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ā€œUsed to build and improve ships, deposit food from Fishing Ships, and trade with other players by sea.ā€
Age of Empires II description

The Harbor is a military and economic building in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas that is unique to the Malay and becomes available once Thalassocracy is researched. The Harbor is an improved Dock and does everything a Dock does, but has more hit points, an increased line of sight and attacks enemies with arrow fire.

Tactics and placement[]

Like the Dock, the Harbor serves for both economy and naval warfare as it produces all kinds of vessels, while also being a drop site for Fishing Ships, Fishermen, and Trade Cogs. They must be used depending on the kind of map of the game; also, as this building has an attack and more hit points than the Dock, it may be used as part of a fortification, with the advantage that this building only costs wood.

When playing on maps like Archipelago or Islands, having Harbors is highly beneficial for Malay players, as they help to secure the shoreline, while at the same time they protect the Malay Fishing Ships and Fish Traps to some extent. That is especially important for the Malay, as they are a vital part of their economy, especially in these kind of maps. It can be a viable tactic to wall an island with Harbors as this makes it very difficult for enemy Transport Ships to approach the shore without needing to patrol the shoreline.

On maps like Coastal, Baltic, and Continental with important water bodies but where the settlements are not separated by water, the use of Harbors can make a huge difference, as they can protect the shore, along with Castles and Towers. They also help to support their navy in many situations and protect the naval economy.

On maps like Rivers, Highland, or others that feature rivers and/or lakes, Harbors become part of the defensive structures as the rivers and lakes represent a barrier for land troops, and in this case using Harbors and naval units becomes more helpful to aid fortifications near the shoreline and the shallows which in this kind of maps are the only narrow points usable for land troops in order to cross rivers. Having Harbors along the rivers walling the entire coast of those water bodies helps to perform a turtle strategy.

It is important to learn that Harbors should be a supplement to naval defenses not the replacement. It is not advised to leave the Harbors alone; even with their attack and improved hit points, since they can be outranged by many naval units. It is advisable to support them with siege units on the shore and other kind of fortified buildings such as Towers or Castles. Having a navy defending the Harbors also helps to defend the shore.

When playing team games, Harbors are also highly valuable, as the naval trade routes can be secured a bit more easily, as they provide coverfire to Trade Cogs that approach. So when trading on water, it is usually safer to choose a Malay (if available) as a trade partner.

Harbors may only be built in shallow water or on shallows, next to the coast. In amphibious maps, this can be taken into great advantage, by placing Harbors in strategic spots where both naval and land units converge, preferably adjacently to a forest, so that less units have the chance to damage it, while also shocking units with Demolition Ships.

Even in maps with lower-than-average water, such as Cenotes, one may take advantage of Harbors to project power and act as a deterrent to nearby enemy Villagers.

Trainable units and technologies[]

As Harbors are unique to the Malay, the Malay Dock technology tree is shown here. When a Harbor is converted, the trainable units and researchable technologies naturally change to the available pool of the new owner's civilization.

Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.
Blue: Units
Green: Technologies

DarkageDE
ā†’
FeudalageDE
ā†’
CastleageDE
ā†’
Imperial Age
Fishing Ship
Gillnetsavailable
Shipwrightavailable
Transport Ship
Tradecogavailable
Careeningavailable
ā†’
Drydockavailable
Galley
ā†’
War Galley
ā†’
Galleon
Firegalleyavailable
ā†’
Fire Ship
Requires
WarGalleyDE War Galley
ā†’
Fastfireshipavailable
Demolitionraftavailable
ā†’
Demolitionshipavailable
Requires
WarGalleyDE War Galley
ā†’
Heavydemolitionshipunavailable
Cannongalleonavailable
Requires
ChemistryDE Chemistry
ā†’
Elitecannongalleonavailable

Further statistics[]

