Age of Empires IV – Season Twelve Update 15.1.6970 and Start of PS5 Early Access

Ranked Season and Events Update

As we mentioned way back at the start of Season Eleven, we’re aware that our seasonal approach means you’ve had limited access to exciting game modes, maps and biomes, and events. With that in mind, starting with Season Twelve, we’ll be adjusting our approach to seasons. Moving forward you’ll see: 

• Seasonal content – such as game modes, maps and biomes – unlocked and made permanently available. We started this in Season Eleven with by making Map Monsters and Enchanted Grove permanently available, and we’re excited to share that with Season Twelve, you’ll be able to play as much of the Map Monsters, Full Moon and Season’s Feast game modes as you’d like in custom matches.  Game modes will now come with a pre-selected biome for best experience. However, this can still be tweaked in the map options.  

• Rotating through events! In the past, events and the rewards that came with them were time-exclusive. Moving forward, we’ll be rotating through these fun and familiar events to ensure you’re able to collect the items you may have missed out on. 
  
  During Season Twelve, we’ll be bringing back a few classics meant to celebrate the season (both spooky and delightful) with Hallow’s Hearth, Season’s Feast and Something in the Water.  

Hallow’s Hearth – Event 1

The wolves are howling, and a chill wind can be heard whispering through the trees. Get ready for a spooktacular second edition of Hallow’s Hearth with terrifying treats and monstrously fun challenges! 

Login between October 30^th at 10:00AM PT (17:00 UTC) and December 4^th to stake your claim. 

In addition, we have made several improvements to the Full Moon mode: 

• Added a new night atmosphere to the Full Moon game mode, to be transitioned to during the Moon Surge event. The atmosphere should transition back to the biome’s initial one after the event is over. 

• Werewolf unit name and description updated to be more accurate.  

• New werewolf spawning VFX have been added. 

It’s time to face a powerful enemy, the wolves roam the land, they have grown larger and more powerful than before. When the Moon is full, the wolves will attack, build your walls and prepare for their approach.

Season’s Feast – Event 2

This event is full of gifts to celebrate the Season! We have many challenges and rewards to customize your profile to match the season of giving. As well as a brand-new game mode filled with gifts to get you those victories! Keep your eyes on the battlefield and see how many gifts you can find. 

Login between December 5^th at 10:00am PT (1:00pm ET / 18:00 UTC) and February 5^th to share in the season’s festivities! 

In addition, we have made several improvements to the Season’s Feast game mode: 

• Improved spawn logic for the gift boxes so that they are not spawning in inaccessible locations and to maintain balance. 

• Gift boxes can be easily located with the new visual indicator. 

See the presents fall from above, find and collect them all over the map.

Something in the Water – Event 3

The relaxing waves have brought back old friends but with new rewards! They might be monsters, but you’ll be the one sinking your teeth into the challenges while you take on the competition. 
 
Improvements to the Map Monsters mode: 

• Improved spawn logic for the monsters preventing them from spawning in inaccessible locations. 

• Monster discovery results in the monster despawning with a visual effect. 

Login February 6^th at 10:00am PT (1:00 PM ET / 18:00 UTC) through April 2^nd at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) to claim your bounty!   

Ranked Season Twelve Updates

Get ready to dive back into the action! Season Twelve is officially kicking off, and it’s set to be a big celebration. 

This season is about honoring the heart of the game, and the upcoming months are packed with beloved game modes & major holiday festivities! But don’t forget about the main event: We’re dropping a massive, brand-new DLC that will change the way you play. 

Mark your calendars! The season begins on October 30th and runs all the way through April 2nd! You won’t want to miss a single challenge, reward or event.  

Map Pool Rotation

We’re excited to share that new maps coming with the Dynasties of the East expansion are making their debut appearance in Ranked Map Pools, starting October 30^th! We’re feeling confident in these maps and can’t wait to hear what you think of them! Test your mettle on this season’s new terrain and unique mechanics. 

1v1 Ranked Map Pool 

• Altai –> Flankwoods 

• Archipelago –> Boulder Bay 

• Canal –> Ocean Gateway 

• Enlightened Horizon –> Golden Heights 

• Rocky River –> Relic River 

• Hill and Dale –> Craters 

• Carmel –> Cliffside 

Team Ranked Map Pool 

• African Waters –>  Canyon 

• Hedgemaze –> Craters 

• Nagari –> Ocean Gateway 

• Waterholes –> Continental 

• Lipany –> Hidden Valley 

• Hideout –> Flankwoods 

• Enlightened Horizon –> Prairie  

New Maps

We’re thrilled to be releasing 8 new maps with the Dynasties of the East expansion on November 4^th, but you can get a sneak preview of three of them already as we add them directly into our Season Twelve Map Pool. 

