The year is almost out, and it wouldn’t be complete without one final AoE3 tournament! Celebrate the spirit of togetherness and join us for the ESOC Winter Championships 2024! Throw your hat in the ring and sign up before November 24th or tune in with a warm cup of coco and watch the holiday entertainment live and free on ESOCTV Twitch! The cold’s setting in over on this icy tundra, so players won’t have time to reach the Fortress Age. Instead, they’ll have to find faster ways to defeat their opponents in this snowy region. The Prize Pool for the event is $500 provided by Spanky!

Tournament Schedule:
Round of 16 - Bo7: November 25 - December 1
Round of 8 - Bo7: December 2 - December 8
Semi-finals - Bo7: December 9 - December 14
Bronze match - Bo7: December 15
Finals - Bo9: December 15

Map Pool:
Round of 16 - Bo7 : Unknown, Sudd, Hokkaido, Bayou, Anatolia, Guianas, Baja california
Round of 8 - Bo7 : Unknown, Courland, Korea, Cascade range, Central plains, Balkan mountains, Caucasus
Semi-finals - Bo7 : Unknown, Finland, Pomerania, Gran chaco, Portugal, Hungarian plains, Korea
Bronze match - Bo7 : Unknown, Mexico, Ivory coast, Himalayas Upper, Dakota, Dnieper basin, Malaysia
Finals - Bo9 : Unknown, Karelian Lakes, Scandinavia, Painted desert, Saguenay, Siberia, New England, Parallel rivers, Pripet marshes

Event Rules can be found Here. If you have any further questions regarding the rules please contact the tournament admins in ESOC's Official Discord!

Sign-Ups will end Sunday, November 24th. You may sign up using the tournament center in MyESOC (Login to your ESOC Profile and then find the top right corner of your profile name and then select MyESOC.

Welcome trailblazers to another exciting update for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! While there are plenty of notable fixes and features in today’s update, you can look forward to lots of balance updates, plus some localization fixes based on community feedback!

This is a data patch that will update your game automatically after starting. We recommend you to stay in the main menu for about 2 minutes for the download to complete. Please keep in mind that due to technical reasons only limited changes are possible in a data patch (no graphics, no maps, etc).

Link: https://www.ageofempires.com/news/age-o ... -15-59076/

Thank you for sharing in yet another major milestone for Age of Empires with us!

—The Age of Empires Team


Campaigns

Algiers (1516)
️Fixed the appearance of the Villagers.
️Replaced the Grenadiers of the Barbary Pirates with Humbaracis.
Battle of Alcácer-Quibir (1578)
Fixed the appearance of the Villagers.
Replaced the Grenadiers of the Moroccans with Humbaracis.

Localizations

Improved all localizations to better distinguish between the Royal Huntsman and Royal Hunter units belonging to the House of Oldenburg.
Abus Gunner: Fixed the French mistranslations from Porteur de pistolet abus to Cannonier abus.
Doppelsoldner: Fixed both Chinese mistranslations from Double Warrior to Double-paid Swordsman.
Georgian Hussar: Fixed the missing Vietnamese translation of the unit and card name.
Sipahi: Fixed both Chinese mistranslations as Turkic Cavalry Archer.
Tempo Reforms: Corrected the name of the Japanese card to Tenpo Reforms.
Simplified Chinese localization fixes (based on community feedback):

Spanish localization fixes (based on community feedback):

Civilization Balance
General
Units & Buildings

African Bandit Catamaran: Damage multiplier against guardians now only applies to water guardians.
Chevauleger (House of Wittelsbach): Melee damage multiplier against Skirmishers improved to 0.75x (up from 0.6x).
Fishing Boats: Reduced sound volume of fishing.
Hand Shock Infantry: Slightly increased the obstruction radius from 0.49 to 0.59 for Chasquis, Chimu Runners, Coyote Runners, Disciples, Rattan Shields, Shotel Warriors, and Tiger Claws.
Hot Air Balloon: Fixed a bug that made descending hot air balloons count as unit losses.
Inquisitor: Cost increased to 110c (from 100c) and train time to 45s (from 35s).
Javelin Rider: XP reward corrected to 11 (down from 12).
Lipka Tatar (House of Jagiellon): Ranged damage reduced to 10 (from 12.5).
Mounted Rifleman: No longer considered a Counter Skirmisher.
Napoleon Gun: Cost increased to 475c (from 450c).
Royal Dragoon (House of Bourbon): Range increased to 17 (from 16).
Wokou Pirate: Fixed the non-functional melee attack in the Melee stance.

