Pillage · Old World Reference

What one pillage does

payout = base payout × (100 + pillage modifier) ÷ 100

truncated to a whole number · the only pillage modifier is Assyria's +100

Pays you. Each yield the improvement pays is multiplied by your unit's pillage modifier and added to your stockpile, so a Farm pays 20 Food. Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city instead, and is lost if the pillager has no city.
Switches the improvement off. A pillaged improvement gives no yields, no specialist output and none of its other effects until it is repaired. Its luxury stops counting, and the trade network no longer runs through it.
Starts the clock. Left alone, the improvement is destroyed when the countdown runs out. Most improvements get 10 turns; cathedrals get 20; shrines, Estates and Slums stay pillaged forever and never disappear.
Costs 1 Order, then a cooldown. The unit can't act again this turn (the usual free-action rules apply).
Adds 5 war score against the tile's owner. For scale: killing a unit is worth 10, capturing one 50, taking a city 100.
Fires events. The owner and the pillager each get their own events; the 17 story events are listed below.

What every improvement pays

Pays is the payout for any unit. Assyria is the same unit under Assyria's +100% Pillage Yield. Repair is what the owner pays to switch the improvement back on: 50% of the build cost, then the improvement's own repair discount if it has one, never below 1. City cost modifiers apply before that and are not shown. Left alone is what happens if nobody repairs it. Pillaging a Fort, or an improvement still under construction, destroys it outright, but it still pays.

Improvement	Pays	Assyria	Repair	Left alone	Notes
Rural improvements
Fort	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	destroyed by the pillage itself	—
Farm	20 Food	40 Food	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Mine	20 Iron	40 Iron	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Quarry	20 Stone	40 Stone	10 Iron	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Lumbermill	20 Wood	40 Wood	10 Iron	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Pasture	20 Food	40 Food	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Camp	20 Food	40 Food	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Grove	20 Food	40 Food	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Nets	20 Food	40 Food	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Harbor	30 Wood	60 Wood	20 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Granary	20 Food	40 Food	20 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Watermill	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Windmill	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Estates	20 Culture	40 Culture	50 Stone 50 Wood	stays pillaged forever	Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city Behind the Throne
Urban improvements
Hamlet	10 Money	20 Money	10 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Village	20 Money	40 Money	10 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Town	40 Money	80 Money	10 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Barracks	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Range	20 Wood	40 Wood	20 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Odeon	20 Culture	40 Culture	20 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city
Theater	30 Culture	60 Culture	30 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city
Amphitheater	40 Culture	80 Culture	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city
Cold Baths	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Warm Baths	30 Stone	60 Stone	30 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Heated Baths	40 Stone	80 Stone	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Market	20 Money	40 Money	30 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Grocer	40 Money	80 Money	40 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Fair	60 Money	120 Money	50 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Library	10 Science	20 Science	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Academy	20 Science	40 Science	50 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
University	30 Science	60 Science	60 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Courthouse	10 Civics	20 Civics	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Ministry	20 Civics	40 Civics	50 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Palace	30 Civics	60 Civics	60 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Garrison	40 Stone	80 Stone	30 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Stronghold	50 Stone	100 Stone	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Citadel	50 Stone	100 Stone	50 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Slums	—	—	—	stays pillaged forever	pays nothing; the AI never targets it Behind the Throne
World religion buildings one row per building type; every religion is identical
Monasteries ×6 Zoroastrian Monastery · Jewish Monastery · Christian Monastery · Manichaean Monastery · Hindu Monastery · Buddhist Monastery	20 Science	40 Science	30 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	Empires of the Indus
Temples ×6 Zoroastrian Temple · Jewish Temple · Christian Temple · Manichaean Temple · Hindu Temple · Buddhist Temple	2 Orders	4 Orders	30 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	Empires of the Indus
Cathedrals ×6 Zoroastrian Cathedral · Jewish Cathedral · Christian Cathedral · Manichaean Cathedral · Hindu Cathedral · Buddhist Cathedral	20 Culture	40 Culture	50 Stone	destroyed after 20 turns	Culture goes to the pillager's nearest city Empires of the Indus
Shrines all pagan shrines pay the same
Shrines ×53	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	stays pillaged forever	—
Nation-specific improvements
Altar of the Aten	20 Stone	40 Stone	20 Stone	stays pillaged forever	—
Kushite Pyramids	20 Stone	40 Stone	30 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Stele	40 Stone	80 Stone	40 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	repairs at -20% on top of the usual half Wrath of Gods
Grand Stele	80 Stone	160 Stone	50 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	repairs at -50% on top of the usual half Wrath of Gods
Legendary Stele	120 Stone	240 Stone	60 Stone	destroyed after 10 turns	repairs at -70% on top of the usual half Wrath of Gods
Event improvements placed by events; most cannot be built or repaired for a listed cost
Temple of the Statue	40 Stone	80 Stone	—	destroyed after 10 turns	The Sacred and the Profane
Cults ×13	20 Stone	40 Stone	—	destroyed after 10 turns	The Sacred and the Profane
Laurion Mine	20 Iron	40 Iron	10 Wood	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Ancient Tomb	50 Money	100 Money	—	destroyed after 10 turns	—
National Monument	50 Money	100 Money	—	destroyed after 10 turns	—
God's Consort Cult Shrine	20 Stone	40 Stone	—	destroyed after 10 turns	—
Tribal Shrine	20 Stone	40 Stone	—	destroyed after 10 turns	—

