Italians, Vikings, & Japanese dominate water maps (with an honourable mention to Persians on more hybrid-style maps). There is definitely room to balance civ - nerf some, buff others. The nice thing about water balance is that you can change it without greatly affecting popular land maps like arabia, arena, or black forest.
General changes
>useful on amphibious maps
>Fish Traps take a long time to build relative to Farms (40 seconds vs 15 seconds for Farms) have relatively low HP to Farms (50 vs 480; especially considering that the units killing Fish Traps are ships, and ships have bonus damage against buildings)
>these changes would make Transport Ships easier to use. The increased LoS would help most ships (somewhat excluding Galleons and Cannon Galleons, which already have good LoS) in the later Ages.
>this doesn't increase max damage vs buildings. this means that Fast Fires will always deal a minimum of 2. Currently if Masonry is researched Fast Fires deal 1 damage per shot (same as a completely unupgraded Fire Galley)
I suggest standardizing Ship speed (many ships have odd speeds (such as 1.26 for a Fishing Ship and 1.43 for a Galleon)).
If we look at the first line of the table above: Fishing Ships lose 0.01 speed (speed reduced from 1.26 to 1.25), but are relatively faster vs galleons (they were 0.17 slower, now they are 0.15 slower (for a net gain of 0.02 speed)).
These are mostly small changes. The biggest losers are Fire Galleys (1.3 to 1.25), the Galley-line (1.43 to 1.4), and Longboats (1.54 to 1.5). The only ships which gain speed are the Fast Fire Ship and the Caravel (which both move from 1.43 to 1.45).
The Fire Galley-line would be slightly nerfed when it's strongest (Feudal Age) and buffed when it's weakest (Imperial Age). Each unit line upgrade would now increase speed by 0.1 (1.25->1.35->1.45).
Byz water change
>building armour greatly impacts the ability of ships to destroy buildings. Currently Masonry effectively doubles the HP of docks (and other buildings) vs fire ships and war galleys. However, Byz have no building armour, meaning that their docks are especially weak (compared to those of other civs)
>basically, fire ships have 0% accuracy. All their attacks land in an AoE near the target. The further the target is from the fire ship, the bigger the AoE. This means that Byz fire ships are MORE likely to miss their targets when attacking from max range
Saracen water change
>cheaper transports make landings easier. Losing half the HP bonus is worth the cost reduction imo
>The other option here would be "War galley tech is free". Careening is more expensive (250f,150g vs the 230f,100g of the War Galley tech), but it's less useful to have +0/1 armour than to to have war galleys and fire ships immediately.
Portuguese water change
Caravels lose to every other FU imperial age ship 1-on-1. They even lose to Galleons lacking bracer 1-on-1 (and this is despite the Caravel benefiting from +1/1 armour (thanks to their UT)). Granted Caravels are meant to fight against groups. Caravels are also more expensive than Galleons (Caravels cost 90w,40g (which is reduced to 90w,34g by the Portuguese bonus); Galleons cost 90w,30g). The Caravel is especially weak in Castle Age. The Portuguese Galleon (with its reduced gold cost, increased HP, and +1/1 armour) is a very strong ship and arguably often a better option than the Caravel.
>for reference: war galleys/galleons deal 7(8), and longboats deal 7(8) (but they fire an additional 3 arrows, so it's more like 10(11))
>for reference: the galleon upgrade costs 400f, 315w and the longboat upgrade costs 750f,475g.
>for reference: war galleys and longboats deal 7 pierce damage (longboats fire an additional 3 arrows for a total of 10 pierce damage); galleons, elite caravel, and elite longboats deal 8 (longboats deal 11 pierce damage with the extra arrows)
The Portuguese (like the Vikings) lack Shipwright. This means that the Caravel doesn't benefit from the lower wood cost and training time afforded by Shipwright.
>for reference: galleons are 36s (23.4s with Shipwright) and longboats are 25s
>for reference: galleons cost 90w,30g (120 total resources; 72w,30g with Shipwright) and longboats cost 80w,40g (120 total resources (in Imperial Age))
After all these changes Caravels still lose 1-on-1, but they: are better vs buildings, are cheaper to upgrade, move faster, produce faster, and cost slightly less wood.
Koreans water change
>Basically, you won't have the most amazing Feudal Age (although it's not too bad thanks to the wood discount), but in Castle Age you can secure Dock positions and narrow water-ways with your powerful towers.
>This is rather historically accurate (as Panokseon ships had raised observation platforms). This would make Turtle Ships better at spotting counters such as Monks, Bombard Cannons, and Trebuchets.
Italians water change
>this could be futher reduced if it was really necessary.
