Thank you for your ongoing patience and support!

Patch 5.7 is now ready for Open Beta! In this update we have addressed a wide variety of community issues (including correct scaling for lobby names) and we encourage everyone to participate in the Open Beta! We will be monitoring the forums and we look forward to your feedback in this discussion thread.



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Advancing through replay chapters should no longer cause a desync
  
• Visibility settings should no longer cause a desync
  
• Pressing escape/enter in the lobby password text field should now function correctly
  
• Co-op teams should now display correctly in game and on the post-game screens
  
• Co-op players should be able to ready correctly on the first try
  
• Restore game and save lists should now correctly show DLC requirement icons
  
• Audio taunts setting now saves to the players profile correctly
  
• Some localized text clipping issues were addressed

Lobby Improvements:

• Players should no longer be able to join fake lobbies
  
• Players should now correctly time out if attempting to join an invalid lobby
  
• Players should no longer crash when excepting an invite from a custom campaign
  
• Players should now correctly cancel joining a lobby even when selected quickly
  
• Lobby should no longer crash when kicking players who are in the Tech Tree
  
• Lobby settings should now remember the team random option
  
• Lobby settings should no longer appear blank after disabling DLCs
  
• Lobby names should now scale in font size based on title length
  
• Lobby button sound effects should now play when changing names
  
• Lobby reset button now has a sound effect when pressed
  
• Lobby data set icon should now maintain the correct icon on subsequent loads
  
• Lobby browser custom scenario setting has been added to the game type filter
  
• Lobby browser location setting now has the any option at the top
  
• Lobby browser location setting should no longer appear blank after selecting reset
  
• Lobby browser standard victory filter should now function correctly

Gameplay Improvements:

• Starting a game with mods should no longer encounter a rare crash
  
• Under attack text notifications now play a chat sound
  
• Villagers should now lure animals to the town center more frequently
  
• Trade carts should no longer lose their gold when pressing the stop hotkey
  
• Lock teams should now disable tributing to enemy player in single player
  
• Garrison unit UI button should now be the correct size
  
• Treaty warnings should now be displayed when building inappropriately
  
• Tech tree should now close correctly after opening it with F2
  
• Campaign objective window tabs are no longer too low
  
• Campaign intro slides audio no longer becomes misaligned when using alt tab
  
• Campaign Honfoglalas now has the correctly objectives
  
• Campaign Dos Pilas no longer has a gate that disappears after the first objective
  
• Campaign Dracula 4 and 5 now have correct enemy player colours
  
• Campaign Bapheus no longer triggers diplomacy after killing Bey Metin

Balance Improvements:

• Condottiero now have unique armor class (only resisting bonus damage from gunpowder units, not from other anti-infantry attacks)
  
• Condottiero -1 pierce armor (from 1 to 0)
  
• Condottiero -1 attack (from 10 to 9)
  
• Elite Battle Elephant cost increased from 800f 500g to 1200f 900g
  
• Elite Battle Elephant research time increased from 80s to 100s
  
• Malay Battle elephants 30% cheaper (rather than 25%)
  
• Elite Karambit -1 attack (from 8 to 7)
  
• (Elite) Battle Elephant blast radius -0.1 (from 0.5 to 0.4)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archer -5 HP (from 60/65 to 55/60 without Bloodlines)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 armor vs Camels (from 2 to 0)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 armor vs anti-cavalry archer attacks (from 2 to 0)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 attack vs Rams (from 2 to 0)
  
• Ethiopians lose the free Halberdier upgrade
  
• Howdah cost +200f (from 200f 300w to 400f 300w)
  
• Howdah effect reduced from +1/+2 armor to +1/+1 armor
  
• Arquebus increases projectile speed of Bombard Cannons and Bombard towers by +0.2 (from 0 to 0.2, used to be 0.5 prior to patch 5.2)
  
• Organ Gun +1 spread damage (from 1 to 2)
  
• (Elite) Arambai -0.05 speed (from 1.35 to 1.3)
  
• (Elite) Arambai -1 attack
  
• Elite Arambai -2 armor vs anti-cavalry archer attacks (from 2 to 0)
  
• Slavs farm bonus now properly works after researching Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart
  
• Chatras effect increased from +30 HP to +50 HP
  
• Eagle Warrior training time +3s (from 32s to 35s)
  
• Eagle Warrior -0.05 speed (from 1.2 to 1.15)
  
• Anti-camel bonus increased for all anti-cavalry units (except camels)
  
• Malians lose free Gold Shaft Mining

Also, here is how to access the Open Beta Branch:

1. In Steam, right click on Age of Empires II: HD (while the game is not running).
   
2. Select Properties.
   
3. Select the BETAS tab.
   
4. From the drop down, select Open Beta – Patch 5.7.
   
5. Exit and restart Steam to ensure the update installs correctly.
   
6. To go back to the Live Build, select None in the BETAS tab dropdown.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and support!

