Lou Chuan

Overview

A large naval siege unit used by the Chinese and Three Kingdoms factions.

Availability and investment

Lou Chuan becomes available in Imperial Age. Its listed production context is Chinese. The listed cost is 250 Wood, 225 Gold and the training time is 60 seconds. This tells you when it can first join an army and which resources must be reserved alongside Villager production, upgrades, and other military lines.

Combat profile

The available combat values are included here so the numbers can be read as a profile rather than an isolated list. Hit points and armor describe how long the unit can remain exposed; attack and any bonus damage describe what it threatens; range, reload, accuracy, and movement describe how reliably it can engage or disengage. A value shown for a whole upgrade line applies to the listed stages as recorded, so compare the stage names instead of treating the line as one base unit.

• Ranged attack: 5
• Hit points: 175
• Melee armor: 0
• Pierce armor: 9
• Ranged attack: 5
• Range: 13
• Line of sight: 15
• Reload time: 5.5 seconds
• Movement speed: 1.15
• Accuracy: 100%
• Bonus damage vs. Buildings: 180

Field use

Protect the siege engine while it closes on its target. Its value comes from creating pressure against structures or clustered forces, so give it an escort and a clear objective instead of sending it forward alone.

Armor classes and counters

Armor-class bonuses are separate from base attack and the target’s melee or pierce armor. The class list below shows the unit’s documented combat categories and bonus-damage relationships; use it to judge matchups instead of relying on the unit label alone.

• Armor class: Ship
• Lou Chuan deals +5 bonus damage to units in the Ship class
• Lou Chuan deals +10 bonus damage to units in the Siege weapon class
• Lou Chuan deals +180 bonus damage to units in the All Buildings class

Related unit plan: Lou Chuan mode-switching coastal siege

Lou Chuan can switch attack modes and applies strong pressure to buildings, but its high gold cost makes it an investment for a planned siege rather than a routine fleet ship. It is less suited to fighting units than a Dromon Keep Lou Chuan behind a naval screen, select its building-focused attack when a shore structure blocks progress, and use the alternate mode only when its target justifies the approach. Coordinate with land units so the bombardment opens a usable route Dromons or ordinary warships may serve better against mobile units. Do not spend the gold on Lou Chuan without a protected objective, and retreat if the fleet screen breaks