, the wild goat is adept at moving from outcropping to outcropping because of its subunguis, the inner layer of hoof material that allows for maximum shock absorption. The subunguis allows for the constant wearing away of the goat's hoof, leaving it with a consistently sharp edge for gripping rocky surfaces. The wild goat lives in flocks of 500, with the exception of younger males, which are driven away from the group to live in solitary. This period, called a rut, lasts until the male is ready to mate and it returns to the flock. The typical life span for a wild goat is between 12 and 22 years.

”

Gallery

Goats in Age of Empires II

A group of Goats

Goats in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Two Goats in Age of Mythology

Many views of the Goat in Age of Mythology: Retold

A Pig, Cow, and Goat fattening over time in Retold.

A herd of Goats close to the Yellow River in Age of Empires III

The Goat's history portrait

Goat image from the Compendium section

In-game Goat in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Trivia

• The Goats in Age of Empires III use a modified set of animations and models from Age of Mythology.