Hello all! I have returned to the world of balancing AoE2 and I hope at least some of you like these fan made patches, since I try hard to make them good!

Because not much has changed in terms of what my balance suggestions from the July Fan Patch, I have decided to instead take the role of this patch from closing the winrate gap to making a more balanced play rate for each civ! This balance patch is focused on making civilizations more fun/easy to play.

With that, let us begin!

-------------------------------------------------The Balanced Civilizations------------------------------------------------------

In a perfect world with 37 civilizations in the game, each civ should see about a 2.7% play rate. However, we don't live in a perfect world (yet) so a certain imbalance in play rates has occured, with 23 civilizations having a sub 2.7% play rate. Because I can't change 23 civilizations I'll reduce that amount to the 9 most underplayed civilizations, 3 overplayed civilizations which could be seen less in the meta and a few civilizations whos Unique Units were especially picked by the community to be in this patch!

The 9 lowest play rate civilizations are:

• Burmese 1.02%
• Portuguese 1.15%
• Sicilians 1.20%
• Indians 1.28%
• Incas 1.38%
• Italians 1.40%
• Malay 1.45%
• Slavs 1.46%
• Koreans 1.53%

And the highest 3 are:

• Mayans 5.25%
• Britons 5.39%
• Franks 8.18%

The Unique Units changed are:

• Conquistador (Spanish)
• Elephant Archer (Indians)
• Genitour (Berbers)
• Genoese Crossbowmen
• Missionary (Spanish)
• Organ Gun (Portuguese)
• Serjeants (Sicilians)

So we now have our civilizations in need of balance!

------------------------------------------------The Balance Changes---------------------------------------------------------------

General:

Archer:

• Crossbowmen upgrade cost increased from 125f 75g -> 175f 75g

Hand Cannoneer:

• Build time reduced from 34s -> 25s
• Missed projectiles damage increased from 50% -> 75%
• Fire rate reduced from 3.45s -> 3.1s

Longswordsman:

• Melee armour increased from 0 -> 1

Two-Handed Swordsman:

• Melee armour increased from 0 -> 1

Siege Tower:

• Hp increased from 220 -> 250
• Cost reduced from 200w 150g -> 180w 130g

Steppe Lancer:

• Hp increased from 60 -> 70
• Elite Steppe Lancer upgrade cost reduced from 900f 550g -> 650f 450g

Elite Steppe Lancer:

• Hp increased from 80 -> 85

(Elite)Steppe Lancer:

• Melee armour increased from 0 -> 1
• Reload time reduced from 2.3s -> 2.0s
• Now deal +5 damage to Spearmen and Camel units

Watch Tower:

• Hp increased from 700 -> 800

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Civilization Balance:

Aztecs:

(Elite) Jaguar Warrior:

• Cost reduced from 60f 30g -> 50f 30g

Britons:

• Shepherd workrate boost reduced from 25% -> 20%
• Town Center wood discount changed from -50% wood -> -20% in both wood and stone

Berbers:

Genitour:

• Hp inreased from 50 -> 55

Elite Genitour:

• Hp increased from 55 -> 60

(Elite)Genitour:

• Cost reduced from 50f 35w -> 50f 30w

Burmese:

• Cavalry and Arambai now deal +1 damage to buildings per Age (Starting in Fuedal Age)

Manipur Cavalry:

• Cavalry and Arambai bonus damage to buildings reduced from +6 -> +4

Franks:

• Castle discount reduced from -25% to -20%
• Free farm upgrade bonus changed from Farm upgrades free (require Mill) -> Farm upgrades 50% cheaper; research instantly

Incas:

• Houses supporting extra population increased from 10 -> 15 population
• Incan Team bonus changed from Farms built 100% faster -> Farms and houses built 100% faster

Indians:

• Now have access to Battle Elephants and the Elite Battle Elephant upgrade at the stable

(Elite)Elephant Archer:

• Build time reduced from 25s -> 20s
• Melee armour increased from 0 -> 1
• Now have a second archer on top of Elephant, firing a second, weaker, arrow (5 damage, 50% accuracy)

Italians:

• Gunpowder unit discount increased from -20% -> -25%
• Fishing ship discount increased from -15% -> -20%

Genoese Crossbowman:

• Elite Geneose Crossbowmen upgrade cost reduced from 1000f 800g to 850f 700g
• Build time reduced from 18s -> 12s

Elite Genoese Crossbowmen:

• Build time reduced from 14s -> 12s

Koreans:

• Now recieve stone mining upgrades for free

Malay:

• Now have access to the Bloodlines technology
• Fishtrap discount increased from -33% -> -50%

Mayans:

El Dorado:

• Extra hp granted to Eagle Warriors reduced from +40hp -> +30 hp
• Cost reduced from 750f 450g to 650f 450g

Portuguese:

(Elite)Organ Gun:

• Build time reduced from 21s -> 16s
• Speed inreased from 0.85 -> 0.9

Sicilians:

Donjon:

• Is now considered a Fuedal Age building, allowing the player to upgrade to Castle Age more easily
• (Fuedal Age) Hp increased from 1000 -> 1100

(Elite)Serjeant:

• Cost reduced from 60f 35g -> 55f 35g

Slavs:

• Now recieve Squires and Arson for free

Spanish:

Conquistador:

• Hp increased from 55 -> 60
• Accuracy inreased from 65% -> 75%

Elite Conquistador:

• Accuracy increased from 70% - 75%

(Elite)Conquistador:

• Build time reduced from 24s -> 19s

Missionary:

• Range Increased from 7 -> 8
• Can now pick up relics, but move only half as quickly while holding relics

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Thanks for reading, I hope you like a few of the changes I made!