On October 31, Microsoft will release a new DLC pack, The Mountain Royals, for the RTS game Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It will include two new civilizations, the Georgians and Armenians, along with new campaigns for each.
The DLC pack will include a new campaign for the Persian civilization, along with a major revamp of that civ as well. However, Microsoft announced today that the revamped Persian civilization will also be included in the base game as well via a free update.
Microsoft states that the AoE II development team felt the Persian civ had become "less unique" in the game. It said:
We strived for the way the Persians are represented in-game to incorporate additional design, while representing their rich history, creating more unique tools for the Persian civilization’s toolbox. We wanted to provide you with more interesting strategic choices, and ways for you to engage your opponents, all while representing them from the early Middle Ages to late empire.
The Age of Empires site goes into detail about a few of the changes they have made to the Persian civ. That includes some improvements to the War Elephant unit:
The Mahouts Unique Technology has been removed, but the base movement speed of the War Elephant has increased 33% by default. No longer will you have to wait as your War Elephants slowly lumber towards the enemy; charge them down!
Here's the full list of changes and improvements to the Persian civilization:
Civilization Bonuses:
- Start the game with +50 food, +50 wood.
- Town Centers and Docks have 2x hit points and work +5%/+10%/+15%/+20% faster in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Cavalry generate 5 gold when killing enemy military units.
- Parthian Tactics available in Castle Age.
- Can build Caravanserai in Imperial Age.
Unique Units:
- War Elephant (Very Big Elephant, enjoys scenic trips down the river in a transport ship).
- Savar (Unique upgrade to the Cavalier, powerful all-purpose cavalry with attack bonus vs. Archers).
Unique Technologies
- Kamandaran (Archer-line gold cost is replaced by additional wood cost).
- Citadels (Castles receive -25% bonus damage, arrows replaced with bullets which deal +4 attack, +3 attack vs. infantry, and +3 attack vs. rams).
Team Bonus
- Knights +2 attack vs. Archers.
Other Changes:
- (Elite) War Elephant attack bonus vs. standard buildings and stone buildings increased from 7 (10) ▶ 30.
- (Elite) War Elephant base movement speed increased from 0.6 ▶8.
- Elite War Elephant upgrade cost reduced from 1600 food 1200 gold ▶ 1350 food 800 gold.
The patch for the Persian civilization will be released alongside The Mountain Royals DLC pack on October 31 for the PC, via Steam and the Microsoft Store, along with Xbox consoles. The normal price for The Mountain Royals pack will be $14.99. Pre-orders are now available at the discounted price of $12.74.
