June PUP- Lakota Rework

Age of Empires III: DE III - Discussion
1

Holy crap this is huge.

Gameplay

General

  • Improvements to Photo Mode

    • Photo Mode is no longer in BETA Stage

    • Additional in-game UI elements are now disabled when Photo Mode is active:

      • Obscured Unit Alpha (Options\Graphics Options\Obscured Unit Alpha)

      • Friend or Foe Outlines (Options\Accessibility\Enable Friend/Foe Outlines)

      • Accessibility Patter Overlay (Options\Accessibility\Enable Pattern Overlay)

      • Hitpoint Bars

      • Unit Glow & Auras/buffs from Hero units (Explorers/Generals/War Chiefs/Monks/Princes)

      • Aura/buffs from buildings such as Torps, Teepees, Karni Mata etc.

      • Stun Ability status effect visuals

      • Ping/Flares including the Danger Ping used for Maltese Depots when they are toggled for destruction

      • Story Mode Objective Panels

    • Fog of War and Blackmap can now be enabled/disabled

    • Additional hotkeys have been added for new functions within Photo Mode

  • Improvements to Ping/Flare

    • Updated Ping/Flare & Communication Wheel are no longer in BETA Stage

      • Please note the Hotkey ‘Select Flare Type’ can be unbound to disable the Communication Wheel

    • Improved selection accuracy when selecting Ping types

    • Added Ping/Flare display to recorded games

    • Added Hotkeys for Tycoon Mode’s Tycoon Packages

Fixes

  • Disabled Ping/Flare menu access when viewing games as a spectator

  • Fix for some Home City customizations costing more points than displayed in their tooltips

  • Fix for Commandery using the wrong image within the Compendium

  • Fix for additional Spring Event Profile portrait not being obtainable

Graphics

  • Fixed an issue where flaming arrows would not be used by Pavisiers or Crossbowmen after sending the Steel Bolts card

  • Added an unique icon for the Maltese Grand Master unit

  • The Maltese Grand Master customizations Morgan Black and Alain Magnan now use their own icon

  • The British Explorer customizations Ada Lovelace and Lizzie now use their own icon

  • The Spanish Explorer customizations Heroic Villager and Flamenco Dancer now use their own icon

  • Replaced the Italian Gondolas customization in the Maltese home city with Maltese Luzzu boats

  • Improved the variation of Gondola designs in the Italian home city

  • The Italian Galleass now flies a Venetian flag in addition to the Italian one

  • Fixed the compendium images for the Cossack Daredevil and Armored Pistoleer

  • Repainted the Native Warriors card icon

Updated Minor Civilizations

  • Clicking on a Settlement will now preview what units and techs are available inside before building it

Minor Civilization Rework

An additional mechanic to form alliances with Minor Civilizations has been implemented:

  • Instead of manually placing a Trading Post it is now also possible to convert the settlement’s socket with any unit and slowly build the Trading Post automatically with a click of a button!

  • To convert a socket you can to walk up to a neutral settlement with any unit. Upon conversion you will hear a capture sound and see a flag of your player color placed into the socket:

    • Beware! Moving near a neutral Settlement will change its color on the minimap, alerting a vigilant opponent to a potential raiding parties’ location, so be stealthy!

  • To form an alliance with this minor civilization select the converted socket and click the new build button in the top left:

  • Forming an alliance through this mechanic does not require a builder unit and costs 100 food and 100 wood. Upon clicking the button the Trading Post will be slowly built.

  • It is still possible to manually place and build a Trading Posts for 200 wood in the same socket. The construction time will also be notably shorter this way!

  • A neutral Settlement with a converted socket will now provide some Line of Sight of the surrounding area (a bit like the Stagecoach) as long as you are in control. Building a Trading Post improves this bonus further and grants a trickle of 0.35 XP per second, and access to additional units and technologies as usual.

  • As long as the construction of a Trading Post has not been started, other players can still convert sockets back with any of their own units, or manually build Trading Posts in the socket.

New Minor Civilization: Tengri Shrine

  • To celebrate the rework of the native alliance system we have added a new minor civilization, the Tengri Shrine!

    • “Tengrism is an ancient animistic religion that was widespread in North and Central Asia. The sky god “tengri” is its main deity and was worshiped next to many natural spirits and souls. In Tengrism and related beliefs high elevations like mountain peaks are considered sacred places due to their proximity to the sky. The “ovoo” is a man-made stone heap that represents a peak and therefore acts as a shrine. The political legitimacy of rulers in Turko-Mongol societies and states was connected to Tengri and comparable to the Chinese “mandate of heaven” or European “divine right of kings”. The royal Mongol chronicle from the 13th century CE claims for instance that the ancestors of Genghis Khan are descendants of Tengri.”