Craters

A meteor shower leaves behind deep craters that scar the surface of the land; some have filled with water and provide limited fishing opportunities while others contain meteorite fragments which can be gathered by daring Villagers. Meteorites can be mined for both Gold and Stone at the same time, but such a precious resource will surely be a catalyst for conflict. 

Canyon 

A waterlogged canyon snakes its way through the center of the map, dividing teams equally on either side. Teams can reach each other by ramps that lead down to the base of the canyon and by crossing the shallow water there, perhaps catching the glint of Relics reflecting on the water’s surface. Town Centers perch precariously on the Canyon edge; it’s rumored that if you watch carefully enough, enemy movements can be seen at the edge of the fog of war. 

Ocean Gateway 

Surrounded by rugged cliffs, the four gateways provide critical access to the bounty of fish and naval trade available at the map’s edge. However, limited space for docks and wide-open flanks make Ocean Gateway a challenging balancing act between both land and water.  

Map Pool Biomes

With this release we have also updated all the available biomes for each map while playing in ranked or unranked, meaning that you’ll see more biome variation than before and the appearance of new biomes in multiplayer matches. 

Matchmaking Improvements

As you may have noticed, earlier this month, we made a change via the server to improve matchmaking. You should notice faster queue times in Quick Match and Ranked!  

Manor Rework

House of Lancaster’s gameplay will be changing this season, with a much-requested rework to how Manors generate resources. Manors now generate less resources passively, instead Manors have an aura in which Villagers generate Food and Wood when they are within the Aura. Lancaster players will need to strategically place their Manors to make sure they capture as many Villagers as possible. 

Visual Improvements

• Improved shading across many weapons to make them look less flat and more metallic. 
• Introduced black and brown variations of sheep which appear on all biomes. White colored sheep are removed from snowy biomes to improve readability. 
• Japanese Mounted Samurai have a new shield which is more historically authentic.  
• Japanese Floating Gate landmark has a new water effect; we’re exploring making further updates to Cisterns to improve their visual appearance in future updates. 

AI Update

• AI is now more effective in Full Moon game mode. 
• AI players will now take more conservative paths towards their enemies’ Wonders. 
• AI fishing boats will now attempt to flee or garrison when threatened. 
• AI villagers will not go idle anymore if two or more fishing boats go idle. 
• AI players will now trade more efficiently on naval maps. 
• Fixed a rare issue for AI units oscillating between attacking landmarks and buildings around them. 
• AI players will now progress more smoothly when spawned close to enemies. 

UX/UI & Menus (Console)

• Fixed an issue for Console players where the Market’s bulk Buy and Sell icons were not rendering correctly 

General Map Changes

• Map information is now available when viewing maps in Free-for-All Map Vote UI.  

General Changes & Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where Mongols packed buildings would not reliably unpack in some situations. 

• Fixed the leading out of sync issue which could occur at any time due to a problem with auras. 

• Fixed an issue where dynamic health bars would not be shown if units took damage from auras. 

• Fixed several crash issues, including a crash that could occur on console when you exceeded a certain number of friends.  

• Fixed issue where various rewards were not being properly unlocked and added to Player Profile. 

• Fixed an issue where English campfires could interrupt charge attacks. 

• Fixed an issue where Camel Lancer charge attacks were not stunned by Spearwall. 

• Fixed an exploit where it was possible to duplicate relics. 

• Mercenary Houses now display which contract was selected as a tooltip when selecting the building. We intend to follow this up in future updates with visual additions to the Mercenary House which shows more clearly which contract was chosen. 

Design Update/Rework 

• Adjustments to multi-selection have been made so that it’s easier to access the Villager build menu when Villagers are selected with other units. If Villagers make up most of a multi-selection, then the Villager build menu will be displayed, and hotkeys will activate on the build menu instead of the command card. 

Balance and Gameplay Changes (All Civilizations)

• Shoreline Fish food inventory increased from 500 → 600. 
• Boar food inventory increased from 2200 → 2400. 
• Deer now slowly lose food over time while being carried by Scouts.

Naval Updates (All Civilizations)

• Fishing Boat gather rate from Shoreline Fish increased from 0.65 → 0.675. 

• Lodya gather rate from Shoreline Fish gather rate increased from 1.26 → 1.2825. 

• Armored Hull:  
  • Cost decreased from 150 Food 350 Gold → 100 Food 200 Gold. 
  • Research time reduced from 30 → 20 seconds. 

