Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition News

Where were you in 1998? Perhaps listening to Cher’s Believe, watching Titanic, playing with your Tamagotchi and relaxing on your inflatable couch? Or were you playing the Age of Empires DLC The Rise of Rome? This beloved evolution of the first Age of Empires game has taken on a new form and joined the Definitive Edition era in the Return of Rome DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

Yes, you read that correctly, Age of Empires content available in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Bringing the civilizations and action of ancient worlds to AoE II: DE. Purchasers will be able to switch to Return of Rome in the game’s main screen and take on fresh challenges.

[h2]What can you expect from this new and innovative DLC? [/h2]

• 3 new campaigns created specifically for Return of Rome. Sargon of Akkad (Sumerians), Pyrrhus of Epirus (Macedonians) and Trajan (Romans). With new missions to tackle and stories told through the familiar AoE II: DE style, you’ll be able to live more moments from history.
  
• All 16 original Age of Empires civilizations from the Assyrians to the Yamato. Get to grips with the civilizations that started the Age of Empires journey.
  
• One new civilization, the Lac Viet. In honor and recognition of Rise of Rome’s phenomenal popularity in Vietnam, we’ve added a new civilization with Return of Rome. Adding something new for established and beginner players.
  
• New D3 Game Mode. D3 is an homage to a fan favorite rule set that is now fully integrated into the game.  This rule set reduces rush tactics and allows players to start their early game more robustly, only allowing fighting with a single unit until entering the Bronze Age, ensuring players reach later Ages for equal battles.  This rule set also bans walls and towers, making for exciting match ups later in the game.
  
• The Roman civilization will be playable in the main AoE II: DE title. If you’ve ever wondered how the Romans might fare against the Aztecs, now’s your opportunity to find out.

Catch a glimpse of what Return of Rome has to offer in our teaser trailer:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]How to Pre-Order[/h2]
Return of Rome is available to pre-order now on Steam! This innovative DLC is available as a standalone purchase, or as a bundle with Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Rome is calling. It’s time to return.

Pre-order the Return of Rome today and be ready to conquer your opponents and forge a new Roman Empire on May 16, 2023!

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

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31630/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__Return_of_Rome_Bundle/

WHAT: Server Maintenance (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 26 @ 2:00p PT / 5:00p ET / 21:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 1-2 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]

• Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires IV (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

• Routine server updates and maintenance.

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, April 26th, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for regular maintenance. Please note:

• Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.
  
  
• Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.
  
  
• DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

To prevent any interruptions, we recommend wrapping up any games at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window. The downtime is expected to last between 1 and 2 hours. You can watch this thread with any changes to the schedule as they arise, as well as the all-clear when the maintenance is complete.

Thank you for your patience!

Hello explorers and welcome to a nice balance update for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! We hope you enjoy!

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

[h4]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! [/h4]

        ◆ UPDATE 14.3853 ◆

[h2]General[/h2]

• Conquistador (Jesuits):
  
  
  • Now inflicts 1 area damage with ranged attacks.
    
  • Siege damage increased to 14 (from 9).
    
  • Cost changed to 80 food 80 coin (from 85 food 70 wood).
• Dahomey Amazon: Cost reduced to 280c (from 300c).
  
• Drummer (House of Hanover): No longer affects artillery.
  
• Light Infantry: Corrected the damage multipliers against Shock Infantry for the following Light Infantry units:
  
  
  • Evzone (Houses of Phanar)
    
  • Lenape Warrior (Lenape)
    
  • Royal Arquebusier (House of Vasa)
    
  • Wakina Rifleman (Lakota)
• Red Sea Wagon (Somalis): Can now build Lombards for the Italian civilization.
  
• Resource Enclosure: Fixed missing damage multipliers against resource enclosures (Depots, Mountain Monasteries, Shrines) for some Villager units.
  
• Royal Hunter (House of Oldenburg): The military upgrade of the Royal Huntsman can now be trained in batches.
  
• Royal Dragoon (House of Bourbon):
  
  
  • Rate of fire improved to 2.5 (from 2.75) (to reduce the delay of the set-up animation).
    
  • Ranged damage increased to 18 (from 17.5).
    
  • LOS corrected to 20 (up from 18).
• Issa Warrior (Somali): Reduced the ranged damage multiplier against Cavalry to 2.5x (from 3x) and against Shock Infantry to 1.9x (from 2.25x).
  
• Shipments: Corrected the arrival time of several shipments, including all Battleship cards now arrive in 60 seconds (up from 40) as intended.
  
• Sumatran Elephants (Indonesia Revolution): Now sends a War Elephant the first time the card has been sent, as expected.
  
• Zapotec Lightning Warrior (Zapotecs): Corrected an issue resulting in units obtained from some cards to have more hitpoints than those available at Zapotec Settlements.

[h4]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! [/h4]

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]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.

Hello Explorers!

Looking to see what's ahead for our next update? Then look no further as we have just enabled the Public Update Preview Program for our Small April Update.

Jump in to get an early look at the upcoming changes, see which bugs have been addressed, and help make our release even better by helping us find any last minute issues and lending your voice to our forums.

More information on April's Public Update Preview Program can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/933110/discussions/5/6252726091239209371/


Details on how to participate in the Public Update Preview Program can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/933110/announcements/detail/3061863764824320236

Please join us in strengthening the quality of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition by sharing your voice on the official 🛠 Public Update Preview forums. (Note that you must own the game and login to Steam to access the PUP forum.) We’re definitely listening, and looking for every opportunity to make this the game you love to play! :)

- The World's Edge Team

[h3]***IMPORTANT***[/h3]This coming Wednesday, March 22nd, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for a large infrastructure update.
[h3]Downtime is expected to be 6 hours.[/h3]

WHAT: Large Infrastructure Server Update (Matchmaking Servers)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 22 @ 12:00p PT / 3:00p ET / 19:00 UTC (Countdown)
EST. DOWNTIME: 6 HOURS

[h3]GAMES & PLATFORMS IMPACTED[/h3]

• Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (All Platforms)
  
• Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  
• Age of Empires IV (Steam / Microsoft Store)
  

[h3]OBJECTIVES[/h3]

• Large Infrastructure Server Update

[h3]DETAILS[/h3]This coming Wednesday, March 22nd, the platform team will be taking the multiplayer servers down for a large infrastructure update. Please note:

• Ranked matchmaking will disabled exactly one hour before the maintenance window to prevent disruption to newly-formed matches.
  
  
• Any matches still in progress at the start of the maintenance window will be disrupted when it begins.
  
  
• DURING THE MAINTENANCE WINDOW, YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO LAUNCH THE GAME, BUT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MATCHMAKE OR ACCESS ANY ONLINE FEATURES.

To prevent any interruptions, we recommend wrapping up any games at least 10 minutes before the maintenance window. The downtime is expected to last 6 hours. You can watch this thread with any changes to the schedule as they arise, as well as the all-clear when the maintenance is complete.

Thank you for your patience!