Patch 5.7 is now ready for Open Beta! In this update we have addressed a wide variety of community issues (including correct scaling for lobby names) and we encourage everyone to participate in the Open Beta! We will be monitoring the forums and we look forward to your feedback in this discussion thread.



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Advancing through replay chapters should no longer cause a desync
  
• Visibility settings should no longer cause a desync
  
• Pressing escape/enter in the lobby password text field should now function correctly
  
• Co-op teams should now display correctly in game and on the post-game screens
  
• Co-op players should be able to ready correctly on the first try
  
• Restore game and save lists should now correctly show DLC requirement icons
  
• Audio taunts setting now saves to the players profile correctly
  
• Some localized text clipping issues were addressed

Lobby Improvements:

• Players should no longer be able to join fake lobbies
  
• Players should now correctly time out if attempting to join an invalid lobby
  
• Players should no longer crash when excepting an invite from a custom campaign
  
• Players should now correctly cancel joining a lobby even when selected quickly
  
• Lobby should no longer crash when kicking players who are in the Tech Tree
  
• Lobby settings should now remember the team random option
  
• Lobby settings should no longer appear blank after disabling DLCs
  
• Lobby names should now scale in font size based on title length
  
• Lobby button sound effects should now play when changing names
  
• Lobby reset button now has a sound effect when pressed
  
• Lobby data set icon should now maintain the correct icon on subsequent loads
  
• Lobby browser custom scenario setting has been added to the game type filter
  
• Lobby browser location setting now has the any option at the top
  
• Lobby browser location setting should no longer appear blank after selecting reset
  
• Lobby browser standard victory filter should now function correctly

Gameplay Improvements:

• Starting a game with mods should no longer encounter a rare crash
  
• Under attack text notifications now play a chat sound
  
• Villagers should now lure animals to the town center more frequently
  
• Trade carts should no longer lose their gold when pressing the stop hotkey
  
• Lock teams should now disable tributing to enemy player in single player
  
• Garrison unit UI button should now be the correct size
  
• Treaty warnings should now be displayed when building inappropriately
  
• Tech tree should now close correctly after opening it with F2
  
• Campaign objective window tabs are no longer too low
  
• Campaign intro slides audio no longer becomes misaligned when using alt tab
  
• Campaign Honfoglalas now has the correctly objectives
  
• Campaign Dos Pilas no longer has a gate that disappears after the first objective
  
• Campaign Dracula 4 and 5 now have correct enemy player colours
  
• Campaign Bapheus no longer triggers diplomacy after killing Bey Metin

Balance Improvements:

• Condottiero now have unique armor class (only resisting bonus damage from gunpowder units, not from other anti-infantry attacks)
  
• Condottiero -1 pierce armor (from 1 to 0)
  
• Condottiero -1 attack (from 10 to 9)
  
• Elite Battle Elephant cost increased from 800f 500g to 1200f 900g
  
• Elite Battle Elephant research time increased from 80s to 100s
  
• Malay Battle elephants 30% cheaper (rather than 25%)
  
• Elite Karambit -1 attack (from 8 to 7)
  
• (Elite) Battle Elephant blast radius -0.1 (from 0.5 to 0.4)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archer -5 HP (from 60/65 to 55/60 without Bloodlines)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 armor vs Camels (from 2 to 0)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 armor vs anti-cavalry archer attacks (from 2 to 0)
  
• (Elite) Camel Archers -2 attack vs Rams (from 2 to 0)
  
• Ethiopians lose the free Halberdier upgrade
  
• Howdah cost +200f (from 200f 300w to 400f 300w)
  
