I am replaying AoE I campaigns in RoR to prepare for the Chronicles DLC and I feel like the Return of Rome is missing something……oh yeah! It was supposed to be „COMPLETE” AoE I DE port to AoE II. I’m wondering if there is more of us that are not okay with the missing AoE I campaigns in this DLC. I would really like to play Yamato, Reign of the Hittites (the OG one from demo, not the DE) and Pax Romana with QoL improvements. So I’m thinking if there is more of us maybe we let the devs know that we crave for it? Let’s create some demand people!

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Time for another weekly round of questions.

Talk about everything from build orders to advanced strategies.

Whatever your questions, the community is here to answer them.

So ask away.

Hi all,

I'm a noob around 1000 Elo (and growing reasonably fast). I regularly beat Extreme AI on open maps like Arabia.

However, I sometimes trained on closed maps, especially Arena, Black Forest and Michi, and the Extreme AI boomed like crazy. It was so good! When it gets to Imperial age it becomes absolutely unstoppable. I got crushed every time.

So I was wondering:

1. Whan would be an approximate Elo for Extreme AI in these closed maps?
2. How do you counter them (in case you have some tips more deep than just "fast imp with Turks")
3. If some of you beat Extreme AI on Arena, what is your Elo?

Thanks! Cheers!

Some UU Elite upgrades these days are a tad too pricey for what they do, partially due to their non-Elite versions getting stronger. For example, the Elite Samurai upgrade is pretty expensive, but doesn't grant a huge improvement for what it costs, and you'd be better off getting Blast Furnace and Plate Mail Armor first.

If there's one UU Elite upgrade that I think could use a cost decrease, it's the Genoese Crossbowman. You only get +5 HP and slight improvements to their bonus damage vs cavalry, and it's not cheap at 900 food and 750 gold, which sets you back nearly 19 units just in terms of gold. Pretty easy skip if you're not up against a deathball of Paladins, and even then it might be unaffordable in 1v1's.

So, just for discussion, which Elite UU upgrades do you think could afford to have their cost reduced?

So, i just got off an arena match i was Bohemians, and my opponent was Italians. I had castle dropped him, which he countered with his own castle yet i still managed to kill a whole lot of villigers and that was that. Then he was Imp, 10mins before me and he had an army of condetiero, and genoese. And i as bohemians made Cavalier which was the only thing could have made bc of his condetiero although genoese counter that. And i lost horribly although i would have won, if i was another civ. So please anyone have any ideas for what Bohemians can do against Italians? Keep in mind im 1000-1100 elo.

I keep trying to play online and I haven't done it before other that against my husband once. I tried to join a noob game recently and got dropped. I saw next to my name it said 1600, is that my rank/score? I've played a lot, but I have never been good. My strategy isn't great, I'm slow, and I don't know the hot keys. 😂 So I can't imagine that this is accurate. Help! I want to start playing online for fun.

When I was a lower elo Chinese felt like an easy civ to beat because they lack a real power comp in post-imp but at higher elos with the eco lead they start with and the ease they can transition units I’ve been struggling against them.

Is that’s just how it is with this civ at higher elo levels or are there some go tos to beat them?

Will a Teutonic castle out range a Magyar bombard ship?

Hi everyone! I've been waiting to play Nomad map in for ages and I just got 2 in a row and both was against players 30-50% above my ELO. Got carried in 1st and absolutely humiliated in 2nd. So I removed favorite map preference and selected my strongest civ. I think I did well, raided 2 while running away from 3rd player in fact did better than my 2 ally who just refused to leave base even in Imp age till all 3 attacked one of my ally and all other ally did in response - asked us to wait. After game it turned out my ELO was almost 50% below both of my ally, and all opponents was higher rated than them.

I lost half of my ELO since new map pool release. And I don't really care about these fantasy points. But losing 8 out of 10 games for few days in a row doesn't feel right.

So my question is what messing up my match-ups? - It seams like game takes me for much better player than I am actually...

I get that we need balance.

However, there are so many calls for "giving Turks pikemen" or giving "Bulgarians an eco bonus", etc.

I think all this "balancing" is making civs way too similar.

Hear me out on this:

Would it be OP to allow Viking longboats to be able to transport berserkers? Maybe 3 in castle and 5 when upgraded to elite? It would be completely historically accurate and I don’t think it would be out of balance, or am I way off?

So, i just played 5 games and 2 of them crashed for everyone. Thats not good.

