Trade Cart (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the unit in Age of Empires, see Trade Cart (Age of Empires).

Trade Cart
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Type	Civilian
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Feudal Age
Training
Trained at	Market
Wood	100
Gold	50
Training time	51 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	70
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	1
Line of Sight	7
Ability	Generate gold by trading

“	Trade unit used for generating gold at another player's Market.	”
—Age of Empires II description

The Trade Cart is an economic unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Market.

Since update 56005, the icon and sprite of the unit is dependent on the civilization. Originally, only the American civilizations had a unique sprite (but not icon). The acronyms in the infobox represent the following civilizations:

• EU (European) - European civilizations and Cumans; also used by all civilizations prior to update 56005
• NA (Native American) - Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans
• African - Ethiopians and Malians
• EA (East Asian) - Mongols, Chinese, Burmese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Malay, Bengalis, Dravidians
• ME (Middle Eastern) - Hindustanis, Gurjaras, Tatars, Turks, Persians, Saracens, Berbers

Overview

Trade Carts are used to trade and generate gold by traveling between two Markets. Trade Carts do not actually engage in the exchanging of resources between two civilizations. Empty Trade Carts travel to another player's Market empty-handed and return with gold. They receive their gold from the Markets of other players/allies, and deposit them at the Markets of their owners. The amount of gold gained depends on the distance from one Market to another. The farther away the Market is, the more gold the Trade Carts generate, the amount is almost quadratically proportional to the distance.

Trade Carts may engage in trade with allied, neutral, and enemy civilizations. However, trading with enemy civilizations is ill-advised unless the enemy has resigned, since the Trade Carts are likely to be slaughtered upon reaching the enemy Market.

In order to generate at least one gold, the two Markets used for trade need to be at least 5 tiles away. However, trade does work in fractional gold too, so even if the UI does not show gold, given some time, gold can be seen accumulating. The maximum amount gained per trip is 517 gold, if both Markets are placed in the very edges of a ludicrous (formerly called LudiKRIS) sized map.

Trade is an extremely important element in late games due to the limited amount of gold available from mines and Relics on most maps. Therefore, trade routes are a primary target for attacks and should be guarded accordingly.

Comparison to the Trade Cog

Trade is also possible on the water between Docks with Trade Cogs. The Trade Cog is faster (1.32 to 1) and benefits from Careening, Shipwright, and Dry Dock (which, prior to the Definitive Edition, did not improve the gold gathering rate, as Trade Cogs got less gold per trip to compensate for the speed increase. This is no longer true in the Definitive Edition and there is an increase in overall gold gathering rate with Dry Dock). However, Docks at the same distance generate about -25% gold than Markets, so that the gold gathering rate for a single Trade Cart is comparable to that of a single Trade Cog. However, as Trade Cogs are more prone to bump into each other and usually move along the shoreline, they quickly become less efficient than Trade Carts when more of them share a trade route. Because of this, Trade Carts are almost always preferable if a landmass of sufficient length exists.

In The African Kingdoms, the amount of gold earned per trip has been increased to offset this, making Trade Cogs more viable. It depends on the map and available water and land trade lines whether they should be preferred to Trade Carts. They are more efficient if single units are considered, but are also more affected by a congested trade route. The fact that they will always return to a particular Dock (closest to 100 tiles distance) means that additional Docks placed for warship production can disrupt a trade route, while there is no such reason to place extra Markets. Also, the Trade Cart is usually safer, as its routes can be accordingly protected by defensive structures or even the player's bases, while the water is more open, making the routes vulnerable to enemy warships.