• Howdah effect reduced from +1/+2 armor to +1/+1 armor
  
• Arquebus increases projectile speed of Bombard Cannons and Bombard towers by +0.2 (from 0 to 0.2, used to be 0.5 prior to patch 5.2)
  
• Organ Gun +1 spread damage (from 1 to 2)
  
• (Elite) Arambai -0.05 speed (from 1.35 to 1.3)
  
• (Elite) Arambai -1 attack
  
• Elite Arambai -2 armor vs anti-cavalry archer attacks (from 2 to 0)
  
• Slavs farm bonus now properly works after researching Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart
  
• Chatras effect increased from +30 HP to +50 HP
  
• Eagle Warrior training time +3s (from 32s to 35s)
  
• Eagle Warrior -0.05 speed (from 1.2 to 1.15)
  
• Anti-camel bonus increased for all anti-cavalry units (except camels)
  
• Malians lose free Gold Shaft Mining

Also, here is how to access the Open Beta Branch:

1. In Steam, right click on Age of Empires II: HD (while the game is not running).
   
2. Select Properties.
   
3. Select the BETAS tab.
   
4. From the drop down, select Open Beta – Patch 5.7.
   
5. Exit and restart Steam to ensure the update installs correctly.
   
6. To go back to the Live Build, select None in the BETAS tab dropdown.

Patch 5.6 is now Live! Thank you to everyone who participated and played multiplayer games in the Open Beta. We really appreciate your dedication and insight, it is essential to ensuring we're ready for live release!

As always, we will continue to monitor the forums and we look forward to hearing your feedback in this discussion thread!



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Main menu titles no longer disappears after changing languages
  
• Main menu help text is now displayed correctly
  
• History screen scroll bars are now aligned correctly
  
• History screen text is no longer cut off by the scroll bar for some languages
  
• Credits screen background images now cycle correctly
  
• Lobby Browser now displays ranked games correctly
  
• Custom campaigns are now sorted alphabetically in the campaign menu
  
• NOMODS launch option no longer skips the intro video

Campaign Improvements:

• Main menu music now correctly fades out when advancing to the campaign menu
  
• Campaign menu buttons now play the correct audio sfx
  
• Campaign help text and highlights are now consistent
  
• El Cid 1 monks should no longer take the players relic
  
• Francisco de Almeida 1 scout panel text should no longer be cut off
  
• Holding escape while pressing ok to start a custom campaign should no longer crash

Editor Improvements:

• Testing a scenario after deleting a garrisoned unit should no longer crash
  
• Enabling unique player colors is now less confusing
  
• Changing a player in trigger conditions no longer resets other lists in the trigger
  
• Changing the players starting age and civilization no longer disables imperial age units
  
• Scroll bars no longer appear on top of dropdown lists
  
• Researching any technology while units have modified HP / AP now functions correctly
  
• Mini-map is no longer cut off by the edge of the screen
  
• AI tribe names no longer persist in other game modes
  
• Setting max teams no longer gets incremented by 1 in the lobby
  
• Setting max teams no longer prevents right click cycling in lobby
  
• Disabled items now transfer correctly when players change colors in the lobby
  
• Arrow keys now function correctly on the save menus
  
• Modifying scenario dependencies should no longer create a corrupted file if it fails

Gameplay Improvements:

• Treaty games now display a countdown timer
  
• Treaty countdown timer now displays a warning message
  
• Treaty 1-minute-left warning sound should now play
  
• Imperial Skirmisher and Elite Genitour are now available in Imperial Age scenarios
  
• Huskarls trained from castle and barracks can now be selected together
  
• Mirror civ option now functions correctly with co-op
  
• Tech tree hotkey button now functions correctly when pressing escape
  
• Tech tree tile should no longer crash when drag clicking
  
• Tech tree embedded techs should no longer have alignment issues
  
• Tech tree unit names no longer appear to be cut off in Simplified Chinese
  
• Same units created from different buildings can now be grouped correctly
  
• Idle AI monks should now attempt to retrieve relics
  
• Neutral and enemy stance descriptions are no longer cut off
  
• Market buttons should now be easier to read
  
• Terrain sound effects should now play correctly
  
• Recorded game UI button help text is now displayed correctly
  
• Post-game research percentage should now be more accurate
  
• Post-game mvp ribbons should now display correctly for each team
  
• Post-game co-op scores should now display correctly
  
• Data restrictions now fixed for Water Nomad, Sandbank and Pacific Islands

Mod Manager Improvements:

• Buttons will now appear disabled when players have no mods installed
  
• Mod manger title is no longer cut off
  
• Lobby Brower filter now enables searching for modded datasets
  
• Modded datasets now use the cog icon in all drop downs
  
• Updating your published mods now remembers the published description
  
• Converting an Expansions Scenario to Base no longer hides units incorrectly

Patch 5.6 is now Live! Thank you to everyone who participated and played multiplayer games in the Open Beta. We really appreciate your dedication and insight, it is essential to ensuring we're ready for live release!

