| “ | Chests of 300 Coin and 1 Privateer. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Gentleman Pirate is a Fortress Age politician in Age of Empires III, available to the French, Germans, Italians, Russians, and Swedes. As soon as the player advances to the Fortress Age by choosing him, a Privateer and 300 coin appear in the Home City shipment point.
Before the Definitive Edition, The Gentleman Pirate is available to the Germans by default, the Dutch at a level 20 Home City, and the British and Russians at a level 30 Home City.
Strategy[]
Similarly to The Admiral of the Ocean Sea, The Gentleman Pirate should be considered on naval maps or some land maps with lakes or rivers that allows naval shipments. Each European civilization has access to only one of these naval politicians. Like its counterpart, it is better to avoid The Gentleman Pirate on land maps.
The Gentleman Pirate provides 1 Privateer. Privateers are mercenaries in addition to their warship status, so it can be convenient to have a naval deck that also has improvements for mercenaries. Privateers do not count for the creation limit of other ships in most maps (except in some African and Asian Maps that enable Privateers at the Dock/Port by allying with some Native Settlements). The 300 coin can be helpful for training outlaws, mercenaries, warships, or other troops, researching some technologies, or aging up to the Industrial Age.
If the Italians ship the Advanced Politicians Home City Card, they will get a better deal by getting two Privateers instead of one. If the player is going to use The Gentleman Pirate, they should pick either The Governor for its Outpost and coin or The Quartermaster for wood in the Commerce Age, The Italians may also consider The Medici. The Gentleman Pirate may be followed up by politicians such as The Tycoon, The Logistician, or The Pope (Italians). None of the Imperial Age politicians have a naval bonus. However, players may consider either The Mercenary Contractor or El Presidente as a final pick, due to the coin and mercenary side of The Gentleman Pirate.
Players may opt for a revolution instead of Aging up into the Imperial Age; however, they will lose Imperial Age upgrades. The French can revolt into Haiti, which gives several improvements to Privateers, so picking The Gentleman Pirate may aid in that strategy, especially on a naval map. The Germans may consider to revolt into Gran Colombia, which have several naval upgrades in their deck. Similar logic applies with the Italians and the Barbary States.
Recommended shipments[]
All civilizations[]
- Cords of wood and Chests of Coin: Warships require these resources.
- Advanced Dock: Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 85% faster; warship train time -33%. Germans may get this shipment through the Gran Colombia revolution.
- Economic shipments that improve Wood and coin gathering.
- Fish Market, Rendering Plant, Schooners (Italians, Russians and Swedes), Whale Oil (Swedes): Fishing ships play an important role in the economy on naval maps.
- Warship shipments.
- Improved Warships: Warships get +25% hit points and attack. The French can obtain this from base deck or from Haiti revolution. Germans may get this shipment through the Gran Colombia revolution.
- Naval Gunners: Warships get +20% attack. French may obtain this shipment from base deck or Haiti revolution. Germans can obtain this only through the Gran Colombia revolution but not from their base deck.
- Admiralty: Armor Plating, Carronade, Percussion Lock, Ship's Howitzers, Imperial Men-'o-War upgrade, and Imperial Monitor upgrade cost -60%.
- TEAM Coastal Defenses: Buildings get +0.8 attack multiplier against ships. Players may want also good defenses on a naval map.
- Advanced Arsenal ( All except Swedes and Italians): Provides Arsenals with Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners, and Trunion. The coin may be invested in one of these technologies or for training troops, Outlaws or Mercenaries that may benefit from Arsenal technologies.
- Advanced Market: Markets get +20% buy/sell factors. Helpful if the player needs to buy food or wood with the 300 coin.
- Mercenary/Outlaw/Native unit shipments: The coin may be used to pay part of the required cost of one of these shipments. In Swedes case these type of shipments also allows them to train these units at the Tavern, Stables, Barracks or Galleons.
- Mercenary Loyalty: This recudes the cost of Mercenary shipments.
- Theaters (All except Germans): Upgrades the Tavern to the Theater which can train Ronins; Outlaw use -2 population.
- Gunboats (Russians and Swedes through the Finland revolution): Grants Imperial Monitor upgrade; Caravels can use the Long-range bombardment ability.
- Rhode Island Militia (French, Italians and Swedes through the United States revolution): Ships 10 Veteran State Militia and 5 Militiamen; Caravels, Galleons/Fluyts, Frigates, and Ironclads get +10% ranged attack per garrisoned State Militia and/or Militiaman (up to +60%); turns all Crossbowmen/Longbowmen and Pikemen into State Militia; State Militia replace Crossbowmen, Longbowmen, Pikemen, and Halberdiers at Barracks and Forts, and can be upgraded to Guard.
