As the title says, I’d like to know by about when the coming balance patch will be launched.
Right now, there is a strong disbalance in some matchups, especially Ottomen vs anything else in higher elo.
By about when can we expect the coming patch?
A quick roadmap with ROUGH estimates would be amazing.
Will we get a patch before the season switch?
Ideally things should be addressed in smaller portions and not all in 1 big patch and then silence for half a year with resulting problems being unaddressed again…
PS:
Jeanne Darc still seems quite strong, 54% win in average.
That’s top1 right now. 54.8% in Diamond, 51.6% in Conqueror, 56.4% in top conq (conq IV).
French seems completely left out now in 1v1 in most matchups.
Against Jeane Darc it has no chance.
Mongol has been quite oppressive for a long time in 1v1 as well.
Main focus should be on Ottomen, they are just way overtuned in so many ways right now.
In both team and 1v1.
Multiple other problematic matchups/civs should be addressed timely.
Rework is maybe a good idea, though I personally like the approach of the civ.
It’s pretty unique and refreshing in the field of aoe4, though too strong right now.
Would be sad to get rid of that, if a rework meant to make it less unique.
A few things should be adjusted and jans probably reworked into dealing less bonus dmg against cavalry or giving them 2 modes. Ranged mode, solid dmg against everything (less than handcannoneer), melee mode: bonus damage against cav, similar to spearmen.
That’s how musketeers work in aoe3 and I think that is the best way to do it.
Also, all anti-siege siege weapons should get siege dmg instead of ranged dmg.
Springalds should have even lower base damage and a higher bonus vs siege.
This way, they would ONLY be good against siege but that job they’d nail, sniping enemy anti-infantry siege like mangos and great bombards.
That’s how aoe3 (de) balanced the culverines…
Long range, very low damage, expensive, but massive damage against other siege weapons.
I saw a comment from the Age of Empires IV official webpage on Facebook that they are finalizing the patch notes for the first major patch this year and that they will share the notes at least one week prior to it releasing so I’d guess sometime between now and next week we will receive the patch notes if I understood them correctly.
Well, since the name of the topic is to suggest things for the new Patch, we have to consider some things beforehand:
“NEW SEASON 7 - NEW CHANGES”: The new patch will come with the New Season. And what did previous seasons bring? Well, many things: Changes in the marine combat system, wall system, New unique units, new civs, etc.
New Civs? Unlikely.- At the moment I don’t think there will be new civs, that generally happens every 3 seasons, so we will have to wait until season 9, and now season 7 follows.
New Unique Units? Maybe.- At least that was the case in season 4 and 5, with the Wynguard footman and Ranger, Sultan Elephant, King, Keshik, Ghazi Raider, etc. Now that the Japanese have 14 unique units, there is no longer any concern about the limit, as long as there is balance and people feel satisfied, especially in “Historical representation”.
Some general requests from me, since everyone is doing it:
Balance
Balance the Great Bombard.- Perhaps increase its population (4 → 5 or 6) or in any case its HP more in line with its population, and take as an example the stats of HRE units with the Order of the Dragon .
HRE, ABBASID and FRENCH needs a Bost.- Curiously, the “parent” civs suffered a bit of disuse after the release of the variants. But everything can improve, although my solution currently is more unique units, because I think that at least the HRE and Abbasid historically accommodate more.
Abbasid Dynasty “House of Wisdom” need a Bost.- Similar a los Ayyubid, algunas alas podrían generar unidades extra para dar un bosteo inicial. En el caso del ala económica, podría producir aldeanos extra, y el ala de cultura podría producir imanes extra dependiendo de la edad.
Landmarks that are hardly even used from the HRE.- At least I think that the least used are those from the HRE, Meinwerck and Burgrave Palace. I have some suggestions for balance in general:
–1.- New Civ Bonus to Making the “Relics” give more gold than normal (maybe x2) and not just the effect of the **Regnitz Cathedral. **. That would encourage the HRE players to use more Burgrave in 3rd age, more confident that they can then get good economy in Late Game. Regnitz’s effect would increase the bonus from x2 to x3, but it would not limit the Gameplay to only using this landmark.
–2.- Meinwerk remake.- Make Meinwerk technologies available without using the Landmark, and maybe put “Double hand weapons” as an advanced technology for Feudal in it, make the Landmark also act as a barracks early to generate infantry, there are many options-
– 3.- Auxiliaries of other HRE civs?.- It always occurred to me that if the Swiss, Teutons, Bohemians or Hussites leave, as they were within the control of the HRE, similar to the Mongols with the Khaganate Palace , some of its unique units could be used by this civ as mercenaries. Of course, since these future civs are not clear, nor have their design been made, I suppose the idea will be on Standby until then.
