Ship (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the ships in Age of Empires II. For ships in other games of the series, see Ship.

Ships are the only units in Age of Empires II that can move across water. They can also pass shallow water and beach terrain, but can never move on other land terrains. As water is a natural and impenetrable barrier for all units but ships, they are of crucial importance on maps with a lot of water, e.g. Islands, Coastal, or Baltic.

All ships (except Fishing Ships) have Ship armor. Fishing Ships take the exact same bonus damage from all units except the Fire Galley, as if they were regular ships.

Overview

Ships in mid-battle.

All ships move quite fast, possess high pierce armor, and high hit points. Hence, almost all military ships are quite capable of battling land units on the shoreline for they can hit-and-run melee units and kill ranged units with their ranged attack and good resistance against arrow fire. They fare worse against siege weapons and Monks. All ships have an attack bonus against buildings, which makes them good raiding units to clear shorelines, but defensive structures deal bonus damage against ships as well, so they should only be attacked if they can be outranged.

All ships are trained at the Dock and cost wood and gold. The two Dark Age ships, the Fishing Ship and the Transport Ship, only cost wood. All ships resist conversion for +2 mininum and +2 maximum intervals.

List of ships

In the list below, marked in yellow are the unique units, whereas marked in orange are the regional units.

Ship	Age	HP	Ar	PA	At	Ra	RoF	LoS	Sp	Wood	Gold	TT	Civs
Fishing Ship		60	0	4	N/A			5	1.26	75	0	40	All
Transport Ship		100	4	8				5	1.45	125	0	46	All
Trade Cog		80	0	6				6	1.32	100	50	36	All
Galley		120	0	6	​6 pierce	5	3	7	1.43	90	30	60	All
War Galley		135		6	​7 pierce	6		8				36
Galleon		165		8	​8 pierce	7		9					All except Aztecs, Khitans, and Malians
Fire Galley		100	0	4	​0 melee / ​1 pierce	2.49	0.25	5	1.3	75	45	65	All except Vikings
Fire Ship		120		6	​1 melee / ​2 pierce				1.35			36
Fast Fire Ship		140		8	​1 melee / ​3 pierce				1.43				33
Dragon Ship		150	2	8	​1 melee / ​4 pierce	3		6	1.54				Chinese
Demolition Raft		45	0	2	​90 melee	0	N/A	6	1.5	70	50	45	All except Koreans and Romans
Demolition Ship		60		3	​110 melee				1.6
Heavy Demolition Ship		70		5	​140 melee				1.6				26
Cannon Galleon		120	0	6	​50 melee	13	10	15	1.1	200	150	46	35
Elite Cannon Galleon		150		8	​60 melee	15		17					21
Dromon		125	1	6	​50 melee	12	8	14	1.2	175	150	65	5
Lou Chuan		175	0	9	​5 pierce (anti-unit) ​25 melee (anti-building)	10 (anti-unit) 13 (anti-building)	5	15	1.15	250	225	60	5
Longboat		130	0	6	​7 pierce	6	3	8	1.54	100	50	25	Vikings
Elite Longboat		160		8	​8 pierce	7		9
Turtle Ship		200	6	5	​50 melee	6	6	8	1.05	180	180	50	Koreans
Elite Turtle Ship		300	8	6		7
Caravel		130	0	8	​6 pierce	6	3	9	1.43	90	40	25	Portuguese
Elite Caravel		150			​8 pierce	7
Thirisadai		250	2	10	​9 pierce	7	3.45	8	1.3	180	60	40	Dravidians

The following ships are only available in the Scenario Editor:

