Age of Wonders 4

Age of Wonders 4

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AoW 4 Evolved
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17.097 MB
Dec 9, 2023 @ 6:05pm
Sep 20 @ 6:44am
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AoW 4 Evolved

Description
AoW 4 Evolved is a balance mod aimed at simultaneous turn multiplayer. However, the mod can also be applied to single player games to shake things up and experience a more rounded game.

This mod makes a lot of tweaks to all aspects of the game, from Units to City Structures to the Empire Tree.

The goal of the mod is to expand the game with more viable gameplay options and strategies. This is mainly achieved by buffing underperforming options, but there are also times where something is so blatantly overpowered that it must be nerfed or risk always being a must-pick.

Of course this doesn't come without its own risks and the mod will be continually evaluated and iterated upon over time.

Aside from tons and tons of balance tweaks, the most impactful changes are as follows:
  • All map sizes have been increased by roughly 20%.
  • A new Extra Large map size has been added for 1v1.
  • Pangea has been edited to spawn 30% less water.
  • Form Traits now work based on a 10 point system, for better balance.
  • The Empire Tree now scales from 15-400 instead of 15-500.
  • Combat morale has been reworked to be less punishing overall.
  • Most World Map Spells no longer deal damage, they only apply debuffs.
  • Unit movement has been normalized to 32/40.
  • Hero XP requirements have been increased.
  • Spell Jammers no longer increase combat CP cost.
  • Magic Materials are spread out more evenly.
  • Gremlin, Wind Rager and Lightbringer are now T3 units.
  • Zealot now evolves into an Inquisitor unit at Legend rank.
  • Cosmic Overdrive now only works on Ethereal units.
  • Reaver Culture War Spoils have been entirely reworked.
  • Dark Culture has a new economical passive (Stability Agenda).
  • High Culture's Alignment Agenda has been fully reworked.
  • Dragon Lords now require affinity for their Signature Skills.
  • Giant Kings now require affinity for their Signature Skills.
  • Signature Skill affinity requirements are now equal to Tome affinity.
  • Banner Pickups are now only present in handcrafted areas.
  • Mana Nodes no longer offer Research Post PIs.
  • All resource structures are locked behind Town Hall tiers.
  • All Guilds now provide unique effects to their cities.

For the full patch notes of the current version please see this changelog: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-1Ti86cvkHfi7wdHqubFNoJtLWm1XIM20jUeR3-gla0/edit#gid=1580229590

You can also find every single change the mod has made as compared to the original game on this spreadsheet and it will be updated with every major release by Triumph or myself.

For your convenience there is now also a wiki, though it is less detailed than the spreadsheet.
You can use it to build custom factions or quickly look up units and tomes: https://aow4mp.github.io/evolved/

For questions, feel free to reach out to me here or via the multiplayer Discord: https://discord.gg/wXvfEsmdv9

You can now also support my work by buying me a coffee here: https://buymeacoffee.com/aowevolved
254 Comments
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 3:36pm 
Swiftfoot raptors clearly a popular, meta mount pick atm! XD
Codyksp  [author] Sep 15 @ 1:35pm 
@Daverin2112 I checked and Devastator Sphere is indeed at 48, seems I missed that unit. There may or may not be another hiding somewhere. Haven't seen any so far.

As for the Swiftfoot Raptors, I just tested them and they indeed seem to have reverted somehow. Oddly enough nobody noticed and the Hero mount is still at 40.

I will fix both of these soon, thanks for reporting!
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 9:09am 
And last post, sorry for spamming... but just checked the chariot mount. 40, as intended. So maybe they slipped something between the cracks that reverted Swiftfoot mounts?
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 9:07am 
I just checked with Reavers, Overseers on Swiftfoots were also at 48. Moved your mod to dead last so it wins all changes, started a new game, still 48. Also, Devastator Sphere is 48 move as well, oddly enough.

Have not checked other mounts yet.
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 8:31am 
In general, I am not an MP person, but the extreme majority of your changes are clearly well considered, and I think still add to a single person experience, fyi. So thanks for doing all this work!
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 8:30am 
I mean they are getting units with 48 movement, despite your mod being all but dead last in load order. I don't think anyone else, at least non-modded, had that issue. Are your movement changes supposed to be global and not per instance? Cuz if so... not sure where to start diagnosing.
Codyksp  [author] Sep 15 @ 7:19am 
This was done because many 48 movement units (and Heroes) caused problems by speedfarming the world map and utterly destroying ranged units in combat, especially when combined with Flying Mounts (for example Feudal Knights). Flying/Floating and Advanced Logistics have all similarly been reduced by 1 point of movement. This reduces the gap in movement per turn between 32 and 40. The goal is to make it more viable to play with "slow" units, which so far has been received positively.

Before this change the meta revolved almost exclusively around playing 40 movement + Flying/Floating or 48 movement units, as anything else would fall behind very quickly.
Codyksp  [author] Sep 15 @ 7:19am 
@Daverin2112 I think the developers wanted to look into making more cultures apply globally, but then for some reason Architects have an enchantment (so it doesn't apply to Mythic units). They're being inconsistent on this front, so I am personally not touching the moment.

As for movement. The game has been changed to operate on 32 and 40 movement only (like AoW Planetfall). This means no units, mounts, or effects in the game give you 48 movement anymore, with the exception of the Wayfinder Enchantment for Scouts.
Daverin2112 Sep 15 @ 4:47am 
Also, I know the architects are fresh enough that you understandably have not touched them, but just based on using swiftfoot raptors, they at least need movement speed corrected. Getting mounted units with 48 points.
Daverin2112 Sep 14 @ 6:29pm 
I am guessing it is not strictly an issue in the MP community, but I am curious; what's the feeling on the imbalance in how cultures can benefit mythics?

In particular, Feudal, High, and potentially Summoning Mystic, are the only cultures whose unit buffs don't require an enhancement at all, and instead work in ways that benefit mythics (or in Summoning's case, specifically can benefit MO regardless of class.) The rest don't include mythics in their enhancements.