Cards & Technologies

11 Renegade Spanish (II, Aztecs, Inca, 500c): Cost increased to 600c.
Oresund Customs (I, House of Oldenburg): Now also affects American Citadels obtained from the Maya native settlement.
Sarmatism (House of Jagiellon): No longer grants Lipka Tatars +1 extra range on top of the default range increase.
Sudanese Red Sea Trade (Sudanese): Technology research time increased to 30s (up from 10s).
TEAM 3 Villagers (Aztecs, Ethiopians, Haudenosaunee): Only one of these cards can now be sent per team.
War Ceremony: Reduced the effectiveness the War Ceremony by -2.5% on average.

Aztecs

11 Mayan Allies (2x, II): Cost increased to 600c (from 500c).
9 Zapotec Allies (2x, II): Cost increased to 600c (from 500c).
Great Temple of Quetzalcoatl Support (III, 500c): Moved to Age4. Cost doubled to 1000c and Jaguar Prowl Knight count to 12.
Otontin Slinger: Increased train time and costs to 25s and 40f 35w (from 23s and 40f 30w).

British

Queen’s Rangers (IV, The Glorious Revolution): Corrected the technology effects by removing the unmentioned swap of Longbowmen cards with Ranger cards.
Rangers (IV): Now also researches the Guard Rangers upgrade.
Ranger: Can now also be trained in the American Citadel obtained via the Maya settlement in case Rangers are enabled for training.

Chinese

Disciple: Train time doubled to 14s (up from 7s).
Hand Mortar: Damage multiplier against Siege Troopers (incl. Galleons, Monitors) reduced to 2x (down from 6x).
Beiyang Army (III, 800f): Cost increased to 1000f.

Dutch

Belanda Hitam (IV): Now upgrades Akan Ankobia to Champion status (up from Elite), but the build limit of 30 no longer scales with additional Akan settlements.
TEAM Coehorn Mortars (IV): Now improves the hand mortar attack of all Grenadier-type units as opposed to just Grenadiers.
Waardgelders (II): Now arrives in 40s (down from 60s) and Waardgelders (cheaper Swiss Pikemen) can again be trained in Age 2, but now have -20% of their original strength (up from -10%) which is restored upon reaching Age 3.

Ethiopians

Abun:
Healing range and rate reduced to 14 and 6/s (from 18 and 10/s).
Can no longer be trained in batches, but individual train time improved to 24s (from 30s).
Beekeepers (II): Fixed a bug of this card not improving food gather rates of a Hacienda obtained through a Mexican team card.
Fazogli Gold (II): Fixed a bug of this card not improving coin gather rates of a Hacienda obtained through a Mexican team card.
Mission Fervor (Portuguese Alliance): This Church technology now restores the original upgraded healing rate of Abuns to 15/s.
Mountain Monastery: LOS reduced to 32 (from 38).
Prize Bull (II): Reduced the cattle’s amount of fattened food to 600 (from 750).

French

French Revolution: No longer grants a Mortar.
Client States:
Fixed an issue regarding capturable Trading Posts not being considered by this card.
Now sends 300c per Trading Post instead of 500c.
Guillotine: Fixed a bug that resulted in the card granting wood instead of food.
Horse Hunters (Napoleonic Era): Now increases the damage multipliers by +1.5x against Heavy Cavalry and +1.2x against Shock Infantry (down from +2x and +1.5x).
Napoleonic Era: Fixed a glitch that resulted in refunding resources on card arrival.
Sansculotte: Now trains only 30% faster than a Coureur des Bois (down from 40%).