Ship	HP	Ar	PA	At	Ra	RoF	LoS	Sp
Canoe	70	0	6	7	5	3	8	1.5
Junk	75	0	0	N/A			7	1.21

Technologies

Listed below are all technologies that benefit ships. Marked with yellow background are unique technologies. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Technology	Researched at	Age	Civilization	Effect
Caravan	Market		All	Trade Cogs move 20% faster
Gillnets	Dock		All	Fishing Ships gather food 25% faster
Careening	Dock		All	Increases pierce armor by 1 and Transport Ship capacity by 5
Dry Dock			33	Increases speed by 15% and Transport Ship capacity by 10
Shipwright	Dock		23	Lowers wood cost by -20% and decreases creation time by 35% or boosts creation by 54%
Fletching	Blacksmith		All	Increases range and attack of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, and Thirisadais by 1
Bodkin Arrow			All
Bracer			37
Ballistics	University		All	Improves accuracy of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, and Thirisadais at moving targets
Chemistry	University		All	Increases attack of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, Thirisadais, and Dromons by 1; enables the creation of Cannon Galleons
Siege Engineers	University		29	Increases range of Dromons, Cannon Galleons, Turtle Ships, and anti-building mode Lou Chuans by 1, and attack vs buildings by 20%
Heresy (die upon getting converted)	Monastery		26	Converted ships sink instead of changing color
Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)	Monastery		All	Increases conversion resistance by 15%
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)	Monastery		41	Increases conversion resistance
Cilician Fleet	Castle		Armenians	Demolition Ships +20% blast radius Galley-line and Dromons +1 range
Wagenburg Tactics	Castle		Bohemians	Cannon Galleons move 15% faster
Greek Fire	Castle		Byzantines	Increases range of Fire Ships by 1 and blast radius of Dromons by 0.2
Rocketry	Castle		Chinese	Lou Chuans +25% attack Lou Chuans fire rockets at units
Grand Trunk Road	Castle		Hindustanis	Trade Cogs are 10% more efficient
Silk Road	Castle		Italians	Trade Cogs cost -50%
Thunderclap Bombs	Castle		Jurchens	Lou Chuans projectiles explode after impact lost Lou Chuans explode
Carrack	Castle		Portuguese	Ships' armor increased by +1/+1
Arquebus	Castle		Portuguese	Improves accuracy of Cannon Galleons at moving targets
Ballistas	Castle		Romans	Galley-line gets +2 attack
Bolt Magazine	Castle		Shu	Lou Chuans anti-unit attack fire three additional projectiles
First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max)	Castle		Sicilians	Ships are more resistant to conversion
Artillery	Castle		Turks	Cannon Galleons gain +2 range
Bogsveigar	Castle		Vikings	Longboats get +1 attack
Red Cliffs Tactics	Castle		Wu	Demolition Raft line deals additional 5 damage per second for 5 seconds
Sitting Tiger	Castle		Wu	Lou Chuans anti-building attacks fire two additional projectiles

Civilizations

The best naval civilizations are the Armenians, Berbers, Bengalis, Byzantines, Dravidians, Italians, Koreans, Portuguese, Romans, Saracens, and Vikings. The Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Persians, and Spanish also have strong naval bonuses, but less strong than the afore-mentioned civilizations.

The Berbers, Dravidians, and Spanish are the only civilizations to have access to all naval units and technologies. The Byzantines and Chinese do as well, if the Dromon and Lou Chuan are considered equal to the Elite Cannon Galleon, and the Dragon Ship a better version of the Fast Fire Ship.

The Cumans have the worst navy in the game, as they lack all late-game important technologies that affect ships, and they do not have Bracer or even Cannon Gallons. The Bohemians, Hindustanis, Malians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Poles, Teutons, Franks, Georgians, Khitans and Wei also have lackluster navies. The Aztecs, Malians and Khitans are the only three civilizations that do not have access to Galleons.

Availability grid

The following table shows the availability of the units and technologies for every civilization. Unique units and units and technologies that are available to all civilizations are not shown in the table.