New Units or New Technologies
New units for the HRE please. Here are some examples: Black Rider, Ministerials (They could replace the Horseman, the HRE unit model visually has a lot of armor, ideal for a special light cavalry) , War Bishop, Pikeman Landsknecht (Which was the most common weapon they used, and is different from a spear, it would have more range), Landsknecht Arquebusier, etc.
New unique units for France: At least to balance it better. In fact I made a topic about that. There could be French-archer, Scottish Guard, Swiss Hundred, etc. Although I would also like Swiss mercenaries, perhaps we have to wait for the Swiss to come out or else they would be French allies in the Italian Wars Campaign and not necessarily a normal unit for the French. The Coustillier could also be included, as a substitute for the Horseman for the French, with some ability or stats so that the light cavalry has more use, perhaps a support role for the knights (it was its function), and it would have a Voulge instead of a lance. The Burgundian version (if they ever release Burgundian-Netherland as a civ) only used a short spear.
New unique units for Mongols: I can only think of changing the name of the Horseman to “Steppe Raider” and giving him some bonus against economic units, ranged or something extra, to make them even more useful in the dark ages, and one prefers to make them to the usual spearmar rush.
New unique units for Abbasid: Several ideas come to mind, mainly considering the different domains that the Abbasid Caliphate reached, they could consider auxiliary troops: such as the Turkish Horse Archers from the campaign, Beduin Soldiers or even Elephants of Persia . Something curious about the Abbasid caliphate is that during its beginnings they formed several unique units, but they were always disbanded. Among limited-duration topas: Maghariba, Abna al-dawla, Ishtakhaniyya, Shakiriyya, Ushrusaniyya. The one that does appear in all ages is the Naffatum, a body that shoots gasoline. In the campaign there were spearmen who threw fire at grasslands using gasoline to weaken the speed of enemy units, they could have a similar function.
“Abbasid Iman New Unique Techs”.- Originally presented as a unique Abbasid unit, didn´t have any unique ability and even stopped being it in season 3 as it become practically the common religious unit of Muslim civs, which in itself makes sense, because it was. HOWEVER, I understand the meaning of it originally being a unique unit: Since the Abbasid Dynasty was the center reign from which Islam spread, its imams could have some special peculiarity, such as more unique technologies, or that “Proselytism” be a technology not of the House of Wisdom, but of the Mosque in the Castle Age (III).
Aesthetics:
Ashigaru Handcanonners.- Consider giving a Tan3g45hima musket/arquebus to the ashigaru handcanonners.
Unique Polearm Technologies -Spearman.- Consider that just as the Japanese Spearman changed the stew for a Nage Yari in the Imperial Age, the same could be done with the Spearman’s weapons with a unique model for the Chinese and French, with technologies like “Fangtian Ji” (Chinese), and “Voulge” (French).
More Animals, More Fauna and that change by the Biome of the game, similar to the Flora (Grass, Trees, etc).- The usual request to give more eyecandy to the game.
Note: – This request will at least have to be taken more “Seriously” if the game still want to COMPETE" in quality with the new Age of Mythology: Retold, which apparently will have more fauna per biome (hippopotamuses, giraffes, crocodiles, lions).
Religious Technology Tithe Barn change name for Muslim and Buddhist Civs.- Similar to the Japanese Civ that has 6 new tecnologies, and don´t include Tithe Barn, because they have Santuaries to replace them, many civs “HISTORICALLY” dont have tithe barn, or at least have another name for the Tithe or “diezmo religioso” in spanish.
– Zakat.- Would replace Tithe Barn in Abbasid Dynasty, Delhi Sultanate, Ayyubid, Mali, Ottomans. Same effect
– Danna.- Would replace Tithe Barn in China, Zhu Xi Legacy, and Mongols (Tibethan Buddhism Chamans). Same Effect.
History: “Zakat” is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (salat) in importance. Eight heads of zakat are mentioned in the Quran. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy. It is a mandatory charitable contribution, often considered to be a tax. Zakat on wealth is based on the value of all of one’s possessions. It is customarily 2.5% (or 1⁄40) of a Muslim’s total savings and wealth above a minimum amount known as nisab each lunar year, but Islamic scholars differ on how much nisab is and other aspects of zakat. The payment and disputes on zakat have played a major role in the history of Islam.
History: “Danna” is the Buddhist practice of generosity, generally put into practice through selflessness and charity. Although it could be considered something positive for Christians and Muslims, Buddhists consider it something “neutral”: Since by being charitable one gives up something of one’s own, a material good that in theory is not eternal, therefore it contributes to the training of the Buddhist itself to distance itself from the material world. The memory of the ashes of ancient Buddhist masters, kept in relics in pagodas or temples, made the devotion of believers to carry out this practice stronger.