Update 125283 is an update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and Return of Rome which was released on October 15, 2024. It features the return of the Empire Wars 1v1 ladder (replacing the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado ladder introduced earlier), bug fixes, improvements to Victors and Vanquished scenarios, new Quality of Life features, and balance changes.
Game[]
Stability and performance[]
- The game will no longer momentarily display a black screen on lower spec machines while switching between Age of Empires II and Return of Rome modes.
- Fixed an issue where a black screen softlock could be encountered when restoring a save file of a custom campaign.
- Fixed an issue where the game would freeze in certain situations (was encountered mostly when playing custom scenarios).
- Fixed a crash which could occur when targeting movable objects on impassable tiles.
Graphics[]
- Bamboo tree graphics (including felled and stumps) are no longer reduced by Small Trees option.
Audio[]
- Menu narrator no longer plays if the window is out of focus.
UI[]
- Bridges are now displayed on the mini map with the same color as shallows terrain.
- Corrected the 4v4 map size given in the Ranked Team Queue menu from "normal" to "large".
- Civilization Selection:
- The civilization selection dialog sports a new look, where the new design includes the ability to mark civilizations as starred. On Console, the dialog now also uses a grid instead of a carousel, making it easier to select any civilization.
- Added the Custom civilization selection mode, which chooses randomly from starred civilizations.
Hotkeys[]
- Changed the default Drop Off Resources hotkey for HD preset from A to Z, preventing the conflict with Economic Buildings hotkey.
Xbox[]
- Fixed an issue where the mouse could not be used in the settings menu.
Gameplay[]
General[]
- Deer being pushed will ignore small obstacles such as resources and continue in the intended direction where possible.
- Pressing Alt + set gather point hotkey will now set the Gather Point of a building to itself. For Xbox users, this can be activated by right trigger + right shoulder button when the building has already been selected.
- When setting gather points, holding SHIFT will allow spawning units to follow multiple waypoints.
- Assisted Farm placement can now place Farms around Town Center foundations.
Fixes[]
- Fixed an issue where Kings were occasionally able to attempt to attack ordinary units.
- Fixed an issue where players would be unable to send invites if they started and then stopped queuing in the same session without returning to the main menu.
- Fixed a bug where Monks would fail to drop Relics in a Monastery if the one was attempting to shift drop a Relic while having Legacy Command Queue enabled.
- 1 hit point Mongol Scout Cavalry with Bloodlines no longer die when reaching Castle Age.
Campaign[]
General[]
- Added estimated completion times to tooltips for all Victors and Vanquished scenarios.
Campaign scenarios[]
Babur #2: The Last Timurids: Fixed an issue where player would receive gold per second instead of per killed unit and destroyed building.
Gajah Mada #4: Serving the New King: Player now has the intended population limit (125).- Gaiseric:
- Player begins with more resources on all difficulties.
- Player begins with more units on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Player begins with Feudal Age Blacksmith upgrades on Standard difficulty.
- Added cap on Huns spawn to improve late game performance.
- Mauri AI is more active as intended.
- Mauri begins with Stables and can train Camel Riders and Camel Archers.
- Comitatenses AI attacks slightly more frequently.
- Vortigern:
- Sword rating changed from 2 to 3.
- Romano-British changed from Byzantines to Romans civilization.
- Player begins with more resources on Moderate difficulty.
- Enemies spawn fewer units on Moderate difficulty.
- Saxons AI receives fewer resources whenever Saxons are recruited on Moderate difficulty.
- Number of Saxons recruited now appears on objectives panel.
- Charlemagne:
- Main objective reworked. Build a Wonder or Defeat all enemies objective is now replaced by an objective to attain an Imperial Score of 100 by finding scholars (+10 each), building a Wonder (+20), defeating enemies (+20 each), and completing secondary objectives (+10 each).
- Imperial Age is now unlocked by attaining 70+ Imperial Score.
- Charlemagne hero updated to existing Charlemagne hero.
- Charlemagne hero begins with more hit points on Standard difficulty.
- Charlemagne hero receives additional Hit Points and Attack on reaching the Pope.
- Player begins with more resources on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Population limit changed to 200.
- Additional paths added to Saxon forest.
- Saxons have fewer and more consolidated bases.
- Saxons can now advance to the Castle Age.
- Saxons and Avars now research economic technologies.
- Lombards begin with a Castle.
- Lombards and Umayyads will no longer rebuild lost Town Centers.
- Lombards and Umayyads will no longer rebuild lost Castles.
- Free Play mode added.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Ragnar:
- Sword rating changed from 2 to 3.
- Areas that can be settled are marked with a Flare as they are discovered.
- Start with a warband on Standard difficulty.
- Recommended early raiding and settlement targets are revealed on Standard difficulty.
- Lindisfarne is no longer revealed on Standard difficulty.
