Special Servers - Ships and Naval Movement

Ships can only be built, stored, and used in villages that have a Harbor.
If you don’t have a Harbor, you can’t produce or deploy ships.
> Learn more about Harbors and Deep Water 

Notes:

• Building time depends on Harbor level and ship type.

• Ancient Powers do not affect ships.

• Ship speed scales with the gameworld speed multiplier, just like merchants and units.
  > Game Versions and Speed

Naval Movement

You can send ships to any target on the map, even if that target isn’t near deep water.

• Ships always travel using the shortest direct route.

• Movement may include both sea and land sections.

  • Deep water is traveled using ship speed.

  • Land segments use the normal army or merchant speed.

Speed Bonuses

• Over deep water, ships always move at a fixed speed (unaffected by buildings or items).

  • The only exception: map shortening still reduces return times.

• Over land, speed is calculated normally and includes bonuses from hero items, buildings, and the Tournament Square.
  > Troop Speed Increase & Tournament Square

Using Warships

• Warships and Decoy Warships can send any type of army movement.

  • Warships can carry armies of any size.

  • Decoy Warships can carry up to 60 units but are cheaper and faster to build.

• Both move at 18 fields/hour over deep water and at the speed of the slowest unit over land.

• You can only use ships from the village where they were built.

Important Notes

• Each ship handles one movement. For example:

  • You cannot send 120 units in one Decoy Warship — you’d need two separate ones (60 per ship).

• If an army sent by ship is completely destroyed in battle, the ship is lost as well.

• When a ship reaches its target and is no longer needed, it instantly returns home — no travel time is used.

  • Exception: Trade ships return normally.

• Ships cannot stay stationed in other villages.

• Warships cannot be used in farm lists.

Raid Ships

• Used only for raids (not for attacks or reinforcements).

• Can carry up to 200 units per raid.

• Have a base speed of 18 fields/hour (or 24 fields/hour for Vikings).

• Can be added to farm lists, unlike standard warships.

Trade Ships

Trade Ships work like waterborne merchants.

• They don’t count toward your merchant limit.

• They can be used without merchants.

• Move over water at 18 fields/hour and over land at the merchant speed of your tribe.

Trade Ship capacity is affected by both the Trade Office and the Alliance Commerce Bonus.
> Alliance Bonuses 

✅ Tip: Ships are powerful for long-distance transport and attacks — but they’re valuable assets. If your army sinks, the ship sinks with it, so plan risky naval battles carefully!