Pentekonter

"Hammer ship. Good against siege ships."
In-game description

The Pentekonter is the Greek close-combat ship and is available at the Dock from the Classical Age.

Special Ability

Image	Name	Description
	Critical Strike	Requires Anastrophe, Inflicts 40 Hack damage to the target unit and reduces its movement speed by 30%. Cooldown time: 5 seconds.

Technologies, Upgrades & Bonuses

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong vs.	Siege Ships
Weak vs.	Archer Ship, Siege Weapons

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Upgrades to	Cost	Effect
Heroic Age	Heavy Warships	Heavy Pentekonter	150 , 150 , 20 seconds	+15% hit points, +20% damage, +1 Line of Sight
Heroic Age	Champion Warships	Champion Pentekonter	250 , 200 , 20 seconds	+20% hit points, +30% damage, +1 Line of Sight

General Technologies

Offense

Image	Name	Description
	Copper Weapons	+10% damage
	Bronze Weapons	+10% damage
	Iron Weapons	+10% damage

Defense

Image	Name	Description
	Copper Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Bronze Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Iron Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Copper Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability
	Bronze Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability
	Iron Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability

Utility

Image	Name	Description
	Conscript Sailors	-20% training time

Myth Technologies

Name	God	Description
Oracle	Apollo	+4 Line of Sight
Anastrophe	Apollo	Gains Critical Strike ability, dealing 40 Hack damage with 30% snare
Dionysia	Dionysus	+5% hit points

Relic Bonuses

	Pelt of Argus	+6 Line of Sight

Gameplay

As hammer ships, Pentekonters deal a large amount of hack damage and have high crush armor, making them very strong against Siege Ships. In groups, they are also better than other ship types against naval myth units, whose hack armor is generally lower than their pierce or crush. When Heroic Fleet has been researched, they become decent at defeating naval myth units. Since there are no naval hero in the game except Poseidon's Argo, this is an important role for them.

Like other ramming ships, Pentekonters are weaker than other warships and are easily sunk. They are vulnerable to archer ships due to their low pierce armor. Any defenses on the shore should be avoided as well. Their exceptional speed makes taking evasive action easy.

History

"While many galleys had stationary rams on their bows, the Greeks also developed a moveable weapon known as a dolphin. This heavy lead or bronze weight was swung from a boom on the ship's mast and was used like a flail to puncture holes in enemy hulls. The Romans would later improve on this design and develop the corvus, a spiked weapon that doubled as a boarding ramp."
In-game compendium