Dec 20, 2023

More Campaigns Now Available in Return of Rome

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lady Eridani

A previous update to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition brought with it two additional campaigns for owners of the Return of Rome DLC! Both of the campaigns selected by community vote; Glory of Greece and Voices of Babylon are now available for you to play and enjoy.

You can access the new campaigns by transitioning your game into Return of Rome, then navigating to Single Player and selecting the Campaigns option. From here, select the new ‘Return of Rome‘ tab on the side of the campaign menu.

You can read more details about the Glory of Greece and Voices of Babylon campaigns below!

All Campaigns Available in Return of Rome

Ascent of Egypt
Trajan
Pyrrhus of Epirus
Sargon of Akkad
The First Punic War
Glory of Greece (NEW!)
Voices of Babylon (NEW!)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2141580/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome/

Glory of Greece

Battle to establish the Greek Empire and create history as one of the world’s mightiest empires across 8 scenarios in the Glory of Greece campaign. Set out and earn the reputation of the Greek Empire, take command of the mighty armies of Alexander the Great, and topple the walls of Troy during the Trojan war!

Follow the Greeks from their Bronze Age beginnings to the height of the Hellenic era. Step into the sandals of famous Greek heroes like Achilles, Pericles, Xenophon, and Alexander the Great to build a civilization spanning the ancient world from the Mediterranean to India.

Glory of Greece Scenarios

“War! The rivalry between Hellas and Persia has reignited after the irruption of the Macedonians into the region, and the Greeks have been united under you, Alexander of Macedon.”

=> Scenario List Here

[expand type=details]

Claiming Territory
Acropolis
The Conquest of Crete
The Trojan War
Colonization of Ionia
The Siege of Athens
Xenophon’s March
Alexander the Great

[/expand]

Voices of Babylon

Guide Babylon to power through her struggles, and onto greatness throughout 8 scenarios in the Voices of Babylon campaign. Persuade the neighboring fledgling empires to join you, through persuasion or conquest when necessary. Defend the frontier cities from raiders, and liberate Babylon from the oppression of Assyrian invaders!

For centuries, Babylon was the envy of the world. Her Hanging Gardens and eminent ziggurats inspired legends that echoed throughout the ages. Her greatest king, Hammurabi, gave the world its first law code. Lead this majestic city from its remarkable rise to its staggering fall, and restore it once again to greatness.

Voices of Babylon Scenarios

“An Assyrian General named Tiglath-Pileser has rebelled against his king and has taken the throne. He is willing to support our new King Nabonassar to retake land lost to the Aramaeans, our common enemy.”

=> Scenario List Here

[expand type=details]

The Holy Man
The Tigris Valley
Lost
I Shall Return
The Great Hunt
The Caravan
Lord of the Euphrates
The Conquest of Nineveh

[/expand]

We hope you enjoy the addition of the Glory of Greece and Voices of Babylon campaigns to Return of Rome!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2141580/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome/

Dec 11, 2023

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Update 99311

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lady Eridani

Welcome to an exciting update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! We’ve got lots of quality-of-life features coming your way, pathfinding and formation fixes, plus a new challenge scenario: Mangudai Madness!

While there are plenty of notable things to look forward to in today’s build, here’s some of the big highlights coming with this month’s update:

New QoL (Quality of Life) Features:
- Enhanced Unit UI
- Lockable gates during construction
- Enhanced tooltips for unit icons.
New Mod Validator
New Challenge Scenario: Mangudai Madness
Bug fixes based on your feedback
Pathfinding and Formations fixes
Balance changes

Be sure to dig down into the post below to get all of the smaller details before hopping in-game and checking them out firsthand.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thanks again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team

◆ UPDATE 99311◆

BUILD SPOTLIGHT

New Challenge Scenario: Mangudai Madness!
Introducing Mangudai Madness, a new limited-time challenge scenario in the vein of Barbarossa Brawl and Mongol Raiders! Can you defend the Wonder against increasingly challenging waves using only your army of Mangudai?

The setup is simple: you have a Wonder to defend, Mangudai, and access to techs. Strategize how you will spend your resources and use the terrain to your advantage. Take on waves of Teutonic Knights, Throwing Axemen, Onagers, tanky Saboteurs — and a very special campaign hero unit if you can make it to the final wave!

Mangudai Madness is supported with a leaderboard. Challenge your friends and put those micro skills to the test!

NEW! Animated Player Icons

Starting today, you can customize your player icons with glorious new animated options! Choose from three new cosmetic DLC packs from Steam and enjoy these incredible animated icons in your favorite game, or collect them all with a discount!
Please note: These icons provide no gameplay benefit and are purely cosmetic.
La Hire’s Dry Humor Collection is a set of eight animated recognizable situations, funny animations and memes.
Joan’s Marvelous Moving Masterpieces are a display of eight animated historically inspired art pieces showing the diversity from across all the lands.
Barbarossa’s Barrel of Pickled Goods contains a fine selection of eight animated art pieces and Age of Empires logic and other memes.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/36502/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Animated_Icons_Bundle_Vol_1/

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER
This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Hotfix 99404
Stability & Performance
Fixed a crash introduced with Update 99311.
Fixed a rare issue where units could move to the edge of the map when issuing an attack move or patrol command.

