Age of Empires has just turned 25 and the latest game in the series, Age of Empires IV, is about to celebrate its one year anniversary, so Vancouver’s Relic Entertainment is preparing a big Season 3 update to celebrate. This anniversary-themed infusion of content adds two new civilizations, the Ottomans and Malians, eight maps, ranked team matches, and more! You can check out some of the new content in action via the Age of Empires IV Anniversary Live Stream, below.
Here’s a full rundown of all the new content coming to Age of Empires IV next season…
New Civilizations
- The Ottomans – In the Ottoman Art of War challenge, you must defend your city center and prevent it from being destroyed by opponents. Use the unique characteristics of the Ottomans to develop their economy, strengthen their army and resist waves of enemies! Strategizing with new Ottoman units and production buildings will be key to success in this scenario. You will earn a medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold) based on your ability to survive enemy waves.
- The Malians – In the exciting new Malian Art of War challenge, you must defend your open pit mines against waves of enemy attackers. To succeed, you must use the unique Malian units to stage strikes against enemy forces and prevent the destruction of your open pit mines! You will earn a medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold) based on how much gold your strip mines can collect before being overrun by the enemy.
- New Art of War Challenges – Finally, Survival Challenges have arrived in Art of War! This release brings two new “Art of War” single-player survival challenge missions focusing on the Ottoman and Malian civilizations. Use them to refine your understanding and mastery of each civilization’s unique abilities.
Introducing Taunts and Cheats!
“Fan-requested taunts and cheats features make a triumphant return in Age of Empires IV! In this update, you’ll have a variety of taunts and cheats to choose from. Joining in the festivities this season is a good friend ours !”
New maps
We’ve introduced 8 new maps in this update! Read on to learn more about what to expect with each new map and how you’ll need to strategize in this new terrain.
- Forest ponds – In Forest Ponds, you will find four bodies of water located in each corner of the map, and a large forest in the center of the map which will limit maneuverability.
- hiding place – On this map, although you may initially start in a safe place, you will find that you must quickly venture out of hiding to secure distant resources.
- mountain clearance – Take control of the deep mountain glade – with limited space and resources, the fights will be fierce.
- swamps – Wetlands is an open, flat map, dotted with many small ponds full of shore fish. You will have to use unique strategies with the ponds, as there are not many gaia animals around the map.
- Meadow – The open and unforgiving landscape of the Prairie requires rapid expansion and leaves everyone open to raids from all directions. Quickly build up your defenses or take advantage of your opponents lack of defense!
- Water points – Conquer the many lakes to gain an economic advantage and dominate your opponents on foot or on horseback on the Waterholes map.
- Mediterranean – To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Age of Empires, we’re bringing back one of the iconic maps from the Rise of Rome: Mediterranean expansion! The Mediterranean features a large central lake teeming with fish beds, two naval trading posts on opposite shores, and two sacred sites just off the beach on opposite sides of the lake. This map should see a mix of naval and land gameplay.
- Oasis- We’re also bringing back the Oasis map from Age of Empires II! In the Age of Empires IV version, Oasis still features the central dense forest with a small lake right in the middle, but this time we’re featuring the only two sacred sites on the map on the shore of the lake. Will you be the first to fight your way to the oasis and secure the sacred sites, or will you crash through the forest at an unsuspecting angle to wrest control of the center from your opponent?
Season 3 Rankings and Leaderboards
“You will be able to team up with friends or matchmaking with other players to compete in ranked team matches consisting of 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4. We have ranked leaderboards available for team play as well as 1v1! Once As Season Three officially begins on October 26, you’ll be able to see how you stack up against other players in Ranked Queues!
Playing competitive games with your friends is rewarding enough, but we have a few more reasons to get you started on the Team Leaderboard! Earning a team rank will grant you a unique seasonal monument and portrait to show off the results of your ranked journey. Additionally, we’ve revamped the ranked badges themselves to better reflect the greatness and prestige of your earned rank! Your Solo Rank is completely separate from your Team Rank. This means you will need to complete your 5 placement matches for each queue.”
Naval recapture
“We have already let you know that we are adding some changes to naval balance, such as improved tactical combat, more explosive battles, reworked balance and more. Now you can experience the brand new upgrade paths for Arrowships, Fireships, and Springald Ships as they have some interesting scaling options in Castle and Empire times!”
waypoint markers
“In this update, you will be able to see gold waypoint markers whenever you move, blue waypoint markers whenever you perform an action, and red waypoint markers whenever you attack or patrol! You will see also a marker for each time you shift-click using one of these options you can see the path your unit will follow, if you select an entire group you will be able to see the waypoint markers of the unit leader group, so line up your troops and lead to victory!”
Of course, Age of Empires IV Season 3 will also introduce a number of small tweaks and fixes, and offer new rewards. If that’s something you need to know, you can check out the full and complete patch notes, here.
Age of Empires IV can be played on PC. Season 3 will launch on October 25.
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