Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition — Update 38254

Two New Civilizations!

Ethiopia

Placed on the “Roof of Africa”, Ethiopia was able to assert its influence over the surrounding lowlands, thriving in the safety of its mountains. A high ground badly needed against hostile attempts to take the empire down. Ethiopia and its King of kings defied not just its African neighbors but also European imperialism attempts rendering it as one of the few African regions that eluded the talons of European imperialism.

CIVILIZATION FEATURES

• Home City: Gondar (+ customizations!)
• Can train mercenaries & allied native units with the new Influence resource.
• Can construct Mountain Monasteries, which gather Coin & Influence when built atop mines.
• Receive a free Mountain Monastery builder with every age-up.
• Can trade Cattle in the Livestock Market for Wood and Coin.
• Alliances replace traditional age-up politicians, and add unique units & technologies to your civilization over the course of a match.

STARTING UNITS

• Ras
• 5 Villagers
• 1 Livestock Market builder
• 1 Zebu cattle with 400 food
• 4 additional Zebu cattle, to be traded at the Livestock Market

Hausa

The wealthy Hausa kingdoms were magnets for merchants, intellectuals, and enemies. Their extensive trade relations and diplomacy enabled them to exert powerful influence over vast stretches of West Africa. The Hausa kings and emirs deployed powerful cavalry armies to compete with each other and conquer neighboring empires.

CIVILIZATION FEATURES

• Home City: Kano (+ customizations!)
• Can train mercenaries & allied native units with the new Influence resource.
• Can construct Universities which provide unique technologies.
• Receive an additional Sanga cattle with every shipment.
• Can trade Cattle in the Livestock Market for Wood and Coin.
• Alliances replace traditional age-up politicians, and add unique units & technologies to your civilization over the course of a match.

STARTING UNITS

• Emir
• 5 Villagers
• 1 Livestock Market builder
• 1 Sanga cattle with 400 food
• 4 additional Sanga cattle, to be traded at the Livestock Market

NEW RESOURCE: Influence

With this expansion comes a brand new gameplay feature and resource: Influence! Influence is spent primarily at the Palace on Native Warriors, Mercenaries, and unlockable units from Age-Ups. Two technologies are unlocked each Age, depending on which African Alliance (Politician) you choose. There is a variety of ways in which you can obtain this extremely valuable resource:

• Trading Posts: Resource toggle.
• Native Settlements: Can trickle Influence.
• Shipments and Crates.
• Owning large herds of Cattle: Livestock trickle Influence; fattened animals trickle faster.
• University: Unique Hausa Building that trickles XP or Influence under the Sphere of Influence aura. Trickles fastest when near a Town Center, Trading Post, or Palace.
• Mountain Monastery: Unique Ethiopian building which Villagers and Abuns can be tasked to gather coin and Influence. This building is constructed on coin mines.
• Age-Up Alliances: Offer unique technologies which often enable new ways to generate Influence.

Learn More

For a deep dive into the Ethiopian and Hausa civilizations, unique units, and more, please view the official page for Age of Empires III: The African Royals, right HERE!

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The African Royals Wallpapers

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Stability & Performance

• Added additional protections and logging to better prevent the D3D11 crash seen by some players.
• Fixed an issue where the game could possibly soft-lock during startup if a user’s key profile contained invalid hotkey mappings.

Graphics

• Villagers at a Tribal Marketplace and Community Plaza now play more appropriate animations.
• Fixed an issue that caused the animations not to play when constructing a Mine from a Prospector Wagon.
• Fixed an issue with the shadow rendering on cliffs resulting in some areas looking jagged.