Germans

Uhlan: Melee damage reduced to 35 (from 37).
Lipizzaner Cavalry (IV): Now increases Uhlan attack and hitpoints by 20% (up from 15%).

Haudenosaunee

Tomahawk Warrior: No longer considered a Gunpowder Trooper.
Town Destroyer (II): Improves War Chief siege damage now by +1000% (down from +1400%).

Inca

Autarky (IV): Kancha House wood trickle improved from 0.45w/s to 0.6w/s.
Chimu Runner: Train time reverted to 27s (from 30s).
Huaraca: Added 10% siege resistance.
Jungle Bowman: Poison effect now inflicts 25% more damage against Heavy Cavalry and Hand Shock Infantry (previously reduced by -50%).
Stronghold:
Fixed the incorrect displayed number of projectiles to 8 (from 6).
Base damage reduced to 8 (from 10).
Supay Ceremony (IV): Now spawns Macemen at the same rate as Tokala Soldiers or Skull Knights.

Indians

Battlefield Construction (II): Fixed a bug that prevented the Mansabdar Sepoy from constructing Indian buildings.
Land Reforms (II): Now also affects the construction speed of Mango Groves.
Rocketeers (IV): Now also adds a 1.25x damage multiplier against all Infantry units to all Arsonist attacks.
Siege Elephant: Ranged resistance increased to 35% (up from 30%).
The Raj (II): Fixed a bug with the Hindu Villager cost increasing by +5w instead of 5f when the Foreign Trading Companies card was sent.

Italians

3 Spies (II, Basilica): Now takes 25s to arrive (down from 30s).
3 Priests (II, Basilica): Now takes 25s to arrive (down from 30s).
7 Papal Guards (II, Basilica): Now takes 50s to arrive (down from 60s).
7 Schiavoni (II, Basilica): Now takes 55s to arrive (down from 60s).
Papal Arsenal (IV): Card moved to Age 3.
Papal Guard:
Hitpoints increased to 220 (from 200).
The charged Hook attack now inflicts damage in an area of 1.
The Papal Guard (IV): The Guard upgrade costs for Halberdiers, Pikemen and Pavisiers are now set to 200w 200c (instead of 600w for Guard Pavisiers, 300w 300c for Guard Halberdiers and free Guard Pikemen).
Usury (IV): Improves the conversion ratio of wood and food into coin to 30% (from 20%).

Japanese

Forty-Seven Ronin (IV): Masterless Samurai speed increased to 6 (from 5.5).
Ninjutsu-Zukai: Added the 5x damage multiplier against Native Warriors for consistency with the regular Ninja.
Samurai: Siege damage reduced to 60 (from 67).
TEAM Odzutsu Mortars (IV):
Samurai mortar attack range reduced to 7 (from 12).
No longer adds the Incendiary Grenades technology to the Golden Pavilion.

Lakota

13 Bison (IV, infinite): Reduced to 11 Bisons.
[NEW] 18 Bison (IV): Card added.
Bow Rider: Ranged damage reduced to 18 (from 20).
Damage multiplier against Heavy Cavalry increased to 2.5x (from 2.25x). Other multipliers remain unchanged.
Cetan Bowman: Damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry reduced to 1.5x (from 2x).
Lakota War Chief: Can no longer slow down enemy units with melee attacks.
Heyoka (IV): Now also enables your War Chief to slow down units with attacks (again).

Maltese

Fixed Gun: Population cost reduced to 5 (from 6).
Grand Master:
Now grants 70xp when downed (up from 45).
Can now construct Commanderies instead of Outposts.
Trip to Jerusalem (II): Resource cap reduced to 1200 (from 1500).
Wignacourt Constructions (II): Now also improves gather rates from allied Cherry Orchards.

Mexicans

1 Frigate (IV, infinite): Fixed a bug that turned this card into a team card.
3 Outposts (Central America Revolution): Card added.
Advanced Frontier Defenses (Central America Revolution): Card removed.
Filibuster (Baja California Revolution): Siege damage increased to 25 (from 24).
General: Now grants 70xp when downed (up from 45).
Rio Grande Revolution:
4 Culverins: Reduced amount to 3.
9 Soldados: Reduced to 6.
Yucateco Insurgente (Yucatan Revolution): Removed the 0.8x negative damage multiplier of the charged lasso attack against Rifle Riders and Mounted Granaderos.

