Reduce All Ship Movement Speed by 35%

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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I think Age of Empires II could make water maps significantly more accessible by reducing the movement speed of all ships by 35%.

One of the reasons many players avoid water maps is that they have to manage both land and sea at the same time. Fast-moving ships make this even harder, because naval battles develop very quickly and fleets can move between different parts of the map in seconds.

Slower ships would make naval gameplay easier to follow and easier to manage, giving players more time to react and make decisions. It would also make naval combat more positional: players would need to think carefully about where they place their fleet instead of constantly chasing and repositioning.

It could also reduce the snowball effect. After losing a fleet, the opponent would need more time to reach every fishing area and coastline, giving the losing player a better chance to rebuild and fight back.

There is also a realism and immersion argument for this change. Large warships currently move almost like cavalry units, which can feel rather unnatural. A large warship should have a stronger sense of weight, momentum and limited maneuverability. Slower movement would make naval combat feel more believable as well as more strategic.

The goal is not simply to make ships slower. It is to make water maps less mechanically demanding and more playable for the average player, while making naval strategy more important than constant movement and ship spam.

I believe a 35% speed reduction could make water maps much more approachable and encourage more players to actually play them.

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just to bear in mind: reducing speed of all units makes ranged units a lot stronger. it gives them more time to kill whatever is approaching them. any speed reduction needs to be accompanied by a reduction in range and/or firing speed, if balance is to be maintained.

I think huge changes to naval gameplay miss the point:

Naval gameplay is unpopular, because it makes an already complex game, even more complex. That’s also why the naval rework was a categorical failure

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I don’t think that will happen. After all, ranged ships need to use hit-and-run tactics; they can’t just wait around forever. But even if you’re right, measures can be taken to address this—for instance, attack speeds could be reduced in proportion to movement speed.

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I agree. Naval combat is too fast and the ships themselves are too fragile. I remember liking the naval combat from Cossacks 1,3 a lot. Yes, I know it’s set in a different time period, but the ships, while still technically spammable, are a lot slower a take a lot more beating.

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