User blog:Nanomat/Age of Empires II HD Patch 5.2

Patch Notes – Open Beta 5.2Thank you for your ongoing feedback and support!

This open beta has significant improvements to the network speed system. Our testing has shown a noticeable improvement on faster connections and we encourage everyone to take a look at this build and let us know what you think!

We have also included some bug fixes and balance improvements based on your feedback. Moving forward we will continue to monitor the forums and work towards addressing the issues that are important to you.

We are looking forward to hearing what you think!

Improved Network Speeds:*Removed the added network delay on game start
 * Lowered the minimum command delay to allow max performance on faster machines
 * Improved the throttling system to allow for faster network speeds (where applicable).

Community Focused Fixes:*Saving during a game should no longer cause a desync when watching the replay
 * Full Random should no longer select maps the player does not own
 * Rise of Rajas main menu music should now randomly be selected
 * Player units should no longer get stuck in forests or be able to pass through walls
 * AI should attack correctly and no longer freeze during a game
 * AI improvements when sn-enable-patrol-attack set to 1:
 * Soldiers should no longer get stuck in animation loops
 * Soldiers should now attack the wonder correctly
 * Villagers should now respond to weak units attacking
 * Villagers should now attack towers correctly inside town-size

Additional Bug Fixes:*Spectators should no longer crash when opening the tech tree in the game lobby
 * AI Huns housing bonus should now function correctly with the original dataset
 * Le Loi 5 AI should now attack correctly
 * Bayinnaung 1 cinematics should now appear correctly

Balance Improvements:*Malay cheaper fishing ship cost removed
 * Malay Battle elephants 25% cheaper (rather than 20%)
 * Malay age up bonus decreased from 100% to 80%
 * Elite Rattan Archers +1 bonus attack vs infantry removed
 * Elite Camel Archers +1 bonus attack vs infantry removed
 * Elite Karambit warrior pierce armor reduced from 2 to 1
 * Arquebus speed modifier on bombard cannons and bombard towers removed
 * Harbors reload time increased from 2.5s to 3s
 * Harbors HP reduced from 2200 to 2000 (docks are 1800)
 * Elite Arambai search radius increased by 2 (so they target easier)
 * Manipur Cavalry effect now split evenly over armor classes 21 and 11 (so researching masonry negates 50% of the effect)

How to access the Beta Branch:*In Steam, right click on Age of Empires II: HD (while the game is not running). INFORMATION SOURCES: Steam, Official Site
 * Select Properties.
 * Select the BETAS tab.
 * From the drop down, select Open Beta – Patch 5.2.
 * Exit and restart Steam to ensure the update installs correctly.
 * To go back to the Live Build, select None in the BETAS tab dropdown.