Ottomans

12 Janissaries (IV): Unit count increased to 14.
Kapikulu Corps (IV, Palace Intrigue): The melee armor increase now only applies to Sipahi instead of all Heavy Cavalry.
Topçu Corps (IV, Palace Intrigue): Cost increased to 2000 (from 1700c).
Nizam Fusilier: Range in Stand Ground stance reduced to 18 (from 20).
Sipahi cards: Food costs of Industrial Age Sipahi cards increased by +50 for every Sipahi:
4 Sipahi (IV, infinite): Cost increased to 1000f (from 800).
6 Sipahi (IV): Cost increased to 1500f (from 1200).
TEAM Timariots (IV): Cost increased to 1500f (from 1200).

Portuguese

Feitorias (I): Food trickle reduced from 0.4f/s to 0.36f/s.
Grapeshot (IV): Now improves rate-of-fire only by -0.25 (from -0.5).

Russians

6 Cossacks (III): Increased to 7 Cossacks.
Blockhouse Cannon (III): Now also sends a Falconet.
Detinets (III): Blockhouse hitpoint improvement reduced to +20% (from 25%), but now also activates Frontier Blockhouses.
Poruchik: Changed the cost ratio to 210f 150c (instead of 150f 210c).
Russian-American Company (III): Card added. No longer activates Frontier Blockhouses. Gather rate for huntables reduced to 20% (from 30%).
TEAM Patriarchy (II): Now reduces Inquisitor train time and coin costs only by -15% (instead of -50%).
[NEW] Treaty of Mozhaysk (II, 350f): Delivers 4 Royal Huntsmen and allows you to train additional Royal Huntsmen from the Royal Embassy.

Spanish

Marvelous Year (III): Gather rate improvements reduced to +15% (down from +20%).

Swedes

Dalkarl Pikemen (IV): Cost reduction changed to 40w 20f (from 25w 25f).
Hakkapelit:
No longer classified as Hand Cavalry.
Hitpoints reduced to 246 (from 252) and Melee damage to 24 (from 26).
Hand Infantry / Hand Cavalry Attack (II): Card removed.
[NEW] Cavalry Damage (II): Card added. Improves all Cavalry damage by 15%.
Finnhorses (IV): Now increases Hussar & Hakkapelits hitpoints by 20% hitpoints (up from 15%). Note this also applies to the Finnish revolution card that affects Dragoons, Cossacks, Oprichniks, and Cavalry Archers, too.
March of the Hakkapelits (II): Speed improvement reduced to +0.10 (down from +0.15).

United States

Buffalo Soldiers (III): Now also increases Carbine Cavalry range by +1.
Carbine Cavalry: Range in Age 3 reduced to 13 (from 14).
General: Now grants 70xp when downed (up from 45).
Kentucky Hunters (III, Kentucky): Now sends 4 Owlhoots (down from 5).
Pennsylvania Cavalry (II, Philadelphia Convention): Corrected costs from 625f to 625c.
Russian-American Company (III): No longer activates Frontier Blockhouses.Gather rate for huntables reduced to 20% (from 30%).
Scottish Immigrants (II): ️Fixed an issue regarding capturable Trading Posts not being considered by this card.
State Capitol: XP reward reduced to 200 (down from 300).
Virginia Plan (II, Virginia): Now takes 50s to arrive (up from 40).

Revolutions

Revolting: Now takes 15s to complete (up from 10s).
Revolutionary: All Revolutionaries and derivates (Khevite Fusiliers, Grenzers, etc.) have their speed reduced to 4.5 (down from 5).
Ottoman Expedition Army (Barbary States, Indonesia): Cost reduced to 1500c (from 1600).

ARGENTINA

Mounted Granadero:
Changed costs to 130f 50c (up from 150f).
Ranged resistance reduced to 20% (down from 30%).
Ranged attack now only deals 50% damage against Light Cavalry and 25% damage against Artillery and Villagers.
Area of attack radius decreased to 2 (down from 2.5).
Granaderos: This card no longer enables Cows.