The more I play the more I realize how awful this civ is on Arabia. People dog on Sicillians and Dravidians but Japanese truly have bigger problems. You have no good units outside of halbs late game. Lacking +4 armor your cav die even to bracer skirms. You have arbalest and CA but your opponent just makes skirms which you don't have a good answer to. Other arbalest civs make up for this with much better bonuses or better eco (ex: Britons, Ethiopians, Vikings). Japanese really only have generic arbs / CA. Sure the +2 bonus damage with CA is cute but this barely matters. Their eco bonus is arguably one of the best EARLY game but past early feudal this -50 wood becomes irrelevant and other civs pull ahead.

Castle age you play with generic units and a generic eco. Not the worst, not the best, but it all falls apart in imp. You now are playing with worse units. Worse cav. Worse arbs. Worse siege.

Lacking bombard cannon means you're on the back foot in treb wars. Coupled with you not having the +4 armor means there's no chance you're diving trebs. Kataparuto is cute but again it's not Warwulf, Counterweights, or Timurid.

It seems they only have good matchup against cav civs with their halbs and win the super-super late game with champions if you somehow manage to survive til then. But early imp arbalest+onager or CA+light cav both are very lackluster. Going for Cavalier feels even worse. I laugh thinking "Man even if I was Dravidians, Sicillians, or Bulgarians I might have a chance here. But Japanese? What do I even make?"

Is it powercreep? Does Japanese need a boost? And then comes the issue is if you raise their power on land maps do you risk "breaking" them on water maps?

I am wondering of Chronicles Is the starting point of a complete new branch of AoE2 that will lead to have it's own ladder. From the announcement It seems that there are so many differences that balancing new civs with old civs will be impossible.

What do you think about It?

There are numerous discussions on Reddit, the Age of Empires forums, and other online platforms about Co-Op content for Age of Empires 2. However, I haven't found a single resource that compiles all this content, so this list is an attempt to bring it together. Fans of Co-Op content often express frustration with the development teams for not creating Co-Op versions of newer campaigns. In the Definitive Edition, there are 39 official scenarios designed for easy play. This list, however, includes over 200 Co-Op scenarios. Some of them are great, others less successful in their Co-Op conversion. I have tried to mark this with asterisks - please refer to the notes at the bottom for more details.

Most of titles below includes a link to the official Age of Empires mod website. To play the campaign or scenario, you need to launch the game and subscribe to the mods.

Official campaigns (33)
Alaric (5)
Attila the Hun (6) 
Saladin (6)
Suryavarman I (5)
Tamerlane (6)
Tariq ibn Ziyad (5)

Official scenarios (6)
Bapheus
Hastings
Honfoglalás
Kurikara
Tours
The Siege

Official campaigns (86) - community release
Almeida* (5)
Barbarossa (6)
Bari (5)
Bayinnaung* (5)
El Cid (6)
Gajah Mada* (5)
Genghis Khan (6)
Ivaylo* (5)
Joan of Arc (6)
Kotyan* (5)
Le Loi* (6)
Montezuma (6)
Prithviraj* (5)
Sundjata* (5)
Vlad Dracula (5)
Yodit* (5)

Official scenarios (9) - community release
Agincourt
Barbarossa Brawl
Kyoto
Lepanto
Manzikert
Mongol raiders
Noryang Point
Vinlandsaga
York

Community campaigns (91)
An Unholy Alliance** (?)
Apranik (5)
Charles Martel (9)
Douglas Gyasi: Golden Chancellor** (5)
Flavius Justinian** (7)
Julius Caesar Part 1 (7)
Julius Caesar Part 2 (4)
Julius Caesar Part 3 (5)
Kings of West Africa (9)
Rainulf Drengot** (5)
Reconquista (8)
Rise Of The Abbasids** (5)
Robert the Bruce** (6)
Taizu of the Song Dynasty** (6)
The Golden Horde II - The Last Khans** (3)
The Rise of Tamerlane** (4)
The Jarls of Jelling** (3)

Community scenarios (7)
Finehair - The Conquest of Norway
Francis Drake on the Spanish
Haiku of the Ronin
Kaesong**
Last stand at Orkney
Shimazu - Daimyo of the Nine Provinces
Wreck of the Santa Maria

• Total Co-Op maps available: 232

Official campaigns not converted (73)
Sforza*** (5) - The Forgotten
Pachacuti*** (5) - Definitive Edition
Edward Longshanks (5) - Lords of the West
The Grand Dukes of the West (6) - Lords of the West
The Hautevilles (5) - Lords of the West
Algirdas and Kestutis (5) - Dawn of the Dukes
Jadwiga (6) - Dawn of the Dukes
Jan Zizka (6) - Dawn of the Dukes
Babur (5) - Dynasties of India
Rajendra (5) - Dynasties of India
Devapala (5) - Dynasties of India
Tamar (5) - The Mountain Royals
Thoros II (5) - The Mountain Royals
Ismail (5) - The Mountain Royals

Official scenarios not converted (4)
Dos Pilas*** - The Forgotten
Bukhara*** - The Forgotten
Cyprus*** - The Forgotten
Lake Poyang*** - The Forgotten

AOE 2 DE & decryption
Almost all pre-Definitive Edition campaigns for Age of Empires 2 have been converted for Co-Op play. However, campaigns released after the Definitive Edition have remained unconverted because the developers started encrypting their content. While this decision makes sense from a business perspective, it limits the community’s ability to access campaign assets or modify maps, such as adapting them for Co-Op play.

