Age of Empires 4 Season 6: patch notes highlights
Season 6 in Age of Empires 4 begins on November 14, 2023, and is accompanied by both the launch of Update 9.1.109 and of The Sultans Ascend, the upcoming expansion for the game – that means lots of change is in the air.
Naturally, the content of The Sultans Ascend is going to be the biggest thing players will notice right away. While users without the expansion won’t be able to choose the new factions like the Byzantines, they’ll be able to match with them in games. For a short amount of time some new map types coming with the DLC will be available for all players in ranked matches as well, letting everyone have a taste of the fresh content.
The Byzantines aren't the only new thing hitting Age of Empires 4 next week.
Microsoft
Independent of that, three new map types and one new game mode will come to quick match: Canal, Gorge, and Rocky River each have their own characteristics for players to figure out, while the Empire Wars mode enables players to get a quick-start into a match.
Huge fixes for wall-building will be implemented with the coming update: Villagers will now be more logical in how they construct walls, players can link their walls with those of their allies, gates have been overhauled, and resource nodes like goldmines can now be included in walls without units being able to sneak past – it’ll basically work like in previous entries of the series.
Another big change was made regarding Town Centers. Their range and garrison sizes have been reduced across the board, which weakens their defense and makes aggressive plays a much more worthwhile effort. The classic Town Bell has also been implemented, allowing the player to call their villagers to safety. Fishing is becoming a more dangerous profession with Fishing Boats getting a vision radius and HP nerf for all civilizations.
In a purely visual – but still welcome – change, Landmarks and Wonders have been resized to make them fit into the world a little more. They still require the same building space, of course.
There have been a ton of AI changes, which should make matches against the computer a lot more exciting for players who prefer that kind of match-up.
A fix in regards to tree-chopping is going to be a game changer as well: Players won’t be able to speedily hack a tunnel through forests anymore, as only completely harvesting a tree will disable its movement-blocking capabilities.
That’s the gist of the upcoming update, but you can find even more details on all of these and other changes on the official website.
