The Age of Empires IV scene is busier than ever with the announcement of the newest DLC for Age of Empires IV – Knights of Cross and Rose! The DLC has been announced for this spring, which means it’s coming soon! And as World’s Edge has already announced, another DLC is coming later in 2025…
What’s New in Knights of Cross and Rose?
This DLC is packed with new content and is already bringing the excitement level to the summit. Let’s take a closer look at what’s coming to Age of Empires IV:
- Two New Variant Civilizations: Knights Templar and House of Lancaster
- A New Game Mod: Historical Battles
- 10 New Maps for Skirmish and Multiplayer
Who are the Knights Templar and the House of Lancaster?
At the heart of the DLC are two Variant civilizations: the Knights Templar and the House of Lancaster. If you are not familiar, Variant Civilizations were introduced with The Sultans Ascend. They are not entirely new civilizations built from scratch, but rather a deeper look at how rich certain civilizations were while exploring new mechanics and historical depth. This makes them unique, even though they are tied to one civilization.
Knights Templar: A French Variant
The Knights Templar were historically based in many, if not all, European kingdoms as a military order. While they are tied to the French civilization, they will have their uniqueness through a unique Age Up system, the Commanderie Age Up, where you will be able to choose between three allies that will provide unique units. While the Templars didn’t have a kingdom, they did build a lot of keeps, like a lot! So we can already expect some wild games around unique unit builds and new keeps!
House of Lancaster: An English Variant
This is the first Variant for the English civilization, and what a surprise for English fans! The House of Lancaster will have a more defensive play style than the Templars, reflecting their role in both the Wars of the Roses and the Hundred Years War. They were also known for their unique ranged tactics and as we can see in the preview above, a new ability appears with these ranged units, the Synchronized Shot. How far can they fire their volley?
A New Game Mode: Historical Battles!
A new singleplayer mode is coming in Age of Empires IV: Historical Battles! From what we understand, this will please all players, whether you are a casual or a hardcore competitive player, this mode has something for you. The mode will consist of historical scenarios that will put players in different situations, not like the campaign, where the rules might change. Imagine commanding the Templars in a crusade-inspired siege or leading the Lancastrians through a pivotal battle in the Wars of the Roses… And to keep things interesting, they’ve even added a leaderboard to the mode, so you can try to climb the ranks and show who’s the best leader in historical battles!
More to Come in Age of Empires IV…
While no further details were given on the ten new maps, we can expect a lot of new content in 2025! Between Knights of Cross and Rose and the next DLC coming later this year, the Age of Empires IV community has been blessed by the developers! This promises new metas as the drafts evolve as the game does, stay tuned for more information!
You can wishlist Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose here.
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