I just hope no more cheesy stuff, like JD with a hero that pulls units out of its ass, or Zhu Xi with Shaolin Monks that can fight armored units with a stick, or Ayyubids that can fast castle ridiculously fast (Zhu Xi too). If stuff like this is not put in the DLC, then I don’t even care about what civs we get. Just no silly cheesy stuff please that turns the game into a joke.
How about you, what are your hopes for the next DLC?
Just dont make variant with peoples name and make realistic variants pls.
More fauna variety. Imagine if they add a Meso American civ like Aztecs or Mayans and add typical south american animals.
My hopes are:
-1 new civ and 1 or 2 new variant civs
I’d love it if they added titles that you unlock. Like “The Great” or “The Wise”, that appear next to your name in the loading screen. And tie them to particularly cool and relevant achievements that warrant those titles.
First and foremost, we need graphical effects that look like they belong in 2025. The current shooting animations for every siege engine look terrible—more like something from 2005… oh wait, actually, in 2005, we had Age of Empires 3, which graphically puts Age of Empires 4 to shame.
The overall graphics need improvement, including full 4K support. I get it—this is a strategy game, and graphics are secondary, even tertiary, in importance. But let’s not take it to the extreme. When I fire a mangonel, I want to see a proper animation because, honestly… I often don’t even build siege engines. When I see the effect of throwing two little pebbles, it makes me feel like they’re doing no damage at all. And if I have a cannon or bombard that cost me a lot, I want to see soldiers flying across the map and proper area damage!
And not just by adding new civilizations or variants—honestly, variants feel like filler content to me. I’d rather have fewer civilizations, but each one should be unique in its own way. Unfortunately, in AoE4, advancing to the third age doesn’t provide enough impact at the start… You can easily play Age II vs. Age III for at least a dozen minutes, as long as the Age II player stays aggressive and doesn’t give the opponent time to breathe. But in reality, advancing doesn’t give enough immediate bonuses to make it worth the risk of rushing Age III.
I’ve seen so many high-level matches (Diamond and above) where a player advances to Age III, only to lose because their Age II opponent overwhelmed them with military. The only civilization that gets an instant power spike from Age III is probably the English, thanks to their keep, which can be crucial for defense.
Another issue is repetitiveness—fast Age III, collecting relics (which, honestly, aren’t even that impactful), and only then do we see proper battles. I get the feeling that Age of Empires 3 was a much more dynamic game overall.
Filters for player ranks, civilizations, sorting options—these are minor features that should take 2-3 hours to implement and should have been in the BETA!
That would be awesome! 
Before the announcement of the Crusaders, I had many theories for the possible DLC, but now that a civ has been proposed, instead of hope I have theories.
When they announced the name: Knights of the Cross and the Rose, I have the suspicion that Cross refers to the Crusaders, but the Rose is what worries me.
The only thing I can associate with Rose is:
I hope then that the reference is not the Rosicrucian order, although they say that its founder was born between 1200-1300, it is a mystical figure and it is even believed that it was invented by those same sects to justify their mysticism; and it wasn’t a military organization but an organization of people who believed in sorcery. Are they going to be a civ that summons demons or magical beings? That’s why I hope it’s not them.
On the other hand, if they are going to make the Tudors, my hopes would be that they get:
