Age of Empires 2 Naval Counters

Age of Empires 2 Naval Counters

How do you counter ships in Age of Empires 2?

With the Galley line, which carries the only large anti-ship bonus in the game: +5 for the Galley and War Galley, +9 for the Galleon. A Galleon deals 14 damage per hit to a War Galley and 18 to a Demolition Ship. Fire Ships beat Galleys the opposite way — not with a bonus, but with a 0.2-second reload and 4 pierce armor.

Naval combat is a three-way cycle, and the reason it works is that each ship wins through a different mechanism: the Galley line through bonus damage, the Fire Ship through rate of fire and armor, and the Demolition Ship through a single large area hit. Knowing which mechanism you are up against tells you what to build.

• The Galley line has the anti-ship bonus. Galley +5, War Galley +5, Galleon +9 against the ship class. The Fire Ship has only +1.
• The Fire Ship wins on reload, not damage. 3 attack (Fast Fire Ship 4) with a 0.2-second reload — about five attacks per second. Against a Galley's 3 pierce armor each hit is small, but the accumulated rate is roughly 10 damage per second.
• Fire Ships are armored, Galleys are not. Fire Ship 2 melee and 4 pierce armor, Fast Fire Ship 3 and 7. A Galley's 6 attack deals 2 damage per shot every 3 seconds — under 1 damage per second. That is the real reason the matchup is lopsided.
• Demolition Ships do not one-shot warships. 95 damage at the centre of the blast (Heavy Demolition Ship 120) against a 110 HP Galley, a 120 HP Fire Ship and a 155 HP Galleon. They kill Fishing Ships and Trade Cogs outright and damage groups — nothing more.
• Demolition Ships are fast, not slow. 1.52 speed, behind only the Fast Fire Ship at 1.56 and ahead of the Fire Ship at 1.47 and the entire Galley line at 1.36. Do not plan on outrunning them.

How do you counter Fire Ships in AoE2?

Stay at range and out-mass them, or use Demolition Ships. A Fire Ship has only 2.5 tiles of range against a Galleon's 7, and a Galleon deals 14 damage per hit to it — 9 hits. Never let a Fire Ship close: at a 0.2-second reload it deals roughly 10 damage per second and takes under 1 per second in return.

The Fire Ship is 120 HP with 2 melee and 4 pierce armor, 3 attack and a 0.2-second reload at 1.47 speed; the Fast Fire Ship is 140 HP with 3 and 7 armor, 4 attack and 1.56 speed. Its entire design is short range and enormous rate of fire, which means the counter is distance — and the Fast Fire Ship's 7 pierce armor makes distance harder to hold, because arrows barely scratch it.

• 
  Galleon Hard Counter
  7 range against the Fire Ship's 2.5, and +9 against the ship class gives 14 damage per hit — 9 hits per Fire Ship. Against the Fast Fire Ship's 7 pierce armor it drops to 11 per hit and 13 hits, so you need the range advantage to be real: keep moving backwards while firing.
• 
  Demolition Ship Hard Counter
  Fire Ships have to bunch up to reach anything, which is exactly what 95 area damage punishes. It will not one-shot a 120 HP Fire Ship, but it takes several down to a fifth of their HP at once. At 45 wood + 80 gold against their 75 wood + 45 gold this is a cost-effective trade only when they are grouped.
• 
  Fast Fire Ship Hard Counter
  In the fire-versus-fire fight the upgrade simply wins: 140 HP against 120, 4 attack against 3, and 7 pierce armor against 4. If both players commit to Fire Ships, the one who researched the upgrade takes the water.
• 
  War Galley Soft Counter
  6 range and +5 against the ship class = 8 damage per hit, so 15 hits per Fire Ship. It works only as a kiting unit and only in numbers — a Fire Ship that closes to 2.5 tiles kills a 125 HP War Galley in about 13 seconds while taking almost nothing back.

How do you counter Demolition Ships in AoE2?

Shoot them before they arrive and spread your ships out. A Demolition Ship has 50 HP and 0 pierce armor, so a War Galley kills one in 5 hits and a Galleon in 3. Its 95 damage does not sink any warship outright — a spread formation turns each one into a single damaged ship instead of four.

The Demolition Ship is 50 HP, 1 melee armor and 95 attack at 1.52 speed; the Heavy version is 70 HP, 2 melee armor and 120 attack. It is the fastest ship in the game apart from the Fast Fire Ship, so interception has to start early — but it is also the most fragile thing on the water, which is why massed Galleys beat it reliably.

• 
  Galleon Hard Counter
  18 damage per hit including +9 against the ship class, against 50 HP — 3 hits, or 4 for the 70 HP Heavy version, from 7 tiles away. The cleanest answer available.
• 
  War Galley Hard Counter
  12 damage per hit with its +5 bonus = 5 hits per Demolition Ship from 6 range. Galley production is cheap at 90 wood + 30 gold against their 45 wood + 80 gold, so this trade wins on gold as well as on stats.
• Spread formation Hard Counter
  Not a unit but the actual counter. The blast damage falls off from the centre, so ships two or three tiles apart take a fraction each. A Demolition Ship that reaches a spread formation deals 95 damage to one ship that has 110 to 155 HP — and dies for it.
• 
  Elite Cannon Galleon Soft Counter
  60 attack against 50 HP and 0 pierce armor sinks one per shot from 15 tiles. The problem is the 10-second reload and a slow projectile against a 1.52-speed target — it works against a group approaching in a line, not against a single ship.

How do you counter Galleys and Galleons in AoE2?

