Scout report

Dear Age of Empires IV Team, English is not my native language, so there may be minor translation errors in this message. Since Season 7, I have consistently been a Conqueror III or higher player in Team Ranked. I have finished two seasons within the global top 100 and have also reached a top-100 rating many times during various seasons. Over the past few seasons, I have increasingly encountered teams that use deliberately deranked, extremely low-rated accounts to manipulate the matchmaking system. These low-rated accounts are controlled by much stronger players who intentionally lose consecutive matches to keep their ratings artificially low. They then team up with high-rated accounts to reduce the team’s average rating. For example, two players with ratings of around 2,000 can team up with two accounts rated around 400, even though the actual skill levels of those 400-rated accounts are much higher. This creates an average team rating of approximately 1,200, allowing them to be matched against players whose average rating is genuinely around 1,200. Because there are relatively few players at higher ratings, high-ranked players are especially likely to be matched against teams using this method. Every victory against such a team is extremely difficult, yet because of the large rating difference, the winning team receives only a very small number of points. On the other hand, losing even one match against them can result in a significant rating loss. This does not create a fair or healthy competitive environment. In addition, while these accounts are intentionally losing matches to lower their ratings, they also negatively affect the experience of many other players at different rating levels. I hope Team Ranked can introduce restrictions on the rating difference between the highest-rated and lowest-rated players in a party. For example, the maximum rating difference within a party could be limited to 300 points. This would already be a very lenient restriction. Pla

Build Number: Platform: Steam / Microsoft Store / Xbox / PlayStation Operating System: Windows 11 / Windows 10 / Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Mac / Linux Issue: New player here, extremely frustrating how often this happens. Game freezes and forces me to quit to menu. Completely unplayable. Likely bad server connection. Trigger Event: Solo ranked game, happens about once a night. Repro Steps: Play solo ranked on console Game music continues but everything else locks up. My internet is fine avg 500mb

Hey all, Been bouncing from gold 3- platinum 3 Does anyone else feel like there's a whiplash of win win win then run into crazy opponents L L L. I'm not sure if it's a matchmaking thing or map selection. My goal is to hit diamond. I main ottomans Was just curious if anyone had this same feeling or explanation. Almost like momentum, when my game tactics can't be changing that much. Also just curious - what's everyone's favorite civ they hit diamond with.

I have a question for fellow elephant enjoyers about this particular matchup. Long story short: I've been playing AoE4 for a while now, but I used to play it exclusively in team games with my brother. Only about three days ago did I finally decide to try 1v1 mode. It went surprisingly well. I've won 9 out of 13 (quick) matches with the Tughlaq and settled at an MMR of ≈1260. The problem I encountered was the matchup mentioned in the title. 3 out of my 4 losses were against KT (and no wins so far). Playing against them feels like they hard counter my entire civ (winrate-wise, it is the worst matchup of all for the Tughlaq, at 41.7%). I would be grateful for any advice, tips, and strategies against them. I know it's obviously a skill issue, but don't be too harsh. I'm still learning. My experiences and thought process so far: -They cannot be raided effectively because of their fortresses, even by raider elephants. Feudal aggression doesn't work for the same reason. -If the enemy reaches the castle, it's pretty much an auto-win for KT. With heavy spearmen you have no way of countering (f**k you, ballista elephant) other than maybe massing crossbows. -If played defensively with two TCs, forts and trying to boom, they out-boom you anyway, and denying sacred sites makes no difference.

Just had the most frustrating game against a guy named hugedick. Dude is clearly using a map hack and a zoom hack. I went back to check the replay from his POV because his reactions were way too weird. You don't even need to watch more than 5 seconds to see he's cheating — his camera angle is zoomed out into space, way past the normal limit. Throughout the whole match, he just stares directly at the fog of war. He perfectly tracks my units and reacts to my base without a single scout or any line of sight. To top it all off, the guy was incredibly toxic in the chat the whole game. Imagine hacking and still trash talking. I've already reported him in-game and opened a ticket, but I'm dropping the video here so you guys can see it and keep an eye out. If you match with him, do us all a favor and report him so we can get this account banned.

Does anybody have tips on improving overall strategy other than build orders and understanding the civ? I do pretty well against hard-hardest ai but inc ranked i get smoked. Dehli seems to slow for ranked and when im china i dont seem to know an optimal army to build. Should mention i play on xbox currently which is a large constraint

I'm bad, trying new civs, and I feel like facing the AI is teaching me bad habits. I'm literally silver at best in 1v1 (PC). Thx :)

https://preview.redd.it/ea3s56akgfch1.png?width=1103&format=png&auto=webp&s=471b04e026da3b9e6791033400ddcc769494a5e7

General changes: Siege engineering - cost reduced 50wood 125 gold -> 75wood 75 gold) Springalds - Now gain bonus +16 damage against elephants (+9 for bed crossbows) Civ Specific: Macedonian dynasty: (Palatine school - Cataphract batch training time increased from 20 to 30 sec), (Cistern of first hill - Cisterns Favor recharge time reduced 90 to 80 sec), (Golden Horn tower - Crossbow Rate of fire decreased 1.5 -> 1.9) Byzantines: Cistern of first Hill now unlocks 6 irrigation level Jin dynasty : (Iron pagoda damage increased 16/20/23 -> 17/21/24) , (Bugfix to mining upgrades not affectivg mounted vills) , (Grasslands can now be placed anywhere), (Bed crossbow - Hitbox fix and damage adjusted accordingly so they end up about as good as springalds). Holy Roman Empire: (Landsknecht cost decreased 60food 100gold -> 60food 90gold). ( HRE Monasteries get a discount costing 150 wood instead of 200) , (Inspired warriors cost reduceced 100food 250gold -> 100food 200gold). OOtD: Same changes as HRE above but gilded landsknecht loses 1 damage and 5 hp for 20 gold price decrease English: Kings palace villager bonus production speed increased 10% ->15% -Council Hall discount increases to 7.5% in castle age and 10% in imp) Knight templar: Kingdom of france gold reduction bonus increased from 5% to 10 % -Condottiero - Cost increased from 120 to 130 gold Sengoku Daimyo: ikko ikki Monk cost decreased 100food 100gold -> 80food 100gold - Kanabo Samurai damage increased 3/4/5 -> 4/5/6 ) -Early ozutsu ranged armor increased 2 ->3 Temple of equality discount increased 25% ->30%) . (Castle of the crow castle aura bonus - Range decreased to 12 tiles Now applies to ranged units as well instead of just siege) Tuhlag dynasty : Dome of faith - now gives 15 % discount on Monastery techs, - Tower of Victory increases production of military buildings in influence range by 10% -Elephant caretaker tech changed to 6 hp every 2 sec ( its bugged right now and its 2% health every 2 sec) French: Gambeson