Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

301 Achievements

208-210h

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Smoke on the Water

Smoke on the Water

Purchase 20 Dragon Ships in the Historical Battle "Lake Poyang (1363)".

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How to unlock the Smoke on the Water achievement in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Definitive Guide

Achievement:
To do this you'll need to send 2000 Tribute to cyan. Not right away though, you have to find them at the north corner with a ship. To get there you will have to clear out some other ships.

Note that you can send the tribute in fragments, however the achievement will not pop unless there are 20 dragon ships alive simultaneously. So if you've send more tribute but some ships die, you'll have to fill up the amount with more tribute.

The achievement will pop mid-game upon completing the objective

Mission info:

To start this mission:
-Read the tips (middle tab of the mission objectives)
-Exploit your trebuchet to take down the towers 1 by 1. Be cautious to not aggro the war ships.
-build a dock and a couple more fire ships
-No need to do any kind of eco other then setting your villagers to work. If you can manage then get the Shipwright upgrade early
-If you lose your trebuchet before all 8 towers are down, start over. Unless you manage to get two Cannon Galleons out it in time then you have a chance

IF you REALLY need more time, then simply get the two towers down and form a body block / blockade with your ships. That way the transport ship cannot get across until you're ready.

However at the 2nd part you'll get more villagers and can start building an eco based on mostly wood and gold so using that little trick isn't really recommended
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14 Comments
I saved it, gave them 2000, then reloaded and gave the 2000 to the Pirates instead.

I did continue to buy Dragon Ships during the rest of the mission when I had Gold to spare.

After getting the 4th ship through I recommend gathering 50 villagers around the Wonder, so when the time comes you can build it real quick.
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By HolyHalfDead on 02 Jan 2020 09:06
EDIT: The achievement popped about 10 minutes after I posted this comment when I went into the multiplayer lobby.

Sadly, but unsurprisingly, this achievement seems to be glitched. I have, on screen at this very moment, 60 dragon ships and the achievement still hasn't unlocked. :( I played this scenario through to completion earlier tonight, having purchased 20 dragon ships with 2,000 gold at one point (and then saving the game), and the achievement didn't unlock at the end of the scenario. I started from this save and have simply been mining gold and buying dragon ships--at one point I bought them one at a time, 20 in a row.
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By jrod39 on 14 Jan 2020 03:20
Still does not work, even after this week’s update
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By Oaf Sauce on 14 Feb 2021 05:48
Not unlocking for me 25/02/2021
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By OnexWingxAngelx on 25 Feb 2021 17:12
Not unlocking for me neither 24/03/2021
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By xRaeZZoRx on 25 Mar 2021 18:37
Achievement is currently broken/unobtainable, as reported by devs.

"A fix is in the works"
https://support.ageofempires.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049490...
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By Z792 on 13 Apr 2021 18:19
Same as above, old save does not unlock it.
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By Kaneman on 04 May 2021 20:31
Looks like they finally fixed the bug that prevented achievement from being unlocked! However if you load a save from a previous game it won't work, you'll have to start the scenario completely over...
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By Biztip2008 on 06 May 2021 18:57
12 May 2021 - The achievement unlocked once I had 20 ships alive at once - I probably had built ~25 by that point.

I started a new mission, as my previous saves did not work.
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By S P 4 C E Y on 12 May 2021 11:02
You can build 3 docks across the river to block the transports, instead of ships.

Destroy the super towers with rams
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By Flakstruk on 15 Apr 2022 17:12
So, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with this one. I bought 20 in bulk a couple times, I bought 20 individually, I had well over 20 alive at one time, but it still never unlocked. Is there something else I'm doing wrong?
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By mwmike11 on 02 Sep 2022 19:59
hardest scenario Ive played.
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By x1c1cle on 02 Jul 2023 08:01
I found it very difficult! You start off slow, you can't develop properly, it's very much based on "dying and advancing", I found this phase terrifying.
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By SIRRuiz on 26 Jan 2024 02:37
The achievement has been fixed according to the new patch notes, however, I loaded a save from the previous build with all the requirements fulfilled because I didn't want to do the whole thing again and didn't get the achievement.

Can anyone confirm is this has been actually fixed and I just have to do everything again (basically loading an old save won't work)? OR this hasn't been fixed at all? I don't wanna do everything again just to realize that these achievements are still broken.