As always, we will continue to monitor the forums and we look forward to hearing your feedback in this discussion thread!



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Main menu titles no longer disappears after changing languages
  
• Main menu help text is now displayed correctly
  
• History screen scroll bars are now aligned correctly
  
• History screen text is no longer cut off by the scroll bar for some languages
  
• Credits screen background images now cycle correctly
  
• Lobby Browser now displays ranked games correctly
  
• Custom campaigns are now sorted alphabetically in the campaign menu
  
• NOMODS launch option no longer skips the intro video

Campaign Improvements:

• Main menu music now correctly fades out when advancing to the campaign menu
  
• Campaign menu buttons now play the correct audio sfx
  
• Campaign help text and highlights are now consistent
  
• El Cid 1 monks should no longer take the players relic
  
• Francisco de Almeida 1 scout panel text should no longer be cut off
  
• Holding escape while pressing ok to start a custom campaign should no longer crash

Editor Improvements:

• Testing a scenario after deleting a garrisoned unit should no longer crash
  
• Enabling unique player colors is now less confusing
  
• Changing a player in trigger conditions no longer resets other lists in the trigger
  
• Changing the players starting age and civilization no longer disables imperial age units
  
• Scroll bars no longer appear on top of dropdown lists
  
• Researching any technology while units have modified HP / AP now functions correctly
  
• Mini-map is no longer cut off by the edge of the screen
  
• AI tribe names no longer persist in other game modes
  
• Setting max teams no longer gets incremented by 1 in the lobby
  
• Setting max teams no longer prevents right click cycling in lobby
  
• Disabled items now transfer correctly when players change colors in the lobby
  
• Arrow keys now function correctly on the save menus
  
• Modifying scenario dependencies should no longer create a corrupted file if it fails

Gameplay Improvements:

• Treaty games now display a countdown timer
  
• Treaty countdown timer now displays a warning message
  
• Treaty 1-minute-left warning sound should now play
  
• Imperial Skirmisher and Elite Genitour are now available in Imperial Age scenarios
  
• Huskarls trained from castle and barracks can now be selected together
  
• Mirror civ option now functions correctly with co-op
  
• Tech tree hotkey button now functions correctly when pressing escape
  
• Tech tree tile should no longer crash when drag clicking
  
• Tech tree embedded techs should no longer have alignment issues
  
• Tech tree unit names no longer appear to be cut off in Simplified Chinese
  
• Same units created from different buildings can now be grouped correctly
  
• Idle AI monks should now attempt to retrieve relics
  
• Neutral and enemy stance descriptions are no longer cut off
  
• Market buttons should now be easier to read
  
• Terrain sound effects should now play correctly
  
• Recorded game UI button help text is now displayed correctly
  
• Post-game research percentage should now be more accurate
  
• Post-game mvp ribbons should now display correctly for each team
  
• Post-game co-op scores should now display correctly
  
• Data restrictions now fixed for Water Nomad, Sandbank and Pacific Islands

Mod Manager Improvements:

• Buttons will now appear disabled when players have no mods installed
  
• Mod manger title is no longer cut off
  
• Lobby Brower filter now enables searching for modded datasets
  
• Modded datasets now use the cog icon in all drop downs
  
• Updating your published mods now remembers the published description
  
• Converting an Expansions Scenario to Base no longer hides units incorrectly

Patch 5.6 is now ready for Open Beta! In this update we have addressed a wide variety of community issues and we encourage everyone to try it out and participate in the Open Beta! We will be monitoring the forums and we look forward to your feedback in this discussion thread.

Thank you for your ongoing support and to everyone who is already participating!