UI

• Fixed the “Claim Weekly Profile Image” popup constantly reappearing whenever you returned to the main menu.
• Trading Post buttons now correctly display a black overlay rather than a red overlay when the command is not available.
• Fixed issue where fattened herdables would not show the correct amount in their resource bars when harvested.
• Added a panel that appears when searching for a ranked match which shows players their ranking and match stats (if they are ranked), or how many more matches they need to play to be ranked (if not).
• Added more information about a player’s ranking and other match stats on the post-game screen.
• Disabled tooltip services for MP browse game menu on list box items.
• Fixed long username text in SP Skirmishes and MP Lobbies, now displays text trimming effect.
• Fixed long username text for post game screen, score panel, Profile button in Main Menu, chat box and notification panels, now displays text trimming effect.
• Fixed incorrect use of string ID for ‘Find Healer‘ in Hotkeys menu.
• Fixed text truncating for hotkeys in command panel.
• Fixed Imperial Men-of-War placed in the wrong age of tech tree.
• Fixed Skirmisher tech listed in the wrong age for Spanish tech tree.
• Fixed Czapka Uhlans and Imperial Czapka not displaying correctly in German tech tree.
• Fixed game room text failing to truncate properly in preview shown in Settings panel.
• Increased readability for card buttons in deck builder and HC in game.
• Added scroll viewer for stats panel as we were running out of room.
• Fixed Ship’s Howitzers tech now displayed in the correct order for Europeans, American, and Asian civs.
• Fixed expand button displaying wrong color variant for the command panel in the Default HUD Layout.
• Fixed Expand button for Selected units not working correctly.
• Fixed ‘Wonder’ buttons overlapping ‘Move all Military’ button in Definitive HUD Layout.
• Fixed missing feedback loop when build limit is capped for Salt Camel tech (added missing property for deNatSaltCamel in protoy.xml).
• Fixed an issue where HP bars would sometimes display extremely large.
• Fixed an issue with the camera where when zoomed in selecting an idle villager the camera would not correctly move to the unit.
• Fixed an issue where on some maps the camera was higher above the ground than intended
• Fixed an issue when the camera automatically moved to a unit the unit would be positions too low on the screen when zoomed all the way in.
• Fixed in-game visual indicator for spyglass ability so it now properly renders.
• The multiplayer chat windows now scrolls to the newest messages as new messages arrive.
• Adding additional tooltip information for disabled state for color pickers in accessibility menu. Should display “You must go back to main menu to change this option.”
• Fixed mysterious SFX playing whenever options menus are navigated.
• Fixed added wrapping properties for Unit stats (HP, speed, shield and resistance).
• Fixed incorrect text at the Somali trading post.

General

• Improved attack-move behaviour:
  • Units moving in attack-move were not re-evaluating their enemy targets under some circumstances – fixed so that they now do this at least every two seconds
  • Increased the range to enemy targets at which attack-moving units would break formation and attack, from 20 distance units to 30 (i.e. increased by 50%)
  • Fixed an issue where attack-moving units that defeated an Explorer (or saw them defeated) would then stand around/near the Explorer instead of continuing the move-attack.
  • Fixed an issue where military units would not attack enemies if an Alt-attack-move command was issued by clicking on a natural resource (such as a mine or huntable animal).

Fixes

• Fix for Mortars not attacking targets (or forcing all squad members to only attack buildings/ships if selected first) when ordered to attack-move along with other units.
• Fixed an issue wherein Rickshaws and Travois (in certain circumstances,) could not build trading posts.
• Fixed an issue where Villagers (or the Explorer) would not work on building a Trading Post when additional commands were queued after the build command (i.e. You should now be able to shift-click to build multiple Trading Posts).
• Fixed an issue where the White House cards were not displaying for the United States civilization in the deck builder.
• Fixed an issue in the Hausa tech tree to properly show the Raider instead of the incorrect Shotel warrior.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Asian civs from training African outlaws from the monastery.

