What a Port unlocks
A Port is the naval hub for trade ships, transports, and warships. You need a Port on that body of water to spawn warships there.
Ports and Factories share one escalating cost counter: the first of either costs 125,000 Gold, followed by 250,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 Gold, regardless of which type you choose.
Plan both structures together: building a Factory first raises the price of your first Port, while building two Ports first raises the price of your first Factory.
Build the Port on a connected sea with a trade partner or where you must control a landing. Skip water that is only a puddle with no foreign Port and no invasion threat.
A Port takes about 50 ticks to build. Higher Port levels improve trade spawn rate and revenue, while capturing a Port transfers it to the new owner.
Match the follow-up to the job: transports take land, while warships screen an invading transport or intercept an enemy transport. A Port without a useful hull has the right building but the wrong follow-up purchase.
Using the Port after construction
- Which systems depend on the Port?
- The Port serves trade ships, transports, and warships, and a warship can only spawn on water where you have a Port.
- What should I fund after building a Port?
- Use transports when the objective is taking land, and use warships to protect those landings or stop enemy transports before they dock.
- How should naval targets be prioritized?
- Prioritize transports, then enemy warships, then trade ships. Protecting landings and Gold matters more than chasing the wrong target.
- When is a Port placement worth its shared cost?
- Commit when the connected sea offers a trade partner or a landing that must be controlled, and account for how the purchase raises the next Port or Factory price.