Fire Ships. A Fast Fire Ship deals about 10 damage per second at its 0.2-second reload, while a Galleon's 9 attack against 7 pierce armor deals 2 damage every 3 seconds — under 1 per second back. The Galley line's own +9 anti-ship bonus is useless against that much armor.

The Galley line is the backbone of every water map: Galley 110 HP and 5 range, War Galley 125 HP and 6 range, Galleon 155 HP and 7 range, all at 1.36 speed and 90 wood + 30 gold. They out-range and out-damage everything on open water. What beats them is armor plus rate of fire, which is the one combination their bonus cannot answer.

• 
  Fast Fire Ship Hard Counter
  7 pierce armor reduces a Galleon's 9 attack to 2 damage per shot, and its own 4 attack at a 0.2-second reload adds up to roughly 10 damage per second. A 155 HP Galleon dies in about 16 seconds while dealing under 40 damage back. Its 1.56 speed against 1.36 means the Galleon cannot escape either.
• 
  Fire Ship Hard Counter
  The Castle Age version: 4 pierce armor against the Galley's 6 attack is 2 damage per shot every 3 seconds, while it deals about 10 per second in return. A 110 HP Galley dies in roughly 11 seconds. Range 2.5 against 5 is the only obstacle — and 1.47 speed against 1.36 solves it.
• 
  Demolition Ship Soft Counter
  95 area damage against a 110 HP Galley leaves it barely alive; a Heavy Demolition Ship's 120 does sink one. Worth it only against clustered Galleys, and the Galley line kills a 50 HP Demolition Ship in 5 hits from 6 tiles.
• 
  Turtle Ship Soft Counter
  Koreans: 275 HP with 7 pierce armor (Elite 350 and 12) means a Galleon needs 25 hits, or 35 against the Elite version. At 1.0 speed it cannot chase, but nothing in the Galley line can kill it either — use it to hold a chokepoint.

How do you counter Cannon Galleons in AoE2?

Sail at them. A Cannon Galleon has 120 HP, a 10-second reload and a 3-tile minimum range, and it has no bonus against ships at all — its +200 bonus is against buildings. A Galleon kills one in 10 hits, and a Heavy Demolition Ship's 120 damage sinks it in a single hit.

The Cannon Galleon is a floating siege weapon: 50 attack (Elite 60) at 13 to 15 range with a 10-second reload, 200 wood + 150 gold. Against buildings it is devastating thanks to a +200 bonus (+275 for the Elite version). Against ships it is slow, blind at close range and expensive — which is why it belongs in a shore bombardment, not in a naval battle.

• 
  Galleon Hard Counter
  13 damage per hit including its +9 ship bonus = 10 hits, and the Cannon Galleon needs 10 seconds between shots to answer. Its 3-tile minimum range means a Galleon that closes cannot be shot at all.
• 
  Demolition Ship Hard Counter
  The Heavy Demolition Ship's 120 damage sinks a 120 HP Cannon Galleon outright; the base version leaves it at 25 HP. Either way 1.52 speed against 1.05 makes the approach reliable, and at 45 wood + 80 gold against 200 wood + 150 gold it is the most cost-efficient answer.
• 
  Fast Fire Ship Hard Counter
  About 10 damage per second at 1.56 speed against a ship that moves at 1.05 and reloads every 10 seconds. Once inside the 3-tile minimum range the Cannon Galleon is defenceless.

How do you counter Turtle Ships, Longboats and other unique warships?

Check the pierce armor. The Turtle Ship at 7 (Elite 12) and the Thirisadai at 11 make arrows useless — use Demolition Ships or Cannon Galleons. The Longboat, Caravel and Dromon all have 3 to 6 pierce armor and die to the ordinary Galley line's +5 and +9 bonus.

Unique warships change one of three numbers: pierce armor, range or how the shot is delivered. The table below lists all of them.

• Turtle Ship (Koreans) 275 HP with 2 melee and 7 pierce armor, Elite 350 with 3 and 12, but only 1.0 speed and 6 range. A Galleon needs 25 hits, an Elite Turtle Ship 35. Use a Heavy Demolition Ship — 117 damage after armor, so 3 of them sink an Elite Turtle Ship — or a Cannon Galleon at 43 damage per shot.
• Longboat (Vikings) 125 HP and 3 pierce armor, Elite 130 and 6, at 1.46 speed with 6 to 7 range, firing several arrows per shot. It has almost no anti-ship bonus (+1), so a Galleon's 14 to 18 damage per hit wins the straight fight — the danger is its speed and volume, not its stats.
• Caravel (Portuguese) 130 HP and 5 pierce armor, Elite 150 and 6, with a shot that passes through multiple ships. Do not line your fleet up behind itself against it. A Galleon deals 13 damage per hit and needs 12.
• Thirisadai (Bengalis) 250 HP with 2 melee and 11 pierce armor at 1.25 speed, attacking several targets at once. Arrows are pointless — a Galleon deals 8 damage per hit, 32 hits. Demolition Ships and Cannon Galleons are the answer.
• Dromon (Armenians) 125 HP, 6 pierce armor, 8 attack at 12 range with an 8-second reload and a 3-tile minimum range. Its +34 bonus is against buildings, so it is a shore bombardment ship, not a warship. Close inside 3 tiles: a Galleon deals 12 damage per hit and needs 11.

AoE2 ship stats — HP, armor, range and speed

Which ships have an anti-ship bonus?

How many hits does it take to sink each ship?

Summary — Counter Cheat Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions