Turtle Ship — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

Korean unique Siege Warship with high armor and attack.

Go to Unit Counter Hub →

The Turtle Ship is countered by Demolition Ship, Heavy Demolition Ship and Elite Cannon Galleon. It is a Ship / Unique unit, available to the Koreans.

Turtle Ship
Class
Ship / Unique
Available to
Koreans
Elite upgrade
Elite Turtle Ship
Cost
Wood 190 Gold 130

Turtle Ship stats

The Elite Turtle Ship upgrade changes the values marked below. Everything else — cost, class and the civilization bonuses that apply — stays the same.

Stat Turtle Ship Elite
Hit points 275 350
Melee attack 0 0
Pierce attack 9 / 2s 13 / 2s
Range 6 7
Melee armour 2 3
Pierce armour 7 12
Speed 1 1
Line of sight 8 9
Training time 50s 50s

What counters the Turtle Ship?

The Turtle Ship is weak against Galleys.

Hard counters deal bonus damage against this unit — they beat the Turtle Ship even at a cost disadvantage. Soft counters win the fight through cost-efficiency or mobility, without a dedicated bonus.

CounterTypeWhy it works
Demolition Ship hard Burst damage overcomes high armor
Heavy Demolition Ship hard Maximum burst damage
Elite Cannon Galleon soft Outranges, high damage

What does the Turtle Ship counter?

The Turtle Ship is strong against most Warships and buildings.

Unit lines the Turtle Ship has a damage bonus against

Civilizations that improve the Turtle Ship

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.

Facing something other than Turtle Ships?

Search any of the 228 units by name and get its counters ranked instantly.

Search any unit →