	= Available
	= Unavailable

Civilization
Armenians
Aztecs
Bengalis
Berbers
Bohemians
Britons
Bulgarians
Burgundians
Burmese
Byzantines
Celts
Chinese
Cumans
Dravidians
Ethiopians
Franks
Georgians
Goths
Gurjaras
Hindustanis
Huns
Inca
Italians
Japanese
Jurchens
Khitans
Khmer
Koreans
Lithuanians
Magyars
Malay
Malians
Maya
Mongols
Persians
Poles
Portuguese
Romans
Saracens
Shu
Sicilians
Slavs
Spanish
Tatars
Teutons
Turks
Vietnamese
Vikings
Wei
Wu
Civilization

Taking into account that the Dromon, Lou Chuan and (Elite) Cannon Galleon are mutually exclusive, the Berbers, Byzantines, Chinese, Dravidians, and Spanish have a complete Dock. Of these, only the Berbers have access to Siege Engineers, meaning they are the only civilization that can fully upgrade every ship.

Civilization bonuses

The following civilizations have bonuses that benefit naval units:

• Armenians: Galley-line and Dromons fire an additional projectile. The additional projectile for the Galley line deals 1 damage.
• Aztecs: Warships created 15% faster.
• Bengalis: Ships regenerate 15 HP per minute.
• Berbers: Ships move 10% faster.
• Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost -50% food.
• Burgundians: Cannon Galleons have +25% attack. Caravan and Gillnets can be researched in the Feudal Age, and cost -33% food.
• Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Fire Ships and Dromons attack 20% faster.
• Chinese: The Fire Galley line moves 5%/10% faster in the Castle/Imperial Age. Technologies that benefit ships are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Dravidians: Fishing Ships carry +15.
• Georgians: Ships receive -20% damage (-40% instead of -25%) when fighting from higher elevation.
• Gurjaras: Docks can garrison Fishing Ships (max 10).
• Hindustanis: Cannon Galleons have +1/+1 armor.
• Italians: Dock and University technologies are 33% cheaper. Fishing Ships are 15% cheaper. Cannon Galleons are 20% cheaper.
• Japanese: Fishing Ships have double HP, +2 pierce armor, and work 5%/10%/15%/20% faster in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Koreans: Warships cost -20% wood.
• Persians: Docks have double HP and work 5%/10%/15%/20% faster in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: Ships have +10% HP and cost -20% gold.
• Romans: Galley-line and Dromons have +1/+1 armor.
• Saracens: Transport Ships have double HP and +5 transport capacity. Galleys attack 25% faster.
• Shu: Lou Chuans move +10/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Age.
• Spanish: Cannon Galleons fire 18% faster, and have Ballistics-like accuracy and faster missiles. Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost no gold.
• Tatars: Ships deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from elevations.
• Turks: Chemistry is free. Cannon Galleons have +25% HP. The Elite Cannon Galleon upgrade is 50% cheaper.
• Vietnamese: Gillnets costs no wood.
• Vikings: Warships are 15%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Wei: Lou Chuans cost -25%.
• Wu: Careening and Dry Dock are available one Age earlier; -75% cost and research time.

Team bonuses

The following civilizations have team bonuses that benefit naval units:

• Bengalis: Trade Cogs yield 10% food in addition to gold.
• Bulgarians: Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer are researched 80% faster.
• Japanese: Galleys have +50% Line of Sight.
• Lithuanians: Devotion, Faith, and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
• Malians: Ballistics and Chemistry are researched 80% faster.
• Portuguese: Technologies that benefit ships are researched 25% faster.
• Sicilians: Transport Ships have +5 Line of Sight and cost -50%.
• Spanish: Trade Cogs generate 25% more gold. Researching technologies that benefit ships provides 20 gold each.
• Teutons: Ships are more resistant to conversion.
• Turks: Cannon Galleons and Turtle Ships are created 25% faster.

