New! Map Monsters 3.0

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, login August 22nd at 10:00am PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) through September 17th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) to claim your bounty! 

Search the map and find the monsters as they roam to receive new random Global buffs for your units:

• Gather Speed +100%
• Gather Capacity +50%
• Move Speed +40% to 75%
• Vision +30%
• Attack +25%
• Health +25% to 100%

The Map Monsters game mode can be selected in Quick Match or Custom; it is not available in Ranked. While Map Monsters can be played on any map, we recommend the experience on the following maps:  

• Socotra 
• Turtle Ridge 
• Glade 
• Archipelago 
• Baltic 
• Warring Islands 
• Oasis 

Something in the Water

​As Summer comes to a close so will our time in the sun, but it’s not all doom and gloom! It looks like our map monster friends left us something in the water! Login September 18th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) through October 16th at 10:00AM PT (1:00 PM ET / 17:00 UTC) to catch your prize! 

Design Update/Rework

This update features a rework to how the Rus accrue bounty. Previously, Rus gained bounty upon defeating huntable animals and wolves. This led to a race at the start of every game where both players engaged in a minigame to see who could find and defeat the most hunt. With this new update, Rus gains bounty over time while gathering food from animals, so both players should have more time to vie for control over the hunt on the map.  

Additionally, for all civilizations Professional Scouts functionality has been updated to be easier to use. Previously, a player had to right click on a deer, then shift click to the town center and repeat that process for every single deer to make use of the technology. Now, a player can simply right click on a deer once with the technology researched and the scout will bring the deer back to the Capital TC (default) or a drop-off location of your choice. To move an entire herd sequentially, a player can simply shift right-click the entire herd quickly and the scouts will do the rest. 

Console UX/UI & Menus

• Team Ranked match search now shows the correct maps to veto.
• Free-for-All (FFA) Votes Menu for Quick Matches should now work when using controller.

General Map Changes

• Sheep distribution
  • Sheep instances have been increased across several solo Ranked maps while the amount of sheep per instance has decreased. This change aims to spread sheep across the map in a more consistent manner and with less instances where all sheep cluster around the same area leaving others completely vacant. This change also slightly increases the overall amount of sheep on each of the affected maps. 
  • Affected maps(1v1)
    • Four Lakes 
    • Hill and Dale 
    • Lipany 
    • The Pit 
    • Rocky River 

Developer’s note: We will aim to improve sheep distribution further and implement or revert these changes based on our observation and feedback provided by the community. 

Map-Specific Changes

Thickets

• Primary gold spawn distance from Town Center has been standardized.  
• At least one small woodline is guaranteed to spawn next to the player’s starting Town Center. 

Nagari

• Deep sea fish no longer spawn blocked inside the cliffside. 
• Nagari has been added to the Quick Match multiplayer pool. 

Golden Pit

• The primary gold for each player spawns in a more consistent distance from the Town Center. 
• The primary woodline for each player is guaranteed to spawn within the player’s Town Center range. 

General Changes & Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue in Dominion where killing a Monarch unit as it entered a building would not award population to the player.
• Fixed Turkish localization inconsistencies.  

All Civilizations

• Trade Posts can now be selected in the fog of war. This allows players to more easily check which mercenaries are available to the Byzantines. 
• Wheeled Siege units no longer pack and unpack. This includes the Springald, Nest of Bees, Culverin, Ribauldequin, and Cannon. These units can now find and attack targets automatically while they are idle and should feel far more responsive when attempting to move and shoot.  
• Previously, walls and palisades placed across and near the boundary of a resource in fog of war would have gaps in the built structure that would leave a passage for enemy units. This should now be fixed.   
• Scouts with the Professional Scouts technology will now automatically return deer carcasses after picking them up. You can now queue attack or pickup commands between deer and after collecting the carcass the Scout will dr
  • After researching Professional Scouts, a new ability is available for the Scout: “Set Automatic Dropoff Target.” This allows you to set an alternative drop point for deer if the Town Center is not desired. 
  • Note: The action of picking up deer is now combined with dropping off. This means that any queued commands between picking up a deer carcass will be carried out only after the deer has been dropped off.  

                        Abbasid Dynasty

• Fertile Crescent discount increased from 30% to 35%.  
• Swapped Grand Bazaar & Armored Caravans. 
• Armored Caravans armor on trade units reduced from +5/5 to +3/3. 
  • Armored Caravans cost reduced from 75w/200g to 25w/75g. 
• Added new tech to Culture Wing: “Public Libraries,” which adds 2 HP to all villagers and traders for each eco upgrade researched. 
• Proselytization technology moved to Mosque. 
• Camel Archer 
  • Feudal health increased from 140 to 150 hp. 
  • Veteran health increased from 170 to 175 hp. 
• Camel Rider 
  • Cost adjusted from 160f/30w/30g to 130f/45w/45g. 