Below is a link to a post where a user claims to have created and shared a tool for decrypting these newer campaigns. If this tool works as described, it could allow the community to convert the 77 remaining encrypted scenarios for Co-Op gameplay.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/813780/discussions/0/4340987530084146540/

Co-Op conversion contributors
Jaden Vance - Currently active
GabbyIsland8117 - Last active: 28/10/2023
GingerCat868 - Last active: 20/04/2023
kL1x - Last active: 07/06/2023
Kyu_enysomenm - Last active: 14/02/2024
Rayo9228 - Last active: 25/03/2021

Krambas - Last active: 06/06/2021
Support Krambas work: https://buymeacoffee.com/kramb 

Notes
* = Converted directly without changes. Same pop limit, same resources, same AI etc.
** = Many bugs, problems or unplayable
*** = Campaigns that can be converted without decryption

I will update this post with the missing details. 

Most of the converted campaigns are not original works by the Co-Op converters. The campaigns are made by skilled creators which as attributed on each campaign found on the link. My focus here is on the individuals converting these campaigns and scenarios, as their efforts make it possible for Co-Op fans to enjoy the extensive Age of Empires 2 content library in a new way.

Some of these converters are active on Reddit, but I’ve chosen not to include their names here to respect their privacy. You can reach out to them through the Age of Empires forums.

If you know of any creators with platforms like Patreon or “Buy Me a Coffee,” let me know, and I’ll add those details to support their work.

Does anyone know how the coastal Forest ranked map chooses your start position? It almost appears random, but maybe it's not?

Let's say you want to go Cavalry Archer + Light Cavalry with Poles on Arabia. For those units, Poles have the following upgrades:

• Feudal: Bloodlines, Blacksmith upgrades

• Castle: Husbandry, Thumb Ring, Light Cavalry, Ballistics, Blacksmith upgrades

• Imperial: Heavy Cavalry Archer, Winged Hussar, Unique tech, Chemistry, Blacksmith upgrades

There has to be some mathematically correct order for every build, assuming you never tech switch, perhaps also a minimum number of units that you should have before researching each upgrade.

Example: the Light Cavalry upgrade costs 150 food and 55 gold and adds +4 attack +15 HP, while Iron Casting costs 220f and 120g and adds +1 attack. The Light Cavalry upgrade is way better. Then there is the option to make more scouts instead of researching Light Cavalry. One scout costs 80f, has 3 attack and takes 30s to create, while Light Cavalry takes 45s to research. So it should be worth it to research Light Cavalry if you have 5 or more scouts on the field (5x4=20 vs 6.5x3=19.5), ignoring Iron Casting.

Is there some kind of guide that breaks each tech down like this? I know Hera did something vaguely equivalent for blacksmith upgrades, but there is a lot more to this than just the blacksmith.

It would look better.

https://preview.redd.it/mxjph2uu7lyd1.png?width=564&format=png&auto=webp&s=db1f6d848e3a20ef3d3c19762bcc6df40664b65b

I believe I figured out a possible solution to the Elo Problem.

First, I want to define what I mean by "the Elo problem." There's already been some great discussions about this topic (see Spirit of the Law's take here), but the problem more or less encompasses three things:

1. New ladder players are added at 1000 Elo (the theoretical "average"), but the average ladder player is actually way better then the average new ladder player. New players are getting stomped on until they reach their "true Elo," causing many to just give up on the ladder after badly losing a few games.
2. The average Elo has already been compromised. When a new ladder player loses a game, they lose 50 Elo while the victor only gains the mathematical Elo they should have (if they're both 1000 Elo, the victor gains 16 Elo - see the Elo system explained here). This means new players are actually put into the system as higher than the average player because the "true average" is now less than 1000.
3. Players who have a "true Elo" around 1000 are running into new players, causing unbalanced matches and resulting in artificial Elo inflation for those 1000 Elo players.

Now, let's also define a few things that a true Elo system should have to maintain its integrity.