How Assyria's bonus works

Assyria's nation effect gives every unit you own +100% Pillage Yield, which exactly doubles every payout: a Farm pays 40 Food instead of 20, a Fair 120 Money instead of 60, a Legendary Stele 240 Stone instead of 120.

Nothing else in the game changes the payout. Two related effects:

Hero leader: heal while pillaging. Every unit recovers an active heal's worth of HP on each pillage. It doesn't change the payout.
Stateira dynasty (Persia): -50% repair cost. It makes your own repairs cheaper, on top of the improvement's own discount. It does nothing to pillage.

Razing a city harvests every improvement in its territory at the base payout, so Assyria gets no bonus there.

What cannot be pillaged

Wonders, tribe settlements, holy sites, the Pillar of Edicts, ruins, city sites and one event improvement can't be pillaged. A city itself is captured, not pillaged. You also can't pillage in friendly or neutral territory: only inside a city you are at war with, or on tiles no city owns.

Wonders ×28
Tribe settlements ×4 Hovel, Outpost, Encampment, Bastion — taken, not pillaged
Holy Sites ×5 The Adur Burzen-Mihr, The Temple of Solomon, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Cao'an, Mahabodhi Temple
Shrine of Victory The Sacred and the Profane event improvement
Pillar Edicts Empires of the Indus Pillar Edicts
Ruins, city sites and minor cities ×7 Ancient Ruins, City Site, Hovel Ruins, Outpost Ruins, Encampment Ruins, Bastion Ruins, Minor City

Other ways an improvement gets pillaged

Occurrences (Wrath of Gods): a wildfire or eruption pillages every improvement it touches; the others roll a per-tile chance, listed below. No one is paid.
Events: 6 event bonuses pillage a tile or every tile around one, and two repair one. Again no payout.
Razing: every improvement in the razed city's territory is harvested at base payout, then cleared.
Burning: a unit that could pillage can instead Burn the improvement for 50 Training. It pillages the tile with no payout and no cooldown. Tribes cannot burn.

Occurrence	Per tile
Civil War	5%
Hurricane	20%
Minor Hurricane	10%
Tsunami	50%
Minor Tsunami	20%
Flood	20%
Minor Flood	10%
Earthquake	10%
Minor Earthquake	5%
Wildfire	always
Minor Wildfire	50%
Volcanic Eruption	always
Minor Volcanic Eruption	always

Who can pillage

Every land military unit can pillage except the siege line (Ballista, Polybolos, Onager, Mangonel). Civilians, ships and disciples cannot. Tribal units pillage too, but only Raiders do it on purpose; other tribes pillage only when their attacks happen to leave them on an improvement.

What follows a pillage

Family opinion. Artisans families lose 20 opinion for every pillaged tile inside their cities, for as long as it stays pillaged. No other family class cares.
Ambitions. "Pillage Five Improvements" and "Pillage Ten Improvements" count every improvement your units pillage.
Cognomens. The same count feeds "the Hunter" and "the Scourge" on the cognomens page, weighted at 600 each.
Repair. A Worker, or any unit that could build the improvement, repairs it instantly for 1 Order plus 50% of the build cost. Only the three Aksum Steles have their own discount on top: a Legendary Stele costs 400 Stone to build and 60 to repair (50%, then -70%). If you're short on goods, the repair button offers to buy them. Repair resets the countdown.

Events that fire on a pillage

When you pillaged someone

When a nation pillaged you

Pillaged Improvement
Pillaged Industry
Stolen Gods The Sacred and the Profane
Temple in Danger

When a tribe pillaged you

How the AI treats it

The AI never pillages an improvement that pays nothing, so Slums are safe from it.
The AI repairs a pillaged tile sooner the less time it has left, and a tile past half its countdown becomes a Priority threat for its defenders.
A unit in grave danger that can't wait out a pillage cooldown will Burn instead.

🔥 Pillage