The historical real-time strategy game Age of Empire 4 gets a touch of magic in the fourth season, which starts February 16. The new season introduces a unique new biome called the Enchanted Grove, which holds a mystical secret within its eerily illuminated forests. There are also three new maps, a new Ranked Season, a new game mode called Nomad, and some welcome mod browser improvements.
The new Enchanted Grove biome features glowing, colorful trees and plants in a purple twilight setting. It will be available during the Season 4 Enchanted Grove event, which is happening February 16 – March 29. In Enchanted Grove maps, you’ll be able to send units to hunt down an enchanted white stag, which will unlock a new golden stag monument if you manage to destroy it.
He the new ranked season starts on February 17and includes new rewards for individual players and teams progressing through the ranks from Bronze to Conqueror. In 1v1 ranked games, the map pool will include Dry Arabia, Prairie, Lipany, Ancient Spiers, Wetlands, Oasis, Altai, Boulder Bay, and Waterholes.
The team ranked map set for Season 4 includes Dry Arabia, Lipany, Hideout, High View, Mountain Clearing, Hill and Dale, Mongolian Heights, Baltic, and Nagari.
Three new maps will be available for unranked play. Four Lakes features islands at each corner, separated by a cross-shaped landmass. The Continental is a large landmass surrounded by water, with islands at each corner of the map. Marshland is an open map covered in jungle, offering resources to find and plenty of opportunities to hide and ambush your opponents.
Season four also introduces a new Age of Empires 4 game mode called Nomad. Here you start (whether in custom or skirmish games) with three scattered villagers, and you need to collect them to build a town center in a good location. You can spend time scavenging for resources or rush and build right away, but you’ll never know exactly where your enemy is building their city, so you’ll need quick reflexes (and a bit of luck) to get ahead.
The Age of Empires team has also made major updates to the mod browser for this season. The browser now features dynamic search that starts showing results as soon as you start typing, and should give you more relevant search results across the board. You will be able to filter your results based on popularity and toggle a filter to show you only official mods.
All in all, this is an exciting update for everyone, whether you follow Ranked Seasons or not. Check out the Age of Empires 4 system requirements and check out the Age of Empires 4 hotkeys list for ways to increase your APM.