- Villagers cannot be attacked by enemies on Standard difficulty.
- Raid frequency is reduced on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Camera now moves to Jomsvikings and base is revealed when challenged.
- Objective to Challenge the Jomsvikings now specifies that the player must research a custom technology.
- Message announcing ability to challenge the Jomsviking now specifies that the player must research a custom technology.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Ironside:
- Primary objective to destroy Wonders reduced from destroying 4 to 3 Wonders.
- Additional Wonder target option added: Basilica of Ragusa.
- Hero units are stronger.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Finehair: Battering Rams can now be built at a capturable Siege Workshop in Denmark.
- Robert:
- Timer no longer ends the scenario. Instead, the King of the Franks and all dukes who do not support the player become hostile.
- Timer added on Moderate difficulty. Timer is set to 120 minutes on Moderate / 90 minutes on Hard difficulty.
- Timer is disabled if at war with the King of the Franks.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Various cosmetic updates to map.
- Otto:
- Player begins with a Market and additional units on all difficulties.
- Player begins with more resources and Relics on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Player begins with Watch Towers on Standard difficulty.
- Player begins with Man-at-Arms researched on Standard difficulty.
- German dukes begin with more resources and larger armies.
- Dukes begin with more loyalty on Hard difficulty.
- Dukes will rebuild Town Centers after a delay; will not rebuild Town Centers while enemy units are in their vicinity.
- Dukes can now be defeated by enemy forces.
- Vikings, Wends, and Magyars have higher population limits, train more units, have access to more resources, and advance further technologically on Moderate and Hard difficulties.
- Vikings, Wends, Magyars, and West Francia no longer rebuild lost Town Centers.
- Magyars and West Francia no longer rebuild lost Castles.
- Numbers of Castles and Town Centers to destroy to defeat enemy factions reduced.
- Bases of Vikings AI player are now connected by Shallows to improve scenario pacing and AI performance.
- Defeat condition for Wends changed from all Pagan Shrines destroyed to no Castles and 2 or fewer Town Centers.
- West Francia begins in the Castle Age.
- West Francia will now become hostile under more conditions, even if the German dukes remain loyal.
- Removed excess Italian Monks, Villagers, and Pigs.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Various cosmetic updates to map.
- Seljuk:
- Begin with more units on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Receive more resources after completing the opening sequence on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Receive more resources after capturing each Ox Cart on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Seljuk hit points increased on Moderate difficulty.
- Subsequent hero hit points increased on all difficulties.
- Trebuchets and Petards are enabled in the respective Ages.
- Ghaznavids AI now gathers resources, trains units, and attacks.
- Ghaznavids changed from Tatars to Hindustanis civilization with Tatars architecture.
- Ghaznavid Genitours, Savars, and War Elephants removed. Cannot train these units.
- Ghaznavids begin with fewer units.
- Ghaznavids can be defeated by destroying two of three Castles.
- Byzantines AI now gathers resources, trains units, and attacks on accession of Alp Arslan.
- Gates added to Byzantine Fortified Walls at Manzikert.
- Byzantine Wonder defenses adjusted.
- Northern flanking passageway to Manzikert now blocked by Palisade Wall.
- Byzantines Imperial Legionaries changed to Legionaries. Can train Legionaries.
- Buyids AI now gathers resources, trains units, and attacks.
- Buyids begin with fewer units.
- Buyids military units in agriculture areas around Baghdad removed when Baghdad captured.
- Kipchaks and Kara-Khanids AIs will now train units and launch attacks.
- Resources added to various areas of the map.
- An additional five Imams can be found.
- An additional two Gaia Villagers can be found.
- Additional Forage Bushes and Trees added to the northern steppe.
- Allying with the Kara-Khanids provides more resources.
- Kara-Khitai spawn rate reduced.
- Capturable Villagers now show correct unit information.
- Receive more resources when capturing Baghdad.
- Karlsefni: Additional Skraelings spawn in Vinland over time scaled by difficulty.
- Komnenos:
- Can no longer accidentally "aggro" enemies while collecting supporters for the coup attempt.
- Dock area in Constantinople updated to reduce pathing issues when attacking the Emperor's bodyguard.
- Player begins with more resources on all difficulties.
- Base tax revenue increased on all difficulties.
- Starting legitimacy level is increased on all difficulties.
- Alexios Komnenos moves more quickly and has more hitpoints and attack on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Legitimacy penalty for losing units and buildings is reduced on Standard difficulty.
- Legitimacy penalty for losing units is increased on Hard difficulty.
- Legitimacy slowly declines over time on Hard difficulty.
- Varangian hit points reduced from 112 to 82.
- Pretenders now receive Dromons.
- A Fatimid army now patrols between their two cities on Hard difficulty.