1. A fixed average (generally 1000 Elo).
2. An equal number of Elo points being gained and lost (For instance, if Player A beats Player B and gains 18 Elo, Player B also loses 18 Elo, maintaining the average).

A number of solutions have been proposed, including the current one (new players lose 50 Elo when they lose), making the starting Elo 800 instead, having people self-report their perceived Elo to choose where they start, or having AI placement matches to determine your Elo. While all these solutions would fix the problem for new ladder players to some extent, they all compromise the Elo system in one way or another.

So here's how we solve the Elo problem.

1. New Players start by doing 2-3 "placement matches" against the AI. The computer would take measurements (things like apm, idle TC time, floating resources, military count, overall score, etc.) to identify approximately what a player's "true Elo" is.
2. New Players are then put into the ladder with (1) their written/visible Elo (which would be 1000) and (2) a "true Elo" that's hidden. They keep their written Elo, but are matched up against their "true Elo."
3. After 10 or so games (maybe 20, not entirely sure), the "true Elo" is discarded and whatever their written Elo is becomes their actual Elo.

What would this look like? For a new player who the computer determines is around 700 Elo level, their "written Elo" would be 1000 but their "hidden/true Elo" would be 700. Let's say their first game is against another 700 Elo player.
- If they win, their written Elo would only go up by around 2 or 3 (since they're rated at such a higher Elo), and the loser would go down by only 2 or 3. Their hidden Elo would increase by 16 (K=32) and so their next match would be against someone around 716 Elo.
- If they lose, their written Elo would drop by about 30 and the winner would increase by that same amount. Their hidden Elo would decrease by 16 (K=32) and their next match would be against someone around 684 Elo.

The idea is that across 10 matches, the new player should win about 5 games and lose about 5 games, all played against someone around their true Elo. However, their written Elo should have dropped by well over a hundred since their written Elo was so much higher. They'll only gain a little bit for every win, but they'll lose a lot for every loss. (It's also worth thinking about raising the K value for their hidden Elo so that they get into their Elo bracket even faster in the case that the computer doesn't correctly identify their level).

Obviously there will still be a *little bit* of Elo inflation when the person already on the ladder wins, because their Elo will essentially be going up double what it should be. But I think that's more or less okay. It's only 10-15 more Elo than they would have gotten anyway, and it shouldn't matter too much at the lower Elo levels. It won't be that common because it will be spread out across whatever Elo levels new players happen to be. In any case, it's certainly better than concentrating all the Elo inflation right at 1000 Elo.

So...thoughts anyone?

Recently as a long time Age of Empires 2 player, I have noticed a certain trend that i could not hold off on writing about. It is the issue of nerfing or out right removing special features of a civ (for example, the saracens can no longer properly do the market trade, the flesmish militia is no a completely un-usable tactic etc). This has made the game stale and the civs play like each other with little to know uniqueness in them.

Hi, everyone, I hope you can help me with the next issue I have playing the mission Reconquista from El Cid campaign. The problem is that went it comes to destroy the Black Guard Army (the blue ones), it doesn't mark as they we're defeated even if I destroy every single building, so I can't win the map. Nonetheless, the other two enemies do appear as defeated normally.

Thanks for reading and hope someone can figure it out

So, I've been a huge fan of this game as many of us, and recently I started playing ranked games. I enjoy this game, still learning and trying to climb ELO just for one single reason : So I can play with decent players who aren't quitters or sims players. Or with those who have some common sense.

I know it's something I can't avoid at lower ELO but damn I am starting to lose will to play it.

This picture is just an example of one of players I stumble up on. Coastal map, flank player deletes his TC and goes into wood. I am like dude we will help you don't do that please, we will help with walling and push early, you aren't alone etc... I even started building houses around his base when the game (and his drama) started. He is like : my game my rules...and he went into woods and did nothing whole game. + he was rude.

At the end we won and he was just laughing at woods doing nothing.

I reported some players, but still it is very annoying and killing game enjoyment.

If there is any good soul who understands this pain, please report player Stu Trex. Thanks in advance.

- If anyone understood wrong : I have problem with griefers and quitters only , NOT with players who are new or don't know how to play good. I am new myself in ranked and still learning from every game.

https://preview.redd.it/h30hnob22kyd1.png?width=1597&format=png&auto=webp&s=29cab3719efeaae0edc919e951e588fd935275b4

Playing ranked casually with friends (~800 elo, couple dozen games)

Our win strat often ends up being my Monaspa death ball that jumps around the enemies’ rear raiding. Super fun for me. Not that fun for my friends.

I wanna find a civ that can do things like boom and send tribute or heal or whatever else will make the game more fun for my friends, since I’m way more into it than they are.

I tried Spanish but I really hated playing as them. Any other suggestions?