• Springald Crews: 
  • Cost reduced from 150 Food 350 Gold → 100 Food 250 Gold. 
  • Research time reduced from 35 → 25 seconds. 

• Incendiaries: 
  • Cost reduced from 100 Food 250 Gold → 75 Food 125 Gold. 
  • Research time reduced from 30 → 20 seconds. 

• Extra Hammocks: 
  • Cost decreased from 100 Wood 250 Gold → 75 Wood 125 Gold. 
  • Research time decreased from 30 → 20 seconds. 

• Arrow Ship projectile speed increased by 20%. 

Points of Interest Updates

• Made Pack Wolves spawned from Wolf Dens more dangerous: 
  • Health increased from 60 → 70. 
  • Damage increased from 5 → 7. 
  • Movement Speed increased increased by 0.2. 
  • Delay for first spawn decreased from 5 minutes → 4 minutes game time. 

                        Abbasid Dynasty

• Number of Camel Traders spawned from the Trade Wing increased from 3 → 4 in Feudal Age, 4 → 5 in Castle Age, and 5 → 6 in Imperial Age. 

                             Byzantines

• Liquid Explosives: 
  • Cost decreased from 100 Wood 250 Gold → 75 Wood 125 Gold. 
  • Research time reduced from 30 seconds → 20 seconds. 

                               Chinese

• Tax Adjustments: 
  • Tax granted for unit production reduced from 4 → 2. 
  • Tax granted from researching technologies reduced from 32 → 24. 

• Village cost decreased from 125 Wood → 100 Wood. 

• Ancient Techniques gather rate effect increased from 4% → 5% per dynasty. 

• Thunderclap Bombs adjustment: 
  • Damage per projectile decreased from 8 → 6.  
  • Number of projectiles decreased from 8 → 7. 

                                 English

• Campfire update: 
  • Now requires Feudal Age. 
  • Line of Sight improvement Aura now also improves nearby Villagers Huntable gather rate by +10%. 
  • Aura radius increased by 1 tile. 
  • Health increased from 1 → 100. 
  • Man-at-Arms can now also use the Campfire ability. 
• Council Hall now produces Longbowmen at a 5% discount. 

                              Malians

• Farimba Garrison unit adjustments: 
  • Mansa Musofadi: 
    • Melee Armor increased from 3 → 4 
    • Veteran Melee Armor increased from 4 → 5. 
    • Elite Melee Armor increased from 5 → 6. 
    • Damage increased from 8 → 9. 
    • Veteran Damage increased from 9 → 10. 
    • Elite Damage increased from 12 → 13. 
• Freeborn Warrior cost reduced from 90 Food 35 Gold → 80 Food 35 Gold. 

                           Mongols

• The White Stupa landmark now decreases the Stone cost of unit double production by 50%. 
• Mongol packed buildings no longer fail to unpack on a location occupied by many units. 
• Improved gather rate technologies: 
  • Improved Horticulture, Improved Fertilization, and Improved Precision Cross-Breeding have been merged into a single technology: Improved Horticulture. 
    • Effect set to 20% increased Food gather rate. 
    • Cost set to 500 Stone. 
  • Improved Double Broadax, Improved Lumber Preservation, and Improved Crosscut Saw have been merged into a single technology: Improved Double Broadax. 
    • Effect set to 20% increased Wood gather rate. 
    • Cost set to 500 Stone. 
  • Improved Specialized Pick, Improved Shaft Mining, and Improved Cupellation have been merged into a single technology: Improved Specialized Pick. 
    • Effect set to 20% increased Gold gather rate. 
    • Cost set to 500 stone. 

Developer Note: Having 3 tiers for each gather rate upgrade required a lot of clicks and investment for marginal improvements. Now, the Improved versions of the economic upgrades should be more noticeable and have higher impact once researched. 

• Improved Survival Techniques bonus gather rate increased from 5% → 10%. 
• Improved Forestry now also increases Wood carry capacity by 2. 
• Improved Additional Torches Stone cost reduced from 500 → 400. 
• Improved Lightweight Beams Stone cost reduced from 700 → 500. 
• Improved Roller Shutter Triggers now also increases Springald health by 10. 
• Improved Greased Axles bonus movement speed increased from 5% → 0%. 
• Improved Yam Network Stone cost reduced from 350 → 250. 
• Packed buildings are no longer tagged as Siege units. 

                                Rus

• Fixed an issue which allowed Relics to be duplicated if the Rus Warrior monk was hit while dropping a Relic. 
• Horse Archer: 
  • Attack speed improved from 2.125 → 1.75. 
  • Damage reduced from 12 → 10. 
  • Elite Damage reduced from 14 → 12. 
• Hunting Cabin income reduced by 15%.  

