Hello fellow explorers.
I have been working on gathering all possible data on Training Times in AOE3 and though I would share my findings.
Please note:
- I labelled the columns with generic unit types, though bear in mind sometime, the Training rates might only be good for the main civs. units (so not Mercenaries, Native units, Consulate, etc.)
- The last part of the table is mostly for Treaty plays, as in include the numbers with Incan Chasquis Messengers technology (-15% Training time to cavalry and infantry).
- The color coding is to help quickly visualise and I used the normal training times of the Europeans civs. without Engineering school as the Normal value (see first row). So it is not based on a true mathematical average.
- The value displayed in the table is the Time in % needed to train the units in comparison to the base training time. Therefore, a value of 60% would tell you that the unit needs only 60% of his base training time (= 40% reduction in training time).
- The table assumes you will play all cards and research all techs relating to training time reduction. See civs. notes after each table for exceptions.
- If you do spot an error, please let me know, I’ll update the numbers!
Color Legend:
Table ONE: Europeans, Asians and Africans civilisations training times
Note 1: Swedes and Chinese
Both have access to a Team Engineering School. The -15% reduction to Artillery could be applied to all other allied civs. in theory. It is taken in consideration with Chinese, but not with Swedes, as Swedes normally prefer to play the normal version of Engineering School they also have.
Note 2 Russians
To have instant Strelets, they need the card Dueling School, otherwise, only Musketeers and Halberdiers will achieve instant speed.
Note 3: Japanese
Japanese is the only civ. that can lose one of their bonus permanently (if the Shogunate is destroyed). They also can create units in groups of 10, so this is considered for the color coding, but not the numbers themselves.
Note 4: Indians and Chinese
Some exceptions here. The Siege Elephant is not considered a cavalry unit for training time reduction.
The Flamethrower is considered an infantry unit for the purpose of Incan Chasquis Messengers.
Note 5: Powerful cavalry units
Some of the most powerful cavalry units have a safeguard that make them always require a minimum of 5% of their original training time (so as to not be made at instant speed on Andes). This is the case of Lancers, Cuirassiers and Oprichniks as well as possibly some mercenaries (I do not know of an complete list if anyone can help…).
Note 6: USA
They have a card to reduce cavalry training time by 10%, but the State (Imperial age up) to get it is normally not used. Also the Flag will give a small training speed increase, but it is barely relevant late game (see notes after next table for details on working rate increases).
Table TWO: American Native civilisations
Reading the table
The first row give you data on training time without the help of the Community plaza (Fertility Ceremony active).
The second row take into consideration a Community plaza with no or a minimum investment on the player part.
The last row show the best value possible to achieve. (Note that I have excluded Incan Priestesses from this, as they cost population and are hard to come by. You can assume some better numbers from them, but note that, as we will discuss below, that would not make a massive difference).
The community plaza explained
One of the main thing to know about Fertility Ceremony is that the increase in working speed for unit creation takes into account the remaining training time value of units and NOT the original training time of the units, meaning that you will get diminishing value the more cards and techs that reduce training time you have. This translate in the fact that units that have a very slow training time benefit a lot by it, while this does not have that huge of an impact on faster units.
Notes
- It is impossible to achieve instant speed with the plaza.
- Artillery might be trained fast, but sadly it only applies to Captured Mortars, so it is unlikely to be too valuable (exception for Haude.).
- Overall the value from the plaza is low, as it compares to church upgrades, but require a constant investment from the player and can be shut down.
General Conclusion
Training times are only a part of what make civilisations competitive. However, most of the lese competitive civilisations for Treaty have terrible training rates: Indians and Ottomans are a prime exemple. On the other hand, Chinese low base training times do not seem to be too problematic with smaller reductions, while Russians instant infantry aren’t a winning ticket most of the time.
23/10/2021: Some edits to tables (Abus Gun, Russian Mortars and USA with Indiana)