Oct 30, 2023

Preview: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 95810

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lady Eridani

Welcome to an exciting sneak peek for the newest update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! The update will be landing tomorrow, October 31st! This will be a huge one with pathfinding improvements, balance changes, bug fixes, and more, PLUS tomorrow The Mountain Royals DLC will be live, AND new campaigns are coming to Return of Rome!

While there are plenty of notable fixes and features to look forward to in today’s build, here’s some of the big highlights coming with this month’s update:

The Mountain Royals DLC is now available!
2 New Campaigns in Return of Rome:
- Glory of Greece
- Voices of Babylon
Balance changes!
Pathfinding improvements!
Bug fixes based on your feedback!

Be sure to dig down into the post below to get all of the smaller details before hopping in-game and checking them out firsthand.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thanks again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team

◆ UPDATE 95810◆

BUILD SPOTLIGHT

Game

Stability & Performance

Fixed an issue where game crashes when creating a lobby using Restore Multiplayer Game.
Fixed an issue where game sometimes crashes when clicking the Return of Rome Multiplayer button.

Graphics

Fixed a graphical issue where various Palm Trees have black sections in their textures.
Fixed the issues with death and decay animations for Slinger, Man-at-Arms, Female Forager.
Imperial Camel saddle cloth texture no is no longer incorrect on one of the angles.
Magyar Huszar spear is no longer slightly cut off on several unit animations.
Fixed a graphical issue where Chariot Archer had doubled bow.
Male Woodcutters no longer lack idle animations on all except one angle.
Babylonian Wonder destruction animation no longer turns invisible close to the end.
Added visual trails to bullet projectiles.

Audio

Fixed an issue where Priest has the wrong creation sound.
Romans units no longer have slightly distorted voice audio.

The UI graphics and fonts filter which was introduced in Update 90260 and later known as WIDGETUI_FILTER, is now available as in-game options on PC platforms under the Graphics tab:
- Anti-Alias UI: Select to smoothen graphics (such as icons) in certain parts of the UI, on resolutions other than 4K. Disabling may increase performance. (Medium, High, Ultra presets)
- Anti-Alias Text: Select to smoothen text in certain parts of the UI, on resolutions other than 4K. Disabling may increase performance when Smooth Serif Font is off. (High, Ultra presets)
Smooth Serif Font has been restored to its original look (from before Update 90260) when Anti-Alias Text is off.
Sea walls now have their own icon.
Army tents now have their own icon in Return of Rome.
The Ranked UI button in Return of Rome now uses the intended artwork.
Updated some wrong artworks from the History section with the proper ones.
Added the “Off” and “High” volume indicators on the narrator volume bar.
Chatbox is no longer visible in 1v1 quickplay games. Additionally, chatbox is now visible when in party with at least 2 members on the quickplay screen, to match with Xbox behaviour.
Age of Empires campaigns now have a unique campaign group icon.
Changed the color of buttons in Scenario Editor in Return of Rome mode to blue.
All Return of Rome cheat units now have their own icons.
Sogdian Cataphract icon no longer incorrectly indicates hero glow on the unit.

Hotkeys

Toggle Health Bar hotkey no longer affects Idle Pointer display.

Xbox

Fixed a crash that was occurring while accepting an invitation from another player under certain circumstances.
Fixed an issue where randomizing lobby settings automatically scrolls down the Game Settings menu.
Fixed an issue where the banned and preferred maps on the Quick Play menu disappear under certain circumstances.
Fixed an issue where AI Difficulty is set back to Standard when starting a queue in Quick Play.
Fixed a graphical issue on the Rally Point flag.
Fixed an issue where the Quick Find Naval Units button for Transport Ships was not activating properly when relevant ships were on the field in Return of Rome.
The Building Range Indicators are no longer drawn incorrectly and inconsistently.
Spearman-Line units are now included in the Command Menu Shortcuts for Donjons as intended.
Fixed an issue where Villagers queued in the Town Center were separated based on gender.
The save and load game pages now show the remaining cloud capacity.
Fixed an issue where Monk’s Heal command no longer heals units.
Controller buttons in Return of Rome mode now have blue color (instead of red like in Age of Empires II).
Fixed an issue where Toggle Idle Pointers hotkey has no effect.
Added the previously missing player icons which are rewarded for winning as Roman civilization.
Fixed an issue where players are unable to repair transport ships.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER
This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Hotfix 96976
Fixed a graphics issue on Xbox Series S and X systems. Graphics should now appear with greater fidelity at close zoom levels on Xbox Series consoles.
Fixed an issue where monks could duplicate relics by dropping a relic before placing it in the monastery.
Fixed the walking animation for monks that have dropped off a relic.
We are aware of an issue in Scenario 5: ‘Of Turncoats and Traitors’ of the Thoros campaign, causing an unintended difficulty-spike. The team is currently working on a fix.

