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.
Field construction time increased from 30 to 80 seconds
Field construction time increased from 40 to 80 seconds
Field construction time increased from 35 to 80 seconds
"Siege weapons are frequently built by many infantry at the same time in the field. We wanted to add more time here to give opponents an adequate chance at counter play."
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
"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
"We’re aim to encourage earlier game deer play to reward players for being out on the map."
Delhi and Abbasid Orchard Bonus (building a mill nearby Berry Bushes) reduced from +250 to +100 food
"We like that the berry gathering speed makes this a prime resource for Abbasid, but it gives a boon for too long. We want them to have to move out on the map to more risky positions sooner."
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
"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
"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."
Increased sight range improvement from 1 to 4 tiles
No longer gives +1 weapon range
"Naval units frequently are hampered from firing at their max range by inability to see land units on hills. This helps combat their sight issues as well as making the technology more situationally useful instead of an automatic research every game."
Can no longer fire while moving
Population reduced from 4 to 3
Can no longer fire while moving
Population reduced from 4 to 2
Can no longer fire while moving
Population reduced from 6 to 5
Ranged armor reduced by 1
"Attack ships are designed to counter arrowships. However we felt the armor was so extreme of a counter it felt ineffective and unfun to engage in these naval battles."
Hulk Ranged armor reduced by 1, except for French Hulk
Springald weapon damage increased from 50 to 70
Ranged armor reduced by 1
Attack speed reduced from 3.25 to 3.75 seconds
"Helps Baghlah’s ability to take out enemy structures. This is also a net increase to Baghlah DPS to account for the lack of Swivel Ballista technology."
Weapon range reduced from 9 to 8 tiles
"We want to give land units and defenses more opportunity to return fire against naval units. It’s not satisfying for a boat to out range your defenses and kill them without taking any damage. Having both sides take some damage creates a more interesting back and forth dynamic between players that adds strategy and micro into the mix."
Rams can no longer target naval units
"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."
Buildings under construction receive 50% more damage
"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
"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
"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
"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
Can no longer be researched at the Chinese Astronomical Clocktower
Cost increased from 150 Wood, 350 Gold to 300 Wood, 700 Gold
Research time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
Delhi Research time increased from 900 to 1350 seconds
"As university holds powerful technologies that affect entire classes of units, it was a much better fit for this technology."
Cost increased from 500 Stone to 1000 Stone
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
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
Move speed increased from 6.5 to 6.75
Age II damage increased from 10 to 12
Age III damage increased from 12 to 14
Age IV damage increased from 14 to 15
Bonus damage vs. Spearman reduced from 3x to 2x
Camel Barding no longer affects the Camel Archer
Camel Archer bow is no longer invisible after upgrading Incendiary Arrows
Age III damage increased from 9 to 14
Age IV damage increased from 10 to 16
Age III bonus damage vs. Cavalry reduced from 18 to 14
Age IV bonus damage vs. Cavalry reduced from 20 to 16
"For both camel units we wanted them to be a bit more useful overall instead of just niche counter units. As Camel archers are ranged, fast, and high damage we’ll be scrutinizing them for upcoming balance patches."
Moved from the Blacksmith to the Stables
Cost reduced from 300 Food, 700 Gold to 100 Food, 225 Gold
research time reduced from 90 to 45 seconds
Camel Barding now only affects Camel Riders, no longer affects the Camel Archer
"Camel archers already get to benefit from Biology and Incendiary Arrows, this helps combat some of the upgrade stacking issues."
Cost reduced from 200 Wood, 500 Gold to 75 Wood, 200 Gold
Research time reduced from 90 to 45 seconds
"Previously, the strongest wing bonuses weren’t available until reaching Imperial Age. This meant that choosing a wing wasn’t exciting as the payoff was very far in the future. We’ve resolved this by adding more enticing options starting off in the Feudal age!"
Moved from the Imperial Age to the Feudal Age
Cost reduced from 300 Food, 700 Gold to 50 Food, 125 Gold
Research time reduced from 90 to 60 seconds
Moved from the Feudal Age to the Imperial Age
Cost increased from 100 Wood, 250 Gold to 300 Wood, 700 Gold
Moved from Imperial Age to Feudal Age
Cost reduced from 300 Food, 700 Gold to 50 Food, 125 Gold
Research time decreased from 90 to 60 seconds
Cost reduced from 300 Food, 700 Gold to 250 Gold, 100 Food
Research time reduced from 90 to 60 seconds
Armor bonus increased from 1 to 2
Moved from Feudal Age to Imperial Age
Cost increased from 50 Food, 125 Gold to 300 Food, 700 Gold
Research time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
Converted Abbasid villagers will correctly have their build menu updated to match their new allegiance
The Abbasid Golden Age production speed bonus now properly applies to all production buildings, and not only military production buildings
Can no longer be used to convert Naval units, as originally intended
In-game tooltip now correctly displays 33% attack speed increase instead of 25%
Drop-off bonus now also applies to Town Centers
Supervise production and research speed reduced from 200% to 150%
"We found that China is quite strong with the improvements to their dynasties and the flexibility of 200% production speed allowing them an easier counter vs most tech switches."
Cost changed from 150 Food to 100 Food, 50 Gold
"China was able to rapidly accelerate their age of time by skipping a mining camp and using tax gold to age up with their faster building production time."
Fixed a bu where torch damage wasn’t increasing when upgraded to Elite
Can no longer research Siege Works
Build time increased from 90 to 120 seconds
Cost increased from 150 Wood, 350 Gold to 200 Wood, 500 Gold
Research time increased from 60 to 90 seconds
"As players start in a dynasty and normally grab Song early this tech is giving at least a 10% bonus to gather rates and up to 20% for all resources."
