Incas and Xolotl Warrior... and Slinger

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

Honestly, Incas should not have access to the Xolotl Warrior after converting an enemy Stable.

This is not only because Xolotl is a Mesoamerican deity—making the unit thematically disconnected from the Andean world—but also because the Inca civilization had no cavalry tradition whatsoever. Allowing them to field a mounted unit, even through conversion mechanics, weakens both their historical identity and their intended gameplay niche.

One could argue that a South American cavalry unit might be a better thematic fit, such as a hypothetical Mapuche Bolas Rider. However, at this point, it would be more consistent and cleaner for the Incas to have no access to cavalry units at all, under any circumstances. Their design has always been centered on infantry and ranged warfare, and that identity should remain intact.

The Xolotl Warrior itself would make far more sense elsewhere. It could work well as a Unique Unit for a future Tlaxcaltec civilization, especially considering their alliance with the Spanish conquistadors and early exposure to horses. Alternatively, it could function as a shared regional unit for future Mesoamerican civilizations (Zapotecs, Tlaxcaltecs, Purépechas), reinforcing cultural cohesion without crossing regional boundaries.

That said, with the Slinger being turned into a regional unit, it would be reasonable to compensate the Incas with another form of exclusivity. A strong option would be an Elite or Imperial Slinger upgrade available only to the Incas, and not to other civilizations such as the Tupi, Muisca, or Mapuche. The base Slinger could use an alternative 3D model for those civilizations, while the Imperial Slinger would retain the current model, featuring the Hualcana (Inca shield), reinforcing its clear Inca identity.

This solution preserves historical coherence, maintains strong civilization identity, and avoids unnecessary overlap in regional unit design.

2

The Xolotl Warrior was introduced mainly to meet the needs of the Battle Royale game mode. Since players can control Gaia stables and train units there, the American civs needed a stable unit.

TBH, the Xolotl Warrior doesn’t see much play in ranked games anyway, so from a balance perspective it hardly matters. If the goal is to add a new skin for civs like the Incas, Mapuche, Muiscas, or Tupi, that could work. Beyond that, it doesn’t really serve much of a purpose.

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3

Nah, in that case a counter-cavalry unit or something similar could work better.

Mapuche is a cavalry civ, both unique units are cavalry.

4

The xolotl warrior isn’t there for flavor, it’s basically an easter egg, so I think it should be fine to keep it. The name is just that: a name.

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5

but its fine for everyone to have 2h swords right?

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6

First, the developers introduced regional Kings back in the HD Edition. Later, they expanded this philosophy to Monks and Monasteries, followed by unique castle models and additional architectural sets such as Central Asian and South American. Each of these steps moved the game closer to stronger cultural representation without disrupting its core mechanics.

Given this trajectory, it’s only a matter of time before we see regional visual variants for shared unit lines, ensuring that commonly used units reflect the cultures that field them. The move toward a regional Slinger is simply another step along that same design path.

Personally, I still find it jarring to see American civilizations wielding steel swords, but that compromise has been largely accepted over time for the sake of gameplay consistency. Introducing regional unit variants—starting with obvious cases like the infantry lines—would be a meaningful way to reduce those visual and historical dissonances without rewriting the entire unit roster.

In that sense, regional units and reskins are not a radical change, but a natural continuation of the design philosophy AoE II has been following for years.

7

Given the better-quality screenshots, that might not be the case anymore.