  • Units: Tatar Archer, Tengri Wolf

  • Technologies: Shaman Drums, Kumis, Wind Horses

  • You can ally with this new minor civilization on the following maps:

    • Siberia

    • Silk Road

    • Mongolia

    • [NEW!] Central Asia

    • [NEW!] Yamal

    • Eurasian Steppe [Knights of the Mediterranean DLC Map]

Lakota, Haudenosaunee, Aztec & Inca Naval Rework

New Dock Technologies

The following Dock technologies are shared by all 4 Native American civilizations:

  • Improved Cordage (III) - “American cording techniques improve the hitpoints of War Canoes, Tlaloc Canoes, and Chincha Rafts.”

    • Dock technology costing 350 Wood & Coin

    • Grants +25% hitpoints

  • River Raids (III) - “Improves the damage of War Canoes, Tlaloc Canoes, and Chincha Rafts.”

    • Dock technology costing 350 Wood & Coin

    • Grants +25% attack

  • Legendary War Boats (V) - “Improves the damage and hitpoints of War Canoes, Tlaloc Canoes, and Chincha Rafts.”

    • Dock technology costing 1000 Wood & Coin

    • Grants +25% attack and hitpoints

Accompanying Naval Balance Adjustments

GENERAL:

  • **Water Ceremony:**Reduced the effectiveness of the attack and hitpoint improvement provided to Warships by each villager tasked to the Community Plaza by approximately two thirds; improvement is now calculated from base stats (previously scaled from current stats)

AZTEC:

  • Cipactli (Big Button, Dock): Now also grants +10% attack and hitpoints to all Warships

HAUDENOSAUNEE:

  • Rawhide Covers (Big Button, Dock): Now grants +30% hitpoints to all Warships (up from 20%)

INCA:

  • Totora Reeds (Big Button, Dock): Now also improves Chincha Raft range and build limit (Chincha Rafts no longer receive a range and build limit shadow improvement upon reaching the Fortress and Industrial Ages)

LAKOTA:

  • Flaming Arrows (Big Button, Dock): Now grants +30% attack to all Warships (up from 25%)

Lakota Civilization Rework

New Cards, Technologies and Big Buttons

  • Camp Movements (Card, II) - “Ships 2 War Hut Travois. Improves construction speeds and enables most Lakota buildings to be deconstructed into Travois so they may be built elsewhere.”

    • Commerce Age card

    • Construction speed improvement +25%

  • Territorial Claims (Card, III) - “Enables Cetan Bowmen to siege buildings from a long-range with their arrows and significantly improves War Clubman siege damage.”

    • Fortress Age card

    • War Clubman damage +75%

  • Akichita (Card, IV) - “Significantly increases the hitpoints of all Lakota Warriors, but reduces their damage against Villagers.”

    • Industrial Age card

    • All Lakota units: +20% hitpoints

    • Villager damage -50% for Cavalry and 34% for Infantry

  • Advanced Captured Mortars (Card, IV) - “Ships 4 Captured Mortars. Reduces their resource and population cost.”

    • Industrial Age card costing 500 coin

    • Population cost reduction -4

    • Resource cost reduction -10%

  • Lakota Lands (Big Button, IV) - “Teepees now cast their benefits over a much wider area and will also improve unit movement speed.”

    • Teepee Big Button costing 250 food, wood & coin

    • Speed aura +10%

    • Improves LOS & Auras by +20 range

  • Gun Running (Big Button, IV) - “Enables your Native Embassy to recruit sinister Outlaws and powerful Captured Mortars.”

    • Embassy Big Button available to Lakota, Haudenosaunee, Aztec & Inca costing 700 coin

    • Enables Outlaws in the Commerce Age and Captured Mortar in the Industrial Age

  • Fur Dressing (Tech, I) - “Villagers gather Coin from Tribal Marketplaces faster.”

    • Tribal Marketplace technology available to the Lakota and Haudenosaunee costing 75 food and 125 wood

    • Grants +10% gathering speed

Lakota Gameplay Adjustments

CIVILIZATION:

  • Civilization Bonus: Updated to “Begins with 200 population and Huntable Animals last 10% longer, but cannot build Walls until the Industrial Age.”
    Starting Units:

    • 5 Villagers (no change)

    • 400 Food (no change)

    • 100 Wood (added)

    • 100 Coin (no change)

UNITS & BUILDINGS:

  • Tokala Soldier: To complete the narrative correction of Tokala Soldiers and Cheyenne Riders both units have received new visuals.