>somewhat of a "water change" since Genoese xbows can help vs landings and (in a pinch) vs ships (although Galleons outrange them). it could compensate also for the nerf to the dock tech discount a little (while helping their poor land performance)
Malay water change
>Malay miss out on Architecture. This means that their Habours die more quickly vs FU Galleons than do Architecture Docks.
Spanish water change
>i.e. cannon galleons are included; Conq attack rate adjusted so that it remains unchanged. This would be a slight buff, but also be good for newer players and the identity of the Civ
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Other (more 'out there'/experimental) ideas
Reduce the collision size of non-military Ships.
This would allow for less bump (for Fishing Ships and Trade Cogs), make the ships easier to use, and make them less likely to be hit by Fire Ships. If this change was made it might be a good idea to revert the Fire Galley's bonus against Fishing Ships (since Fishing Ships would effectively be more tanky).
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>Currently, the Vikings are missing the Fire Ship line and the Koreans are missing the Demo line, but no civ is missing the Galley line. The Portuguese are a prime target for this change as they have a unique unit which is fairly similar to the Galley line.
>it would be a buff in early Castle Age (thanks to free, instant Fires) then a nerf in min Castle Age (as in low numbers War Galleys beat Caravels) then maybe a buff in late Castle Age (since caravels do relatively better in larger numbers).
>Caravels could be further buffed if they were found to be too weak
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>Berbers can gain some other bonus in its place, e.g. "Camels +2 LoS", "Camels move 10% faster", "Light Camel Rider available in Feudal Age", "Skirmishers and Genitours have +1 damage vs archers", "Skirmishers and Genitours produce 20% faster", etc.
General changes
Fishing ships can drop off food at Town Centres
>useful on amphibious maps
Fish Trap construction time from 40 to 30
Fish Trap HP from 50 to 150
>Fish Traps take a long time to build relative to Farms (40 seconds vs 15 seconds for Farms) have relatively low HP to Farms (50 vs 480; especially considering that the units killing Fish Traps are ships, and ships have bonus damage against buildings)
Careening: no longer increases transport capacity; now (additionally) increases Ship LoS by 1
Dry Dock: no longer increases transport capacity; now (additionally) increases Ship LoS by 1
Transport Ship: Garrison now scales with age - 5/10/15/20 in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
Transport Ship: Training time from 46 to 40
>these changes would make Transport Ships easier to use. The increased LoS would help most ships (somewhat excluding Galleons and Cannon Galleons, which already have good LoS) in the later Ages.
Fast Fire Ship: bonus damage vs buildings reduced from 3 to 1
Fast Fire Ship: bonus damage vs standard buildings increased from 0 to 2
>this doesn't increase max damage vs buildings. this means that Fast Fires will always deal a minimum of 2. Currently if Masonry is researched Fast Fires deal 1 damage per shot (same as a completely unupgraded Fire Galley)
I suggest standardizing Ship speed (many ships have odd speeds (such as 1.26 for a Fishing Ship and 1.43 for a Galleon)).
If we look at the first line of the table above: Fishing Ships lose 0.01 speed (speed reduced from 1.26 to 1.25), but are relatively faster vs galleons (they were 0.17 slower, now they are 0.15 slower (for a net gain of 0.02 speed)).
These are mostly small changes. The biggest losers are Fire Galleys (1.3 to 1.25), the Galley-line (1.43 to 1.4), and Longboats (1.54 to 1.5). The only ships which gain speed are the Fast Fire Ship and the Caravel (which both move from 1.43 to 1.45).
The Fire Galley-line would be slightly nerfed when it's strongest (Feudal Age) and buffed when it's weakest (Imperial Age). Each unit line upgrade would now increase speed by 0.1 (1.25->1.35->1.45).
Byz water change
Buildings have +1/2/3/4 building armour in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial age
>building armour greatly impacts the ability of ships to destroy buildings. Currently Masonry effectively doubles the HP of docks (and other buildings) vs fire ships and war galleys. However, Byz have no building armour, meaning that their docks are especially weak (compared to those of other civs)
CA UT (Greek Fire): Additionally, reduces attack dispersion from 0.45 to 0.35 (to compensate for the increased range)
>basically, fire ships have 0% accuracy. All their attacks land in an AoE near the target. The further the target is from the fire ship, the bigger the AoE. This means that Byz fire ships are MORE likely to miss their targets when attacking from max range
CA UT (Greek Fire): Additionally, gives fire ships +10% movement speed
Saracen water change
Old Transport bonus changed to: Transports +50% HP, -50% cost & training time.
>cheaper transports make landings easier. Losing half the HP bonus is worth the cost reduction imo
Careening is free
>The other option here would be "War galley tech is free". Careening is more expensive (250f,150g vs the 230f,100g of the War Galley tech), but it's less useful to have +0/1 armour than to to have war galleys and fire ships immediately.