Developer Note: The Gold income cap remains the same at 420 Gold per minute; you will now need to build more Hunting cabins to achieve the maximum income. 

                            Ayyubids

• Sultan’s Mamluks on kill effect duration increased from 10 → 30 seconds. 

• Economic Wing – Industry: 
  • Feudal Age resources increased from 350 Wood → 400 Wood. 
  • Castle Age resources increased from 800 Wood → 900 Wood. 
  • Imperial Age resources increased from 900 Stone → 1000 Stone. 

• Trade Wing – Bazaar: 
  • Bedouin Skirmisher health increased from 80 → 90. 
  • Bedouin Swordsman health increased from 155 → 160. 
  • Bedouin Swordsman damage increased from 10 → 11. 

                         House of Lancaster

• Manors have received an update to how they generate resources: 
  • Manors now have an aura that generates 4 Food and 2 Wood per minute per Villager. Does not stack with multiple Manors. 
  • Manors are now a drop-off building for all resources. 
  • Manor base income reduced from 60 Food 45 Wood → 30 Food 10 Wood per minute.  
  • Manor cost increased from 200 Wood 100 Stone →  225 wood 100 Stone 
  • Manor Technologies: 
    • Condensed Land Practices upgrade cost reduced from 125 Wood 275 Gold →  75 Wood 175 Gold. 
    • Open Field System upgrade cost reduced from 200 Wood 400 Gold →  150 Wood 250 Gold. 
  • The Lancaster Castle no longer has an influence area, instead it now increases the health and adds an Arrowslit to all Manors regardless of location. 
• Wynguard Garrison Command cost increased from 300 Food 150 Wood → 300 Food 200 Wood. 
• Scouts can no longer use the Campfire ability as it is now exclusive to English. 

                            Knights Templar

• Antioch Commanderie Age-up bonus improved: 
  • Melee damage increased from 10% → 15%. 
• Genoa Commanderie Age-up bonus reduced: 
  • Pilgrims Gold income improvement decreased from 30% → 20%. 
• Commanderie Units: 
  • Hospitaller Knight: 
    • Movement Speed increased from 1.19 → 1.25. 
    • Health increased from 140 → 145 (Veteran and Elite unchanged). 
  • Genitour: 
    • Damage increased from 5 → 6. 
    • Elite Damage increased from 7 → 8. 
  • Slzachta Cavalry: 
    • Damage decreased from 31 → 30. 
    • Health decreased from 340 → 330. 
  • Teutonic Knight: 
    • Movement Speed increased from 0.9 →  0.975. 
• Fixed an issue that allowed the Rule of Templars upgrade to be researched multiple times. 
• Landscape Preservation adjustments: 
  • Villager Wood gather rate decreased from 0.63 → 0.60. 
  • Villager Wood gather rate scaling per age increased from 15% → 20%. 
• Pilgrim Technologies: 
  • Safe Passage cost changed from 200 Food 100 Wood → 100 Food 200 Wood. 
  • Sanctuary cost changed from 300 Food 150 Wood → 200 Food 250 Wood. 
• Harbors replace Docks, offering protection to nearby ships, increased durability, and an improved naval emplacement. 
  • Harbor has increased health (1500 → 2250) 
  • Harbor has 2 Fire Armor. 
  • Harbor healing aura also increases nearby ship maximum Health by 15%. 
  • Costs 250 Wood. 
  • Naval Arrowslit Emplacement replaced with Naval Springald Emplacement which deals more damage.  
    • Costs 150 Wood 200 Stone. 
    • Deals 42 damage. 

                        Zhu Xi's Legacy

• Tax Adjustments: 
  • Tax granted for unit production reduced from 4 → 2. 
  • Tax granted from researching technologies reduced from 32 → 24. 
• Village cost decreased from 125 Wood → 100 Wood. 
• Thunderclap Bombs adjustment: 
  • Damage per projectile decreased from 8 → 6.  
  • Number of projectiles decreased from 8 → 7. 

Investigation

Known Issue: Select Idle military hotkeys are able to select units which are in combat from idle aggression. A fix is in progress for this bug. 

Your reports continue being crucial to our prioritization and implementation of fixes and features in the game. Keep them coming!

For other known issues, please visit this page to see what’s being tracked!

Coming Up…

We’re incredibly excited to kick off Season Twelve, and in just a few more days, we’ll be releasing our latest expansion: Dynasties of the East. Prepare to test your mettle in The Crucible; master new strategies with the Macedonian Dynasty, Tughluq Dynasty, Sengoku Daimyo and Golden Horde; and ride to battle across 8 new maps and 6 new biomes.