  • Tribal Marketplace: Now free to construct; Gather rate reduced by 10% (to 0.6 c/s); yield improved by +10% (coin lasts longer); these changes also impact the Haudenosaunee civ

  • Teepee: Adjusted as follows

    • Hitpoint aura no longer stacks; now also effects Settlers

    • Now also provides a +10% gather rate bonus to Villagers (does not stack)

    • Build limit increased to 20 (from 12); cost increased to 50w (from 40); hitpoints increased to 600 (from 450); build time increased to 10 seconds (from 5)

    • May no longer be constructed by Lakota infantry as a default feature (Moved to Nomadic Expansion card)

  • Walls: Lakota Infantry all now inflict 1.5x to Walls and Lakota Cavalry all now inflict 0.5x to Walls (indicated on stats HUD); This can now be improved to 1.5x for Cavalry with the Horsemanship big button

  • Bow Rider: No longer inflicts 2x to Artillery; regains this bonus with the Elite Bow Rider upgrade

  • Axe Rider: Cost adjusted to 150f 50c (from 160f 40c)

  • Cetan Bowman: Now benefits from the Target Lock feature (once the firing animation begins, the attack will always finish, even if the target moves out of range)

  • Captured Mortar: Now benefits from the Wild West upgrade as it is now tagged an Outlaw (previously Native Warrior); now costs 8 population (up from 5); now costs only coin

  • Community Plaza: Charging Ceremony is considerably less powerful as the Lakota civs reliance on it for siege power should be considerably less now

  • Town Center: Restored to the usual cost of 500 wood (from 400)

CARDS:

  • Added colors to all Lakota unit card icons for better recognizability

  • 4 Villagers (I): Removed

  • 5 Villagers (II): Removed

  • 8 Villagers (III): Added

  • Great Hunter (II): Effect updated to “Villagers gather Food +20% faster from Hunted Animals. Also, 12.5% of all Food you have gathered from Hunted Animals is granted to you again (up to a maximum of 1500 resources)”

  • Spice Trade (II): Replaced with TEAM Spice Trade (I)

  • Adoption (III): Effect tweaked to “Arrives fast! Villagers train +25% faster and grant +250% more XP when trained.”

  • 15 Bison (II): Now Ships 13

  • INF 15 Bison (IV): Now Ships 13

  • [NEW] Camp Movements (II): “Ships 2 War Hut Travois. Improves construction speeds and enables most Lakota buildings to be deconstructed into Travois so they may be built elsewhere.”

  • Friendly Territory (II): Moved to age 1; Effect updated to “Teepees gain significantly more hitpoints and now also improve the attack speed of nearby units.” (+200% hitpoints and +10% attack speed)

  • Nomadic Expansion (I): Moved to Age 3; Effect updated to “Enables Lakota Infantry to construct Teepees. Nearby Teepees also boost Military Building training speeds.” (they work twice as fast)

  • Riding School (II): Removed (Note: The Horsemanship Big Button now also improves Cavalry trainspeed)

  • Wind Runners (II): Moved to Age 4

  • Mustangs (III): Is now a team card; Cavalry & shock infantry cost improvement reduced to 10% (down from 15%)

  • [NEW] Territorial Claims (II): “Enables Cetan Bowmen to siege buildings from a long-range with their arrows and significantly improves War Clubman siege damage.”

  • [NEW] Akichita (IV): “Significantly increases the hitpoints of all Lakota Warriors, but reduces their damage against Villagers.” (+20%)

  • Cavalry Hitpoints (II): Removed

  • 6 Cetan Bowmen (II): Increased to 7

  • TEAM Conestoga Wagons (IV): Now also increases Town Center Build Limit by +1 (impacts all civs with access to this card)

  • Uprising (IV): Now also activates the Elite and Champion upgrades for the 7 Cetan Bowman, Club Warriors and Wakina Rifleman delivered

TECHNOLOGIES:

  • [NEW] Lakota Lands (Teepee Big Button): “Teepees now cast their benefits over a much wider area and will also improve unit movement speed.”

  • [NEW] Gun Running (Embassy Big Button): “Enables your Native Embassy to recruit sinister Outlaws and powerful Captured Mortars.”

  • Cooporation (Tribal Marketplace Big Button): Cost reduced to 200f 200w (from 600f 600w); XP trickle provided to working Villagers reduced to 0.03 (from 0.10)

  • [NEW] Fur Dressing (Market Tech, 75f 125w): “Villagers gather Coin from Tribal Marketplaces faster.”