General

UNITS & BUILDINGS

•  Monitor and Ironclad: Long-Range Attack ability now inflicts 0.5x damage to artillery.
• Militiamen, Irregular, Sentry and Warrior: All attacks (except siege) now inflict 0.25x damage to villagers.
• Church: XP trickle increased from 0.6 ▶ 0.7.
• Peruvian Legion (Peruvian Revolution): Grenade attack damage reduced by 2 (from 21 ▶ 19); Grenade siege attack decreased by 10 (from 39 ▶ 29); Grenade attack range decreased by 2 (from 18 ▶ 16).
• Town Center: Build XP bounty reduced by 50 (from 100 ▶ 50); Lakota Town Center adjusted accordingly (40); Kill XP bounties reduced to 100 (80 for Lakota).
• Dock: Garrison attack damage reduced by 5 (from 15 ▶ 10). Also corrected obstruction radius from 5.5×3.5 ▶ 4×4 – the hitbox should now match the model without making placement harder.
• Galleon: Cost improved by 100c (from 300w 500c ▶ 300w 400c).
• Tribal Marketplace: No longer affected by an enemies’ First Town Center construction restriction radius.
• Granadero (Argentine revolution): Ranged armor reduced to 0.40 (From 0.50); now has the “Light Cavalry” tag so they can be countered by Skirmishers and Foot Archers.
• Hot Air Balloon & Advanced Hot Air Balloon: Can no longer be converted by units with the conversion ability (such as Inca Priestess).
• All Revolutionary Outlaws: now properly have the AbstractOutlaw tag (fixes an issue where some of them wouldn’t benefit from the “Wild West” & “Atonement” upgrades or be ‘spawnable’ via the Lakota’s “Bandit Gang” card – both of which are intended).
• Outpost Wagon: Construction builders trained on the battlefield (e.g., from the US State Capitol) now take 25 seconds longer to construct Outposts (from 25s ▶ 50s).
• Covered Wagon: Mini map icon update for better visibility.
• Treasure Looting Animations: Enforced 3.33 seconds as the animation duration for ALL civilization Heroes when looting a treasure (some Explorers could be a frame faster or slower).

UPGRADES

• Incan Metalworking (tech, available at Inca Legacy Minor Native Settlement): Now properly improves all mine gathering rates by 20%.

CARDS

• Town Militia (card, I): Militiamen army ability now levies 3 fewer Militiamen (from 15 ▶ 12).
• Enlist Irregulars (card, I): Abilities now levy 1 fewer Irregular and Sentry (from 10 Irregulars, 10 Sentries ▶ 9 Irregulars, 9 Sentries).
• Schooners (card, I): Fishing Boat build time improvement reduced from 40% ▶ 30% — this results in 2.5 second training time overall.
• Whale Oil (card, I): Now improves whale gather rate from 35% ▶ 30%.

The Chinese

UNITS & BUILDINGS

•  Temple of Heaven: Fixed an issue with the Transcendence ability that would make some units essentially invincible for a short duration (now properly instantly heals all units once, as intended).

UPGRADES

• Stun Ability: Cooldown increased by 10 seconds (from 30s ▶ 40s).

CARDS

• Northern Refugees (Card, I): Now properly respects the villager build limit.
• Western Refugees (Card, III): Now properly respects the villager build limit.
• Great Migration (Card, IV): Now properly respects the villager build limit.

The Haudenosaunee

UNITS & BUILDINGS

•  Discovery Travois: Constructing docks now takes 20 seconds longer (from 10s ▶ 30s).
•  Musket Rider: Ranged armor decreased by 5% (from 30% ▶ 25%).
•  Tomahawk: Cost reduced by 5w (from 75f, 25w ▶ 75f, 20w); train time reduced by 2 seconds (from 30s ▶ 28s).

The Japanese

UNITS & BUILDINGS

•  Shrine: Hitpoints reduced by 200 (from 1600 ▶ 1400).
•  Yabusame: Ranged armor reduced by 0.05 (from 0.5 ▶ 0.45); artillery multiplier reduced by 1x (from 8x ▶ 7x); cavalry multiplier reduced by 0.25 (from 3.5 ▶ 3.25).
•  Atakebune: Build limit reduced by 1 (from 5 ▶ 4).

The Ottomans

UNITS & BUILDINGS

• Mosque: XP trickle increased by 0.05 xp/s (from 0.75 ▶ 0.80).

CARDS

• 5 Abus Guns (card, III): increased to 6.

The Portuguese

CIVILIZATION

• Starting Resources: Adjusted down by 50f (from 250f, 200w ▶ 200f, 200w).

The Russians

CIVILIZATION

• Starting Resources: Adjusted down by 100f (from 600f, 200w ▶ 500f, 200w).

UNITS & BUILDINGS

• Villagers Batch: Cost improved by 10f (from 270f ▶ 260f); train time improved by 2 seconds (from 53s ▶ 51s).
•  Blockhouse: Reverted supported population back by 5 (from 10 ▶ 5) to 5 – Note: the Russian Logistician politician (age 1 → age 2) continues to increase the population supported to 15.
• Frontier Blockhouse & Fortified Blockhouse: Now also increases the population that Blockhouses can support by +5 – Note: The US Russian Immigrants card now delivers Frontier Blockhouse Wagons).

