Age of Empires 2: Definitive Version will get yet one more huge replace including a brand new line of warships and ‘important adjustments’ to naval mechanics

There’s one thing within the water in PC gaming proper now. Particularly, ships. A lot of ships. Earlier this month, Facepunch Studios weighed anchor on Rust’s huge naval replace, including player-made boats and an enormous offshore area for survivors to discover. Now, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Version is getting in on the seafaring motion, with its newest replace careening Microsoft’s refurbished vessel to scrape the barnacles off the hull of its naval mechanics.

The elegantly named replace 169123 is a usually hefty patch from developer Forgotten Empires, addressing a variety of bugs and stability points. However probably the most important change is the addition of the Hulk-line, a brand new fundamental ship sort designed to counter fireplace ships.

There are three tiers of ship on this line, particularly Hulk, Conflict Hulk, and Carrack. All three are quick, sturdy vessels outfitted with grappling hooks for close-range fight. Their excessive pace and armour means they will successfully face up to the warmth belched out from fireplace ships, although they’re susceptible to lengthy vary assaults from ships like galleys.

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These aren’t the one ships added by the replace both. Additionally new to the sport is the Catapult Galleon, which replaces the cannon galleon for a number of civilisations. It capabilities in the identical approach, however has a shorter firing vary and better sturdiness.

These additions arrive alongside an overhaul to naval techniques that deliver “important adjustments throughout the board”. This makes stability adjustments to the entire RTS’ ships, similar to lowering harm dealt by demolition ships, and adjusting fireplace ships so that they solely deal melee harm as a substitute of each melee and piercing harm.

Even fishing vessels have been tweaked, making them extra fragile and slower to assemble fish, however including the flexibility to assemble gold from whales, a brand new aquatic useful resource. I am guessing Forgotten Empires glosses over precisely the way you extract gold from a whale, except these aquatic mammals are simply actually into free-to-play video games.

Extra broadly, the replace provides cross platform voice chat, plus accessibility choices like text-to-speech and speech-to-chat. There is a large flag replace that provides regional garrison flags and waypoint/collect level flags which might be particular to every civ, although I doubt this may cease gamers disingenuously asking “do you will have a flag?”

Lastly, there is a rework to the Inca civilisation, which provides a brand new unit referred to as champi warriors, removes entry to eagle warriors, and in addition removes a number of buildings like lumber camps, mining camps, and mills.

These adjustments tie into the launch of the Definitive Version’s newest DLC, The Final Chieftains, which bulks out the sport’s roster for medieval South America. It introduces three new factions, the Mapuche, the Muisca, and the Tupi, every of which comes with its personal marketing campaign. Every faction additionally has distinctive items just like the Mapuche’s bolas rider and the Muisca’s guecha warrior, a specialist javelineer who heals different guecha warriors once they die.