Here we are again, warriors and merchants! Plenty of great things happened since The Baltic Powers released and we are happy to have shared the adventure with you! This doesn’t mean the journey is complete: we have kept an eye on your feedback and had another pass at various aspects of the game to give you the best experience to endure the test of time!
Civilizations received balance changes for both classic game modes and Independence Mode. We also fixed some pesky bugs and improved some aspects of gameplay that we all felt needed attention. Also, as some of you might have missed, be sure to check the complete list of new cheats added to Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! We are always excited to see your enthusiasm, and we love hearing from you. Keep it coming and see you on the battlefield!
Thank you for sharing in yet another major milestone for Age of Empires with us!
—The Age of Empires Team
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 100.19.18806.0.
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!
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 100.19.18806.0.
That’s it; you’re ready to play!
Remember that you’ll need to update your game in the Xbox App for Windows.
- Open the XBOX app.
- Игры 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 Еще 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 100.19.18806.0.
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!
Build Spotlight
To help you command your forces more effectively, we’re introducing some highly requested Quality of Life and visual updates! Tooltips for manual abilities will now clearly display their exact cooldown times, giving you much better control during intense tactical engagements. We’ve also updated the Timber Importer’s lumberjack with a more neutral model, ensuring you’ll never mistake him for an idle Settler again.
The environments are getting a touch-up, too! Winter has arrived on several battlefields with new atmospheric snow effects added to Labrador, Northwest Passage, Svalbard, and The Arctic, alongside a fresh rotation of Standard and Team maps to keep your многопользовательская sessions varied.
For a deep dive into the specific unit tweaks, card changes, and gameplay shifts, make sure to check out our extensive list of civilization balance adjustments down below!
Game
Graphics
- Timber Importer: Replaced the lumberjack with a more neutral model to avoid confusion with Settlers.
Interface
- Abilities: Tooltips of manual abilities now display their cooldown time.
- Outlaws & Hand Shock Troop: Fixed an issue that prevented these unit classes from being displayed in the HUD.
Localization
- Korean: Fixed the untranslated prefix of Team Card names.
Quality of Life
Cheats:
- Removed Explorers and other hero units from the DOPPLEGAENGER cheat code.
- Sharing the full list of new cheat codes introduced in The Baltic Powers:
- ANYPORTINASTORM – Randomizes decks for all active players, taking into account cards from any Главная Cities in the game
- CAPYBARANATION – Take control of all Gaia units.
- DOPPELGAENGER – Copies your current army and gifts it to a random enemy player.
- FREEREFILL[1-9] – Spawns a big enemy army of random units for player X [1-9].
- FROZENFATIH – Spawn an Arctic monster truck.
- HUEHUEHUE – Spawns Air Sled One.
- POWERRANGER – All units and buildings with range attacks get +10 range and +10 LOS.
- REMOVETHISCIVFROMTHEGAME – Removes all instances of a random civilization from the current game, can hit yourself!
- SNOWPROBLEM – Spawns a Snow boxer.
Геймплей Changes
Units & Buildings
- 25 Bourbon Allies (IV): Now respects the unit build limit of 25.
- 25 Sufi Allies (IV): Card added to Indians and Ottomans.
- Bagpiper (House of Stuart): Hitpoint aura effect decreased 10% → 5%.
- Canoe:
- Range reduced 18 → 16.
- Speed reduced 8.5 → 7.5.
- Train time increased 10s → 15s.
- Circassian: Mercenary added.
- Companion (House of Vasa): Melee siege damage increased from 17 to 24.
- Murid (Sufi): Unit added.
- Sámi Noaidi: Full building construction rates restored, but population cost increased from 1 to 2.
Cards & Technologies
- Hire Circassian Mercenaries (III): Added to Indians, Ottomans, Poles and Egypt (Revolution).
- Imperial Farming upgrades (V): Imperial food gather rate improvements for buildings not available to civilizations are now only half as effective:
- NEW] TEAM House of Helstein-Gottorp (IV, 1500c): Sends 1 Culverin and 10 Northern Guard Musketeers. This card is shared with:
- Sami Allies (III): Cost reduced 300c → 200c.
Civilization Balance
Aztec
- Otontin Slinger:
- Damage increased +80%.
- Rate of Fire reduced -50% (1.5 -> 3).
- These changes result in an overall Damage output reduction of 10%.
- Added “Native Warrior Combat”(II) card.
Danes
- Børsen (II): Cost reduced: 100w 100c → 75w 75c
- Disruption (II): Cost changed 150f 250w → 150f 200c.
- Esingolen (IV, Kongeloven): Reduced Espingol HP bonus 35% higher → 40% higher.
- Fulling Mills (I): Card removed.
- Great Belt Tolls (IV):
- Shipment tax increase reduced 700 → 600.
- Arrival time reduced 100s → 60s.
- Gunboat: Damage increased 25 → 30.
- Resource Crates (IV, Customs House): Resources delivered in Industrial Age and Imperial Age reduced 1300 → 1200.
- Royal Guards (IV): Increase in unit cost to exchange for cheaper Royal Guard upgrades is decreased +50% → +35%.
- Royal Service (III): Cost increase reverted 250f 500w → 250f 250w.
Dutch
- Dutch East India Company (I): Now also increases Merchant limit by +5.
- Schutterij (I):
- Reverted cost increase 20c → 10c.
- Lowered Merchant damage increase +6 → +4.
Ethiopians
- 22 Somali Allies (IV): Now correctly respects the build limit of 22 Darood Militia.
- Jesuit Alliance: The unlocked Conquistador now costs 2 population slots.
French
- Ancien Regime (I): Increased the build limit of the Royal Musketeers enabled this card from 15 → 25.
