Naval Meta Post-Overhaul: What Actually Changed

Update 169123, released alongside The Last Chieftains DLC on February 17, 2026, introduced the single largest naval rework in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition history. Beyond three new civilizations, the update added a new ship line, a new siege ship, seven new Dock technologies and dozens of civ-specific naval adjustments. Two months in, the dust has started to settle. Here is what actually changed — and for whom.

The Hulk line rewrites close-range naval fights

The new ship line — Hulk (Castle Age) → War Hulk (Imperial Age) → Carrack (Imperial Age upgrade) — is a melee-oriented counter to Fire Ships. Hulks are slow and tanky, designed to fill the role of a frontline vessel that used to be missing from most rosters. Available to most civilizations (with a handful of exceptions handled civ-by-civ), the Hulk changes how naval armies are composed: Galley-line units can now sit behind a Hulk frontline and fire safely instead of being forced into the meat grinder with Fire Ships.

The practical consequence is that Fire Ships are no longer an auto-counter to archer-like naval compositions. A Hulk screen flips that relationship on its head, and the civs that historically relied on aggressive Fire Ship play must now consider when to commit.

Catapult Galleon fills a long-standing gap

Civilizations that lacked the Cannon Galleon — including Aztecs, Cumans, Inca and Maya — now have access to the Catapult Galleon. It fires stone projectiles with area damage, giving those civs an answer to coastal building spam and to enemy naval turtles. This single change may be the most impactful for closed land-focused civs: on hybrid maps, an Aztec or Maya player is no longer forced to concede the water entirely.

Seven new Dock technologies, briefly

• Medium Warships (Castle, Dock) and Heavy Warships (Imperial) upgrade the Galley-line and Hulk-line stats.
• Carvel Hull (Imperial) adds +1 ship pierce armor and +10% HP.
• Clinker Construction (Castle) adds +10% ship speed.
• Siphons (Imperial) boosts Fire Ship damage by +20%.
• Incendiaries (Imperial) expands Demolition Ship blast radius by +30%.
• Fishing Lines (Feudal) makes Fishing Ships gather +15% faster from deep fish.

The most overlooked of these is Fishing Lines — a Feudal technology that pays back very quickly on any map with deep fish. It also partially offsets the Fishing Ship gather rate nerf (-15%) that came with the same patch.

Winners

Byzantines got a small but concrete buff: Fire Ships and Dromons now deal +25% bonus attack, up from +20%. Combined with the existing Byzantine naval bonuses, this tightens their grip on close-range water fights.

Aztecs, Cumans, Inca and Maya all gained access to Catapult Galleons. This is a qualitative change, not just a numerical one — these civilizations are simply more playable on water maps than they were before the patch.

Spanish received a subtle but strong Relic change: Missionaries can now carry Relics, at a reduced speed of 1.1 (down from 1.3) while holding one. On team games and closed maps with Monasteries, this adds a new vector of Relic play that did not exist before.

Losers

Portuguese lost the Carrack unique technology (replaced by the generic Carvel Hull) and lost access to Demolition Ships entirely. The compensation is a new unique technology, Circumnavigation (Imperial, 400 food 400 gold), giving ships +15% speed and +2 line of sight. The net effect is a reshuffle rather than a pure nerf, but the loss of Demo Ships is significant.

Vikings took the harder hit. Longboat HP dropped from 130/160 to 120/150, they lost access to Demolition Ships (in exchange for Feudal Fire Galleys), and their naval cost discount was nerfed from -15/15/20% to -10/10/15%. Vikings are still a water civ, but their previous oppressive edge has been dulled.

Chinese saw a straightforward nerf: Dragon Ship HP dropped from 250 to 220. Koreans got a mixed package: Turtle Ship cost reduced from 200w 200g to 180w 180g (buff), but War Wagon pierce armor reduced from 4/5 to 3/4 (land nerf).

Water, hybrid and closed maps

On pure water maps, the meta has become more rock-paper-scissors: Hulk beats Fire Ship, Fire Ship still beats Galley-line, and Galley-line now has the Carvel Hull + Heavy Warships upgrade path to stay relevant. On hybrid maps like Islands, the new Fishing Ship gold-from-Whales mechanic rewards committing early Docks.

On closed maps, the naval changes are indirect but real. Fishing Lines, Docks that shelter Fishing Ships, and the Catapult Galleon option on Aztec/Maya-style civs give coastal civs slightly more survivability. The closed-map meta has not flipped, but the floor on naval play has risen for nearly every civilization.