- Fixed error where Seljuks and Normans AI were not receiving the correct amounts of resources.
- Seljuks and Normans will now upgrade their units more quickly.
- Normans will now research Hauberk and Gambesons.
- Bombard Tower technology disabled as intended.
- Terrain adjusted so that Seljuk Turks will no longer attack the Castle in Constantinople from across the Bosporus.
- Various cosmetic updates to map.
- Stephen:
- Sword rating changed from 2 to 3.
- Captured Castles are replaced by the player's Castles to benefit from upgrades.
- Player begins with a Battering Ram on all difficulties.
- Player begins with more units and Donjons on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Player begins with Relics on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Player begins with more resources on Moderate difficulty.
- Map contains more Gold Mines on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Scottish siege units will no longer spawn in an inaccessible area.
- Objectives now specify that the Tower of London must not be destroyed.
- Various cosmetic updates to map.
- Temujin:
- Khurims provide additional Villagers.
- Razing Xi Xia and Great Jin buildings provides Food and Wood on all difficulties.
- Razing nomadic buildings provide Food and Wood on Standard difficulty.
- Additional Mangudai will spawn if military population is low on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Additional Villagers and Mangudai will spawn if all Villagers are lost on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Temujin benefits from technologies as intended.
- Choice of marriage partner provides a small benefit (Tatars: 4 Heavy Camel Riders, Keraits: 3 Horses, Naimans: 2 Monks).
- AI will no longer attack captured Horses.
- Horse Line of Sight reduced.
- Declaring war on the Tatars per Ong Khan's request now provides an instant 500 food and 500 wood as well as the 600 gold for killing 8 Tatar units.
- Declaring war on the Xi Xia per Ong Khan's request now provides an instant 500 food and 500 wood as well as the 600 gold for razing 10 Xi Xia buildings.
- Enemy factions will train more units and attack more frequently.
- Xi Xia and Great Jin will now tribute excess food to the Naimans and Kereyids, respectively.
- Mstislav:
- Villagers can now be selected and tasked; can only build Farms and repair.
- Villagers can now be targeted by Rus' enemies on Moderate and Hard difficulties.
- Mongols feint and attack sequence works as intended.
- Mongols will now execute an attack plan against the Rus' cities.
- Rus' cities will remain active during Mongols invasion.
- Rus' cities now receive additional resources to train units during Mongols invasion.
- Fixed issue where recruited Teutonic Order units were on No Attack stance.
- Adjusted positioning of buildings in starting town to facilitate AI targeting.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Fixed an issue on console where Elite Druzhina upgrade did not appear in the command menu.
- Various cosmetic updates to map.
- Constantine XI:
- Villager count on Standard difficulty reduced to 21 Villagers (same as Moderate) but Villager and Fishing productivity doubled.
- Player begins with more resources on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Player begins with Fishing Ships on Standard difficulty.
- Ottomans receive Artillery for final waves on Moderate and Hard difficulties.
- Fetih:
- Begin with more resources on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- More Gold and Stone Mines added outside Constantinople.
- Timer requirement removed.
- Added new primary objective to destroy all Byzantine Castles.
- Added new primary objective to kill Orhan Celebi.
- Added new primary objective to kill Theophilos Palaiologos.
- Added new primary objective to kill Giovanni Giustiniani.
- Locations of all objectives are marked with Flares.
- Secondary objective to lose fewer than 500 units removed.
- Added new secondary objective choice: can either capture Galata peacefully for Gold or attack the city with different results.
- Genoese Galata now is allied with the player to support the new secondary objective.
- Genoese Galata begins with more Galleons.
- Date advances more slowly on all difficulties from 90/60/40 seconds per day on Standard/Moderate/Hard to 120/90/60 seconds per day; this will make completing the "Faster than a Speeding Cannonball" Achievement easier.
- Date stops advancing on June 30, 1453.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Giovanni Giustiniani has correct name.
- Shimazu:
- Sword rating changed from 2 to 3.
- Siege Workshop is no longer disabled; provides access to Battering Rams, Onagers, and all associated Japanese unit upgrades.
- Captured Castles are replaced by the player's Castles to benefit from upgrades.
- Player begins with more resources on Standard and Moderate difficulties.
- Finding shipwrecks provides more Gold on Standard difficulty.
- Losing Gold for kills no longer occurs on Standard difficulty.
- Gold amount lost per kill reduced from 10 to 4 and 2 on Hard and Moderate difficulties, respectively.
- Objective to defeat the Shogun no longer requires destroying the Shogun's Castles on Honshu. Instead, Shogun's Army must be reduced to 0 units only.
- Razing Korean buildings reduces the Shogun's ire on all difficulties.
- Razing Korean building provides more Gold on all difficulties.
- Shogun has fewer units on Moderate difficulty.
- Shogun has additional units on Hard difficulty.
