Ships can be built, stored, and used only in villages that have a harbor.
| Ship type | Purpose | Lumber | Clay | Iron | Crop | Time | Speed in deep water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade ship | Sending resources | 2835 | 1235 | 1985 | 750 | 1:15:00 | 18 fields / hour |
| Warship | Sending any army | 18500 | 8355 | 12275 | 7500 | 3:45:00 | 18 fields / hour |
| Decoy warship | Sending up to 60 units | 950 | 350 | 750 | 350 | 0:35:00 | 18 fields / hour |
| Raid ship | Raiding with up to 200 units | 750 | 450 | 450 | 350 | 0:20:00 | Most tribes: 18 fields / hour Vikings: 24 fields / hour |
There are several ship types, each with its own purpose and construction cost. The construction time depends only on the ship type and harbor level—higher harbor levels reduce build time. Ancient powers that affect troop training do not influence ships. On higher-speed gameworlds, ship speed is multiplied in the same way as unit and merchant speed.
Naval movement
You can send ships to any target on the map, even if the destination is not near deep water.
Ships always travel in a straight, shortest path. This is a change from older ship versions, which used more complex pathfinding.
A journey may include deep water segments and land segments:
Over deep water, ships always move at their fixed ship speed.
Over land, the speed is based on the slowest unit in the army or the merchants traveling with the ship.
For example:
A warship carrying cavalry and a warship carrying catapults move equally fast at sea, but on land, the one carrying catapults becomes much slower.
Speed Bonuses
Ship speed cannot be increased over deep water. This includes bonuses from:
Hero items (except the map’s return-travel reduction)
Hero special bonuses
Ancient powers
On land, all regular bonuses apply. The Tournament Square activates after 20 land tiles have been traveled and applies only to the remaining land distance.
Warships, Decoy Warships, and Raid Ships
Warships and decoy warships can send out armies for any movement type:
raids, normal attacks (including scouting), reinforcements (including forwarded reinforcements), and settling new villages.The difference:
Warships can carry armies of any size.
Decoy warships can carry up to 60 units and cost fewer resources.
Important rules:
Both types travel 18 fields/hour over deep water.
Only ships from the village with the harbor can be used.
One movement uses one ship; two decoy ships cannot combine to carry more than 60 units in one wave.
If the army aboard is destroyed in battle, the ship is destroyed.
Ships return instantly to their home harbor if not needed for return travel (except trade ships, which always travel back normally).
Ships cannot be stationed in other villages.
Warships cannot be used in farm lists.
Raid ships are used only for raids; they cannot carry reinforcements or execute standard attacks.
One raid ship can carry up to 200 units.
On deep water: 18 fields/hour for most tribes
Vikings produce faster raid ships: 24 fields/hour
Trade Ships
Trade ships significantly increase a village’s resource transport capability. They operate in addition to merchants and do not count toward the merchant limit.
They carry large amounts of resources.
On x1 speed worlds, they move at 20 fields/hour over deep water.
Over land, they travel at the same speed as merchants of the ship’s tribe.
Capacity depends on the tribe and is affected by the Trade Office and alliance commerce bonus.
| Tribe | Trade ship base capacity | Speed in deep water | Speed over land |
|---|---|---|---|
 Romans | 2500 | 18 fields / hour | 16 fields / hour |
 Teutons | 3000 | 18 fields / hour | 12 fields / hour |
 Gauls | 2750 | 18 fields / hour | 24 fields / hour |
 Egyptians | 2500 | 18 fields / hour | 16 fields / hour |
 Huns | 3000 | 18 fields / hour | 20 fields / hour |
 Spartans | 2750 | 18 fields / hour | 14 fields / hour |
 Vikings | 300 | 18 fields / hour | 18 fields / hour |
Trade ship capacity depends on the tribe and is affected by Trade Office and the alliance commerce bonus.