They have no damage output in Imp
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That’s the main thing. Imp damage output; you invest everything into full CA upgrades, very expensive (even if Elite Kipchak don’t cost gold) and they’re poor at the end.
Other CA counter Kipchak. Kipchak lost against high HP targets, especially those with good armor; so it isn’t crazy. Skirms still do okay as well.
All they need is +1 damage for Elite Kipchak or for all their CA in Imperial. They’re still weaker than generic FU due to lacking Bracer.
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Kipchaks are micro unit with incredible speed and fast firing. And you can mass them really good. If you have 30 Mangudai in the same it is no problem to have 45 Kipchaks.
You need to micro them, not a game style that works every player.
I wouldn’t give them +1 Attack. Sounds not a lot but it’s a huge buff. That’s like you give Arbalest foot Archer +1 extra attack what surprisingly no civ have.
Unlike some others who simply publish the result of their thoughts, potentially after it took hours/days to come up with, I want to share how I came to my result. 
A test always just stays a test. It probably still is worth knowing though, that the Leitis w. just two (very doable!) relics WINS against every UU but five of them, none of them even particularly good (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9TRHUotgM, 19 min 37) - and even almost cost-effectively trades against the halberdier on total equal resources, ie 50 halbs vs. 25 Leitis (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9VnJTsq8Bg, 12 min 06) -, whereas the kipchak LOSES, mostly very badly, against every UU but five. As said before, TriRem himself considers a total equal resources test a fair test.
Some may think I do too much research to argue a precise point and know the tech tree too well instead of actual played games. Well, for those who go random, they’ve got to know the tech tree very well (cf. https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe2/comments/gdvr3e/i_made_an_awesome_quiz_for_you_age_of_empires_2/fpjt0u6/). 
I obviously won’t talk about my own games as I’m not a pro and therefore I can’t give much weight to the lessons I take from those. But just last month Tatoh went for massive kipchaks in a DM tournament game against True. He lost (that game, won the series later). Even though there obviously were also other things he mentioned, Nili explicitely explained at quite great length after the game why he thought committing to kipchaks was a mistake. The kipchaks just couldn’t do the job. Too micro-intensive, and “kipchaks don’t even that much hp”.
(1hour11min49 until 1hour12min14).
I think Kipchak are in a very good spot.
They’re excellent in Castle Age.
They’re very good in Early Imp
They’re only okay’ish in late Imp.
They have huge micro potential, but fall off a lot if not micro’ed well.
So they surely have their place in the game, but they’re also not oppressive and there are situations and matchups where it is better to go for other units.
That all sounds very healthy to me.
In addition to that they’re extremely fun to use. I’m actually surprised how well balanced they’re right now, as I think that’s extremely difficult for a fast moving 0 frame delay unit.
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He just said that the assumption of the test (ie.1 gold = 1 food) is fine, not that the test as a whole is good. I mean come on, who would call “good” a vid that claims that TEUTONIC KNIGHTS are OK at countering the fastest cav archer in the game? And literally almost everything that is in the A tier makes sense as a kipchak counter. There are cav, anti-archer and anti-cav units that could counter any other cav archer UU too.
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You started off so well and i thought you were actually going to bring some evidence instead it turned into a subjective mess…
That total res test is a pile of GARBAGE. The kipchak of ALL units in this game HAS to take micro into consideration. Almost it’s entire balance is based around the fact its a fast 0 frame delay CA. Regardless of any of it’s other stats. Simply being a fast 0 frame delay ranged unit gives it a massive edge so long as you can micro it.
That total res test has kipchak trading poorly with samurai, TK for crying out load… When the actual fudge would a TK trade well with a kipchak??
And what kind of proof is “i heard some guy say some subjective thing in a subjective match somewhere” (which we’ve seen with other paraphrasers it can be taken completely out of context)
That being said,cumans struggle vs teuton, berber, Frank paladins. All those civs have better eco and/or buffed paladins,which will all beat cuman paladins,if the kipchak had +1 damage it could massively help in those cases where you can raid with kipchak but also support vs opposing paladins. Even huns can easily out produce a cuman with paladins…
While also lacking bracer means vs CA civs the cumans can fall short since its almost impossible to out micro something with greater range,so the kipchak will need ro rely on a higher dps.
That’s the crux. Even when you invest fully into upgrades, the Kipchak just doesn’t pull its weight in the endgame. Even with endgame upgrades that are expensive.
They are excellent in Castle age in my opinion, to pick off small armies or villagers. Hit and run with 10 Kipchak is super strong.
That’s why I’m in favour of giving Cuman CA +1 damage in Imperial age. I’m well aware of the difference this will make; I’ve used Kipchak enough. I know it isn’t as tiny a change as it may seem on paper. It’s enough to do extra damage to units with above average pierce armor, or high HP targets.
If there needs to be a slight cost change for this to happen, or if the elite upgrade needs to be changed in cost; I’m fine with that.
At the very least, an HP buff could be helpful. It would help them against other Cavalry Archers, and Skirms, mainly; but they don’t really need a ton of help there.
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I am in favour of giving Cumans Bracer, in exchange for Chemisty.
They do not have any Gunpowder units anyway, and it would give them +1 Range, which is a significant buff, but does not make the unit overpowered.
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If it’s damage they’re lacking, why give them range? Removing chemistry is also unorthodox
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Unorthodox, but fun. +1 Range would help them in dealing more damage, specially against Cavalry. It would also help their Cav Archers, Galleons and Towers/Castles.
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Maybe they lack the range for balance reasons since they’re so fast with zero frame delay?
Do they need help there though?
They kind of do, specially withe Cav Archers and Ships.
You would never pick Cumans on Water, without Bracer.
+1 range would let you micro other FU range units in imp and never take a hit. A little rough. Makes their micro aspect stronger, but doesn’t improve their overall utility in an army composition.
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To be fair they’ll still be outranged by most foot archers and bracer skirms, so I don’t think it’s too broken but maybe they’ll become a bit more obnoxious to deal with melee. I’m concerned about civ design and also like you pointed that the damage is still lacking
Everyone talking on messing with their stats, Kipchaks aren’t that bad, the only problem that I see is their creation times considerating they are weaker than Mangudais, Camel Archers, War Wagons and Even Elephant Archers, so this is why making Steppe Husbandry affecting them (and genitours) can benefit them a lot.
8 second kipchak would be more harmful than 1 extra damage we’re suggesting
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Kipchaks create at a fast enough speed that if you create Kipchak out of one Castle and Mangudai out of another, the numbers you get will trade close to evenly (Mangudai win, ofc). At least, at an FU level.
Steppe Husbandry could be extremely dangerous. I don’t know the effect it would have on the game.
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I think most people would agree the kipchak’s imperial weakness could be adequately helped with +1 atk to its elite variant.
Originally I thought bracer was the best option, but reading the comments my opinion has shifted. The implications to other units, even with a potential exchange with chemistry, are disturbing.
The full effect of bracer, even if it was just for the kipchak is too risky (+1 atk & +1 range). I don’t support steppe husbandry for the kipchak. It is the castle unique tech, meaning it would already apply in an age where the kipchak is already doing fine.
TL;DR, probably the best solution to improve the kipchak without making it OP again is to adjust the elite variant with +1 attack.
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Didn’t you argue in your balance changes topic, that Kipchaks should get +1attack?
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