Age of Empires IV Anniversary Update New civilizations, maps, team rankings and more details

Age of Empires has just turned 25 and the newest game in the series, Age of Empires IV, is about to celebrate its first birthday, so Vancouver’s Relic Entertainment is preparing a big update for Season 3 to celebrate. This anniversary content infusion adds two new civilizations, the Ottomans and the Malians, eight maps, ranked team matches, and more! You can catch some of the new content in action via the Age of Empires IV Anniversary Livestream below.

Here’s a full rundown of all the new content coming to Age of Empires IV in the next season…

New Civilizations

• The Ottomans – In Ottoman Art of War challenge, you must defend your city center and prevent it from being destroyed by opponents. Use the unique traits of the Ottomans to build their economy, strengthen their army, and hold your own against waves of enemies! The strategy with the new Ottoman units and production buildings will be the key to success in this scenario. You will get a medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold) depending on how long you can survive the enemy waves.
• The Malians – Defend your open pit mines from waves of enemy attackers in the exciting new Malian Art of War challenge. In order to succeed you must use the unique Malian units to assemble strikes against the enemy forces and prevent the destruction of your open pit mines! You will be awarded a medal (bronze, silver, gold) based on how much gold your open pit mines can collect before being overrun by the enemy.
• New Art of War challenges – Finally there are survival challenges for Art of War! This release brings two new single-player Art of War survival challenge missions focused on the Ottoman and Malian civilizations. Use them to increase your understanding and mastery of each civilization’s unique abilities.

Introducing taunts and cheats!

“Fan-requested features of taunts and cheats make a triumphant return in Age of Empires IV! In this update you have a variety of taunts and cheats to choose from. Participating in the celebrations this season is a good friend of ours !”

New maps

We’ve introduced 8 new maps in this update! Read on to learn more about what to expect in each new map and how to strategize in this new terrain.

• forest ponds – In Forest Ponds, you’ll find four bodies of water in each corner of the map and a large forest in the center of the map that limits maneuverability.
• hideout – On this map, you’ll find that even if you start in a safe place to begin with, you’ll need to come out of hiding quickly to secure far-flung resources.
• mountain glade – Take control of the deep mountain glade – with limited space and resources, the battles will be fierce.
• wetlands – Wetlands is an open, flat map dotted with many small ponds full of shore fish. You’ll need to use unique strategies with the ponds as there aren’t many Gaia animals on the map.
• prairie – The open and unforgiving landscape of the prairie requires rapid expansion, leaving everyone vulnerable to attacks from all directions. Quickly build up your defenses or take advantage of your opponents’ absence!
• water holes – Conquer the many lakes to gain an economic advantage and dominate your opponents on foot or on horseback on the Waterholes map.
• Mediterranean Sea- – To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Age of Empires, we’re bringing back one of the Legendary maps from the Rise of Rome expansion: Mediterranean! The Mediterranean features a large central lake teeming with fish, two naval trading posts on opposite shorelines, and two beachfront sacred sites on opposite sides of the lake. This map should offer a mix of sea and land play.
• oasis – We’re also bringing back the Oasis map from Age of Empires II! In the Age of Empires IV version, Oasis still features the central dense forest with a small lake in the middle, but this time we feature the map’s only two sacred sites on the shore of the lake. Will you be the first to make your way to the oasis and secure the Holy Sites, or will you dash through the forest from an unsuspecting angle to wrest control of the center from your opponent?

Season 3 rankings and leaderboards

“You can team up with friends or matchmake with other players to compete in ranked team matches consisting of 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4. We have ranked leaderboards available for team games as well as 1v1! Once Season 3 officially begins in October on the 26th, you’ll be able to see how you stack up against other players in the ranked queues!

Playing competitive games with your friends is already worth it, but we’ve got a few more reasons to jump into Team Ladder! When you achieve a team rank, you’ll earn a unique seasonal monument and portrait to showcase the results of your ranked journey. We’ve also revamped the ranked badges themselves to better reflect the size and prestige of your earned rank! Your solo rank is completely different from your team rank. That means you have to complete your 5 placement games for each queue.”

Overhaul of the Navy

“We have already informed you that we are making some sea balance changes, such as: B. Improved tactical combat, more explosive battles, revised balance and more. You can now check out the brand new upgrade paths for the Arrowships, Lightships and Springald ships as they have interesting scaling options in Castle and Imperial times!”

waypoint markers

“In this update, you can see gold waypoint markers when you’re moving, blue waypoint markers when you’re performing an action, and red waypoint markers when you’re attacking or patrolling! You’ll also see a marker for each Shift-click on any of these options to see the path your unit will follow. If you select an entire party you will be able to see the party leader’s waypoint markers, so queue up your troops and lead them to victory!”

Of course, Age of Empires IV Season 3 will also introduce a number of minor tweaks and fixes and offer new rewards. If you need to know about it, you can check out the full, unabridged patch notes here.

Age of Empires IV is playable on PC. Season 3 starts on October 25th.