Germans
- Cigar Rollers: Removed the duplicate effect for Rice Paddies.
- [NEW] Baden Barricades (German Confederation): Sends 4 Barricade Wagons and enables them in Stables.
Inca
- Huaraca: Hitpoints increased 150 → 160.
- Villager: Build limit increased 90 → 99.
- Wamani (II):
- Cost reduced 250w → 200w.
- Fixed missing shield of the Age II Bolas Warrior.
Japanese
- Meiji Restoration: Export cost increased 3250 → 3500.
- Morutaru: Range decreased 40 → 38.
- Red Seal Ship (IV): Conversion ration of Coin to Export reduced 83% → 75%.
- Shogun: Units training speed -15%.
Lakota
- Bow Rider: Hitpoints increase reverted 230 → 225.
- Fur Trade: Card removed.
- [NEW] Lakota Fur Trade (II):
- Exchanges all current Food for an equal amount of Coin.
- Improves yield of natural food resources.
- Gives +10 Bisons.
- The Wise Woman: Huntables gather rates improvement reduced +10/20/30/40% → +10/15/20/25%. Overall reduction 30%.
Mexicans
- Insurgente: Cost reverted 75f → 70f.
- State Religion (II): Cost reduced 500c → 350c.
- Tlaxcala Alliance (II, Tlaxcala): The unlocked Conquistador now costs 2 population slots.
Poles
- 4 Tabors (Cossack Hetmanate): Cost reduced 500c → 100c.
- Contraband (Krakow Republic): Shipment tax per resource reduced 300 → 250.
- Grain Export: Can now only be sent 3 times.
- Piechur: Ranged damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry increased 1.5x → 1.75x.
- Tax Haven (Krakow Republic): Shipment tax reduced 400c → 250c.
- TEAM Lithuanian Cavalry Combat: Светлая Cavalry hitpoints and damage improvement increased 10% → 15%.
Russians
- Cigar Rollers: Card removed.
- Poruchik: Adjusted hitpoints calculations. Overall -8% hitpoints reduction across all Poruchik upgrades.
- Sevastopol (III): Wall build time reduction decreased -50% → 20%.
Swedes
- Allotment System (III): Now sends 1 Carolean for every 2 Torps.
- Dalecarlian Rebellion (III): Cost reduced 400c → 200c.
- Gustavian Guards (II, Treaty of Roskilde): Cost reduced 1700f → 1500f.
- Surströmming: Reverted fattening rate from 2f/s -> 1f/s.
Revolutions
Argentina
- Mounted Granadero: No longer classified as Outlaws.
Romania
- Wallachian Horse Archer:
- Removed the ability to train Cavalry Archers from outposts and Blockhouses. Updated tooltips.
- Fixed a bug preventing safeguard from activating. Stacking effects of Rate of Fire improvements from the Ottoman Flight Archery card are now properly mitigated.
Independence Mode
- Ancien Regime/ Oldenburg Kings: Fixed an issue preventing native technologies from being enables in the Embassy as intended.
- Villagers: Gather rate bonus increased 10% → 15%.
- Native Americans: Community Plaza limit reduced from 3 to 2.
- Federal Americans: Activated Advanced Arsenal for parity with Europeans.
Chinese
- Tigermen (improved Rattan Shields) now cost 1 population, but no longer have a build limit.
Dutch
- Activated Dutch East India Company.
- Activated Schutterij.
Germans
- Activated Ironmongers.
Mexicans
- Fixed the untrainable Conquistador in the Native Embassy.
Ottomans
- Activated Mosque Construction.
- Activated Derbentler.
United States
- Activated Tammany Festival.
- Now starts with +1 Pilgrim.
Regicide
- Minimap markers are now shown for Regents hiding in ships.
Maps
Map Changes
- Added snow effects to the following maps:
- Labrador
- Northwest Passage
- Svalbard
- The Arctic
- France: Increased the amount of natural resources.
- Nunavut: Fixed the lack of treasures.
- Quebec: Fixed treasure spawns being too close to the map border.
- Stranded Whale (Treasure): Improved food reward 130 → 160.
Standard Maps
- Added Borneo.
- Added Darfur.
- Added Horn.
- Added Low Countries.
- Added South Norway.
- Added Yucatan.
- Removed Alps.
Team Maps
- Added Deccan.
- Removed Heligoland.
- Removed Hudson Bay.
Ongoing
Investigation
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!
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.
### 🎯 Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Tactical Meta Breakdown: Real Геймплей Impact
| Weapon / Component | Official Tuning | Practical Геймплей Impact | Handling & Recoil | Meta Tier |
| :— | :— | :— | :— | :— |
| Companion | Companion (House of Vasa): Melee siege damage increased from 17 to 24 | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| Общее Silah/Bileşen | Damage increased +80%. | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| Общее Silah/Bileşen | These changes result in an overall Damage output reduction of 10%. | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| Gunboat | Gunboat: Damage increased 25 → 30. | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| Общее Silah/Bileşen | Lowered Merchant damage increase +6 → +4. | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| Piechur | Piechur: Ranged damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry increased 1. | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
| TEAM Lithuanian Cavalry Combat | TEAM Lithuanian Cavalry Combat: Светлая Cavalry hitpoints and damage im | Handling pacing and transition ergonomics updated; adjustments reward disciplined trigger control. | Standard / Unchanged / Unchanged | A-Tier (Solid Pick) |
> Competitive Tip: These adjustments directly alter weapon handling and TTK breakpoints. Hop into the training grounds or firing range to dial in your crosshair placement before queuing into Ranked.
Have thoughts, questions, or benchmarks on this topic? Join the discussion on our forums.
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