The Caravel is countered by Fire Ship, Demolition Ship and Fast Fire Ship. It is a Ship / Unique unit, available to the Portuguese.
- Class
- Ship / Unique
- Available to
- Portuguese
- Elite upgrade
- Elite Caravel
- Cost
-
90 
43
Caravel stats
The Elite Caravel upgrade changes the values marked below. Everything else — cost, class and the civilization bonuses that apply — stays the same.
| Stat | Caravel | Elite |
|---|---|---|
 Hit points | 130 | 150 |
 Melee attack | 0 | 0 |
 Pierce attack | 4 / 3s | 7 / 3s |
 Range | 6 | 7 |
 Melee armour | 0 | 0 |
 Pierce armour | 5 | 6 |
 Speed | 1.36 | 1.36 |
 Line of sight | 9 | 9 |
 Training time | 25s | 25s |
What counters the Caravel?
The Caravel is weak against Fire Ships.
Hard counters deal bonus damage against this unit — they beat the Caravel even at a cost disadvantage. Soft counters win the fight through cost-efficiency or mobility, without a dedicated bonus.
| Counter | Type | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
 Fire Ship | hard | Extreme fire rate and high pierce armor |
 Demolition Ship | hard | Burst damage |
 Fast Fire Ship | hard | Extreme fire rate and high pierce armor |
 Heavy Demolition Ship | hard | Burst damage |
 Elite Cannon Galleon | soft | Outranges |
What does the Caravel counter?
The Caravel is strong against large groups of ships.
Unit lines the Caravel has a damage bonus against
Civilizations that improve the Caravel
20 civilizations have a bonus or unique technology that affects this unit.
Armenians
- Galley-line and Dromons fire an additional projectile
- Cilician Fleet (unique tech): Demolition Ships +20% blast radius; Galley-line and Dromons +1 range
Bengalis
- Ships regenerate 15 HP per minute
Berbers
- Ships move +10% faster
Byzantines
- Fire Ships and Dromons attack +25% faster
- Greek Fire (unique tech): Fire Ships +1 range; Dromons and Bombard Towers increased blast radius
Chinese
- Fire Lancers and Fire Ships move +5/10% faster in Castle/Imperial Age
Dravidians
- Fishermen and Fishing Ships carry +15
Gurjaras
- Docks +5 garrison capacity
Italians
- Dock and University technologies cost -25%
- Fishing Ships cost -15%
Japanese
- Fishing Ships work +5/10/15/20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age; +100% HP
Koreans
- Warships cost -20% wood
- Shinkichon (unique tech): Rocket Carts and Turtle Ships +1 range, fire additional projectiles
Malay
- Thalassocracy (unique tech): Docks are upgraded to Harbors
Persians
- Town Centers and Docks +100% HP and work +5/10/15/20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
Portuguese
- Ships +10/15/20% HP in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
- Circumnavigation (unique tech): Sets the entire map to explored; Ships train +33% faster
Romans
- Galley-line and Dromons +1 melee/+1 pierce armor
- Ballistas (unique tech): Scorpions attack +33% faster; Galley-line +2 attack
Saracens
- Galley-line attacks +25% faster
- Transport Ships +100% HP, +20 carry capacity
Shu
- Siege Weapons and Siege Warships move +10/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Age
Spanish
- Cannon Galleons fire more accurately at moving targets
Turks
- Artillery (unique tech): Bombard Towers, Bombard Cannons, Cannon Galleons +2 range
Vikings
- Warships cost -10/15/20% in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
Wu
- Military production buildings and Docks provide +55 food
- Careening, Dry Dock free
- Red Cliffs Tactics (unique tech): Demolition Ships and Fire Archers deal fire damage to ships and buildings
For the strategy behind these matchups — when to build counters, how to mix them and which civs do it best — see the Unique Unit Counters guide.
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