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Main menu titles no longer disappears after changing languages
  
• Main menu help text is now displayed correctly
  
• History screen scroll bars are now aligned correctly
  
• History screen text is no longer cut off by the scroll bar for some languages
  
• Credits screen background images now cycle correctly
  
• Lobby Browser now displays ranked games correctly
  
• Custom campaigns are now sorted alphabetically in the campaign menu
  
• NOMODS launch option no longer skips the intro video

Campaign Improvements:

• Main menu music now correctly fades out when advancing to the campaign menu
  
• Campaign menu buttons now play the correct audio sfx
  
• Campaign help text and highlights are now consistent
  
• El Cid 1 monks should no longer take the players relic
  
• Francisco de Almeida 1 scout panel text should no longer be cut off
  
• Holding escape while pressing ok to start a custom campaign should no longer crash

Editor Improvements:

• Testing a scenario after deleting a garrisoned unit should no longer crash
  
• Enabling unique player colors is now less confusing
  
• Changing a player in trigger conditions no longer resets other lists in the trigger
  
• Changing the players starting age and civilization no longer disables imperial age units
  
• Scroll bars no longer appear on top of dropdown lists
  
• Researching any technology while units have modified HP / AP now functions correctly
  
• Mini-map is no longer cut off by the edge of the screen
  
• AI tribe names no longer persist in other game modes
  
• Setting max teams no longer gets incremented by 1 in the lobby
  
• Setting max teams no longer prevents right click cycling in lobby
  
• Disabled items now transfer correctly when players change colors in the lobby
  
• Arrow keys now function correctly on the save menus
  
• Modifying scenario dependencies should no longer create a corrupted file if it fails

Gameplay Improvements:

• Treaty games now display a countdown timer
  
• Treaty countdown timer now displays a warning message
  
• Treaty 1-minute-left warning sound should now play
  
• Imperial Skirmisher and Elite Genitour are now available in Imperial Age scenarios
  
• Huskarls trained from castle and barracks can now be selected together
  
• Mirror civ option now functions correctly with co-op
  
• Tech tree hotkey button now functions correctly when pressing escape
  
• Tech tree tile should no longer crash when drag clicking
  
• Tech tree embedded techs should no longer have alignment issues
  
• Tech tree unit names no longer appear to be cut off in Simplified Chinese
  
• Same units created from different buildings can now be grouped correctly
  
• Idle AI monks should now attempt to retrieve relics
  
• Neutral and enemy stance descriptions are no longer cut off
  
• Market buttons should now be easier to read
  
• Terrain sound effects should now play correctly
  
• Recorded game UI button help text is now displayed correctly
  
• Post-game research percentage should now be more accurate
  
• Post-game mvp ribbons should now display correctly for each team
  
• Post-game co-op scores should now display correctly
  
• Data restrictions now fixed for Water Nomad, Sandbank and Pacific Islands

Mod Manager Improvements:

• Buttons will now appear disabled when players have no mods installed
  
• Mod manger title is no longer cut off
  
• Lobby Brower filter now enables searching for modded datasets
  
• Modded datasets now use the cog icon in all drop downs
  
• Updating your published mods now remembers the published description
  
• Converting an Expansions Scenario to Base no longer hides units incorrectly

Patch 5.6 is now ready for Open Beta! In this update we have addressed a wide variety of community issues and we encourage everyone to try it out and participate in the Open Beta! We will be monitoring the forums and we look forward to your feedback in this discussion thread.

Thank you for your ongoing support and to everyone who is already participating!



General Community Bug Fixes:

• Main menu titles no longer disappears after changing languages
  
• Main menu help text is now displayed correctly
  
• History screen scroll bars are now aligned correctly
  
• History screen text is no longer cut off by the scroll bar for some languages
  
• Credits screen background images now cycle correctly
  
• Lobby Browser now displays ranked games correctly
  
• Custom campaigns are now sorted alphabetically in the campaign menu
  
• NOMODS launch option no longer skips the intro video

Campaign Improvements:

• Main menu music now correctly fades out when advancing to the campaign menu
  
• Campaign menu buttons now play the correct audio sfx
  
• Campaign help text and highlights are now consistent
  
• El Cid 1 monks should no longer take the players relic
  
• Francisco de Almeida 1 scout panel text should no longer be cut off
  
• Holding escape while pressing ok to start a custom campaign should no longer crash

Editor Improvements:

