Trading Post

This article is about the building in Age of Empires III. For the building in Age of Empires IV, see Trade Post.

Trading Post
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Building Economic Military
Civilization	All except Inca
Age	Exploration Age
Use	Generates 1.2 XP /second if built on Trade Routes Generates 0.35 XP /second, trains native units, and researches native improvements if built on a minor civilization settlement. Upgrades to be able to generate other resources and at a higher rate on Trade Routes. Necessary for the Trade Monopoly win condition.
Special ability	Trading Posts on minor civilization settlements can be built by a top left button ability which costs 100 food, 100 wood, without a builder
Construction
Wood	200
Max. builders	8
Build time	72 seconds 24 seconds (Heroes)
Statistics
Hit points	2,500
Line of Sight	14
XP build bounty	40
XP bounty	80
Ranged attack
Damage	20
Multipliers	×0.25 vs. Villager
Range	8
Rate of Fire	3.0
Notes
• Must be built on a Trade Route or a minor civilization settlement • Ranged attack only available with "Advanced Trading Post" Home City Card

“	Build near Native settlements or Trade Routes. Provides experience points and other benefits.	”
—In-game description

The Trading Post is an economic/military building in Age of Empires III that replaces the trade system of carts, boats, and caravans in the previous games. Unlike most buildings, Trading Posts can only be built on site sockets found along Trade Routes and in minor civilization settlements. It periodically grants experience or resources if built on Trade Routes or allows access to native warriors and native technologies if built on those settlements.

The Native American and Asian civilizations do not benefit from the Stagecoach Line of Sight; only European ones do.

The Inca build Tambos instead, which is identical in function with the Trading Posts; but with the difference is that the Tambos have a weak ranged attack and its attack can be strengthened if garrisoned with Villagers as well as receive Home City shipments, and supports 5 population.

Special abilities

• Shotgun Messengers (automatically activated when an enemy is in range or 8 (or when attacking and the enemy is in a range of 8 with the "Advanced Trading Post" Home City Card) with a cooldown of 7 seconds, requires the "Shotgun Messengers" card): The Trading Post attacks with a powerful shotgun fire that does 115 damage (with a ×1.5 multiplier against cavalry, ×1.3 against shock infantry, ×0.5 against siege unit) with an Area of Effect of 2.
• Lighthouse (only if the Trading Post is built on a Somali settlement; Requires Somali Lighthouses): Reveals a radius of 8 around enemy ships, Trading Posts/Tambos, Docks/Ports, and defensive buildings for 10 seconds. 60 seconds cooldown (shared across all Trading Posts built on Somali settlements).

Minor civilizations

Main article: Minor civilization

Units

Main article: Native warrior

Technologies

For each native tribe or religious community's technologies, please see their respective articles.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Levy Trading Post Rickshaw	Free	Spawn a Trading Post Rickshaw; United States only, requires the "Chinese Immigrants" Home City Card; Shares cooldown with Levy
	Level 2 (Stagecoach by default)	200 food 200 wood	Upgrades the Trade Route where the Trading Post is built to use a Level 2 Trade unit which can deliver resources, moves faster, and has greater LOS
	Level 3 (Iron Horse by default)	300 wood 400 coin	Upgrades the Trade Route where the Trading Post is built to use a Level 2 Trade unit which moves faster and has greater LOS; requires Level 2

• Levy Trading Post Rickshaw can be researched repeatedly but has a global (shared across all Trading Posts) cooldown of 160 seconds between each research.
• To see specific names of upgrades, see Trade Route.

Further statistics

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing (short-ranged units with "Advanced Trading Post" Home City Card)
Weak vs.	Everything, especially siege units, artillery, and Monitors
Improvements
Hit points	State Constitutions (+25%; United States only) Flying Buttress (+20%) Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
Attack	Heated Shot (+50% multiplier vs. ships)
Line of Sight	Somali Lighthouses (+10) Gas Lighting (+4)
Build time	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25%)
Cost	Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
Resource generation	Nanban Trade (+25%; Japanese only)
Penalties	Code Napoleon (+25% cost, French only) Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost, John Black's Mercenaries only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Trading Post