BARBARY STATES

16 Barbary Warriors (infinite): Increased to 18.
Barbary Combat: Now increases Barbary Warrior hitpoints and damage by +20% (up from 15%).
Barbary Warrior:
Siege damage increased to 16 (from 13).
Cost decreased to 90f (from 100f).

BRAZIL

Voluntario da Patria: Movement speed increased to 4.75 (from 4.5).

CHILE

Revolution: Now delivers 6 Hussars of Death (down from 8).
Fishing Fleet: Corrected the amount of Dock Wagons to 1 (from 2).

FINLAND

Blackberries: Can now be sent infinitely as intended.
Turku Academy: Fixed a glitch that resulted in Explorer abilities being pushed outside the UI through the addition of Field Hospitals and Surgeons.

HUNGARY

6 Grenadiers (infinite): Now sends Hungarian Grenadiers instead of generic ones.
Magyar Hussar: Fixed an issue where the unit did not have increased hitpoints and damage across all Hungarian revolutions.
Cossack: This Russian unit is no longer upgraded to Guard status.
Deli: This Ottoman unit is no longer upgraded to Royal Guard status.
Kovats’ Legion: Now sends 9 (improved) Magyar Hussars (down from 15) and no longer improves their hitpoints.
Magyar Hussars: This spawn card now costs 500c to send.

HAITI

Maroon: Movement speed increased to 5 (from 4.5).

INDONESIA

16 Javanese Spearmen: Increased to 20.
Aceh Pepper Exports: Now re-enables Settlers and Merchants, costing food, instead of Citizens, costing coin. Dutch Merchants, that cost food, are now called Batavian Merchants.
Sumatran Elephants (infinite): Fixed a bug that resulted in increasing the War Elephant population cost by +1 every time the card was sent.
[NEW] Yogyakarta Resistance (250f): Converts all Javanese Spearmen into Revolutionaries.

ROMANIA

Wallachian Horse Archers: Reduced the Cavalry Archer hitpoints penalty to -25% (from -33%).

SOUTH AFRICA

Factory: Card removed.
4 War Wagons: Card added. This card sends Guard War Wagons.
Wagon Warfare: Now enables Guard War Wagons instead of Imperial War Wagons in Stables, but allows researching the latter.

UNITED STATES

Continental Army: Now improves State Militia instead of Prussian Uhlans.

In February we hosted the New Year New Age even which looked ahead to what was coming in the Age of Empires and Age of Mythology franchises. Part of the roster of announcements was revealing a new DLC for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, with a release date of the end of 2024.

With many active projects across the franchise, we’ll be pushing out the release for the DLC to a future date. This decision was not made lightly and is based on the bandwidth of the entire Age team across World’s Edge and our partner studios.

We understand that this will be disappointing for those of you who have been excitedly waiting for news.

We will however be releasing a new update for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. This will go live at 10am PT on October 24th and adds quality of life updates and balance changes.

A big thank you to all of you who continue to play Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition and its existing DLCs.

I say it will come out in Spring 2025 instead. No biggie, they shall take their time, as long as it's good. The new update on Oct 24 will be the first update since January 31, 2024!!

Age of Empires III: Complete Collection - Multiplayer Services Ending October 30


From today, Age of Empires III (2007) will no longer be available for purchase. After many years of support, we will be retiring the title from sale. Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
will continue to be supported.

In addition, on October 30, 2024 at 10am PT multiplayer services for the game will cease to run. This is due to the technology no longer being supported.

If you own the game, you will still be able to play campaign and skirmish content. Online multiplayer is the only area of the game that will no longer be available.

Players can experience Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition on Steam and Windows Store, as well as 4 DLC additions which expand the civilizations and campaigns on offer. A free trial of the game is available on Steam for players who’d like to try the game before purchasing too!

A big thank you to all of the Age of Empires III players around the world.

