Ships (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, but can never move on land. 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 HP. 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.

List of ships

Marked with yellow background are unique units.

Ship	A	HP	At	Ar	PA	Ra	ROF	LOS	Sp	W	G	TT	Ci
Fishing Ship		60	0	0	4	0	N/A	5	1.26	75	0	40	42
Transport Ship		100	0	4	8	0	N/A	5	1.45	125	0	46	42
Trade Cog		80	0	0	6	0	N/A	6	1.32	100	50	36	42
Galley		120	6	0	6	5	3	7	1.43	90	30	60	42
War Galley		135	7	0	6	6	3	8	1.43	90	30	36	42
Galleon		165	8	0	8	7	3	9	1.43	90	30	36	40
Fire Galley		100	1	0	4	2.49	0.25	5	1.3	75	45	60	41
Fire Ship		120	2	0	6	2.49	0.25	5	1.35	75	45	60	41
Fast Fire Ship		140	3	0	8	2.49	0.25	5	1.43	75	45	60	28
Demolition Raft		45	90	0	2	0	N/A	6	1.5	70	50	45	41
Demolition Ship		60	110	0	3	0	N/A	6	1.6	70	50	45	41
Heavy Demolition Ship		70	140	0	5	0	N/A	6	1.6	70	50	45	23
Cannon Galleon		120	35	0	6	13	10	15	1.1	200	150	46	37
Elite Cannon Galleon		150	45	0	8	15	10	17	1.1	200	150	46	22
Canoe	N/A	70	7	0	6	5	3	8	1.5	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
Dragon Ship	N/A	150	4	2	8	3	0.25	6	1.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
Junk	N/A	75	0	0	0	0	0	7	1.21	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
Longboat		130	7	0	6	6	3	8	1.54	100	50	25	1
Elite Longboat		160	8	0	8	7	3	9	1.54	100	50	25	1
Turtle Ship		200	50	6	5	6	6	8	0.9	180	180	50	1
Elite Turtle Ship		300	50	8	6	6	6	8	1.035	180	180	50	1
Caravel		130	6	0	8	6	3	9	1.43	90	40	45	1
Elite Caravel		150	8	0	8	7	3	9	1.43	90	40	45	1
Thirisadai		250	9	2	10	6	3.45	8	1.3	180	60	40	1

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 50% faster
Careening	Dock		All	Increases pierce armor by 1 and Transport Ship capacity by 5
Gillnets	Dock		All	Fishing Ships gather food 25% faster
Dry Dock	Dock		33	Increases speed by 15% and Transport Ship capacity by 10
Shipwright	Dock		21	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	Blacksmith		All	Increases range and attack of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, and Thirisadais by 1
Bracer	Blacksmith		35	Increases range and attack of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, and Thirisadais by 1
Ballistics	University		All	Improves accuracy of ranged ships (except Cannon Galleons) at moving targets
Chemistry	University		All	Increases attack of Galleys, Longboats, Caravels, and Thirisadais by 1; enables the creation of Cannon Galleons
Heresy	Monastery		24	Converted ships sink instead of changing color
Faith	Monastery		38	Increases conversion resistance
Wagenburg Tactics	Castle		Bohemians	Cannon Galleons move 15% faster
Greek Fire	Castle		Byzantines	Increases range of Fire Ships by 1
Grand Trunk Road	Castle		Hindustanis	Trade Cogs are 10% more efficient
Silk Road	Castle		Italians	Trade Cogs cost halved
Panokseon (before update 42848)	Castle		Koreans	Turtle Ships move 15% faster (now the technology is imbibed in the Elite Turtle Ship upgrade)
Carrack	Castle		Portuguese	Ships' armor increased by +1/+1
Arquebus	Castle		Portuguese	Improves accuracy of Cannon Galleons at moving targets
First Crusade	Castle		Sicilians	Ships are more resistant to conversion
Artillery	Castle		Turks	Cannon Galleons gain +2 range

Civilizations

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

The Byzantines, Dravidians, and Spanish are the only civilizations to have access to all naval units and technologies.

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, Malians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Poles, Teutons, Franks, and Huns also have lackluster navies. The Aztecs and Malians are the only two civilizations that do not have access to Galleons.

Civilization bonuses

The following civilizations have bonuses that benefit naval units:

• Aztecs: Warships created 11% 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 -50% food.
• Burmese: Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Byzantines: Fire Ships attack 25% faster.
• Chinese: Demolition Ships have +50% HP, and technologies that benefit ships are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Dravidians: Fishing Ships carry +15.
• Gurjaras: Fishing Ships can garrison in Docks.
• 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 (excluding Transport Ships) cost -20% wood.
• Persians: Docks have double HP and work 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
• Portuguese: Ships have +10% HP and cost -20% gold. Technologies that benefit ships are researched 30% faster.
• Saracens: Transport Ships have double HP and +5 transport capacity. Galleys attack 25% faster.
• 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 +25% damage 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 (including Transport Ships) are 15%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

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: Faith and Heresy are researched 20% faster.
• Malians: Ballistics and Chemistry are researched 80% faster.
• Sicilians: Transport Ships have +5 Line of Sight and cost -50%.
• Spanish: Trade Cogs generate 25% more gold.
• 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 ships: 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.
• 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.
• 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 ships that shared sprites.
• The South Asian architecture set is the only without an accompanying unique sail design: Hindustani and Gurjara ships use Middle Eastern sails, while Bengalis and Dravidians 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 using canted rectangular sail/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 an Asian-styled dragon.
• 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.

Gallery

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

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

All Dock warships in the Definitive Edition, with Central Asian sails

All civilian and untrainable ships (DE)

All unique ships (HD)

A group of Thirisadais, unique ship of the Dravidians