On time for AoE2:DE, a re-edited revisit to an old post - Changes I Would Make To The Game

**General:**

*Graphical:*

- apply the Independent Architecture and Independent Unit mods to the base game.

(it's more realistic, beautiful, and makes civs more unique. It also ups the replayability factor considerably. at least make it an option)

- make the boats sinking graphics actually match the boats.

(sometimes they don't. this is specially noticeable on Unique Unit boats. just try it out and see for yourself)

- have the *option* of toggling on/off the mods 'Pussywood', 'Short Walls', and 'Alignment Grid'.

- definitely not of great importance, but have an *option* to toggle *slightly* more blood displayed on dead units.

*Tech Tree:*

- Bring back the idea of "Fortified Palisade Wall".

- Make every civ have a minimum of 5 passive unique civ bonuses, even if some are very small.

(this would greatly add more uniqueness to each civ and variety to the game. This game's tech tree is not that big and with now 35 civs it's ridiculous how similar some are, in comparison to how unique they could easily be made to be and feel. more fun, variety, and space for historical references.)

- Town Patrol: 300F 100G -> 300F

(in normal and especially competitive games this tech is just too expensive for what it actually does, considering its age placement (Castle Age). reducing its price slightly would help it)

- Herbal Medicine: also give the Monk a higher healing rate.

( this Tech is just plain bad for its cost. 350G just for slightly faster healing rate inside buildings is not worth it)

- divide the castle's Imperial age tech 'Hoardings' (Castles +1000HP, 400F 400W) into 2: Hoardings (Castle Age: castle +450HP, 200F 200W) and Heavy Hoardings (Imperial Age: castle +550HP, 300F 300W; Requires: 'Hoardings'). more civs would have 'Hoardings' than 'Heavy Hoardings', like in the case of 'Masonry' and 'Architecture'.

(yes, 200+300=500, not 400. next, this change would accomplish 4 things: make it easier to balance civs defensively (more techs = more choices. should a civ have (Heavy) Hoardings? not sure? okay, then just Hoardings, the middle ground), gives us the choice to have that extra castle boost during Castle Age games, it's satisfying to purchase techs that make sense, and finally, notice again how its power is still the same, so the game balance only gets to be better)

- add a small extra castle Castle age tech (that not all civs have, like in the case of 'Hoardings'). something like: Revetment (Castles +1 Attack (and +1 extra bonus Attack vs Ships, Camels, Stone Defense), 1 Building Armor, +1 extra Pierce Armor against the Building bonus damage from Siege Weapons).

(once again, the reasons referred above also apply here overall, but this time even more heavily. also, I didn't specify a cost because I'm not sure what would be appropriate)

-> remove the Persian Unique Tech 'Boiling Oil' (200W 100S, Castles +9 Attack vs Rams (only affects the first arrow)), put it as an offensive Imperial Age castle Tech available as freely as 'Hoardings', and slightly alter it to: Boiling Oil (Castles +2 Attack vs units in its immediate vicinity (i.e. 1 range from the castle's walls), +8 Attack vs Rams (only affects the first arrow); Requires: 'Murder Holes' tech (but doesn't require 'Revetment').

(first of all and yet again, it always seemed odd to me that only the Persians get it. I mean, were the Persians the only ones to employ this tactic? Well... no, they weren't. In addition to that, in real life, this was typically done through Murder Holes, hence their requirement. Also, I'm not sure if the tech's price should change, that's why I didn't mention it)

- either *slightly* buff 'Arrowslits' or move it to the Castle Age.

(this has been talked about before and it's true that this tech's balance can be tricky, however, I think most agree it has been nerfed a bit too much for what it's worth now in the Imp Age, as our friend /u/OrnLu528 said in one of his videos)

*Other*:

- make all tooltips and texts actually useful and fun to read.

(i.e. apply the 'Maximum Extended Help' mod to the base game. also, even before knowing this mod, this is one of the points, together with the Independent Architecture & Units, that I've always admired in the mod 'Age of Chivalry')

- improve Civ Descriptions. Example: Celts 'Infantry civilization' -> 'Infantry and Siege civilization'.

- Multithread the pathfinding.

**Civ Specific:**

- Byzantines: + 'Town Patrol' -50% cost.

(The Byzantines already have free 'Town Watch'. This would further cement their position as a dominant defensive civ. It's a very small buff that makes sense, further helping them and their unique identity.)

- Chinese: + give them 'Guilds'.

- Franks: Cavalry +20% base Hp -> +10% base Hp, BUT get free 'Bloodlines' (+20Hp).

Why? Franks, the 'Cavalry civ' have easily been overshadowed by some of the more recent additions in the AoE2's rooster. Their *impressive* cavalry power is arguably nowhere to be seen nowadays. This bonus, although small, would definitely help them and completely makes sense. Take a look at this:

Late game: Frankish Paladin before and after change: 192Hp -> 196Hp

Mid game: Frankish Knight before and after change: 120Hp -> 130Hp

Early game: Frankish Scout Cavalry before and after change: 54Hp -> 70Hp (rounded from 69,5. also, just to remind, a regular Bloodlines Scout usually has 65Hp)

(If this is too strong, then it could be nerfed specifically for the Scout line only. In fact, I think this would be the better option)

- Incas: make them have an actual Team Bonus.

(The Incas aren't a bad civ. With that said, the math has been done and it's proven that their 'Farms build twice as fast' bonus is completely negligible. Some civs have overall stronger bonuses than others, it is normal, but this bonus is actually useless for real.)

- Persians: give them a Unique Castle Tech, after removing 'Boiling Oil', as mentioned above.

- Portuguese: Feitoria's cost 20pop -> 15 OR *very slightly* buff the Gold and/or Stone production rate.

(This one is one I'm unsure of how to deal with. I've heard various ideas and have considered what the best one would be. The point is, in my opinion, the current Feitoria could be *slightly* better.)

- Vietnamese: change their 'Reveal enemy positions at game start' passive bonus to something else.

(This bonus of theirs is debatably ridiculous and senseless.)