A Native American minor civilization's settlement as it appears in the game (Cheyenne).
An Asian minor civilization's settlement (Sufi Mosque).
An African minor civilization's settlement (Akan).
A European minor civilization's settlement (House of Habsburg).
Minor civilizations (also referred to as minor tribes, Natives, Native allies, or Settlements) feature throughout the campaign scenarios and random maps of Age of Empires III. All playable civilizations can ally with a minor civilization by constructing Trading Posts at settlement sites. Each minor civilization typically offers three technologies to research and access to at least one unique military unit; trained in limited amounts with two unit upgrades.
Players retain access to the minor civilization's technologies and units for as long as the Trading Post is not destroyed. After the release of Knights of the Mediterranean, there are a total of 37 minor civilizations in normal game and four more exclusive to the campaigns.
There are four regional types of minor civilizations: African Kingdoms, Asian Holy Sites, European Royal Houses, and Native American Settlements.
Units[]
Native units cost a certain amount of wood, food, and/or coin (or influence for African civilizations), but never population (except for Native warriors which are also tagged as villagers, such as the Royal Huntsman). Instead, native units have a build limit which players can increase by allying with further settlements of the same minor civilization.
From The WarChiefs, players can build Native Embassies to train allied minor civilization units at locations beyond the Trading Post site.
Upgrades[]
Native warrior hit points and attack damage can be upgraded by +25% in the Fortress Age for a cost of 200 wood, 150 coin, and by +40% in the Industrial Age for a cost of 400 wood, 300 coin. Upgraded units from the original Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs gain the title Elite and Champion, while those introduced in The Asian Dynasties are called Disciplined and Honored. In the Imperial Age, players can improve hit points and damage again by researching Legendary Native Warriors in the Capitol for 1,500 food, 1,500 wood.
For African civilization, these upgrades are researched automatically and for free upon reaching the corresponding Age.
A wide array of Home City Cards provide bonus to native units.
Native warriors shipments[]
Native warriors received via Home City Cards are treated differently than those trained on the map: they have their own build limit and will not be simultaneously selected when double-clicking one of them. However, upgrades will still affect both.
Ships[]
Certain ships can be trained from the Dock if the player builds a Trading Post on a minor civilization settlement, which vary depending on the minor civilization allied with:
- Building a Trading Post on a Native American settlement grants the ability to train Canoes;
- Building a Trading Post on a Asian Holy Site settlement on Borneo, Ceylon, Deccan, Fertile Crescent, Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia maps grants the ability to train Marathan Catamarans;
- Building a Trading Post on a Asian Holy Site settlement on Hokkaido, Honshu, Korea, Manchuria, Parallel Rivers, Regicide and Yellow River maps grants the ability to train Wokou Junks;
- Building a Trading Post on an African Kingdom grants the ability to train Privateers;
- Building a Trading Post on a European Royal House grants the ability to train Battleships.
On Horn and Swahili Coast maps, Bandit Catamarans can be trained from the Dock by default.
List[]
While Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs feature Native American settlements, the paradigm changes in The Asian Dynasties to religious communities or Holy Sites (as developer Big Huge Games labels them in the game manual), and later, in Knights of the Mediterranean to European Royal Houses.
Age of Empires III[]
Age of Empires III included the following twelve Native American settlements:
The WarChiefs[]
With the introduction of the Aztecs, Haudenosaunee, and Lakota as major civilizations, The WarChiefs removes the Aztecs, Haudenosaunee, and Lakota minor civilizations which are now only present in the campaign:
The Asian Dynasties[]
The minor civilizations in The Asian Dynasties differ from those in Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs in that they represent religious movements instead of ethnic groups.
The minor civilizations are:
Definitive Edition[]
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition introduces a new American minor civilization, the Lenape, which is only available in the Battle of Queenston Heights scenario and the Unknown map, and the Tengri Shrine, a new Asian minor civilization introduced in update 13.12327
The African Royals[]
The minor civilizations introduced in The African Royals offer the largest number of native units and technologies.
Knights of the Mediterranean[]
"His Royal Highness may condescend to form an alliance, should you build a Trading Post here." - introductory line when selecting a socket for a Royal House.
Instead of ethnic groups or religious movements, the minor civilizations introduced in Knights of the Mediterranean represents various royal dynasties in Europe.
- * These units are only available after researching technologies that ship or allow them to be trained by Trading Posts or Heroes
- ** Spawned via a Royal House ability
Description[]
| “ | Representing larger realms rather than individual people-groups, African Kingdoms are similar to Native American Settlements and Asian Holy Sites, but provide more units and technologies than their counterparts. African civilizations also have special benefits, such as certain free upgrades, as well as enhanced access through their unique Alliances aging-up mechanic. | ” |
| —In-game compendium section for African Kingdoms | ||
| “ | Representing larger entities whose influence transcended national borders rather than individual people-groups, European Royal Houses thematically blur the lines between major and minor civilizations in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. Like Native American Settlements, Asian Holy Sites, and African Kingdoms, a Trading Post must be built on European Royal Houses' Palaces to ally with them. Royal Houses provide a unique ability and more units and technologies on average than other minor civilizations, but these are staggered across multiple ages rather than being available in the Exploration Age. These assets are quite impactful and the units often utilize novel mechanics - such as unit promotions, charged actions, (dis)mounting, and damage deflection - but tend to come at a higher cost than their counterparts. | ” |
| —In-game compendium section for European Royal Houses | ||
| “ | Native inhabitants of the New World who will share their warriors and technology after an alliance is established, An alliance is formed with a group of Native Americans by building a Trading Post near their settlement. Native American warriors do not cost population slots. | ” |
| —In-game compendium section for Native Americans | ||
Trivia[]
- Near native villages, chattering can be heard. Small dialogues are hidden in the chatter, such as: Man: "The bounty is plentiful" and Little Girl: "Can I go?" Woman: "Let's go darling" Little Girl: "I don't think I can make it mommy" can be heard.
- Maps such as Arabia, Arctic Territories, Kamchatka, and Patagonia lack minor civilizations completely.
- The most diverse random map is Silk Road with six possible minor civilizations. If excluded as a variant of three other maps (Himalayas, Mongolia, and Yellow River) due to its changing environment, the title belongs to Mediterranean, with five minor civilizations.
- Excluding the Lenape and the minor civilizations replaced in The WarChiefs, the most exclusive minor civilizations are the Cherokee, Huron, and Seminoles, which are found on four maps each.
- The most exclusive Asian minor civilization is the Udasi Temple, found on five maps, two of which (Silk Road and Himalayas - Upper) are variants of other maps.
- The most exclusive African minor civilizations are the Somalis and Yoruba, also present on five maps.
- The most exclusive European minor civilization is the House of Hanover, present on seven maps.
- The most common minor civilizations are the Jesuit Mission, Sufi Mosque, and House of Habsburg, each appearing on thirteen maps. The Jesuit Mission and Sufi Mosque are the only minor civilizations found on more than one continent.
- The most common minor civilizations that are exclusive to the Americas are the Quechua and Zapotec, appearing on six maps.
- The most common that is exclusive to Asia is the Tengri Shrine, appearing on seven maps.
- The most common that is exclusive to Africa is the Berbers, appearing on nine maps.