Link to the announcement: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 1103076467

Farewell sweet prince! 19 years of ESO2 (that's what the ESO service of aoe3 was called, ESO was AoM)

ESOC AUTUMN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024
Get ready for the ultimate clash of legacy civilizations in the ESOC AUTUMN 2024 for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! Top players from around the globe will battle fiercely in this prestigious tournament, showcasing their strategic prowess and mastery of the game. Witness epic battles, clever strategies, and intense competition as participants vie for the title of Autumn Champion. Sign-ups starting soon. ⚔
Note: Only AOE III Legacy civilizations will be permitted for this tournament: Haudenosaunee, Aztec, Ottomans, Russia, India, China, Lakota, Spain, Germany, Portuguese, Japan, Dutch, France and British

Prize Pool & Prize Distribution
$750 Base + Donation Split
1st Place: $400
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
4th Place: $50

Map Pool
The map pool for the event is:
Alaska, Arctic territories, Baja California, Bengal, Cascade Range, Central Plain, Colorado, Dakota, Fertile Crescent, Florida, Gran Chaco, Great Plains, Himalayas, Kamchatka, Korea, Malaysia, Manchuria, Mexico, Mongolia, New England, Painted Desert, Pampas sierras, Punjab, Saguenay, Siberia

Round of 64 - BO5: Kamchatka, Mexico, Painted Desert, Saguenay (random spawn), Fertile Crescent
Round of 32 - BO7: Great Plains, Dakota, Alaska, Korea, Siberia, Central Plains, Bengal
Round of 16 - BO7:: Himalayas, New England, Gran Chaco, Malaysia, Arctic territories, Mexico, Baja California
Round of 8 - BO7: Siberia, Dakota, Pampa's sierras, Florida, Colorado, Mongolia, Painted Desert
Semi-Finals - BO7: Kamchatka, New England, Gran Chaco, Malaysia, Fertile Crescent, Cascade range, Saguenay (random spawn)
Bronze Match BO7: Himalayas, Baja California, Alaska, Colorado, Punjab, Manchuria, Gran Chaco
Finals Match BO9: Arctic territories, Florida, Painted desert, Mexico, Manchuria, Baja California, Pampas sierras, Mongolia, Punjab
Note: All the games will be hosted in a Standard Supremacy format.
Tournament Schedule
Weekly Schedule
Round of 64 - Bo5: September 3rd - September 8
Round of 32 - Bo7: September 9 - September 15
Round of 16 - Bo7: September 16 - September 22
Round of 8 – Bo7: September 23 - September 29
Semi-finals - Bo7: September 30 - October 5
Finals - Bo9: October 6
Bronze match - Bo7: October 6
Note: Times are approximate based on the completion of previous rounds.


Please refer to the document for the tournament rules:

Note: If you have any further questions regarding the rules please contact the tournament admins in ESOC's official Discord channel.

Sign-ups
Sign-ups will be open from Monday 19 August to Sunday, September 1st. You may sign up using the tournament center in MyESOC (Login to your ESOC profile at https://eso-community.net/ and then find the top right corner of your profile name and then select MyESOC).

Hello everyone,

I have very recently announced my public release of my 22 Civilization Supremacy Guide, if you have not seen the announcement yet, feel free to check it out here:



My girlfriend and I have been working on a custom website on which we will release this e-book/e-course on friday 17th, the countdown can be found here:

https://www.tickcounter.com/countdown/5 ... de-release

To sum things up - I want to list what exactly I have been working on for these 6 months and what exactly this guide includes:

1. Two of my favourite build orders for all 22 civilizations in written form (44 build orders total)
2. Decks for all 44 build orders
3. 44 videos of me showing every build order vs AI
4. 44 extra videos of me showing every build vs a pro (Kingu/Kevin/Revnak); These games are actually a good watch regardless of learning the civs on a side note :)
5- 22 brief match-up descriptions for EVERY civilization
6. One additional build order for EVERY civilization for team games (+according decks)
7. Tierlist resulting from my match-up descriptions (my personal opinion)

To all this you can receive your personal access/login starting on friday 17th for a one time price of $19.99 with the intention to make this accessable for EVERYONE

I really hope you get to appreciate this as much as I am hoping you will, enjoy the content :)