Nau --> Privateers come to quick

[kpi]

Is the Nau unit really only there to make one time costal profit? its seems that the Privateers came straight after and is more powerful a unit with the same movement.

 

[FeiLing]

Caravel/Nau upgrade to Ironclad<Battleships while
Privateer upgrade to Destroyers.

Since you must not skip Caravels (as you have to explore the world asap) I tend to never build Privateers. Sure they are a tad stronger, but to me a melee naval unit is only useful to take a city. All the dmg is done by ranged units/Frigates because if you attack a city with a melee unit it will die. Either by the city if it has walls/is on a hill or by the xbowmen defending it. Actually though the only unit with might do just that is the ironclad, as it's quite strong for it's time.

 

[Gamewizard]

Caravel/Nau upgrade to Ironclad<Battleships while
Privateer upgrade to Destroyers.

Actually, all the above upgrade to destroyers eventually. The frigate upgrades to battleship.

 

[Arachnofiend]

Caravel/Nau upgrade to Ironclad<Battleships while
Privateer upgrade to Destroyers.

Since you must not skip Caravels (as you have to explore the world asap) I tend to never build Privateers. Sure they are a tad stronger, but to me a melee naval unit is only useful to take a city. All the dmg is done by ranged units/Frigates because if you attack a city with a melee unit it will die. Either by the city if it has walls/is on a hill or by the xbowmen defending it. Actually though the only unit with might do just that is the ironclad, as it's quite strong for it's time.

Privateers can steal enemy ships though. A self-replicating navy is extremely useful, especially when you happen to be fighting Lizzy and are stealing her SotL's.

 

[Alziel]

Privateers can steal enemy ships though. A self-replicating navy is extremely useful, especially when you happen to be fighting Lizzy and are stealing her SotL's.

I can't imagine a naval game without Privateers - I always build these in large quantities with a few Frigates for support and by the end of the game I have more navy than I know what to do with.

I think I'm addicted to Privateers.

As for Naus - their usefulness goes beyond the exotic goods trade bonus as they have extra line of sight and extra movement beyond that of the Caravel (which is still better than the Privateer in those areas) so they are still very useful even when Privateers come along.

PS. Sorry Arachnofiend - I edited as you were responding to my question about hard-building Privateers - I realized I actually had misread the OP so I edited out that part. Just in case people wonder why you seem to be answering a non-existent question!

 

[Arachnofiend]

Yeah, you have to hard build them. It's only the next tech up from Astronomy so it's not really that big of a deal and if you're playing water domination you'e going to keep going down that line anyways, even if only for Seaports.

 

[Barghaest]

I tend to be tech leader late Renaissance, so I use captured ships from privateers either as decoys (to distract AI navies so I can whittle them down), for suicide runs on cities (to soften them up a bit so my ships can cruise into the harbor nonchalantly), to pull them back to my territory and sell them off for cash or as gifts for CS.

 

[cinattra]

If my land military is weak I go for a good navy and that definitely means privateers. You don't know what you are missing if you are not using them. Stealing enemy ships is a definite plus. Taking a city without one land military unit is a plus. Knock a city down with frigates and one privateer upgraded to attack cities. The city will typically attack the privateer leaving your frigates unscathed. The second round do the same thing and the city will attack a frigate, but will typically not sink it. On the third round attack again with frigates, but bring in your second privateer to take the city.

 

[Aenthin]

Privateers have to be hard-built/purchased in full, unlike Naus which can come from upgrading your old triremes. They're definitely fast and very good for exploring, plus it can get your Privateers set some flanking bonuses faster than other Privateers. As someone pointed out, Naus can eventually be upgraded into Ironclads which are definitely stronger than Privateers, which don't get an upgrade until Destroyers come in.

For naval battles in seas where my Frigates aren't around, I would allow my Naus weaken my opponent first before having the Privateer go for the kill and, hopefully, steal the ship. After which, I would let my Naus go to neutral territory to sell their exotic goods and get their quick heals.