Hey all, new to the community but not AOE.
Let me first premise that this DLC seems to be a very big success, yes there are bugs, and other balance issues, but folks tend to over focus on negatives before congratulating/appreciating the devs for the good. So before i hop into it, congrats on the release of Dynasties of the east AOE4
Now onto the good stuff, Sunkenlands and craters need to be sent to the shadow realm, along with ocean gateway and flankwoods, bad flow, broken mechanics, just a non competitive map design, mirror more of the EGC pro maps please like most games! I guarentee if you look at the map veto stats, gorge, arabia, cliffside probably have the LOWEST ban rates. Always balance a game to the highest level of competitive play, lower ranked players like me will rarely notice the true effects, And that’s where the games viewership stems from, respect the pro scene, respect the esport.
Golden horde 1: Extremely vulnerable to DA plays due to the early double batches, i know the double batches is actually an economic bonus, but i believe they should start with one extra villager, not to only guarantee the safe age up, but having that early feudal extra villager to counter/offset the Oovoo being inevitably destroyed regardless of the spawn. Now you could make the argument “just dont build the OOVOO” GH takes WAYYY too long to ramp up, without the tanky torguud’s/khan they’ll suffer to any early feudal aggression.
Golden Horde 2: Those stockyards generate SOOO much food income comparable to Malians with virtually no drawback. 1 Grand fulani ranch with 3 cattle offer roughly 135 FPM,which costs 370 RESOURCES +an age up whereas 1 stockyard in feudal with NO PASTURE TECHS provide about 150-160FPM for 250..you can get 2 stockyards with 0 drawback while aging up to feudal due to the free military buildings. Cheaper than 4 farms, better than 4 farms, INSTANT payback due to no villager travel time (whereas farms take awhile to kick in) civs having eco bonuses are fantastic, but i think the numbers need to be tweaked, Golden horde should have to go out on the map for food like most civs in the early game/fuedal, not just stay glued to their woodline with their early tanky outposts. This is reinforced by the fact they do NOT need houses, so that saves a LOT of wood resources. You all buffed english to be encouraged to go out on the map with campfires, lets try to commit to that rhetoric with the rest of the civs?
Golden Horde 3: I’m pretty sure ive heard multiple pros say the Kipchak archer is currently bugged/busted and does default aoe damage? i could be wrong on that front but i did hear puppy paw referring to them being bugged/broken on stream. Forgive the lack of a source on that one.
Golden Horde 4: The oovoo’s should have less HP, and make more stone in feudal I know how that sounds, but your stone production is reliant on BOTH map control AND relics. With how much of a slow start Golden horde is, they shouldnt be FORCED to try to collect relics first, especially being so susceptible to feudal/DA pressure. All the techs that will make a difference in feudal/early castle are rarely achievable due to the constant production of the torguud and the reliance on the khans war cry buffs. (assuming you dont get 3 or more relics) You have civs in the same DLC that generate silver at a MUCHHH higher rate, and that silver isnt even reliant on making units, virtually for techs ONLY. Lets try to stay in the same balance flow, especially since we’re in the same DLC aha.
Golden Horde 5: You’re almost always going to choose the relic oovoos age up because of how much golden horde relies on that resource, even if you only think you’ll get two relics, unless your opponent sat afk in their base for like 14+ minutes (which wont happen at the pro level ever) and then you just endlessly idle their base that extra ranged armour from the other age up will be more or less irrelevant. Give it a rework/buff that can truly offset the relic stone generation/reliance, maybe makes oovoo’s generate much more stone, and adds an influence range to increase armor/dmg of units in the area (similar to KT’‘s fortress aura) ? just a thought not a focus.
Once again, congratulations to the developers for a very fun an innovative launch! #balanceforthehighestlevelofplay
Keep in mind these are just suggestions , pro input/feedback on this thread would be very much encouraged <3