The Age of Empires IV community is talking with news as the game receives its latest update, Patch 13.0.4343, released on April 9, 2025. This patch primarily focuses on balancing the variant civilizations introduced with the Knights of Cross and Rose expansion, especially addressing feedback regarding the dominance of the House of Lancaster.
The developers are scaling back the strength of specific units to promote fairer gameplay dynamics while continuing to monitor community feedback during the ranked season.
Patch Notes Highlights
Here’s what you can expect from this new patch:
General Changes & Bugfixes
- Fixes potential crash in Agincourt Historical Battle.
Variant Civilization Changes
The following changes apply only to the variant versions of the classic civilizations. Variant civilizations share many changes made to their parent civilization listed above.
- House of Lancaster
- Veteran Demilancer health decreased from 170 → 160.
- Veteran Demilancer damage decreased from 10 → 9 (charge from 15 → 14).
- Elite Demilancer health decreased from 240 → 200.
- Elite Demilancer damage decreased from 18 → 14 (charge from 27 -> 21).
- Billmen upgrade armor reduction effect decreased from -2/-2 → -1/-1.
- Synchronized Shot damage decreased from 6/7/8 → 5/6/7 (Feudal/Veteran/Elite tiers).
- Civilization Trait – Wool Industries’ additional gather rate from sheep decreased from 25% → 20%.
- Manors:
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- Manor income decreased from 70 food and 45 wood → 60 food and 45 wood.
- Open Field System upgrade cost increased from 150 wood and 350 gold →200 wood and 400 gold.
- Castle Lancaster:
- Muster the Nobles cost increased from150 food and 250 gold→200 food and300 gold.
- Wynguard Palace:
- Earl’s Retinue train time increased from45→50 seconds.
- Gunpowder Contingent cost increased from 800 wood and 850 gold→850 wood and 1050 gold.
- Garrison Command train time increased by 25→30 seconds.
- Serjeant health increasedfrom95→105. Veteran and Elite unchanged.
- Heavy Spearman costincreasedfrom70foodand30gold→80 food and 30 gold.
- Pilgrims can no longer travel on Stone Walls.
- Pilgrim Ship speed reducedfrom1.5→1.0.
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This patch reflects the developer’s responsiveness to player concerns, reinforcing their commitment to balance in competitive play. Players looking for detailed information on everything included in Patch Notes can find more details at https://www.ageofempires.com/news/age-of-empires-iv-patch-13-0-4343/.