As Harbors are unique to the Malay, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Ships, Villagers, Trade Carts
Weak vs. Siege units, Tarkans, Huskarls, War Elephants, Cannon Galleons
Upgrades
Hit points Masonry aoe2de Masonry (+10%)
Attack FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
HeatedShotDE Heated Shot (+4 attack against ships)
ChemistryDE Chemistry (+1)
Range FletchingDE Fletching (+1)
BodkinArrowDE Bodkin Arrow (+1)
BracerDE Bracer (+1)
MurderHolesDE Murder Holes (eliminates minimum range)
Accuracy BallisticsDE Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Armor Masonry aoe2de Masonry (+1/+1, +3 building armor)
Conversion resistance Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion
FaithDE Faith
HeresyDE Heresy
Construction speed TreadmillCraneDE Treadmill Crane (+20%)
Work rate ShipwrightDE Shipwright (+54%, only for units)

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

  • Harbors have no minimum range and do not require Murder Holes to attack enemy units attacking its base
  • Initially, Harbors have 2,200 HP, a reload time of 2.5, 6 base attack, no minimum range, and +9 bonus attack vs ships. With patch 5.3, the hit points are reduced to 2,000 and the reload time is increased to 3.0.

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

  • Harbors minimum range increased to 1 (from 0). Requires Murder Holes to reduce to 0 range.
  • Harbors base attack reduced from 6 to 3. Bonus attack vs ships increased from 9 to 10.
  • With update 36906, Harbors now (properly) receive the benefits of Chemistry, Murder Holes, and Heated Shot when Thalassocracy is researched before any of these technologies, and serve as drop sites for Fishermen.

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals[]

Trivia[]