Further statistics

Technologies
Conversion resistance	Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
Movement speed	Caravan (+50%)
Resource cost	Silk Road (-50%, Italians only)
Ability	Grand Trunk Road (generate +10% gold, Hindustanis only)

Aura enhancements
Regeneration	Caravanserai (+1 HP/min, when allied with Hindustanis or Persians only)
Movement speed	Caravanserai (+20%, when allied with Hindustanis or Persians only)

Civilization bonuses
Damage resistance	Georgians (-20% damage {-40% instead of -25%} when on higher elevation)
Resource cost	Portuguese (-20% gold)

Team bonuses
Conversion resistance	Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
Creation speed	Bohemians (+80%)
Ability	Bengalis (yield 10% food in addition to gold) Spanish (generate +25% gold)

Civilization bonuses

• Burgundians: Caravan can be researched in the Feudal Age and costs -33% food.
• Burmese: Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Celts: Trade Carts can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
• Chinese: Technologies that benefit Trade Carts are 10%/15% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
• Spanish: Researching technologies that benefit Trade Carts provides 20 gold each.

Team bonuses

• Bohemians: Caravan is researched 80% faster.
• Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
• Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Trade Carts are researched 25% faster.

Changelog

The Conquerors

• Heresy introduced.
• Caravan introduced.
• Spanish: Trade Carts generate +33% gold.

The African Kingdoms

• Portuguese: Trade Carts cost -15% gold.
• Spanish: With patch 4.8, Trade Carts generate +25% gold.

Definitive Edition

• Portuguese: With update 39284, Trade Carts cost -20% gold.

Heroes

There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a European Trade Cart:

• Emperor in a Barrel

History

“	The trade cart represents the wagon, pack horses, and other means of land transport used for the overland trade of goods during the Middle Ages. One important land trade route was the movement of wool from England across the Channel into France. The wool was manufactured into cloth and this cloth was carried into Italy to exchange for spices and silk from the East. The most famous land trade route of the age was the Silk Road, from China to Constantinople and the Levant. Camel and horse trains carried silks across forbidding desert terrain in exchange for Western gold and silver.	”
—Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual

Trivia

• The The Age of Kings booklet uses the alpha Trade Cart icon.
• The Trade Cart is one of only four trainable land units to have more than one design, the others being the Monk, the Villager, and the Flemish Militia. Prior to update 56005, only the Native American civilizations had a unique design, since they have no access to horses of any kind, their variant is not drawn by a horse. Prior to the Definitive Edition, unlike the Native American Monk, the Native American Trade Cart did not have a unique icon. Since update 56005, new appearances of Trade Carts have been added for different architecture sets, as described in the Gallery below.
  • However, Native American civilizations did not use the wheel for anything larger than small toys, so their version of the Trade Cart (a wheeled cart pulled by a human) is still historically inaccurate. Furthermore, the cart design is the same used by the European unit, unlike the new unique cart designs given to other non-European civilizations.
• The Trade Carts of the East Asian civilizations are drawn by African Water Buffaloes, which have never been domesticated.
• The Cumans and Tatars, although sharing the same architecture set, have a different Trade Cart skin. The Cumans have the European horse-pulled one, while The Tatars have the one pulled by a camel.
• The South Asian civilizations have a similar quirk: Gurjaras and Hindustanis have the camel cart, while Dravidians and Bengalis have the water buffalo cart.
• The various models of the Trade Carts have appropriate selection sounds, i.e. the sound of the horse, camel, buffalo, or donkey. The Native American Trade Cart has the male Villager voice, and if converted, it changes to the new civilization's voice.
• Since update 81058, idle Trade Carts receive a floating exclamation mark on top when Idle Pointers is enabled in the Game tab in the settings.

Gallery

Definitive Edition Trade Carts: Europeans, East Asian/Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Native American, and African.

A group of European Trade Carts in the HD Edition.

A group of Native American Trade Carts in the HD Edition.

Sprites of Trade Carts in the Definitive Edition. European cart on the left, American on the right.

Sprites of a Trade Cart (original) being destroyed.

Native American (original) render.

Idle Trade Carts marked when Idle Pointers is enabled

Alpha model closeup.

Alpha render.

A Camel-drawn Trade Cart in the game artwork.

Beginnings of trade in the William Wallace storyline.

See also

• Trade Cart in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties