The first major expansion for Age of Empires 4 is significantly expanding the selection of factions by not just relying on completely new ones

Age of Empires 4 was released a good two years ago with eight factions. Now this number will soon be doubled. At least indirectly. Because with the first major add-on called Rise of the Sultans, some variants will be added to the game from November 14 in addition to completely new races.

However, these variants are much more complex than many might think and have more influence than just changing the appearance of units. We explain exactly what the new factions bring to the game

Two new factions

Before we get to the variants, let’s first take a look at the completely new factions. There are two in total, the Japanese and the Byzantines. Details on both factions have already been revealed

Japan

(Japan is a fan favorite, fielding samurais in battle and relying on secret shinobi.)

Japan covers a large historical framework in Age of Empires 4. Units therefore appear from the 8th to the 17th century. In practice, the Japanese in Age 4 rely on a unique daimyo system that transforms your marketplace into a daimyo estate – later it even becomes a shogun castle that enables the recruitment of samurais. This way, the core of your settlement is even better protected and increases food production through farms. Overall, the Japanese can easily keep their larders full, as their fishing boats are also produced quickly.

Unique buildings:

Farmhouse: This building is constructed early in the game and functions as both a house and a mill.

The Forge: The Japanese forge is of course a smithy, but can also serve as a mine store where stones or gold end up.

Koka Township: This landmark lets you recruit shinobi who can disguise themselves as enemy villagers to sabotage buildings.

Kura Storehouse: This landmark helps with the economy by allowing goods of all kinds to be dropped off here and occasionally spawning free fields.

Floating Gate: With the Floating Gate, the Japanese can train Shinto priests to place special objects in buildings to buff them.

Temple of Quality: The Great Temple is used to recruit Buddhist monks who reduce the damage of enemy units.

Castle of the Crow: This castle regularly generates trade caravans that can head for trading posts.

Tanegashima Gunsmith: This landmark allows you to train black powder units, including the very powerful Ozutsu gunners.

Byzantium

(Many would have wished for the mighty Byzantium on release, now it’s finally here.)

The mighty Byzantine Empire naturally emerged from the remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire and was much desired by fans. The game covers a time frame of 600 years, from the 9th to the 15th century. Ancient Rome can be seen in this faction, as Byzantium has access to olive oil as an additional resource and can build cisterns and aqueducts. Militarily, the Byzantines have a colorful selection of mercenary units at their disposal. Things get particularly nasty when the Byzantines equip their war machines with Greek fire

Unique buildings:

Cisterns: These water basins are connected by aqueducts and allow villagers to gather resources more quickly when they are nearby.

Grand Winery: Although the winery actually produces olive oil in the game, it also attracts mercenaries with the promise of wine.

Hippodrome: This classic Roman racecourse allows Byzantium to recruit cavalry very quickly. For example, the cataphracts, a powerful knight unit.

Golden Horn Tower: The golden tower also provides an increase in mercenaries, who are recruited automatically and free of charge.

Cistern of the First Hill: This special cistern is supposed to guarantee powerful healing for the troops.

Foreign Engineering Company: This building lets you construct special siege equipment from all over the world.

Palatine School: This military academy makes the core units of the Byzantines even more powerful.

Four new variants

In addition, Rise of the Sultans introduces variants for existing factions for the first time in AoE history. Although these variants are based on a known race, they play a little differently and even rely on unique units and mechanics. These are the four new variants:

Ayyubids (Abbasid Dynasty): These variants interpret the House of Wisdom slightly differently and let you choose between two bonuses when building each wing instead of relying on unique technologies. This should make them very adaptable. They also rely heavily on camel riders in battle.

Jeanne d’Arc (France): This variant relies on the first classic hero unit in series history. The entire faction is designed to be supported by Joan of Arc. The heroine begins as a competent villager, then becomes a strong fighter and later a leader who buffs entire armies.

Order of the Dragon (Holy Roman Empire): This faction is based on the Order of the Dragon of Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. This means that the German faction in the game has been overhauled and relies much more on enormously powerful units, but they also cost a lot. This means you have a smaller army, but each soldier lives longer and hits harder.

Zhu Xi’s Legacy (China): In contrast to the normal Chinese faction, Zhu Xi’s Legacy focuses primarily on enormous economic strength and efficiency, but sacrifices the potential for rapid expansion. They also have access to powerful infantry and cavalry early in the game, rather than relying on black powder towards the end.

In addition to these new factions and variants, the first paid DLC for Age of Empires 4 also offers 10 new battle maps and two new biomes – the Japanese Spring and the Savannah. For the first time, there will also be new single-player missions revolving around the European crusades in the Middle East. The DLC costs 15 euros.

Are you also looking forward to Rise of the Sultans or did you expect a little more from the first major DLC for the RTS? Let us know what you think about all this in the comments below

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