  • Bonepipe Armor (Corral Big Button): Effect updated to “Traditional armor enables your Lakota Warriors to be more resistant to siege-type damage (inflicted by units such as Artillery).” (Adds 5%)

  • Battle Anger (Community Plaza Big Button): Effect updated to “Lakota Cavalry now inflict greatly increased damage to Artillery, especially your War Chief!” (Note:

[/b] This combines the previous effects of both Battle Anger and Bonepipe Armor into one)

  • Horsemanship (Farm Big Button): Effect updated to “Lakota horsemanship enables Cavalry to train faster and inflict increased damage to Walls.”

  • Lakota Tokala Soldiers (Town Center Big Button): Cost increased to 2000 food (from 1500)
    [/list]

Civilization Balance

GENERAL

UNITS & BUILDINGS:

  • Navajo Rifleman: Reverted its stats to those is had in legacy AoE3, but now has 16 range (up from 12)

  • Royal Arquebusier (Vasa Royal House): Now benefits from Valor Promotions from which they receive additional hitpoints and damage.

  • War Elephant: This unit is now available to the Bhakti minor civilization.

  • [NEW] Qizilbash (Sufi): Instead of the War Elephant the Sufi can now train the Qizilbash, a ranged heavy cavalry unit:

    • “It is available in the Commerce Age to anyone who has built a Trading Post at the Sufi Mosque. Armed with a lance and a bow this unit acts like a lancer with an additional ranged attack. The lance of the Qizilbash has increased range and will automatically be used if an enemy unit is close enough. The melee attack inflicts bonus damage against infantry. Although the bow attack does not share this bonus, it enables the Qizilbash to perform hit-and-run tactics.”

TECHNOLOGIES:

  • Royal Saxon Grenadiers (Wettin Royal House): Now also delivers 1 Giant Grenadier upon complete research

CARDS:

  • INF 1 Battleship: This card has been added to all European Home cities!

  • Cards which reduce the cost of Trading Posts: Now also reduces the cost of Alliances as well as Trading Posts

  • Advanced Trading Post (I): Cost improvement reduced to 35% (from 40%); ranged attack enabled now inflicts 20 damage (down from 25)

  • TEAM Cheap Outposts: This card available to the Portuguese, Ethiopians, and Haudenosaunee is now called TEAM Natural Lookouts

BRITISH

UNITS & BUILDINGS:

Ranger: Increased armor from 30% to 35%

TECHNOLOGIES

  • Roger’s Rangers II: The second instance of the Roger’s Rangers Church technology now sends 26 Veteran Rangers instead of 26 Guard Skirmishers; has been renamed to Queen’s Rangers

CARDS:

  • INF 8 Rangers (III): The icon of this infinite card now displays the proper purple border

  • [NEW] Ranger Combat: Replaces the Siege Archery card in the deck when Roger’s Rangers has been researched; improves Ranger hitpoints and damage by +10%

  • [NEW] Baker Rifles: Replaces the Yeomen card in the deck when Roger’s Rangers has been researched; keeps the original effect of Yeomen and applies it to Rangers

INCA

UNITS & BUILDINGS:

  • Huaraca: Ranged attack damage reduced to 20 (from 40); now inflicts 2x against Infantry

TECHNOLOGIES

  • Hualcana (Big Button): Now grants +5% additional Armor (down from +10%)

CARDS:

  • Huanka Support: Cost increased to 500 (from 250)

  • Renegade Spanish: Both cards can now be sent twice like in the Aztec home city

ITALIANS

CARDS:

The following 2 cards have been added: * Roman Tactics (Card, IV) - “Improves Pikeman, Halberdier and Pavisier hitpoints. Enables a damage boost when they fight in groups.”

* Pikeman and Halberdier hitpoints +15%

* Pavisier Hitpoints +30%

* All three units gain a damage boost if any others are nearby, which automatically improves in the Imperial Age

  • Redshirts (Card, IV) - “Improves the damage of all Italian musket and rifle infantry.”

    • Musketeer, Bersagliere, Papal Zouave, Schiavone receive +10% damage

JAPANESE

CARDS

  • TEAM Pioneers: This card has been renamed to TEAM Jujutsu and now also increases the damage of all fist-fighting units (+15% for Surgeons, Priests, Envoys, Native Scouts, Architects; +10% for Disciples and Shaolin Master); the icon has also been updated

MEXICANS

CARDS

  • Naval Gunners: Removed

PORTUGUESE

CARDS

  • The following two cards have been renamed:

    • TEAM Order of Aviz (formerly TEAM Early Dragoons) → TEAM House of Aviz

    • Genitours → Order of Aviz

UNITED STATES

CARDS

  • European Cannons: Added

  • Oklahoma Black Mesa: Reduced card cost to 500 wood (from 1000 wood)

22 Likes
2

Really? A dream come true.

