Some change of balance that I would recommend for African civs

Age of Empires III: DE III - Discussion
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  • We all agree that the African civ’s tower rush is just way too strong you can mass 25 cav pops at 5min30 with Haussa (it’s louder than the iro rush on TAD so imagine how strong it is ) then plz put the towers available from age 2 for the 2 African civs its will slow the rush of 30 sec which is reasonable and much more balanced

  • the Ethiopian big boy cannon age 3 card is TOO STRONG, nerf this cannon or make this cannon cost 500 influence minimum and the time to arrive from the shipment at 1 min or smth like other mercenary card which costs influence (we need 4 culvs to kill this cannon so imagine this cannon arriving at your base at 9min30 with a semi ff)

  • the Ethiopian age 2 cannoneers card is too strong too, 9 cannoneers age 2 is too much, putting this card at 5 cannoneers for 250 influence seems much more balanced

Here it is these 3 changes which will balance these civ already much more because the civs are really too strong atm, the tower rush is too strong no civ can beat this and the Ethiopian semi ff 9 cannoneers into big boy cannon is impossible to beat aswell ^^

I’m quite surprised though that nobody thought of these things during these beta sessions for those who had early access but it is really obvious that these changes must apply and I think that a lot of people will be agree to at least these 3 changes ^^
So plz just these 3 changes for African civ fairly quickly with a hotfix would be really very appreciable sincerely ^^ and the game will be good in terms of balance for now

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Agreed. In addition though Javs need a cost nerf, they have the same cost as a keshik but twice the stat

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maybe not the tower change specifically but balance concerns about the big boy cannon, cannoneers and the units from the watch tower have already been raised

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the cannon is valued at 1100 influence to train so its not altogether an overly strong shipment. the issue with the mortar seems more to be how easily ethiopia is able to defend it, more than the unit itself being particularly strong for cost

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it is a cannon available age 4 originally which is worth 1100 influence but which is free age 3 wtf, how the shipment is not too strong lol, even if the shipment cost 500 influence it would still be too strong as shipment

it’s like a free heavy cannon age 3 ( and yet it is not as strong cuz he not have 40 siege range and is not mobile like the big boy cannon )

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I think 7-8 cannoneers works also

Definitely needed change

Yeah I think these units need a cost increase or a traintime increase.

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agree with this. Other things that just seem way too strong:

-jav cav are just too good. They are a goon and hussar combined, in age 2. They need to be increased in price or have their stats toned way down

-the incredible diversity of units that these civs get is just too powerful. Had someone go gascenya + jaegers against me the other day. The fact that these civs get all these nat units, mercs, european cannons, OP outlaws, + their own units just makes the civ really hard to scout and counter

-age 2 forts are extremely strong. Basically makes these civs feel rush proof.

Have the devs tried playing vs these civs with normal civs? It feels totally impossible. I’m around 1400 ELO, and I feel like I will drop to 1100 if I keep playing ladder these days, with how many African civs are on quicksearch. I have lost every multiplayer game vs African civs with my main, Haudenosaunee. It feels like a different kind of losing, too. It’s frustrating to lose when I get outplayed or make mistakes, but to lose to these African civs isn’t really frustrating… it’s just not fun. Because I’m playing fine, my units are just totally outclassed at every stage.

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Jav riders are just the latest whipping boy, they’re great when carded but without it with their slow animation, relatively slow speed and low damage and poor resist they mostly just block pathing…which both helps and hinders

Cannoneers however; I’m not fond of anybody getting mercenaries in age 2 let alone a big shipment of them for cheap

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Well they only get 1 mortar, cannot train more. It’s also not free because an age 3 shipments typically worth 1000 res, so if they cost 1100 to train then it’s fairly in line with a typical age 3 shipment.

I honestly never considered this unbalanced because the mortar gets a 0.1x multiplier vs artillery, so it’s not like it can beat 2 falcs, ethiopia are forced to send senna horsemen which costs 1k influence plus a card so equivalent to 2k res just to deal with enemy artillery.

I agree with the tower change, for the cannoneers you need to be careful because they’re weaker abus guns, and changing it too much will make it an unused card. I would not send 5 for 250 inf unless you could train them age 2, influence gather rate is very slow early game unless you’ve invested significant res.

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The issue is the mortar itself being extremely powerful for its cost because of how well the neftenia and javelin riders are against cav it has a lot of synergy, in other words the Ethiopian musk cannon composition is much better than Sweden, brit, or even japan

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doesn’t a standard falc ff just beat it though? like 2 falcs just destroy the mortar and all the infantry guarding it, like normally 2 falcs can take out another players 2 falcs but this mortar is useless vs artillery.
Plus another civ can just make a culv, it’s a lot harder for these new civs to do that because artillery costs are so high in influence and require a tech.

I see that it can be very strong if the other player is in age 2, but that’s down to poor scouting. and same thing applies if your any civ stuck in age 2 vs a falc ff.

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JESUS… no 2 falc don’t beat that cannon with 500hp or smth 30 range, you need 4 culv for one shot them, that cannon is trainable age 4 on palace for 1100 influence and that unit is like an heavy canon ( you know that cannon from factories so an heavy canon age 3 ??? )
you think its balanced ?
btw that canon has 4 area so the infantry age 3 gets massacred by a cannon with age 4 stats, you think its balanced again ?
btw that cannon has 40 range for siege, is like 8 more range than culv … how you kill that ?
and the mobility btw, its a problem cuz its like an heavy cannon with a same mobility as a gatling for exemple, you think its balanced ??? AGE 3 at 9min 30 in your base? you can stop that ? you need 4 culv at 10 min with a pre-push gascenya cannoneers aswell, i mean gl then
oh and its free for an unit age 4 who cost 1100 influence ( mameluke age 4 unit but cost 1000 gold so no excuse with that shipment and mameluke don’t one shot 4 unit/shoot )

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I think it’s perfectly fine, maybe a slight range decrease age 3 then it gets increased back up age 4.