- Outlaw Combat (Swedes and Russians through the Hungary revolution; Italians through Barbary States revolution): Outlaws and mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack.
- Savolax Jaegers and Jaeger Combat (both shipments available to Swedes and Russians through the Finland revolution): Jaegers are mercenaries and these shipments improves them.
French[]
- Fur Trade: Exchanges all food for 1.2× the coin.
- Valmy: Ships 1 Battleship and Battleships now benefit from Defence.
- Letter of Marque (through the Haiti revolution): Upgrades Pirates to Buccaneers, which get +12 Line of Sight, a ranged attack, and can gather crates; Privateers generate 0.5 coin/sec.; Buccaneers and Privateers get +3.0 attack multiplier against treasure guardians and can collect treasures with doubled resource and XP yield.
- Royal Dahomets (through the Haiti revolution): Dahomey Amazons get +15% hit points and attack, and can be trained at Taverns, Native Embassies, and Battleships.
Germans[]
- Offshore Support: Warships get +2 LOS and range, and +15% damage.
- Mercenary Camps: Upgrades Taverns into Mercenary Camps that get cost -50%, build time -25%, build bounty and hit points -50%, auto gather coin -60%, build limit +3, and offer a fixed assortment of German mercenaries: Landsknechts, Jaegers, Giant Grenadiers, Black Riders, Pandours.
- Treaty of Westphalia: Provides the Church with Tilly's Discipline, Wallenstein's Contracts, and Zweihänder technologies; Wallenstein's Contracts reduces the cost of Mercenaries and Mercenary shipments.
- Colombian Navy (through the Gran Colombia revolution): Caravels are fully replaced with Sloops at Docks and on the map; Sloops get +15% hit points and attack; Imperial Men-o'-War and Imperial Monitor become available.
- Improved Mercenaries: Mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack.
Italians[]
- Advanced Politicians.
- Milanese Arsenal: Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Arsenal upgrades are 50% cheaper and provides Arsenals with Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners and Trunion. The coin may be invested in one of these technologies or for training troops, Outlaws or Mercenaries that may benefit from Arsenal technologies.
- Lombard shipments: The 300 coin can be turned into food and wood if needed.
- TEAM Frutta di Mare: Ships 1 Minke Whale, 1 Fishing Ground containing 10,000 food and 4 Fishing Boats.
- Guardia di Finanza: Adds coin equal to 5% of the cost of all defeated enemy units to the player's stockpile up to a maximum of 3,000 coin.
- Venetian Arsenal: Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Arsenals now increase the work rate of nearby military buildings and Docks by 60%.
- Gondolas: Technologies now also grant a free Fishing Boat.
- Holy League: Ships 1 Battleship; Battleships now have the 'Deflection' ability which absorbs damage taken by nearby ships owned by the player.
- Roundel Attack and Sopracomito: these improves the Galleass.
- Trattoria: Ships 2 Tavern Wagons and enables Taverns to be built up to a build limit of 2. This shipment can be obtained from the base deck or through the Argentina revolution.
- Corsair Captain (through Barbary States revolution): Ships the Corsair Captain; Corsair Marksmen, Corsair Captain, Barbary Warriors, and Explorer are able to gather crates, get greater resource rewards from treasures and yield coin from destroyed ships and buildings (instead of kill XP).
Russians[]
- TEAM Cold Water Port: Warships cost -15%.
- Imperator: Ships 1 Battleship; Battleships get -20% hit points and +20% attack; the "1 Battleship" card cost -20%.
Swedes[]
- Prospector wagon shipments.
- Torp shipments: Torps can gather coin and wood for more ships, Outlaws or Mercenaries.
- Oxenstierna Reforms: Exchanges all coin for 1.25 times the food.
- Vasa: Ships 1 Battleship*; Frigates and Galleons return 100 coin, and Battleships 200 coin when sunk by enemy unit.
- German Mercenary Contracts: Mercenaries get +20% hit points and attack; Landsknechts and Jaegers can be trained at Barracks, Blockhouses, Taverns, and Galleons; Black Riders can be trained at Galleons
Changelog[]
Age of Empires III[]
- British and Dutch: Can choose The Gentleman Pirate to advance to the Fortress Age.
- French: Cannot choose The Gentleman Pirate to advance to the Fortress Age.
- The Gentleman Pirate provides 1 Privateer and 2 Barbary Corsairs.
Definitive Edition[]
- British and Dutch: The Gentleman Pirate removed from the Fortress Age politician options.
- French: The Gentleman Pirate added to the Fortress Age politician options.
- Home City level requirement removed.
Knights of the Mediterranean[]
- With update 13.27885, the 2 Barbary Corsairs are replaced by 300 coin.