• Testing a scenario after deleting a garrisoned unit should no longer crash
  
• Enabling unique player colors is now less confusing
  
• Changing a player in trigger conditions no longer resets other lists in the trigger
  
• Changing the players starting age and civilization no longer disables imperial age units
  
• Scroll bars no longer appear on top of dropdown lists
  
• Researching any technology while units have modified HP / AP now functions correctly
  
• Mini-map is no longer cut off by the edge of the screen
  
• AI tribe names no longer persist in other game modes
  
• Setting max teams no longer gets incremented by 1 in the lobby
  
• Setting max teams no longer prevents right click cycling in lobby
  
• Disabled items now transfer correctly when players change colors in the lobby
  
• Arrow keys now function correctly on the save menus
  
• Modifying scenario dependencies should no longer create a corrupted file if it fails

Gameplay Improvements:

• Treaty games now display a countdown timer
  
• Treaty countdown timer now displays a warning message
  
• Treaty 1-minute-left warning sound should now play
  
• Imperial Skirmisher and Elite Genitour are now available in Imperial Age scenarios
  
• Huskarls trained from castle and barracks can now be selected together
  
• Mirror civ option now functions correctly with co-op
  
• Tech tree hotkey button now functions correctly when pressing escape
  
• Tech tree tile should no longer crash when drag clicking
  
• Tech tree embedded techs should no longer have alignment issues
  
• Tech tree unit names no longer appear to be cut off in Simplified Chinese
  
• Same units created from different buildings can now be grouped correctly
  
• Idle AI monks should now attempt to retrieve relics
  
• Neutral and enemy stance descriptions are no longer cut off
  
• Market buttons should now be easier to read
  
• Terrain sound effects should now play correctly
  
• Recorded game UI button help text is now displayed correctly
  
• Post-game research percentage should now be more accurate
  
• Post-game mvp ribbons should now display correctly for each team
  
• Post-game co-op scores should now display correctly
  
• Data restrictions now fixed for Water Nomad, Sandbank and Pacific Islands

Mod Manager Improvements:

• Buttons will now appear disabled when players have no mods installed
  
• Mod manger title is no longer cut off
  
• Lobby Brower filter now enables searching for modded datasets
  
• Modded datasets now use the cog icon in all drop downs
  
• Updating your published mods now remembers the published description
  
• Converting an Expansions Scenario to Base no longer hides units incorrectly

Patch 5.5 has now cleared Open Beta and been promoted to Live!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this long Open Beta and we are thrilled to bring these desync improvements and balance changes to the full community! As always, your feedback has been valuable and your assistance playing multiplayer games has ensured that our desync rates have improved.

The new discussion thread can be found here and we look forward to hearing from you and collecting your feedback!


Stability and Performance Improvements:

• Performance optimizations should increase frame rates up to 15%
  
• Researching spies during treaty should no longer causes a desync
  
• Extremely long games should no longer desync due to high turn counts
  
• Quitting via ALT+F4 should no longer cause a desync
  
• Resigning but staying in game no longer desyncs after remaining players save/load
  
• The desync message should no longer appear over the post game screen

Community Focused Bug Fixes:

• Hosts are able to set a password for their lobby
  
• Audio for notifications should no longer overlap and cause a loud noise
  
• Audio for garrisoning / un-garrisoning should no longer overlap
  
• Lobby civ pools should now be consistent for each host player
  
• Lobby civ pools should now display the conquerors civilizations correctly
  
• Lobby maps should now display random special and real world at the top of the list
  
• Lobby maps no longer displays random special twice in the list
  
• Lobby maps now select DLC3 Random Real World maps correctly when appropriate
  
• The password checkbox should now remain when changing datasets
  
• Navigating through aoe.net should now correctly prompt the password popup (when needed)

Balance Improvements:

• Magyars no longer need to build a blacksmith to receive free blacksmith upgrades
  
• Magyars now receive Siege Engineers
  
• Magyar Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry and Hussar cost -15% (up from -10%)
  
• Magyars Recurve Bow now adds +1 attack and +1 range (up from +1 range)
  
• Indians no longer have the Arbalest upgrade
  
• Malay Karambit Warrior have +1 attack
  
• Fire ships have -1 pierce armor
  
• Fast Fire ships have -1 pierce armor
  
• Viking warship discount changed to -15%, -15%, -20% (up from -10%, -15%, -20%)
  
• Italians fishing ships now cost -15 wood (down from -25 wood)

Patch 5.5 has now cleared Open Beta and been promoted to Live!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this long Open Beta and we are thrilled to bring these desync improvements and balance changes to the full community! As always, your feedback has been valuable and your assistance playing multiplayer games has ensured that our desync rates have improved.