- Shogun Transport Ships will now begin landings before changing diplomacy to mitigate Transport Ship sniping.
- Shogun AI will declare war if it loses any units to Attack Ground.
- Shogun now has more coastal defenses.
- Message timings and conditions adjusted to prevent too many messages appearing in quick succession.
- Nobunaga:
- Main objective updated to defeat 4 clans instead of 5.
- Enemy players build fewer Castles and Town Centers.
- Fixed reversed operator signs on certain AI unit training instructions that made the scenario unintentionally difficult on Standard difficulty.
- Drake:
- Sword rating changed from 1 to 2.
- Diego and Le Testu will be revealed after some time if previously missed.
Balance changes[]
General[]
- Standard units
- (Elite) Battle Elephant conversion resistance increased from 0 → 2, increasing minimum/maximum conversion times by +2.5 in-game seconds.
- Crossbowman upgrade cost reduced from 175 food, 125 gold → 175 food, 100 gold.
- Arbalester upgrade cost reduced from 450 food, 400 gold → 450 food, 350 gold.
- Siege units
- Battering Ram attack vs. buildings increased from 125 → 150.
- Capped Ram attack vs. buildings increased from 150 → 160.
- Armored Elephant attack vs. buildings increased from 75 → 90.
- (Heavy) Scorpion projectiles now affected by Ballistics.
- Fortifications
- Palisade Gate base armor increased from 2/2 → 2/4.
- Market
- Trade Cart and Trade Cog collision size multiplier reduced from 0.5 → 0.25, making bumping while trading less likely.
- Market base exchange rates for food prices increased from 100 → 115, so initial food prices are more expensive and selling provides more gold. Wood and Stone exchange rates are unchanged.
Aztecs[]
- Military units create faster civilization bonus increased from 11% → 15%.
Bohemians[]
- Non-Elite Hussite Wagon train time increased from 26 seconds → 30 seconds.
Byzantines[]
- Fire Galley line and Dromons attack faster civilization bonus reduced from 25% → 20%.
Chinese[]
- Fixed an issue where the team bonus effect was providing slightly different than intended bonus Farm food amounts.
Dravidians[]
- Thirisadai base range increased from 6 → 7.
Georgians[]
- (Elite) Monaspa hit points reduced from 75 (90) → 70 (80).
Huns[]
- Hunnic Horse that spawns on Nomadic maps movement speed reduced from 1.2 → 1.05 in the Dark Age.
Khmer[]
- (Elite) Ballista Elephant projectiles now affected by Ballistics.
Koreans[]
- Elite Turtle Ship upgrade cost reduced from 1,000 food, 800 gold → 650 food, 500 gold.
- (Elite) Turtle Ship base movement speed increased from 0.9 (1.035) → 1.05.
Persians[]
- (Elite) War Elephant conversion resistance increased from 0 → 2, increasing minimum/maximum conversion times by +2.5 in-game seconds.
Poles[]
- New civilization bonus: Bloodlines and Scout Cavalry-line upgrades cost -50% food.
Portuguese[]
- (Elite) Caravel train time reduced from 36 seconds → 25 seconds.
- Non-Elite Organ Gun train time increased from 21 seconds → 25 seconds.
Romans[]
- Civilization bonus that benefits Scorpions wording adjusted, since all civilizations' Scorpions are now affected by Ballistics.
Lobbies and matchmaking[]
General[]
- 1v1 Empire Wars is available again, replacing the Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado ladder.
- Muting a player in lobby now mutes this player globally instead of only in the current lobby session.
AI[]
General[]
- Fixed a bug where the AI sometimes opens with an Archery Range on random map Castle Age starts.
- Improved the AI's ability to handle non-standard age starts on Random Map and Empire Wars more generally.
Pathfinding[]
- Fixed excessive sideways movement of large groups when retreating in formation while performing hit and run attacks.
- Fixed an issue where units would occasionally be able to go through walls, especially if the game was recently restored from a save game.
- Fixed an issue where groups of units would not have correct pathfinding in cases when some units in the group are stuck.
Scripting[]
- Number of available goals increased from 512 to 16,000.
Localization[]
General[]
- Stephen and Komnenos scenarios now display correct dates in their descriptions when using Latin American Spanish language.
Modding[]
General[]
- Updated Advanced Genie Editor to the latest version (various display improvements).
- .xaml and other UI files will always be displayed by mods.
- The intended gather point for herdables can now be configured by dropsites.json
Fixes[]
- Fixed an issue where Warrior Priests would sometimes choose to attack, even if the convert command was selected first before right clicking a unit.
Age of Empires: Return of Rome[]
Hotkeys[]
- Changed the default Cancel build hotkey in HD hotkey preset to unassigned.
Campaign[]
- AI script error no longer occurs in several Glory of Greece campaign scenarios.
