Italians after their last buff feel a bit silly at the moment with the general buff to archers, they get cheaper gunpowder units and a counter to opponent gunpowder unit in the Condottieros. So they get cheaper age advancement, cheaper chemistry (and ballistics), and now hand cannoneer’s getting both crazy powerful pass through damage and increased accuracy. They could become the ultimate late game civ if not for their lack of siege engineers.
The design would be good if they lost cheaper gunpowder units bonus and get it as part of silk road tech. It would at least cost them some time and resources which will allow opponent team timing window to counter their gunpowder spam.
Italians:
Removed Bonuses:
- 20% discount on gunpowder
New Bonuses:
- ‘Silk Road’ “Trade and gunpowder units 25% cheaper”