Portuguese water change
Caravels lose to every other FU imperial age ship 1-on-1. They even lose to Galleons lacking bracer 1-on-1 (and this is despite the Caravel benefiting from +1/1 armour (thanks to their UT)). Granted Caravels are meant to fight against groups. Caravels are also more expensive than Galleons (Caravels cost 90w,40g (which is reduced to 90w,34g by the Portuguese bonus); Galleons cost 90w,30g). The Caravel is especially weak in Castle Age. The Portuguese Galleon (with its reduced gold cost, increased HP, and +1/1 armour) is a very strong ship and arguably often a better option than the Caravel.
Caravel anti-building damage from 8(9) to 9(10)
>for reference: war galleys/galleons deal 7(8), and longboats deal 7(8) (but they fire an additional 3 arrows, so it's more like 10(11))
Caravel upgrade cost from 750f,475g to 500f,500g
>for reference: the galleon upgrade costs 400f, 315w and the longboat upgrade costs 750f,475g.
Non-elite Caravel pierce damage from 6 to 7
>for reference: war galleys and longboats deal 7 pierce damage (longboats fire an additional 3 arrows for a total of 10 pierce damage); galleons, elite caravel, and elite longboats deal 8 (longboats deal 11 pierce damage with the extra arrows)
The Portuguese (like the Vikings) lack Shipwright. This means that the Caravel doesn't benefit from the lower wood cost and training time afforded by Shipwright.
Caravel training time from from 36 to 30
>for reference: galleons are 36s (23.4s with Shipwright) and longboats are 25s
Caravel cost from 90w,34g to 85w,35g (120 total resources)
>for reference: galleons cost 90w,30g (120 total resources; 72w,30g with Shipwright) and longboats cost 80w,40g (120 total resources (in Imperial Age))
After all these changes Caravels still lose 1-on-1, but they: are better vs buildings, are cheaper to upgrade, move faster, produce faster, and cost slightly less wood.
Koreans water change
Heated shot is free.
>Basically, you won't have the most amazing Feudal Age (although it's not too bad thanks to the wood discount), but in Castle Age you can secure Dock positions and narrow water-ways with your powerful towers.
Elite Turtle Ship upgrade from 1000f,800g to 1000f,600g
CA UT (Panokeon): additionally, Turtle Ships +4 LoS
>This is rather historically accurate (as Panokseon ships had raised observation platforms). This would make Turtle Ships better at spotting counters such as Monks, Bombard Cannons, and Trebuchets.
Italians water change
Dock tech discount reduced from 50% to 40%
>this could be futher reduced if it was really necessary.
Genoese Crossbows bonus damage vs ships from 4(5) to 5(7)
Starting Castle Age, Genoese Crossbowmen can be produced at the Archery Range.
>somewhat of a "water change" since Genoese xbows can help vs landings and (in a pinch) vs ships (although Galleons outrange them). it could compensate also for the nerf to the dock tech discount a little (while helping their poor land performance)
Malay water change
Harbours building armour from 0 to 3
>Malay miss out on Architecture. This means that their Habours die more quickly vs FU Galleons than do Architecture Docks.
Spanish water change
Bonus changed from "Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons fire 15% faster" to "Gunpowder units fire 15% faster"
>i.e. cannon galleons are included; Conq attack rate adjusted so that it remains unchanged. This would be a slight buff, but also be good for newer players and the identity of the Civ
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Other (more 'out there'/experimental) ideas
Reduce the collision size of non-military Ships.
This would allow for less bump (for Fishing Ships and Trade Cogs), make the ships easier to use, and make them less likely to be hit by Fire Ships. If this change was made it might be a good idea to revert the Fire Galley's bonus against Fishing Ships (since Fishing Ships would effectively be more tanky).
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Remove the Galley line from the Portuguese. Fires and Demos are automatically upgraded when you hit Castle Age (no need for the War Galley tech).
>Currently, the Vikings are missing the Fire Ship line and the Koreans are missing the Demo line, but no civ is missing the Galley line. The Portuguese are a prime target for this change as they have a unique unit which is fairly similar to the Galley line.
>it would be a buff in early Castle Age (thanks to free, instant Fires) then a nerf in min Castle Age (as in low numbers War Galleys beat Caravels) then maybe a buff in late Castle Age (since caravels do relatively better in larger numbers).
>Caravels could be further buffed if they were found to be too weak
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Berbers lose the "Ships move 10% faster" bonus
>Berbers can gain some other bonus in its place, e.g. "Camels +2 LoS", "Camels move 10% faster", "Light Camel Rider available in Feudal Age", "Skirmishers and Genitours have +1 damage vs archers", "Skirmishers and Genitours produce 20% faster", etc.
Another (more appropriate) civ gets the "Ships move 10% faster" bonus, such as the Malay or the Spanish.