The new discussion thread can be found here and we look forward to hearing from you and collecting your feedback!


Stability and Performance Improvements:

• Performance optimizations should increase frame rates up to 15%
  
• Researching spies during treaty should no longer causes a desync
  
• Extremely long games should no longer desync due to high turn counts
  
• Quitting via ALT+F4 should no longer cause a desync
  
• Resigning but staying in game no longer desyncs after remaining players save/load
  
• The desync message should no longer appear over the post game screen

Community Focused Bug Fixes:

• Hosts are able to set a password for their lobby
  
• Audio for notifications should no longer overlap and cause a loud noise
  
• Audio for garrisoning / un-garrisoning should no longer overlap
  
• Lobby civ pools should now be consistent for each host player
  
• Lobby civ pools should now display the conquerors civilizations correctly
  
• Lobby maps should now display random special and real world at the top of the list
  
• Lobby maps no longer displays random special twice in the list
  
• Lobby maps now select DLC3 Random Real World maps correctly when appropriate
  
• The password checkbox should now remain when changing datasets
  
• Navigating through aoe.net should now correctly prompt the password popup (when needed)

Balance Improvements:

• Magyars no longer need to build a blacksmith to receive free blacksmith upgrades
  
• Magyars now receive Siege Engineers
  
• Magyar Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry and Hussar cost -15% (up from -10%)
  
• Magyars Recurve Bow now adds +1 attack and +1 range (up from +1 range)
  
• Indians no longer have the Arbalest upgrade
  
• Malay Karambit Warrior have +1 attack
  
• Fire ships have -1 pierce armor
  
• Fast Fire ships have -1 pierce armor
  
• Viking warship discount changed to -15%, -15%, -20% (up from -10%, -15%, -20%)
  
• Italians fishing ships now cost -15 wood (down from -25 wood)

Patch 5.5 is ready for Open Beta! Thank you for your ongoing support and participation as it is fundamental in ensuring that builds are stable and ready for Live release.

In this Open Beta we have implemented password protected lobbies, improved performance and addressed some additional community issues. We are looking forward to hearing from you and we will continue to monitor the forums for your feedback. Here is the new Open Beta discussion thread.


Stability and Performance Improvements:

• Performance optimizations should increase frame rates up to 15%
  
• Researching spies during treaty should no longer causes a desync

Community Focused Bug Fixes:

• Hosts are able to set a password for their lobby
  
• Audio for notifications should no longer overlap and cause a loud noise
  
• Audio for garrisoning / un-garrisoning should no longer overlap
  
• Lobby civ pools should now be consistent for each host player
  
• Lobby civ pools should now display the conquerors civilizations correctly
  
• Lobby maps should now display random special and real world at the top of the list
  
• Lobby maps no longer displays random special twice in the list
  
• Lobby maps now selects DLC3 Random Real World maps correctly when appropriate

Patch 5.5 is ready for Open Beta! Thank you for your ongoing support and participation as it is fundamental in ensuring that builds are stable and ready for Live release.

In this Open Beta we have implemented password protected lobbies, improved performance and addressed some additional community issues. We are looking forward to hearing from you and we will continue to monitor the forums for your feedback. Here is the new Open Beta discussion thread.


Stability and Performance Improvements:

• Performance optimizations should increase frame rates up to 15%
  
• Researching spies during treaty should no longer causes a desync

Community Focused Bug Fixes:

• Hosts are able to set a password for their lobby
  
• Audio for notifications should no longer overlap and cause a loud noise
  
• Audio for garrisoning / un-garrisoning should no longer overlap
  
• Lobby civ pools should now be consistent for each host player
  
• Lobby civ pools should now display the conquerors civilizations correctly
  
• Lobby maps should now display random special and real world at the top of the list
  
• Lobby maps no longer displays random special twice in the list
  
• Lobby maps now selects DLC3 Random Real World maps correctly when appropriate