Appearance

Excluding Fishing Ships and Scenario Editor ships, which always have the same appearance, the ships are one of the few units with varying models that show their origin. Nearly every architecture set has a corresponding rig for their ships:

• African: Reed lug rig with solar disk and crescent.
• American: Crab claw sail with double-headed serpent.
• Central Asian: Lateen rig with Wind Horse.
• Central European: Square rig with Arrow Cross.
  • Longboats use banded square sails.
• East Asian: Junk rig with Vermilion Bird.
  • Turtle Ships do not have sails, but they have flags with the same symbol.
  • In-game Lou Chuans and Dragon Ships also do not have sails.
• Eastern European: Square rig with Patriarchal Cross.
• Mediterranean: Square rig with Maltese Cross.
  • Transport Ships use Lateen rig.
  • Fire Ships, Fast Fire Ships, and Heavy Demolition Ships combine Lateen and Square rigs.
  • Caravels use Lateen rig with the Order of Christ cross.
  • Dromons use Lateen rig in a different configuration, with a Roman Aquila and the background colored instead of the emblem
• Middle Eastern: Lateen rig with crossed scimitars.
• Southeast Asian: Junk rig with elephant head.
  • Thirisadais use Tanja rig with a peacock feather.
• Western European: Square rig with lion rampant.

Trivia

• Fishing Ships always use a single, bicolor Lateen rig.
• Before the Definitive Edition, the Cannon Galleon and the Elite Cannon Galleon were the only two non-unique units that shared sprites.
• The South Asian architecture set is the only set without an accompanying unique sail design: Hindustani and Gurjara ships use Middle Eastern sails, while Bengali and Dravidian ships use Southeast Asian sails.
  • Historically, classical Indian vessels used tall square sails. The use of triangular lateen sail in the Indian Ocean before the 1500s is contested, some historians believed that they are only widely used after the coming of Mediterranean influence through the Portuguese contact (post-1498).
  • The Thirisadai model uses a Borobudur ship (Javanese ship type) as a reference. As such, the sail model is a canted rectangular sail or Tanja sail, an Austronesian type of sail.
• The untrainable Junk uses the Junk rig without a symbol.
• Neither the Canoe nor the Dragon Ship have sails, though the latter has a vertical flag with a Chinese-styled dragon (loong).
• Historically, neither the Aztecs nor the Mayans had sails at the time of Spanish contact; the crab claw rig they use in the game originated in Southeast Asia and was used by Austronesian peoples in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
  • The use of sails by the Incas and other pre-Columbian peoples of the South American Pacific coast and their nature is highly debated. A 1526 Spanish account describes a native ship with lateen sails, and colonial art depicts native ships with crab claw sails (though of a different type to those in the game), which could have been what the 1526 ship actually used. Natives also used lug sails during the colonial period, which some historians presume were in use before the conquest, but others believe were copied from the Spanish.
• The Dromons and Lou Chuans are the only two regional ships in the game. They both replace the (elite) Cannon Galleons.
  • Dromons are shared by the Armenians, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, and Romans. This warship is at the disposal of the civilizations that existed at the end of the fall of the Western Roman Empire and did not acquire advanced gunpowder weapons, being the most important warship of the Byzantine navy from the 5th to the 12th century AD.
  • Lou Chuans are shared by the Chinese, Jurchens, Shu, Wei, and Wu. These civilizations are part of the Sinosphere (Jurchens) or represent Chinese dynasties/kingdoms: the in-game Chinese since update 141935 roughly represent the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), and Shu, Wei, Wu were three kingdoms (220-280 AD) fighting each other to reunify China after the collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD).

Gallery

All generic Dock warships in the Definitive Edition, with Central European sails

Definitive Edition sails for the architecture sets (left to right, top to bottom): Row 1 - African, Central Asian, Central European, East Asian; Row 2 - Eastern European, Mediterranean, Native American, Middle Eastern; Row 3 - Southeast Asian, Western European.

All the unique ships in the Definitive Edition

The different sails introduced in the HD expansions, represented by Galleons

The different sails in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors, represented by Galleons

All regional warships

All civilian and untrainable ships in the Definitive Edition

All unique ships in the HD Edition

Ships of the world as seen in Fra Mauro's map (1460 AD)