  • Malay Harbors do not benefit from the Line-of-Sight-boost provided by Town Watch, Town Patrol, and Fletching-line upgrades, since they are already at the hardcoded maximum 20. Harbors for other civilizations can benefit from them, but since the maximum is 20, they may not benefit from Bracer.
  • When a Harbor is placed in the Scenario Editor for any other civilization than a Southeast Asian one, it has the appearance of a regular Dock.
  • When a Harbor is placed in the Scenario Editor for any other civilization, it fails to pick up any upgrades (like Fletching, Murder Holes, or Heated Shot) other than those affecting regular Docks (like Masonry or Town Watch). These technology effects are tracked separately and can be seen via the Advanced Genie Editor.
  • The Harbor's three secondary projectiles are the same as the Longboat's, and thus they have only +1 attack vs ships, +1 vs Fishing Ships, and +1 vs camel units. These attack bonuses do not matter because such projectiles always do 1 damage to any intended target they hit. They deal 1 damage to ships and camels even when hit unintentionally, but no damage to other unintentional targets.
  • Harbors have a theoretical maximum of 9 secondary projectiles, but they cannot go past 3 because no unit can garrison in Harbors to increase the arrows.
    • While the Gurjaras' Docks and Harbors (via Scenario Editor shenanigans) can garrison Fishing Ships, they do not add any attack value.
  • Harbors are the only structures that in essence act as an upgrade to a non-defensive structure and the only to convert said structure into a defensive structure. As such, they are the only upgrade which takes more bonus damage from its predecessor, since it gains Armor class: Stone defense.
    • Harbors are also the only upgraded item that gain a new armor class from its predecessors.
  • Harbors are also the only defensive structures where land units cannot garrison.
  • The arrows fired by Harbors are arced in a downward curve significantly more than arrows fired by other arrow-shooting building, whose projectiles fly almost in a straight line.
  • The boats moored in the Harbor are kelulus. They use the same sprite as the boats in a Castle Age Southeast Asian Dock.
  • The tall structure on Harbor seems to be modeled after a temple structure. High-rising tower is mentioned in the late 12th century Javanese Kakawin Bhomāntaka, which is denoted as waruga in the text. In stanza 6.11 the waruga is called "observation tower" (Old Javanese: Paį¹…uį¹…aį¹…/Pangungang). In the Bhomāntaka it seems to refer to a kind of watch-tower or lighthouse to monitor approaching ships.[1] Temple structure like on the model usually only has 1 level, making them almost useless for observation.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ā†‘ JĆ”kl, JiÅ™Ć­ (2020). The Sea and Seacoast in Old Javanese Court Poetry: Fishermen, Ports, Ships, and Shipwrecks in the Literary Imagination. Archipel, 100, 69ā€“90. https://doi.org/10.4000/archipel.2078
Buildings in Age of Empires II
Civilian buildings
EconomicTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center Ā· Dock aoe2de Dock Ā· Fish trap aoe2DE Fish Trap Ā· Mill aoe2de Mill Ā· FarmDE Farm Ā· Market aoe2DE Market Ā· Lumber camp aoe2de Lumber Camp Ā· Mining camp aoe2de Mining Camp Ā· Feitoria aoe2DE Feitoria Ā· Folwark Folwark Ā· Ao2de caravanserai icon Caravanserai Ā· AoE2 MuleCart Mule Cart
ResearchBlacksmith aoe2de Blacksmith Ā· University AoE2 DE University
ReligiousAoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church Ā· MonasteryAoe2DE Monastery
MiscellaneousHouse aoe2DE House Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Wonder
Military buildings
ProductionBarracks aoe2DE Barracks Ā· Archery range aoe2DE Archery Range Ā· Stable aoe2DE Stable Ā· Siege workshop aoe2DE Siege Workshop Ā· Dock aoe2de Dock
Fortified productionCastle aoe2DE Castle Ā· Harbor aoe2de Harbor Ā· Krepost icon updated Krepost Ā· Aoe2-icon-donjon Donjon
TowerTowncenter aoe2DE Town Center Ā· AoE2 FortifiedChurch Fortified Church Ā· Outpost aoe2de Outpost Ā· Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Watch Tower Ā· Guard Tower icon AoE2DE Guard Tower Ā· Keep icon AoE2DE Keep Ā· Bombard tower aoe2DE Bombard Tower
WallPalisade wall aoe2de Palisade Wall Ā· Palisade gate aoe2DE Palisade Gate Ā· Stone wall aoe2de Stone Wall Ā· Gate aoe2de Gate Ā· Fortified wall aoe2de Fortified Wall Ā· Gate aoe2de Fortified Gate
Scenario Editor buildings
AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of KingsBridge Ā· MonasteryAoe2DE Cathedral Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Dome of the Rock Ā· Pyramid aoe2DE Great Pyramid Ā· MonasteryAoe2DE Mosque Ā· Pavilion big icon AoE2DE Pavilion Ā· Pyramid aoe2DE Pyramid Ā· Accursed tower aoe2DE The Accursed Tower Ā· Accursed tower aoe2DE The Tower of Flies Ā· Market aoe2DE Trade Workshop Ā· Yurt thatch big aoe2DE Yurt
AoE2-DLCicon-1 The ConquerorsWonder aoe2DE Monument Ā· SeaGateDE Sea Gate Ā· Watch Tower icon AoE2DE Sea Tower Ā· Sea Wall icon AoE2DE Sea Wall
AoE2-DLCicon-2 The ForgottenAmphitheatre aoe2DE Amphitheatre Ā· Aqueduct aoe2DE Aqueduct Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Arch of Constantine Ā· Fortified wall aoe2de City Wall Ā· Amphitheatre aoe2DE Colosseum Ā· Keep icon AoE2DE Fire Tower Ā· Palisade wall aoe2de Fortified Palisade Wall Ā· Castle aoe2DE Fortress Ā· Castle aoe2DE Poenari Castle Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Quimper Cathedral Ā· MonasteryAoe2DE Temple of Heaven Ā· Wooden Bridge
AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African KingdomsBarricade aoe2DE Barricade Ā· Fence aoe2DE Fence Ā· Accursed tower aoe2DE Fortified Tower Ā· 2de granary new icon Granary Ā· Hut small aoe2DE Hut Ā· Wondericon Palace (removed) Ā· Aoe2de storage icon new Storage Ā· Tent small aoe2DE Tent
AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the RajasTent army small aoe2DE Army Tent Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Gol Gumbaz Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Sanchi Stupa
AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last KhansWonder aoe2DE Aachen Cathedral Ā· Chain aoe2DE Chain Ā· Gate aoe2de City Gate Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Dormition Cathedral Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Rock Church Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Sankore Madrasah Ā· MonasteryAoe2DE Shrine Ā· Wonder aoe2DE Tower of London
Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the DukesAoe2de pagan shrine icon Pagan Shrine
AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of IndiaWonder aoe2DE Minaret of Jam
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