| “ | Cheap Naval Vessel with bonus attack vs Fire Ships, Unique units and Buildings. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Heavy Catamaran is a naval vessel in The Oceanic Kingdoms that can be trained at the Dock at the Imperial Age. Heavy Catamarans are cheap, frail, small, fast ships primarily used as a counter against Fire Ships, Unique Ships, and for Shore Attacks, it is considered the water equivalent of the Elite Skirmisher, Hussar or the Halberdier. It is only available to Polynesians, Micronesians, Malay and Philipinians
Tactics[]
Whilst being a relatively weak naval unit compared to the other ships at the same age, the Heavy Catamaran advantage relies on its cheapness as they are the only Warship that does not costs gold, costing food instead. Being a ranged ship is effective in numbers, able to take out enemy ships ( especially Fire ships) with ease, providing their numbers are great enough, However they are weak vs the Galley line which have the same range, movement speed, than the Catamaran line and better Attack and Hit points ( also the Galley line have an attack bonus vs them), The Demolition Ships also posess a threat to them being enabled to destroy Heavy Catamarans in just one blow provided they reach them. They are also effective at wiping out enemy Fishing Ships and other economic units within close proximity to the coast, and are moderately good vs buildings ( still highly vulnerable to Towers, Castles and Harbors) However they excel at taking down docks circumventing their disadvantage vs Malay Harbors to a degree. Heavy Catamaran also fires a secondary arrow, . While not seems to worth much the upgrade at first glance, the Heavy Catamaran have 20 more hit points than its predecesor, an increase in their proyectile speed, better pierce armor, and a noticeable boost in their attack bonuses
Heavy Catamaran are also fantastic Transport Ship escorts in the Imperial Age, being able to offer defense and divide fire. They also excel as scout ships having a sizeable Line of Sight.
Being a unit that doesn't Cost gold it is considered a Trash unit and this may become important in scenarios where gold start to become scarse, However players should use Heavy Catamarans with caution since non renewable resources such as Wood may be depleted on Island maps on very long games, still all of the 4 civilizations with access to Heavy Catamarans have a way to keep generate resources even when their islands has been depleted from wood. (Polynesians through their Hoeroa Warriors, Micronesians through their self trade bonus, Philipinians through their Barangay unique technology and Malay through their infinite Fish traps)
Each of the civilizations that have access to the Heavy Catamaran have further bonuses for this ship so their use may differ between them:
Polynesians: Their Heavy Catamarans move +15% faster while also they gain +2 attack and line of Sight out of Stick Charts technology which makes them excellent raiding units and even better scouts. this also helps Polynesians to circunvent their lack of Cannon Galleons to a degree.
Micronesians: Their Heavy Catamarans have +25% more HP while their unique technology Sharktooth Weaponry increases all their attack bonuses by 2 making them increadibily threatening for shore bombardment circumventing to a degree their lack of Cannon Galleons, and furthering their defense capabilities against enemy Fire Ships and enemy Unique Ships. They also receive Blacksmith attack upgrades for free.
Malay: They now receive Heavy Catamarans and have a discount bonus of -10% cost making them much easier to amass, also considering they have infinite Fish traps for supporting a large Trash army.
Philipinians: Their HeavyCatamarans have +2 pierce armor making them more resilient against arrowfire, helping to circumvent partially their weakness against the Galley Line and Towers, Castles and Harbors. Philipinians also have an infinite source of Wood due to their Barangay Unique Technology which enables their Town centers to generate wood slowly but constantly and considering Catamarans only costs wood and food they can still spam them on masse until very late in the game.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Transport Ships, Fishing Ships, buildings in the shoreline, melee units in the shoreline, Fire Ships, Turtle Ships, Longboats, Caravel |
| Weak vs. | Galleys, Towers, Castles, Demolition Ships ranged units on the shoreline especially Siege Units. |
| Upgrades | |
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1)Stick Charts (Polynesians Only) Sharktooth Weaponry (Micronesians only icreases attack bonuses) |
| Range | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor |  Careening (+0/+1)
|
| Speed |  Dry Dock (+15%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Faith Heresy
|
| Creation speed |  Shipwright (+54%)
|
| Train cost | Shipwright (-20%)
|
| Other | Stick Charts (+2 LOS Polynesians only) |
Civilization bonuses[]
- Malay:Heavy Catamarans are 10% cheaper.
- Micronesians: Heavy Catamarans have +20%/+25% more Hit Points in Castle/ Imperial Ages.
- Philipinians: Heavy Catamarans have +1/+2 Pierce armor in Castle/ Imperial Ages.
- Polynesians: Heavy Catamarans move 10%/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Ages.
Gallery[]
