Hello explorers and welcome to a nice balance update for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! We hope you enjoy!
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Thank you for sharing in yet another major milestone for Age of Empires with us! We hope you enjoy all the changes and look forward to sharing in all the adventures yet to come!
—The Age of Empires Team
🢂 Download on the Microsoft Store
Remember that you’ll need to update your game in the Microsoft Store:
- Open the Microsoft Store.
- Click the [ ∙ ∙ ∙ ] symbol next to your profile picture.
- Select Downloads and updates.
- Press the Get updates button to automatically detect, download, and install the latest changes to your game!
- Open the game. The title screen should show you on Build 14.3853.
If you are unable to launch the game after downloading the update, make sure you add (or re-add) the Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition client or folder as an exception to your firewall and antivirus program.
That’s it; you’re ready to play!
🢂 Download on Steam
Remember that you’ll need to update your game in Steam:
- Open Steam.
- Click on Library to see your games list.
- Click Downloads at the bottom of the Library window.
- [If the new build does not download automatically,] click the Download Now button to manually download the new update.
- Open the game. The title screen should show you on Build 14.3853.
That’s it; you’re ready to play!
🢂 Download on the Xbox App for Windows 11
Remember that you’ll need to update your game in the Xbox App for Windows.
- Open the Xbox app.
- Games that are installed show up on the left side of the app.
- Hover over the game or click it, and then select Update.
- [If the new build does not download automatically,] hover over the game, select More Options (…), choose Manage. Under the Files tab, choose the option to Check for Updates.
- Open the game. The title screen should show you on Build 14.3853.
That’s it; you’re ready to play!
Please note that custom mods may not be compatible with the latest game update. If you are experiencing issues launching or playing the game after downloading the new build, try disabling your installed mods before trying again.
Still having trouble? Visit our support site!
Civilization Balance
General
-
Conquistador (Jesuits):
- Now inflicts 1 area damage with ranged attacks.
- Siege damage increased to 14 (from 9).
- Cost changed to 80 food 80 coin (from 85 food 70 wood).
- Dahomey Amazon: Cost reduced to 280c (from 300c).
- Drummer (House of Hanover): No longer affects artillery.
-
Light Infantry: Corrected the damage multipliers against Shock Infantry for the following Light Infantry units:
- Evzone (Houses of Phanar)
- Lenape Warrior (Lenape)
- Royal Arquebusier (House of Vasa)
- Wakina Rifleman (Lakota)
- Red Sea Wagon (Somalis): Can now build Lombards for the Italian civilization.
- Resource Enclosure: Fixed missing damage multipliers against resource enclosures (Depots, Mountain Monasteries, Shrines) for some Villager units.
- Royal Hunter (House of Oldenburg): The military upgrade of the Royal Huntsman can now be trained in batches.
-
Royal Dragoon (House of Bourbon):
- Rate of fire improved to 2.5 (from 2.75) (to reduce the delay of the set-up animation).
- Ranged damage increased to 18 (from 17.5).
- LOS corrected to 20 (up from 18).
- Issa Warrior (Somali): Reduced the ranged damage multiplier against Cavalry to 2.5x (from 3x) and against Shock Infantry to 1.9x (from 2.25x).
- Shipments: Corrected the arrival time of several shipments, including all Battleship cards now arrive in 60 seconds (up from 40) as intended.
- Sumatran Elephants (Indonesia Revolution): Now sends a War Elephant the first time the card has been sent, as expected.
- Zapotec Lightning Warrior (Zapotecs): Corrected an issue resulting in units obtained from some cards to have more hitpoints than those available at Zapotec Settlements.
Aztecs
- Eagle Scout: Fixed an issue causing the Imperial Age upgrade to be applied to Eagle Scouts in the Industrial Age.
- Town Center Big Buttons: Lowered the cost of big buttons in the Town Center to be in accordance with the new cost of the Jaguar Prowl Knight.
Dutch
- Dutch States Army (III): Now also makes infinite mercenary cards arrive faster.
- Buckriders (II): Cost reduced to 250c (from 500c).
Ethiopians
- Italian Firearms (IV): Now affects the Sebastopol Mortar as intended.
- Stranger’s Quarters (IV): Is now set to active by default in Post-Imperial games.
Germans
-
Prince-Electors (I):
- Fixed an issue with the Oldenburg Royal Hunter costing no population slot.
- Fixed an issue with missing unit upgrades that occured when also being allied to German Royal Houses on the map.
- Allying to the same Royal House on the map and in the Native Embassy will now increase the unit build limit.
- Costs for Royal Houses alliances removed.
Haudenosaunee
- Aenna: Now shoot arrows faster the closer the target is and ranged attacks benefit from target lock.
