The developers of Age of Empires IV released the patch notes for the real time strategy game's Update 8324, revealing several changes and bug fixes.
The said changes include possible balancing tweaks such as nerfs for units of several Civilizations, including the French.
The patch update also revealed several added features to Age of Empires IV, most of which are came from the feedback from its community.
Winter has come early and our Winter 2021 update is now available on Steam (other platforms later today)!
— Age of Empires (@AgeOfEmpires) November 29, 2021
It brings with it a number of community-requested changes (including optional player scores) and more than 100 balance and bug fixes!
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These additions include those features that the players can access in order to see their progress during and after playing the game.
READ ALSO: 'Age of Empires 4' Guide: List of Civilizations Playable, How to Play Them
Civilization Balance Changes
As mentioned earlier, the Age of Empire IV's Update 8324 brings in several balancing changes to several of its Civilizations.
These include changes for the French, which according to the patch notes posted in the game's website, will have the armor of its French Hulk reduced from 6 to 2.
The said naval ship, according to Polygon, is a powerful naval unit that became the strongest in Age of Empires IV since its release last month.
Aside from the French's naval ship, other units that are specific for the other playable Civilizations in the game will also receive other balancing changes.
According to the patch notes, the cooldown of the Chinese Official's Tax Collection ability will be reduced from 30 to 15 seconds, while its Zhuge Nu units will have its health, training time, and food cost will be reduced.
Its Nest of Bees unit will have its movement speed, weapon minimum range and damage increased, while its health and training time will be reduced.
The Setup Camp ability of the English Longbowman units can now be activated if they enter combat, while the Attack Speed Arrow ability of the Mongols' Khan unit will no longer affects Siege units.
Other Changes
The Update 8324 will also bring in other balance changes for several of the units in Age of Empire IV in general.
According to Dual Shockers, the update will increase the bonus damage for all of the Spearman units against Cavalry units from 3 times to 3.5 times, making them a great counter against mounted units, such as the French knights.
The bonus damage for the Crossbowmen and the Elite Crossbowmen against Heavy units was increased from 6 to 9 and from 8 to 11, respectfully.
The ranged armor for the Horsement units, regardless of rank, was increased from 0 to 1, however the health of the Early Horsemen, the Horsemen, the Veteran Horsemen, and the Elite Horsemen units was reduced from 125 to 100, from 155 to 125, from 190 to 155, and from 225 to 180, respectfully.
The Battering Ram units will have its movement speed, health, and population cost reduced, while its ranged armor increased from 15 to 30.
The Mangonel weapon will have its reload time reduced and its area-of-effect shape changed, while the damages from the Handcannon units was reduced.
The Ribauldequin units, on the other hand, will have its armor increased from 0 to 10, while its ranged armor reduced from 2 to 0.
As for the game's Naval units, the Wood costs for the Fishing Boats will be increased from 60 to 75, while the bonus damage for the Arrow Ship against Incendiary class was increased from 0 to 2 times.
Additional Features
Finally, the Update 8324 will be adding several gameplay features in Age of Empire IV. According to the patch notes, these include the inclusion of the ability to enable in-game player scores on a match-by-match basis for custom lobby multiplayer and skirmish matches.
The update also added the ability to view the map post-match, which means that they can pan across the map after the match in order to have a better of view of what they are strategizing.
They have also updated the game's minimap after receiving feedback from its community, while they moved the Chinese Dynasty button and its user interface to a less prominent position on the screen, and they adjusted the behavior of the Villagers' Garrison behavior.
Other additions also include new options to the game's Campaign mode, an update to the population panel in order to display depleted and remaining population space, and several selection improvements.