I hope these are not the only changes they make. I liked the change from reverting the Navajo to a skirmish unit, but I’m thirsty for more: Catalog of proposals on minor factions/civilizations (AOE-3 BASIC + TWC + TAD)

3 Likes
3

YEEEEEEEEEEE

Ayyyyyyyyyyyyy

oof

LOL 4 TP = 280w discount

sick

4

I don’t know Lakota, but now Haudenosaunee is going to be the most powerful civi in the game hahaha.

I loved all the changes, it’s time to learn Lakotas again.

3 Likes
5

Addition of Tatars and Qizilbash; does this mean we are getting a Persian and Central Asian nomad civ, or is this actually the nail in the coffin for them?

11 Likes
6

The Mongols arrived to AOE-3. Wait


4 Likes
7

Glad to see my favorite civ getting some love with the rework!

I kind of wish the Camp Movements feature was a default feature, a unique aspect of the civ. It’s a really cool idea. Generally, I’m liking what I’m seeing, but Age 1 and 2 are going to be a lot slower with those settler cards gone. I hope you’re adjusting the AI to take advantage of the new teepee mechanics too. It typically doesn’t build them very much as is, but the auras are definitely making them more necessary.

The trade post capturing mechanic is interesting. Hopefully, it’ll help with AI games where the AI blocks his own team out from the trade center with a 1hp foundation then never builds the thing.

I don’t understand the TEAM Jujistu card. 15% of like 5 damage is 1 extra point on a unit you don’t want to be attacking at all aside from the Chinese monks and disciples. It’s a weird card with really only one potential allied civ that gets any benefit from the change.

The Italian changes feel strange as well. Gating the Age 4 upgrade for Italian archaics behind a card requirement and the attack portion of that upgrade behind an additional proximity requirement just seems like a poor substitute for simply allowing them natural Age 4 upgrades like other Euro civs get. The halberds potentially benefit, but to use Pavisiers, you still need 2 Age 3 cards + this. You’re better off using the 3 cards elsewhere and just using the non-wood-cost Bersagliere. Having two uniques in the same infantry skirmisher role seems to have created some issues where both need a reason to use them, but there’s not space to incentivize both.

The Redshirts card feels a bit like the Aztec +10% card for the slingers. It’s such a small benefit for an Age 4 card that you really don’t have a great reason to choose it over alternatives of much higher value.

We’ll see how it plays! Can we expect the long-awaited Sioux/Lakota customizable home city as well?

Thanks for the continued work to make the game fun and interesting!

5 Likes
8

This is a great addition.

Overall this looks very exciting. A lot of great additions. Many have been discussed before. Great to see continued support of the game.

BTW this looks pretty weak for an age 3 card
And it still requires the church card + church tech. Not sure how this would work out.

9

Finally, the tribal thing is free. Best change ever.
also, do i smell an central / middle east DLC coming?

14 Likes
10

Damn, I wasn’t expecting a big update like this so soon after the latest DLC was released. What a great surprise!
I didn’t see in the notes anything about Home City customization for the Lakota, which might suggest that they have even more reworks planned for the Lakota in future updates alongside HC customization.

8 Likes
11

What a changelog! A quick note about the Rangers though, if you send Yeoman or Siege archery before doing Rogers Rangers do you lose those benefits or will they automatically update when you decide to do it?

1 Like
12

Oh nice a new minor civ, and the Lakota changes are interesting as well

I was wondering if you guys won’t ever add the Lenape to regular maps

1 Like
13

Im not sure about 8pop slots mortars
why??

Neither more armour for rangers, it was needed?? Please stop adding OP skirmishers

3 Likes
14

That’s is the real question.

I suppose that you get the improvements, but I feel that is not well enough explained.

15

Same it’s a bit strange, for 8 pop slot mortars because that hurts other NA civs who didn’t get the pop discount card.

Rangers are hardly op, as they are right now it’s better to stick with longbows.

Also Hauds are in much more need for an update than Lakota


16

And after the new changes? They are justified now?

17

I thought the same too, but after seeing how broken it was for mongols in aoe4 at release, I’m glad its only on age 2 behind a card.

3 Likes
18

It’s only 5% range resist, everything else is cosmetic except for the one thing that bothers me, the name. They should be called Green Jackets, because that’s what british riflemen were called and it fits with the theme since british line infantry are called Redcoats.

1 Like
19

tc sniping and whatnot wouldn’t happen here due to no build zone around starter tcs

20

I like how recently the Portugal adjustments are just card renaming. :confused:

7 Likes