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Native Lore	Native technologies cost 20% cheaper		1
Native Treaties	Each different allied native tribe sends a shipment of their respective native warriors		1
Advanced Trading Post	Trading Posts get a ranged attack and +50% hit points, and cost -40%		25
Improved Buildings	Buildings get +40% hit points		10
TEAM Improved Buildings	Buildings get +25% hit points		10
Chipotle Tactics	Ships 500 food; receive food when an enemy or own building is destroyed equal to 20% ~ 40% of its total cost		N/A

• "Native Lore", "Native Treaties", and "Advanced Trading Post" are available to Europeans, Mexicans, and Native Americans.
• For information about how many units shipped by "Native Treaties", please see the respective native warrior's articles.
• "Improved Buildings" is available to Asians (except the Indians), Europeans, Mexicans, and Native Americans (except the Inca).
• "TEAM Improved Buildings" is available to the Inca, Indians, and Maltese.
• "Chipotle Tactics" is available to the Mexicans and Spanish (upon revolting to Mexico).

Africans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Trade Empire	Trading Posts get +33% hit points and cost -20%; +1 Trade Builder (only for the Ethiopian and Hausa players)

Asians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Native Learning	Native improvements cost -50% (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		1
Native Crafts	Each different allied native tribe sends a shipment of 300 export (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10
Trade Empire	Ships 1 Trading Post Rickshaw; Trading Posts get +33% hit points and cost -25% (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10
Land Reforms	Villagers and Rickshaws build buildings 50% faster; buildings grant +100% build bounty (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10

British

Card	Description	Age
Greenwich Time	Ships 1 Trading Post Wagon; Technology research and Age up time -20% for every Trading Post built by the player (stacks multiplicatively)

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
Peace of Münster	Ships 2 Envoys; allows Envoys to build Trading Posts, Barracks, Stables, and Artillery Foundries

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
3 Trade Builders	Ships 3 Trade Builders
Gondarine Architecture	Buildings get +25% hit points; Town Centers and Palaces get +50% hit points; Walls and Mountain Monasteries get +100% hit points

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Lantakas	Artillery, buildings, and ships get +15% attack

• "Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.

Federal Americans

Card	Description	Age
The Alamo	Ship 16 Minutemen; when destroyed by enemies, your buildings spawn a number of Minutemen equal to 1.5% of their cost rounded up

• "The Alamo" is available to the United States upon selecting the Texas Federal State and Mexicans upon revolting to Texas, and spawns 3 Minutemen when a Trading Post is destroyed.

French

Card	Description	Age
Client States	Ships 500 coin and 5 Revolutionaries for each Trading Post you own
Génie Troops	Enables Grenadiers to mine, chop wood and construct Field Hospitals, Trading Posts, Barracks, Stables, Artillery Foundries, and Outposts

• "Client States" and "Génie Troops" are available upon revolting to Revolutionary France.

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Buergermeister	Heroes get +50% hit points and attack; the Explorer build Town Centers and Trading Posts 100% faster; +1 Explorer Dog		1

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
Wampum	Training units and constructing buildings grants +35% XP

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Mughal Architecture	Buildings except wonders cost -20% wood and build time -50%; +1 Hindu Villager		40

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Winter Counts	Training units grants +40% XP and constructing buildings grants +20% XP

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 260% faster

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
3 Trading Post Wagons	Ships 3 Trading Post Wagons
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
Talavera Architecture	Buildings get +30% hit points, build time -30%, and grant coin upon being built instead of XP
TEAM Trickle Economics	Trade Routes generate +60% resources; Trading Posts generate 0.75 XP/sec.
3 Post Wagons	Ships 3 Frontier Post Wagons
Coach Guns	Ships 3 Bandidos and 3 Cuatreros; Trading Posts get +12 Line of Sight and the Shotgun Messengers charged attack ability
Cenotes	Ships 2 Trading Post Travois; Trading Posts generate 1 XP/sec.
Maya Architecture	All buildings except Forts get +30% hit points; buildings now give food as well as experience when built; grants Redoubts

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "Talavera Architecture" is available upon selecting the Puebla Federal State.
• "TEAM Trickle Economics", "3 Post Wagons", and "Coach Guns" are available upon revolting to Baja California.
• "Cenotes" and "Maya Architecture" are available upon revolting to the Maya.