Oct 27, 2023

New Update to the Persians: Coming Soon to AoE II: DE

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lady Eridani

Accompanying The Mountain Royals expansion will be an update including a massive rework of the Persian civilization! This update will be available to everyone who owns the base game of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, whether you have purchased the upcoming The Mountain Royals expansion or not.

The Persian Civilization Identity
As more civilizations were released through additional expansions, we found the Persian civilization was slowly becoming less unique and their primary identity as a Knight civilization had become less meaningful.

We strived for the way the Persians are represented in-game to incorporate additional design, while representing their rich history, creating more unique tools for the Persian civilization’s toolbox. We wanted to provide you with more interesting strategic choices, and ways for you to engage your opponents, all while representing them from the early Middle Ages to late empire.

In this update, our goal was to make the Persians feel special – the way we want each civilization to feel in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. We believe we’ve accomplished that by making the Persians a true cavalry civilization with this rework.

With that said, here’s some expanded information on a few of our favorite changes!

The Savar – A New Unique Unit

Persia’s use of heavily armored cavalry has always been represented in-game, yet having the more European-style Paladin always felt unfaithful to the civilization. With this update, the Persians have received a unique upgrade to the Cavalier; the Savar.

Though the Savar looks similar to the Paladin, but is highly specialized in defeating enemy ranged units. Its additional ranged armor makes it more resilient, and their damage bonus stacks with the Persian Team Bonus, making them extremely effective at countering enemy Archers and general ranged units.

However, the increased survivability against ranged units does come at the cost of a lower Hit Point total when compared to the Paladin, making the Savar more susceptible to melee units.

The War Elephant

With the introduction of the Battle Elephant, we found it made the War Elephant feel less unique, and for a unit that already requires a significant investment to field, we want to ensure the War Elephant gets the respect it deserves.

The goal of these changes is to make the War Elephant more prevalent in the Persian unit roster. The Mahouts Unique Technology has been removed, but the base movement speed of the War Elephant has increased 33% by default. No longer will you have to wait as your War Elephants slowly lumber towards the enemy; charge them down!

Continuing the additional improvements, the War Elephant now has a significant damage bonus against buildings, now highly capable of ripping through your opponent's base, a great way to add additional pressure. We’ve also reduced the cost for the Elite War Elephant upgrade, making it significantly easier for you to realize the full potential of these behemoth units.

We always want to ensure each unit has their place in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. With these changes, we hope we’ve given you plenty of reasons to start training more War Elephants!

Parthian Tactics Available in the Castle Age

Having access to Parthian Tactics in the Castle Age adds an entirely new layer to the strategies available to the Persian civilization within Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, making them significantly less predictable while also representing a part of history we’re excited to pay homage to.

The Sasanian Persian Empire that continued the Parthian legacy is an important part of how the Persian civilization is represented in-game. The Parthian Shot dates at least back to the Battle of Carrhae, where the Parthians used it to great effect against a Roman army. Sasanian armies employed similar tactics in the following centuries well into the early medieval period.

Now that the Persians are able to research Parthian Tactics in the Castle Age, it provides a large spike to the strength of their Cavalry Archers, which has incredible synergy with their new civilization bonus, providing extra gold for each military unit they defeat.

This is perfect to help you dictate the pace of the match with early pressure, providing a new way for you to surprise and engage your opponents.

Full Rework Change List
The above were some of our personal highlights we wanted to provide some additional background on. Please see the full list of changes to the Persian civilization below.

[expand type=details]Civilization Bonuses:

Start the game with +50 food, +50 wood.

Town Centers and Docks have 2x hit points and work +5%/+10%/+15%/+20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Cavalry generate 5 gold when killing enemy military units.

Parthian Tactics available in Castle Age.

Can build Caravanserai in Imperial Age.
Unique Units:

War Elephant (Very Big Elephant, enjoys scenic trips down the river in a transport ship).

Savar (Unique upgrade to the Cavalier, powerful all-purpose cavalry with attack bonus vs. Archers).
Unique Technologies

Kamandaran (Archer-line gold cost is replaced by additional wood cost).

Citadels (Castles receive -25% bonus damage, arrows replaced with bullets which deal +4 attack, +3 attack vs. infantry, and +3 attack vs. rams).
Team Bonus

Knights +2 attack vs. Archers.
Other Changes:

(Elite) War Elephant attack bonus vs. standard buildings and stone buildings increased from 7 (10) ▶ 30.

(Elite) War Elephant base movement speed increased from 0.6 ▶8.

Elite War Elephant upgrade cost reduced from 1600 food 1200 gold ▶ 1350 food 800 gold.
[/expand]

We understand with this update a lot of changes have been made to the Persian civilization. We look forward to hearing your feedback, and plan to continue to iterate as needed. Start the game already!

Pre-Order Now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2555420/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__The_Mountain_Royals/