The Spanish

UNITS & BUILDINGS

• The Logistician (politician, age 1 → age 2):
  • Reduces age 1 shipment arrival time by 10 seconds (from 40s ▶ 30s).
  • Additional resources granted reduced to by 50f, 25c (from 200f, 100w, 100c ▶ 150f, 100w, 75c).
  • Fixed an issue where Spanish teammates who aged up with the Logistician would receive additional resources from team cards sent by other Spanish players on their team (only the player who sent the team card now receives the resources).

CARDS

• Spanish Gold (card, III): Crates of Spanish Gold now contain 360 coin (down from 400); interactions with The Logistician adjusted accordingly.

The Swedes

UNITS & BUILDINGS

• Torp:
  • Torp hit points reduced by 200 (from 1500 ▶ 1300).
  • Berry gather rate reduced by 0.035 f/s (from 0.335 ▶ 0.30) – 45% the speed of a villager gathering a Berry Bush (down from 50%).
  • Blueberry gather rate reduced by 0.07f/s (from 0.57 ▶ 0.50) – 75% the speed of a villager gathering a Berry Bush (down from 85%).
  • Mine gather rate reduced by 0.07 (from 0.30 ▶ 0.27); Engelberg Ironworks area gather aura adjusted accordingly – 45% the speed of a villager gathering a Mine (down from 50%).
  • Can now be constructed on Ice terrain.
  • Hunting attack is no longer a default feature.
  • Upon reaching the Imperial Age, all Torp construction placement restrictions are removed.
• Carolean:
  • Melee armor decreased by 10% (from 30% ▶ 20%).
  • Melee damage increased by 1 (from 19 ▶ 20).
• Hakkapelit: Cost reduced by 10c (from 90f, 110c ▶ 90f, 100c); bounties adjusted accordingly.

CARDS

• Dominions (card, II):
  • Moved back to the Commerce Age (from Fortress).
  • Now enables the new economic home city spawn point at the Torp – Note: Military units cannot be delivered to Torps).
  • Now increases Torp hit points by 10% (down from 30%).
• Svea Lifeguard (card, IV): Now increases Carolean hit points by 15% (down from 25%; Grenadiers remain 25%).
• INF 6 Mamelukes (card, IV): No longer infinite.
• 2 Leather Cannons (card, II): Now costs 150f to send.
• INF 7 Skirmishers (card, III): Now delivers 8 Skirmishers.

The United States

CIVILIZATION

• We plan to make a number of changes to various United States cards and units in a future update.

New Maps!

This is a new maps set that contains all 15 of our newly released African maps! See the full, detailed list below.

🌐 Atlas

“Separated by a mountain range, players begin in a region both forbidding and appealing: harsh, rugged terrain whose soil has long eroded away meets colorful valleys and towering trees. The Berber inhabitants here are indispensable allies and even more dangerous enemies. Each side of the dividing mountain range plays host to a trade route and several resources, but to reach your opponents you must fight your way through the narrow mountain passes.”

🌐 Darfur

“Players have settled at the foot of the Marrah Mountains, where you will find the Jebel Marra in the southwest portion of the map, an extinct volcano which is surrounded by a trade route and denser forests than those available in the arid regions of the map. To the northeast, players will find valuable gold mines nestled between tall cliffs. Although players have sufficient safe resources, being aggressive and taking control of the open sands and trade route early can prove a winning strategy.”

🌐 Gold Coast

“This tropical, coastal region situated on the equator in modern-day Ghana features luxurious, golden, and sandy shores complete with coconut palms backed by grassland plains and open scrub. Lake Volta breaks up the map and, together with the central forested plateaus, creates easily defensible resources. This mineral-rich region was dubbed the ‘Gold Coast’, after its main export – you will only find large gold mines in this region. The prevalence and importance of maritime trade in this region is accentuated by a naval trade route which is easily controlled from the ocean – however there are no whales to provide infinite coin.”

🌐 Great Rift

“This huge trench was formed millions of years ago by separating tectonic plates. Players find themselves in an enormous valley filled with a winding river, a short trade route, and an abundance of wildlife. The lower set of cliffs are passable and are home to the Somali people, livestock, and other natural resources. Players begin in easily defensible locations, but must move swiftly before nearby resources run out.”