- Tomahawk: Improved the projectile release time resulting in earlier attacks.
- 5 Renegade French (IV): Now sends 8 Gendarme Cuirassiers (up from 5).
- 11 Renegade Dutch (IV): Now sends 20 Stadswacht Halberdiers (up from 11), but cost increased to 1500c.
- 22 Lenape Allies (IV): Now arrives in 60 seconds (up from 40) as intended.
- North America Trade (IV): Moved to Age 3.
- Covenant Chain (IV): Cost reduced to 2000c (from 3000c), but now sends 4 Irish Brigadiers (down from 8), 4 Highlanders, 3 Harquebusiers and 2 Heavy Cannons (no changes). The card is now infinite.
Hausa
- Fulani Archer: Damage multiplier versus Heavy Infantry increased to 1.75x (from 1.5x).
- Stranger’s Quarters (IV): Is now set to active by default in Post-Imperial games.
Inca
- Kancha House: Hitpoints decreased to 1600 (from 2000) and costs to 170w (from 180w).
- Monumental Architecture (II): Moved to Age 3.
- Royal Festival (Big Button): This big button delivering 1 Macemen per 4 minutes of game time now costs 250 of each resource (down from 300f 400w 500c).
- Supay Ceremony (IV): Maceman spawn time reduced by roughly -30%.
Indians
- Azap (Ottoman Consulate): Improved the rendering speed of the Azap visuals.
- Dravidian Martial Arts: Fixed an error that granted Sepoys +5% melee damage in the Volley stance.
Italians
-
Architect:
- Hitpoints reduced to 225 (from 275).
- Initial build limit reduced to 2 (from 5) and now increases by +1 at every age-up.
- Now builds Outposts in 170 seconds (up from 150), Town Centers in 270 seconds (up from 250), and Walls in 12 seconds (up from 10).
Lakota
- North America Trade (IV): Moved to Age 3.
-
Bow Rider:
- Ranged damage multiplier against villagers reduced to 0.5x (from 0.75x).
- Made the 1.5x siege damage bonus against Shrines visible by reassigning the bonus to Resource Enclosures.
Maltese
-
Sentinel:
- Hitpoints increased to 155 (from 150).
- Range increased to 13 (from 12).
- Melee damage multiplier against cavalry increased to 2.5x (from 2x).
- Siege damage increased to 18 (from 15).
Mexicans
- Annexation (Baja Revolution): Can now only be sent once.
- Barbacoa (I): Now correctly causes all livestock to fatten more quickly when gathering from a Hacienda.
- Coach Guns (Baja Revolution): Now ships 3 Bandidos and 3 Cuatreros instead of Renegados and Comancheros.
- Criollos (II): Now arrives in 40 seconds (down from 60) as intended.
- Plan of Miramare (IV): Now also increases Bandido range by 2 as intended.
Ottomans
-
Azap:
- Improved the default attack animation.
- Now benefits from melee resistance in the melee stance.
- Fixed an issue with Azap’s Stand Ground animations.
- Kapikulu Corps (IV, Palace Intrigue): Cost increased to 2200 food (up from 1400), but now also delivers 5 Spahi (up from 4).
- Matrakci School (II): Replaced the placeholder icon with the correct one.
- Millet System (I): Yörük spawn time reduction decreased to -4s (from -5s).
-
Koprülü Viziers (I):
- Moved to Age 2.
- Cost increased to 150w (from 125w).
- Yörük spawn time reduction improved to -6s (from -5s).
- Grand Bazaar (II): Moved to Age 3.
Portuguese
- Starting Crates: Now starts the game with +50 food.
- Constable: Now affects Llaneros (instead of Dragoon Combat).
Spanish
- Peninsular Guerrillas (IV): Now only improves damage for Musketeer-like units by 10% (down from 20%).
- Spanish Square (IV): Corrected an issue that allowed sending this card a second time in the Imperial Age.
-
Viceroyalty of New Spain (III): Soldados are now balanced with regular combat values (-10%) and need to be updated manually to Guard and Imperial status in the Hacienda.
- Note: The Mexico revolution continues to automatically research Guard Soldados.
Swedes
- Starting Resources: Now starts with 150 food (down from 200 food).
- Gustavian Guards (II, Treaty of Roskilde): Cost increased to 1700f (from 1500f).
United States
- Dutch Immigrants (I): Cost reduced to 300c (from 350c)
- French Immigrants (I): Cost reduced to 225w (from 250w)
- Oklahoma Black Mesa (III): Cost reduced to 200w (from 500w)
Ongoing
Investigation
Community-Reported Issues:
- 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!
What’s on the Horizon?
COMING UP…
- More balance changes, more bug fixes, and more fun!
DISCLAIMER
Please note that this list is subject to change, and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.
For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.