                             Byzantines

• Imperial Hippodrome: Triumph generation speed increased from 30 to 25 seconds. 
• ​Cistern of the First Hill: Starting flask count increased from 2 to 6. 
• Cataphract move speed increased to knight speed (1.5 to 1.62). 
  • Description updated to correctly show 12 trample damage.
• Border Settlements: Cost increased from 25w/50g to 40w/80g. 

                             Chinese

• Ming Dynasty health bonus increased from 10% to 15%. 

• Thunderclap Bombs Nest of Bees attack reload speed bug fixed, in this case reducing from 4.5 to 6.5 seconds between attacks. 

• Extra Materials
  • Text description now correctly describes the effect of “…repair all nearby walls for 20 health per second.” 
    • Repairing all nearby stone walls instead of one at a time has been the effect for a long time. 
  • Researching Extra Materials now also grants the passive ability to the Barbican of the Sun, Greatwall Gatehouse, and Keeps (alongside stone wall towers and outposts). 
  • The passive healing now also targets nearby palisades walls, palisades gates, and stone wall gates (excluding the great wall gatehouse itself) alongside stone walls. 

                        Delhi Sultanate

• Dome of the Faith: Scholar discount improved from 50 (39%) to 65 (50%). 
• House of Learning
  • Reinforced Foundations base research time reduced from 2:05 to 1:30 
  • Tranquil Venue base research time reduced from 3:45 to 3:00 
  • Hearty Rations base research time reduced from 3:45 to 3:00 
  • Honed Blades base research time reduced from 5:00 to 4:00 
  • New Technology: Paiks – Archers and Crossbowman gain +0.5 Range. 
  • New Technology: Mahouts – Elephants move 10% faster. 
  • Technology Removed: Lookout Towers. 
  • Now also provides Mosque influence (notably to itself). 
• Ghazi Raider Health reduced from 140 to 135 in the Feudal Age. Later Ages are unaffected.  
• War Elephant: Tusk attack now deals damage in an area. 

                                  English

• Fixed an issue where researching Network of Citadels disabled the Network of Castles ability on Landmarks. 

                              French

• Fixed an issue where the Artillery Shot Ability could target the player’s own buildings. 
• Economic technologies discount bonus increased from 30 to 35%. 
• Trade posts fully revealed at the start of the game instead of just on the minimap. 
• Chamber of Commerce: Trains free Traders 100% faster (30s to 15s).

                    Holy Roman Empire

• Increased the duration of Inspire for villagers from 30 to 35s. 
• Reduced civilization trait outpost line of sight bonus from 25% to 20%. 
• Reduced Relic in building line of sight bonus from 25 to 20%. 

                              Japanese

• Tatara cost reduced from 25s/75g to 25s/50g. 
• Koka Township: Shinobi cost reduced from 60f/60g & 22.5 seconds to 50f/50g & 20 seconds. 
• Temple of Equality: 
  • Buddhist Monks cost reduced from 100 to 80 gold. 
  • Zen cost reduced from 300w/200f to 200w/100f. 
  • Research time reduced from 35 to 30 seconds. 
• Floating Gate: 
  • Yorishiro production speed from 200% to 150%. 
  • Yorishiro gold income from 75gpm to 60gpm. 
  • Yorishiro production on TCs from 25% to 30%
  • Corrected an issue causing Yorishiro descriptions to display incorrect production speed values. 
• Daimyo Manor upgrade cost reduced from 300 stone to 225 stone. 

                               Malians

• Farima Leadership: 
  • Cost reduced from 650g/350f & 90 seconds to 500g/250f & 60 seconds. 
• Local Knowledge: 
  • Technology reworked, new effect is – Musofadi Warriors and Gunners gain +5 health on hit for 5 seconds after coming out of stealth. 
  • Moved from Castle to Feudal Age. 
  • Cost reduced from 100f/250g & 60 seconds to 75f/200g & 30 seconds. 
• Griot Bara: 
  • Production Festival production speed increased from 50% to 100%. 
  • Adjusted description of production festival to correctly reflect that it applies to all units, not just military. 
  • All Festival durations increased from 60s to 90s, cooldowns are still 30s. 
• Fort of the Huntress now fires poison arrows instead of regular Keep & Garrison arrows. 
• Malian town center cost changed from 400w/350s to 400w/450g. 