Sight range increased by 100% to match the Outpost (from ±6.7 to 13.3 tiles)
Imperial Spies ability from the Imperial Palace Landmark now reveals Villagers, Traders, Trade Ships, Fishing Ships and Officials
Dynasty units and buildings are no longer gated when advancing to the next dynasty
Yuan Dynasty movement speed bonus no longer applies to Siege
Moved from Song Dynasty to Tang Dynasty
Health increased from 1000 to 1500
Cost increased from 100 Wood to 125 Wood
"Adding earlier villages allows Chinese to create defensive garrison to resource nodes right at the start of the game."
Moved from Yuan Dynasty to Song Dynasty
Health increased from 1000 to 1500
Villager harvest bonus reduced from 15% to 10%
"Building the Granary earlier allows you to plan out your base layout while making the farm transition, instead of trying to fit in a large building after crops have already been established."
Moved from Ming Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty
Relic resource bonus reduced from 100 Gold, Food, Wood and Stone to 100 Gold, 50 Food, 50 Wood, 50 Stone per minute
"Moving up the Pagoda allows the dynasty building to be built in the castle age when players are collecting relics."
Moved from the Dark Age to the Castle Age
"This powerful tech was providing a large power spike too early in the game. We’ve moved it back to Castle Age to match other civs."
Tech tree now correctly lists Honed Blades under Imperial Age instead of Castle Age
Tech tree now correctly lists Slow-Burning Defenses under Imperial Age instead of Castle Age
The Compound of the Defender effect is no longer active while the Landmark is destroyed
Attack speed bonus increased 15% to 20% in a larger radius
Effect now properly applies its full bonus to all-melee and ranged infantry
Fixed a bug where the Armored Beasts tooltip incorrectly stated it applied to Tower War Elephants. It now correctly states it only applies to War Elephants
Starting Wood increased from 150 to 200
"This, along with the previous changes, gives English more options early game to start with a barracks rush, early farming, or save for feudal age."
Train time reduced from 22 to 15 second
Vanguard (Age I) Man-at-Arms armor increased from 2 to 3
"We want to create more dynamic choices in the unit roster for the English civilization. This allows English players the ability to pump out powerful early game units quickly. As the Man at Arms is very food-heavy, it also synergizes with their farming bonuses."
Healing rate increased from 4 health/1.5 seconds to 6 health/ 1 second
Can no longer be triggered while in combat
Now has the correct requirements text
"The fantasy for this technology is troops relaxing at a warm fire after a tough battle. Note that it can still be activated while moving."
Now have a visual weapon emplacements for boiling oil
Fixed a bug with the French Tech tree where traders were displayed in the Dark Age under Chamber of Commerce.
Military siege engineer UI now matches other civilizations
Siege engineer icon is restored
Arbaletrier Pavise ability now increases armor by +5 instead of setting armor to 5
Red Palace now has visual weapon emplacements for boiling oil
In-game help text updated to reflect proper duration of bonus after a successful charge attack
Regnitz Cathedral Relic capacity reduced from 3 to 2
"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
"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
"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
"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
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
New Improved Technology: Textiles (Improved) has been added to the Town Center, available in the Castle Age
Textiles (Improved) increases the health of Villagers by +50
"This is intended to help Mongols defend from raids later in the game as they have no keeps or walls."
Now only provides +10% health instead of +15%, for a total of +30% instead of +35%
"This is consistent with other Mongol stone upgrades that provide a 50% increased bonus over the base upgrade."
Fixed a bug where Mongol Tithe Barns research time was 80s instead of the intended 60s. It also gives the proper +30 Food, Wood, and Stone instead of +20
Fixed a bug where Mongol Improved Tithe Barns did not list the correct resource income
Produces Mangudai in 90 seconds instead of 77 seconds
The Landmark Town Center can now be packed while at maximum population
Stone Commerce help text updated to specify trade bonus
The Khan Defense Arrow tool tip updated to show correct bonus of +2
Field constructed Traction Trebuchets now have the correct tool tip
Weapon range increased from 1.15 to 3
Charge weapon range increased from 2.15 to 3
"This allows warrior monks to safely attack from behind a line of infantry and provide their combat buff without being too exposed to enemy melee attackers."
Research time reduced from 90 to 60 seconds
Weapon range bonus reduced from 2 to 1
"It’s our intention that Horse Archers are countered by Archers. Being speedy and then getting this upgrade to out-range Archers means unit counters in imperial were too limited."
Double Time ability no longer quickens Streltsy Static Deployment ability
"We wanted the focus of this technology to be about the movement ability instead of adding extra functionality to an already powerful unit."
Health increased from 125 to 250
Deep Water Fish gather rate increased from 1.0 to 1.9
Shoreline Fish gather rate increased from 0.66 to 1.19
Population cost increased from 1 to 2
Cost increased from 75 to 150 Wood
Train time increased from 25 to 38 seconds
Banded Arms bonus range decreased from +1.5 to +0.5
"The large range bonus on this tech was difficult to play against and led to some drawn out stalemate-style gameplay that wasn’t exciting for most players. We’ll revisit this upgrade in a future patch."
Trade buttons have been relocated to match Markets
No longer shares double click selection with Markets
Lodya ships now have the correct upgrades applied after conversion
Fixed a bug with the Rus tech tree where Abbey of Trinity didn't display all of its unique techs
Destroyed High Trade House no longer produces Deer until repaired
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