Native Americans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
3 Trading Post Travois	Ships 3 Trading Post Travois		10

• "3 Trading Post Travois" is available to the Aztecs and Lakota.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Silk Road	Crates and Trade Routes contain +25% resources		25
TEAM House of Osman	Trading Posts and Trading Post Wagons cost -40%		1
Suez Canal	Ships 3 Trading Post Wagons; Trade Route upgrades are free		N/A

• "Suez Canal" is available upon revolting to Egypt.

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM House of Bragança	Trade Route upgrades are free and available in any age		40

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
Salitrera	Trading Posts generate 0.5 coin/sec.; Citizens (Settlers) can be trained at the Town Centers for 70 coin; Fishing Boats can be trained at the Docks

• "Salitrera" is available upon revolting to Chile.

United States

Card	Description	Age
Arkansas Post	Ships 3 Trading Post Wagons; Trading Post Wagons can build Markets, Saloons and Meeting Houses
Shotgun Messengers	Ships 4 Owlhoots and 4 Cowboys; Trading Posts get +12 Line of Sight and the Shotgun Messengers charged ability
Chinese Immigrants	[Immigrant] Ships 1 Trading Post Rickshaw; Trading Posts get +40% hit points and can use a special version of Levy which levies Trading Post Rickshaws for free
Scottish Immigrants	[Immigrant] Ships 1 Highlander for each Saloon, Meeting House and Trading Post (up to 10); costs 400 coin
TEAM Ohio Supply Network	Trade Routes generate +100% resources; Trading Posts on native settlements generate 1 XP/sec.
Connecticut Shipwrights	Artillery train time -25%, buildings' build time -35%, and warships' train time -50%

• "TEAM Ohio Supply Network" is available upon selecting the Ohio Federal State.
• "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Trading Posts cost 250 wood and have 3,000 hit points.

The Asian Dynasties

• With patch 1.02, Trading Posts cost 200 wood and have 2,500 hit points.

Bugs/glitches

• It is sometimes possible for Trading Post sites to be generated on broken terrain, which means that players cannot construct a Trading Post on these sites. Most notably this can occur on the New England and Amazonia maps. This problem has been addressed in patches, occurring with less frequency.
  • A similar bug occurs when it is not possible to build the Trading Post because the Trading Post site is near a cliff. It has been observed that this happens very often in the California map. It can also happen in the Yukon map, when it is very close to the river.
• Another common glitch is units getting stuck within the perimeter of a Trading Post as a result of trying to pass through it and not being able to get out. This most notably happens with Native Trading Posts. It is possible to destroy the units inside the confines of the Trading Post, but if an Explorer/Monk/War Chief get stuck inside, there is no way of removing them unless they can be ransomed.
• If the player gets any building HP improvement such as the Improved Buildings or Advanced Trading Posts Home City Cards, already built Trading Posts remaining HP will stay the same as before the upgrade (e.g. 2,500/2,500 before, 2500/2875 after).

History

“

Trading posts were established by early explorers of the New World as places to stop, barter, rest, and engage in commercial activities in support of their efforts to find wealth for their patrons, usually kings and queens, who sponsored their voyages. Wealthy and powerful trading companies between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries competed viciously as they drove exploration of the New World in search of pelts (chiefly beaver), to market in Europe. They dotted the landscape with trading posts and continued driving west in search of new sources of pelts. The fur trade and the need for the trading posts declined as fashions in Europe changed and the demand for pelts collapsed. Many trading posts developed into proper settlements over time.

”

Trivia

The Trading Post in European maps is a Baroque building. The entrance on the Royal House palaces resemble a very similar configuration seen in the Château de Dampierre. The pastel wall paint reflects the player color.

Gallery

A Trading Post built in Deccan

Train Car models

A train passing the Trading Post

A Trading Post, next to a Trade Route

Another train passing by the Trading Post

Trading Post site generated near a cliff in the California map, making it impossible to build the Trading Post on it

An in-game Trading Post in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Trading Post in South American maps in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Trading Post in European maps

An in-game Trading Post in African maps