                           Mongols

• Pasture sheep train time reduced from 116 seconds to 112 seconds. 
• Raid Bounty: Tech time reduced from 90s to 45s (also applies to improved version). 
• Additional Torches: Tech time reduced from 90s to 60s (also applies to improved version). 
• Add Improved Superior Mobility 
  • Improved version is available in Feudal Age. 
  • Further increases the movement speed of packed buildings by +20%. 
• Deer Stones: Landmark Updated 
  • Now also unlocks the Khan Hunter in addition to granting Yam Network technology for free. 
  • The Khan’s Hunters are a unique support Mangudai, trained from archery ranged. 
  • Khan’s Hunters have an aura that improves the range of nearby ranged units, benefitting nearby Mangudai especially. 
• Khaganate Palace: Landmark Updated 
  • Mangudai army: Changed from 4 Mangudais to 3 Mangudais + 2 Khan’s Hunters  
  • Horse Archer army: Changed from 5 Horse Archers to 4 Horse Archers + 1 Khan’s Hunter 
• Khan: Now uses a unique skin in Imperial Age 

                              Ottomans

• Istanbul Imperial Palace: Vizier Points unlocked from 2 to 3. 
• Sea Gate Castle: Comes with a free Great Bombard emplacement. 

                                Rus

• Kremlin: Militia updated to no longer have a 65 second life time. 
  • Now take 1 health per second until left at 1 hp. 
• Golden Gate 
  • Ticket generation time reduced from 60 seconds to 50 seconds. 
  • Now has a timer UI element to show when the next ticket will arrive. 
• Abbey of Trinity 
  • Now reduces the cost of Warrior Monks by 50% at all Monasteries. 
• Rus bounty system has been updated! Rus players will no longer receive gold immediately when hunting animals. Instead, their Villagers will gather a bonus 1 gold for every 10 food gathered from sheep, deer, and boar. When deposited, the bonus gold will contribute to the total collected bounty.  
  • Bounty Tier 3 gold requirement increased from 500g to 750g. 
  • Hunting Cabin tier 3 gold generation reduced from +65% to +50%. 

                            Ayyubids

(Variant Civilization: Abbasid Dynasty)

• Fixed an exploit in which moving an Atabeg  at the moment of garrison could duplicate the Atabeg. 
• Eco Wing – Industry resources granted increased at each Age
  • II. 300w to 350w
  • III. 1000w to 800w/400s
  • IV. 2500w to 2000w/900s
• Trade Wing – Advisors: Atabegs pop cost changed from 1 → 0 
• Culture Wing – Logistics:  
  • Now permanently turns on the healing aura with all ages instead of only with Age IV. 
  • Scaling value per Age: 2 HPs / 2.5 HPs / 3 HPs 
• Trade Wing – Bazaar:  
  • Skirmisher health increased from 70 to 80, damage from 7 to 8 (and bonus damage from 7 to 8). 
  • Swordmaster health increased from 140 to 155, damage from 9 to 10 (bonus damage unchanged). 
  • Units no longer get stuck in queue behind Age ups. 
• Golden Age tier 2 research time bonus decreased from 50% to 25%. 
• Dervish cost increased from 60f/120g to 60f/140g. 

                            Jeanne d’Arc

(Variant Civilization: French)

• Economic technologies discount bonus increased from 30 to 35%. 
• Trade posts are fully revealed at the start of the game instead of just on the minimap. 
• Chamber of Commerce: Trains free traders 100% faster (30s to 15s). 

                     Order of the Dragon

(Variant Civilization: Holy Roman Empire)

• Villager train time reduced from 24s to 23s. 
• Burgrave: Discount, research speed, and production speed increased from 30 to 35%. 

                      Zhu Xi's Legacy

(Variant Civilization: Chinese)

• Fixed an issue where Yuan Dynasty wouldn’t affect Siege Workshop Rams. 
• Mount Lu Academy: Imperial Red Seals cost decreased from 200f/400g & 90 seconds to 100f/200g & 45 seconds. 
• Zhu Xi’s Library: Reduce research time of all techs to 30s. 
  • Roar of the Dragon: Increased Area of Effect thresholds to 0.25/0.5/1 
• Palace Guard (II) health increased from 120 to 130. 

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!

Coming Up…

That concludes everything for this update. Our team has already pivoted to Season Nine with a special focus on updating the late game. Some of the updates we’re working on include: 

• A full siege gameplay update, including a rework of the role & functionality of springalds and culverins. 

• New coursework becomes available at the University for all civilizations. 

• The Ottomans enlist some new Viziers, with additional options for their Council. 

• Mansa unleashes his personal guard with the Farimba Garrison. 

Season Nine will release in the fall and will feature a variety of new events with exciting seasonal game modes, similar to Map Monsters. While we can’t commit to it fully just yet, we’re also investigating the inclusion of multiplayer pause as part of the Season Nine update.