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This article is about the unit in Age of Mythology. For the unit in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend, see Pirate Ship (Age of Empires IV). |
| “ | The Black Sails of the pirate Kamos. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Pirate Ship is an naval unit encountered regularly in the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. It cannot be trained in standard matches but can be found in the Scenario Editor. They come in two forms: Egyptian and Norse.
Technologies[]
Copper Armor, Bronze Armor, and Iron Armor: +10% hack and crush armors.- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields, and Iron Shields: +10% pierce armor.
- Enclosed Deck: doubles unit carrying capacity to 24.
- Heroic Fleet: +50% attack against myth units.
Campaign appearances[]
| “ | Black Sails! A landing party! | ” |
| —Zethos warning Arkantos in the Omens scenario | ||
Pirate Ships appear in the following campaign scenarios:
- Omens
- Consequences
- Strangers (cinematic only)
- Let's Go
- Good Advice
- Watch That First Step
Strategy[]
Pirate Ships function similarly to Longboats as they fire arrows and are mainly used to transport units. While they do not benefit from the Armory "weapons" upgrades, they are still more powerful than regular archer ships as they have more hit points and armor. It is advised to keep melee units away from the shore as they are highly vulnerable to the ships' ranged attacks.
The best way to take them out is with siege weapons or naval myth units (especially since the Heroic Fleet upgrade was not available in the original campaign). Another plausible way to beat them is with constructing fortifications close to shores, or Siege Ships, such as Juggernauts.
History[]
| “ | The skull flying from these "black sails" has been used by many Mediterranean pirates, but is currently the symbol of the Minotaur, Kamos. | ” |
| —In-game section for the Egyptian variant | ||
Although represented by Egyptians, and sometimes Greeks (and Norse to extent) the Pirates are most likely representations of the Sea Peoples (themselves of unknown origin), this could explain how they are so widespread in Fall of the Trident, this could also explain their absence since Fall of the Trident, since they would have been destroyed by the Egyptian Military and Navy under Ramses II.
The black sails' of these ships may also be a reference to the myth of Theseus, who after killing the Minotaur (incidentally, the symbol found on the black sails), and either leaving Ariadne behind in Crete (or having her abducted while sailing by Dionysus), depending on the writer/narrator, forgot to change the sails' color into white while returning to Athens. Aegeus, in grief, committed suicide upon viewing the black sails, and the sea where he fell was then known as the Aegean Sea.
Trivia[]
- Although the Pirate Ship can be upgraded by Conscript Sailors, it cannot be trained at the Dock and so the upgrade is useless.
- This is due to the use of the
Shiptag in the techtree/techtreex.xml code.
- This is due to the use of the
- Both versions of the Pirate Ship have the same icon as the Longboat. Only the Egyptian variant shows any text in the History/Mythology section.
- Both variations of Pirate Ships are essentially merged Longboats, Transport Ships, and Kebenits.
Gallery[]