Again it’s not free, you should know that an age 3 shipment is worth 1000 res.

You don’t need 4 culverins at all, 2 is perfectly fine, in fact if you get a few cavalry on it that deals with it easily as well.
It is not as fast a gatling gun either, a gatling has 4 speed this has 2.75, and it does not have 1000 hp it has 500. Which is 100hp more than 2 falcs, which is fine because there’s only 1 of these so it’s easier to focus down.

It’s also only 4 range more than a culv, and that’s vs buildings when it’s firing on units the culv out ranges it significantly.

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They called me crazy when I said that these civs are broken …

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do you believe that I do not understand the game ?? xD I am one of the high level players of this community and I tell you that 2 falc cannot kill this mortar while the opponent’s gascenya will have killed you before trying to kill this cannon, I know what I’m talking about lol
this cannon is completely over broken 2 culv is not enough for one shot them, you believe that I did not test before? (do the math you need 2 shots of culv to kill a falc at 200 hp, how many shots of culv does it take to kill a cannon at 500 hp?) unbelievable its trying to teach me the game while I have been playing it for 9 years lol

and btw it’s not because it’s 2 falc against a cannon that the 2 falc wins, you want me to play against you to see that 1 culv can beat 5 gatling? it’s the same thing with this cannon, come and play against me and you will see what I say and you will say to me in the game “it’s okay I’m going to do 2 culv its fine !!”?

I’ll be honest I’m not sure you understand the game well since absolutely everyone agrees with me when I talk about it on other forums lol

Good luck against 30 gascenya with a few of cav

so again it is an AGE 4 unit when the cost is 1100 influence, AGE 4 UNIT FREE AGE 3 ??? do you understand the game ? shipment free age 3 for a unit AGE 4 WITH AGE 4 STAT WHEN THE COST IS 1100 INFLUENCE ???
Again give an heavy cannon age 3 free for euro civ then ??? Do you understand ??? ( and the heavy is not broken as that mortar lol ) after all is fine is 1000 res so !!!

I am not talking specifically about speed, I am talking above all that the cannon does not need unpack, that is to say he shoot instantly not like a falc or a culv and therefore that cannon shoots and back and recome shoot and reback etc, good micro make that cannon unkillable, and yes because the cannon is broken just with a little micro it’s impossible to kill it, but hey after all it’s good just 2 culv and its fine !!!

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Technically 2 falcs should beat it, but in order to make up for bigger range and agility, you need to bring the falcs closer in, it allow them to get a few shots. And close means they are within range of everyone’s favorite unit: javelin rider.

It’s not really about the cost, it is about age 4 tech being available in age3.

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as vezes em jogo a influencia fica acumulada muito rápido pra mim com os hausas, eu treino muitos mercenários

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if the dev looking it plz just look that thread on esoc

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I dunno why the devs are so obsessed with 14 range musks. Almost every new musk-type unit added in DE has longer range.
Before DE only tomahawk has longer range but it’s okay since it’s a quite weak unit. But now those with 14 range also has much better base stats.
I think that 14 range thing should remain a unique trait for one or two unit, not the baseline for every new unit.

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Let’s not start with the my elo is more than your elo bs, let’s leave the my dads bigger than your dad for the playground and not be a big baby.

Well if 2 falc cannot beat the mortar thats fine because the mortar cannot beat 2 falcs either.
I know full well that 2 culv cannot 1 shot the mortar, they 2 shot it so in total it takes 4 culv shots to kill the mortar, exactly the same amount of shots it takes to kill 2 falcs…
I’m not trying to teach you the game, it’s just every reason you state for it being op is completely incorrect, you’re exaggerating it’s hp/speed, saying its free etc and it may well be an age 4 unit but it is only 1 and its hp/value etc is in line with 2 falcs shipment.

I know that 1 culv beats gatlings because it out ranges them massively.

In many games you can just rush a mass of dragoon in and pick off 2 falcs relatively quickly, the mortar has only 100hp more, so what’s the difference, plus it’s just 1 unit to focus down.
It’s an age 4 unit yes, but it’s not worth an age 4 shipment just 1 of them, that’s why the age 4 shipment is 2 and in age 3 you get 1, yet again the 1 mortar is basically equal to 2 falcs, other than the fact that it cannot beat artillery like 2 falcs can.
They could give a heavy cannon instead of 2 falconets if they wanted too.

Well you need to learn to write more clearly, because you said that it has the same mobility as a gatling, which is untrue, just as you said it has 1000 hp, also untrue.
Whilst the mortar has the advantage of not needing to unpack, it’s also incredibly slow compared to other artillery with limber mode, so it takes a long time to move around the map and should you need to retreat, then it becomes an issue to get the mortar out of the fight.

Also it doesn’t matter if people agree with you on ‘other’ forums or not, everyone is entitled to their opinion, so if we disagree that’s fine. I assume by other forums you mean esoc, where 90% of the players are just crying over de because their 10 year meta of goon/skirm wars isn’t as viable, and now defensive play is actually possible on de.

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