Season One Update – Holy Roman Empire
The first major update of 2022 brings Ranked Seasons, the Content Editor beta (and Mods!), Seasonal Events, Major Balance changes, as well as a ton of quality-of-life changes to Age of Empires IV.
Economy
Hunting bow reload time reduced from 2 to 1 second
Melee weapon cool down reduced from 4 to 2 seconds
Melee weapon damage reduced from 4 to 2
Developer note
"We found scout attack times to feel too long and unresponsive. This is especially noticeable in the early stages of the game when unit counts are lower."
Villager hunted meat carry capacity increased from 10 to 25
Hunted meat harvest rate increased from 10% to 15%
Research time reduced from 75 to 45 seconds
Hunted meat carry capacity bonus removed
Developer note
"We’re aim to encourage earlier game deer play to reward players for being out on the map."
Naval
Arrow ships can no longer fire while moving
Improved the responsiveness of small and medium ships
Updated the selection area for all fishing deposits to match the visual. This also resolves issues where deep fish became harder to select as the resource was depleted.
Galley, Dhow and Junk help text updated to specifically indicate they benefit from ranged damage Blacksmith technology
Developer note
"Engaging in naval battles was very swingy as once a player started losing it was difficult to retreat against fire while moving boats. We’re also hoping to see more tactical poke and retreat style feigns and harassment."
Research time reduced from 75 to 45 seconds
Research time reduced from 75 to 45 seconds
Developer note
"Between making more fishing boats and researching, the dock had to choose between these economic techs that took so long. It was generally better just to make more fishing boats. Reducing the research time makes these techs enticing earlier in the match."
Population reduced from 4 to 3
Can no longer fire while moving
Hulk Ranged armor reduced by 1, except for French Hulk
Warship formation spacing reduced from 4.5 to 3 tiles
Rams can no longer target naval units
Developer note
"While this was a bug fix, we received player feedback about how it added a fun dynamic to the game. We’ll look into readjusting in the future."
Core Buildings & Upgrades
Buildings under construction receive 50% more damage
Developer note
"Players were dropping buildings in the middle of battles and there wasn’t any way to stop it. We’ve added this damage penalty to in progress buildings to add more risk and counterplay to these strategies to even out how powerful they are."
Stone Wall Tower build time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
Stone Wall Tower cost increased from 200 to 300 stone
Developer note
"These changes together are specifically targeted at weakening feudal age stone wall tower rushes as it’s difficult to get enough army together in time to prevent them."
Keep build time increased from 120 to 140 seconds
Cost increased from 250 Gold, 100 Stone to 500 Gold, 200 Stone
Research time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
Developer note
"One of the most powerful castle age upgrades. This was frequently grabbed as soon as a keep was completed. Increasing the cost adds more strategic contemplation to when it’s researched. Still well worth the investment!"
Movement speed bonus reduced from 20% to 15%
Moved from the University to the Siege Workshop
Cost reduced from 300 Wood, 700 Gold to 100 Wood, 225 Gold
Research time reduced from 90 to 45 seconds
Developer note
"As geometry only affects 2 units that only damage buildings, we found the steep cost wasn’t justified and limited the intended scaling of late game rams."
Moved from the Siege Workshop to the University
Cost increased from 150 Wood, 350 Gold to 300 Wood, 700 Gold
Research time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
Developer note
"As university holds powerful technologies that affect entire classes of units, it was a much better fit for this technology."
Can now research Geometry (instead of University)
Can no longer research Siege Works (use University instead)
Can now research Siege Works (instead of Siege Workshop)
Can no longer research Geometry (use Siege Workshop instead)
Now correctly provides 30 stone per minute instead of 15
Other bug fixes
Repair ability now shows the correct requirements when attempting to use it on an enemy player
Attempting to observe a modded game when you do not have the same mods enables should no longer result in a crash
Improvements made to sheep to allow for easier selection
Selection tool should now prioritize siege unit selection over building selection when the unit overlaps with a building
Holy Roman Empire
Regnitz Cathedral Relic capacity reduced from 3 to 2
Developer note
"This helps balance the high gold per minute provided by the relic. In addition, it allows HRE more options for powering up Keeps and Outposts by adding relics to them."
Burgrave Palace now produces infantry 400% faster instead of training units in batches of 5
Developer note
"While technically the same as training in batches of 5, this is better for multiple reasons: First off, it now applies to all barracks techs for awesome timing attacks! This change also allows units to hit the field much faster, with smaller resource requirements, and additional flexibility in the units produced."
Meinwerk Palace research discount increased from 25% to 30%
Meinwerk Palace research speed increased by 30%
Palace of Swabia Villager production speed and discount reduced from 75% to 66%
Inspired Warriors effect duration increased from 30 seconds to 60 seconds
Developer note
"This, along with the Marching Drills, changes are intended to make it more rewarding for you to put Prelates into your main army."
Cost reduced from 100 Food, 250 Gold to 50 Food, 125 Gold
Research time reduced from 90 to 60 seconds
Now affects Prelates
Developer note
"While Marching Drills is a powerful tech, the cost was difficult to afford in Feudal age. We’re hoping this opens up new strategic potential for expanded HRE Feudal play."
Added a Prelate indicator to be able to more easily locate and keep track of Prelates
HRE Bug Fixes
Relics placed inside of docks no longer increase attack speed of all players’ ships
By placing Relics in Docks it is no longer possible to surpass the maximum 25% attack speed bonus
Docks can now properly make use of influence and the Emergency Repair ability
The Aachen Chapel blueprint aura range indicator has been updated to use the correct gold color
Can now properly make use of influence and the Emergency Repair ability
Keeps no longer grant a springald when a unit is garrisoned, and the Springald Emplacement is not researched
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