Update log
Full Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Extracted changes
- Gameplay
- Store
- Maps
The release of Chronicles: Alexander the Great is nearly here for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! If you’ve played Chronicles: Battle for Greece, you already know the incredible ride you’re in for. If you’re entirely new to the Chronicles series, we want to share more about exactly what you can expect, and to get you as excited as we are!
Pre-Order Now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3793540/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Alexander_the_Great
Campaign, Skirmish, and Multiplayer: the Full Chronicles Experience!
Chronicles: Alexander the Great features a grand campaign of 18 richly-detailed scenarios, with animated cutscenes, new original music, and unlike any previous expansions – Chronicles: Alexander the Great dedicates a full campaign to one extraordinary figure!
But, your Chronicles experience doesn’t end there! Like its predecessor, Alexander the Great features three unique civilizations for you to enjoy in Skirmish against AI opponents, or in multiplayer custom games with your friends. These new civilizations can be played against each other to re-create the battles of the ancient world—or against the other civilizations from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!
Hoplite vs. Samurai – Battle Across Time!
A skirmish lobby including civilizations from Chronicles, and the mainline Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.
The newly introduced Chronicles civilizations can be played against ANY of the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition civilizations in Skirmish, or in multiplayer custom games. You can even set a match to Antiquity Mode, allowing the expanded Chronicles -style water trade and oysters on water maps, to experiment with how the AoE II:DE civilizations would handle the ancient world!
With this cross-play between Chronicles and mainline AoE II: DE you can create the ultimate battles to discover history’s greatest warriors, and finally answer age-old questions: “Would Spartans defeat Samurai? Could Alexander’s Companions conquer the Mangudai? Would the elephants of Puru stand toe-to-toe against Jaguar Warriors?”, it’s time to find out!
Immersive Units and Technologies – but Familiar!
Comparison of the Spartan, and Celts technology Tree. Pretty similar!
On the surface, Chronicles: Alexander the Great seems like an entirely different game from Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Macemen, Guardsmen, Lancers, and Laminated Bowmen may seem like new units to learn. Fortunately, these are only ancient versions of the regular base game units, renamed and reskinned to build immersion in the ancient setting of Chronicles.
Their stats, costs, bonuses, and more are exactly the same as their AoE II: DE equivalents—with Macemen sharing the same stat-line as Man-at-Arms, Laminated Bowmen the equivalent of Crossbowmen, and Lancers your ancient version of Knights. While we have introduced other units with fully unique roles, such as the Hoplite and the Phalangite, this core set of units will make Chronicles: Alexander the Great extremely accessible and easy to enjoy!
We also leaned into this theme with Technologies, providing new icons and names to immerse you in the ancient world, but their costs and benefits remain the same. Even your hotkeys will function the same way!
Twice the Unique Technologies – Replayability and Strategy!
Unlike their Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition counterparts, Chronicles civilizations have access to four total Unique Technologies. However, like in AoE II:DE, only one technology can be chosen in the third, and fourth Age; while you’ll still end up with the familiar single Unique Technology in each of the final two Ages, you’re able to customize your civilization as you journey through the Technology Tree!
A Novel Approach to Water – Dive in, the Water’s Warm!
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