P.S.: anyone's campaign progress was lost after the update? I have to redo a few missions...
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By DemonicLink on 04 May 2021 09:10
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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC) - Achievement - Smoke on the Water

Purchase 20 Dragon Ships in the Historical Battle "Lake Poyang (1363)"

This level can be quite tedious. You start with a navy and soon encounter a village that will join you providing you with Villagers, a Trebuchet and a few Chu Ko Nu to add to the Chu Ko Nu you start with in a Transport Ship. The idea is that you slowly push using your different forces which clear the path for the next force: Use the Trebuchet to destroy towers, Chu Ko Nu to kill land units and your navy to destroy enemy boats. A timer is visible which shows when a friendly transport ship will arrive and deliver supplies to a temple that is being built. You must protect the Transport Ship otherwise it's game over. This is a repeating theme throughout this mission. Once you get to where the temple is being built, the village will join you, providing you with a more permanent base than the initial village that joins you, as well as a larger army.
In the very North of the map, you will encounter the 'Chinese Peasants' faction who will state that they make the finest ships in the land - These are the Dragon Ships that you need for this achievement. All you need to do is pay them 100 gold via the diplomacy menu and they will provide you with a Dragon Ship. Do this 20 times and the achievement will be yours. It appears there is perhaps a delay or maybe it does not register all the ships, but to be safe, just keep buying them until the achievement triggers.
There is no shortage of resources and there are also a couple of islands that contain gold that start occupied by enemy forces, so it's advisable that you clear these if needed. The Chinese Peasants also have a village on the far right of the map which contains a Market, so you can send Trade Carts to them to obtain gold that way. There is also a Relic in the village which will generate gold for you once you bring it back to your Monastery (you don't start with one and will have to build one). The achievement triggers before the end of the level, but I would also advise to save regularly as it can be easy to lose a Transport Ship.

NOTE: Achievement triggers at around 41:15 in the video - The remainder is just completing the level

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17 Jun 2020 13:21

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC) - Achievement - Smoke on the Water

Purchase 20 Dragon Ships in the Historical Battle "Lake Poyang (1363)"

This level can be quite tedious. You start with a navy and soon encounter a village that will join you providing you with Villagers, a Trebuchet and a few Chu Ko Nu to add to the Chu Ko Nu you start with in a Transport Ship. The idea is that you slowly push using your different forces which clear the path for the next force: Use the Trebuchet to destroy towers, Chu Ko Nu to kill land units and your navy to destroy enemy boats. A timer is visible which shows when a friendly transport ship will arrive and deliver supplies to a temple that is being built. You must protect the Transport Ship otherwise it's game over. This is a repeating theme throughout this mission. Once you get to where the temple is being built, the village will join you, providing you with a more permanent base than the initial village that joins you, as well as a larger army.
In the very North of the map, you will encounter the 'Chinese Peasants' faction who will state that they make the finest ships in the land - These are the Dragon Ships that you need for this achievement. All you need to do is pay them 100 gold via the diplomacy menu and they will provide you with a Dragon Ship. Do this 20 times and the achievement will be yours. It appears there is perhaps a delay or maybe it does not register all the ships, but to be safe, just keep buying them until the achievement triggers.
There is no shortage of resources and there are also a couple of islands that contain gold that start occupied by enemy forces, so it's advisable that you clear these if needed. The Chinese Peasants also have a village on the far right of the map which contains a Market, so you can send Trade Carts to them to obtain gold that way. There is also a Relic in the village which will generate gold for you once you bring it back to your Monastery (you don't start with one and will have to build one). The achievement triggers before the end of the level, but I would also advise to save regularly as it can be easy to lose a Transport Ship.

NOTE: Achievement triggers at around 41:15 in the video - The remainder is just completing the level

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17 Jun 2020 00:00

2 Comments
11th of April 2021 - Currently bugged.
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By SticerAC on 11 Apr 2021 00:20
5th of May 2021 - Fixed with latest patch.
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By SticerAC on 04 May 2021 07:31
During the mission in the historical battles campaign you will eventually have a full base. If you proceed to the north of the map you will find the cyan base. There, they will ask for 100 gold to create a Dragon Ship. You will need all 20 alive at once so it is recommended you wait until you have 200 gold to spare before sending them Tribute.
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