🌐 Highlands

“Players do battle upon an ancient, rugged mountain in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The lowland sports two separate trade routes with the majority of the resources found at higher elevations. This regions spans a range of terrains and an unusually temperate climate for its elevation due to its proximity to the equator. Savannah grasslands can be found at lower elevations, while Harenna and Montane forests grow at higher elevations near the snow-capped peak.”

🌐 Horn

“Welcome to the easternmost part of Africa, a vast peninsular region with a huge coastline. This arid region is home to the Somali people as well as sects of Sufis. Many land and coastal trade sites, centralized salt mines, sparse forests, a starting outpost wagon, and a starting intrepid privateer make for a unique gameplay experience.”

🌐 Lake Chad

“Teams have settled on the opposite shores of Lake Chad. Depending on the season, this large, unique lake will be either wet or dry, presenting different strategic options. Controlling the lake is crucial, but be warned: you will not be able to call on your home city for naval support on this map, as there are no water shipment flags.”

🌐 Niger Delta

“Teams start exceptionally close to each other on either side of the Niger River with a vast safe space to expand into behind their Town Centers. Aggressive strategies can work well due to each teams proximity… however, limited shallow crossing also make the delta easily defendable. To the the north lies a long trade route and a resource-dense delta covered in mangrove trees, berry bushes, and gold mines. Allying with the Akan or Yoruba in this region will provide a bevy of strategic options and bolster your economy, while the sea in the south hosts an abundance of fish and whales.”

🌐 Niger River

“The principal river of West Africa is timeless in its significance to civilization in West Africa. Flowing through the savannah, up into the Sahel, and then down again into Nigeria where it forms its delta, it is an important trade route and water supply for droves of people. While the surrounding climate is somewhat dry, it remains an extremely resource-rich region. Players begin with an extra Town Center wagon that they can use to establish a foothold on the opposite side of the river, where bountiful resources, a trade route, and several native settlements can be found.”

🌐 Nile Valley

“Teams begin on separate arid, sandy plateaus on either side of the iconic Nile River. The riverbanks sport plenty of greenery – palms, papyrus, reeds, and tall grasses. Further away, sandstone and dunes – particularly in the Sahara and Sahel – can be found. Your starting plateau is easily defensible, but many of the natural resources lie in the valley, so you will need to expand off of your plateau as the game progresses. Each team has access to its own trade route and equal opportunity to ally with various local groups.”

🌐 Pepper Coast

“Named after one of its chief exports, the Pepper Coast is an equatorial coastal region of tropical monsoons inhabited by the Akan and Yoruba peoples. A mangrove marsh lines the coast, but gives way to upland grassy plains. Trade routes are present both inland and along the coast, along with an abundance of natural resources on land and in the sea. Each player will begin with extra resource crates to bolster their early economy.”

🌐 Savanna

“Welcome to the great plains of Africa! This open map features two watering holes and multiple settlements which combine to divide the map up. This unique layout creates a defensible pocket with limited resources next to each player — to control more resources however, players must move out onto the open grasslands where all sorts of wildlife roam! There will be no shortage of food – except in the very center of the map where the trade route passes. Whilst controlling this trade route will be valuable, the limited resources and watering holes that restrict navigation will naturally push gameplay outwards and all around the map.”

🌐 Sudd

“The Sudd is one of the world’s largest freshwater wetlands – a vast swampland of floating vegetation formed by part of the White Nile in Sudan and home of the Sudanese peoples. Teams spawn on their own island on either side of the swamp near a trade route that bisects the wetland. As the game progresses, players may choose to stay within their patches of dry land or expand across the marsh to the central islands where an abundance of natural resources, as well as Sudanese settlements can be found.”

🌐 Tassili

“This vast plateau in the Sahara is known for its prehistoric cave art and ‘otherworldly’ geological formations. The higher altitude and water-retaining properties of sandstone allow dry woodland and scrub to flourish despite the arid climate. Players do battle in a valley surrounded by cliffs, almost all the trees are found in the center of the map and two separate trade routes span either side – bringing the action to unusual areas.”

🌐 Tripolitania

“Teams begin on lush, easily defensible plateaus with ample access to mines and trees, but very few animals. Players must expand off of their plateau into the valley below or towards the coast in search of food. Controlling the anvil-shaped peninsula can prove useful as it is here that players will find Berber settlements, reserves of gold and a powerful way to control the ocean. The central trade route ensures constant action and must be fought over to gain an advantage.”

Map Balance

Water Treasures

• Added a second tier of water treasures.

Caribbean

• The ocean is now revealed from the beginning of the match to allow all players to quickly identify the location of the bonus island containing the trade route.
• Added low tier treasures and a Carib village within each players’ starting area.
• In the nomad game mode, all civilizations now start with an appropriate warship according to their respective tech tree.

Cascade Range

• Added an extra hunt for the pocket player(s) in team games.

Ceylon

• Altered the spawn logic of water treasures to spread them around the map.
• In KOTH game mode, the cliffs on the island have been removed to improve the KOTH experience.

Deccan

• The Town Centers now spawn in a fixed position and the first hunt is herdable.
• The starting in-base resources have been reworked so that they no longer crowd the player’s Town Center.
• Corrected an issue that could lead to the covered wagon not to spawn in the Nomad game mode.

Himalayas (and Upper)

• Corrected an issue that sometimes resulted in huntable animals spawning atop impassable cliffs.
• Size slightly reduced in team games.
• Reduced the number of cliffs that spawn in team games.
• The cliffs that spawn around the map are now spread farther apart.

Honshu, Indochina, and Indonesia

• The starting units/buildings on these maps have been updated to welcome our new civs! The Hausa and Ethiopians begin with the appropriate fishing boats on Honshu, and an in-base tower on Indochina and Indonesia.

Kamchatka

• Improved the spawn consistency of mines in team games.

Korea

• Corrected an issue causing some mines not to spawn in team games.

Malaysia

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused shallows to form in the seas, which interfered with warship pathing.

Manchuria

• Manchuria is looking better than ever with a new map specific terrain mix and water type!
• Corrected an issue that sometimes resulted in one of the Trading Posts not spawning.

Mexico

• A slight size reduction in team games.
• Corrected an issue that could lead to the covered wagon not to spawn in the Nomad game mode.

Ozarks

• Adjusted how the starting resources spawn so that the starting mines no longer bunch up.
• Corrected an issue that could lead to the covered wagon not to spawn in the Nomad game mode.

Pampas Sierras

• The Town Centers now spawn in a fixed position.
• Altered the terrain and cliffs in the plateau region.
• Corrected an issue that could lead to the covered wagon not to spawn in the Nomad game mode.

Unknown

• Updated the map to include Asian, South American, and new African style maps.
• Made some under-the-hood changes to improve the spawn consistency of players, resources, trade routes, and other assets on the map.
• Fixed an issue where minor native Inca settlements would sometimes spawn with an Aztec socket.

Saguenay

• Corrected an issue that sometimes resulted in one or more Trading Post sockets from spawning in team games.

Siberia

• Corrected an issue that sometimes resulted in teammates being split across the frozen river in games with more than two teams.

Sonora

• Corrected an issue preventing some of the huntables on the map from being herded.
• Corrected an issue that could lead to the covered wagon not to spawn in the Nomad game mode.

General

• Potential fix for being stuck waiting for other players in a ranked game lobby.
• Fix for failing to join a lobby from an invite to a multiplayer scenario or restored saved game.
• Saved games no longer require resigned / defeated players for the game to continue.
• Fixed “Host Rejected” issue when joining a restored MP save game if a player’s previous slot was already allocated.
• Fixed occasional camera glitch when spectating with camera lock on.
• Fixed an issue where unique resources such as Export and Influence were incorrectly set to 0 in Deathmatch games.

General

• Random name mods can now be used in multiplayer against other players who don’t have the mod.
  • The random names are now defined in Data/strings//randomnamestrings.xml.
  • The old file Data/randomnamesy.xml has now been removed.
  • It is replaced by a new file Data/randomnames.xml which references the string ids defined in randomnamestrings.xml.
  • randomnamestrings.xml can be modded by stringmods.xml (in the same way that any other strings can be modded).
  • randomnames.xml can be modded by randomnamemods.xml.