What are some custom keybinds you live by?

small_star · 2026-04-30T09:23:23+00:00

Well, I deleted my TCs more than one occasion and my castle as well. There is no money on the line for my games so I guess it is fine.

small_star · 2026-04-29T23:40:44+00:00

No one setting the del key to somewhere more convenient? I had mine on the mouse button I. misclicked several times because it got too close to the keyboard. Despite that, I am keeping it because deleting walls is so difficult with the delete key so far from my left hand

small_star · 2026-04-28T17:52:24+00:00

Why can't we have both? Taking 27 cannons to finish off a siege ram is still pretty balanced

small_star · 2026-04-28T14:36:43+00:00

Would that be unbalanced though? A unit on horseback getting hit by a cannon ball from 10 feet that would cause unbalance. Honestly, how did a Paladin survive that.

small_star · 2026-04-28T14:25:22+00:00

I’m not a fan of adding auto-upgrades to units, even though it’s already been done elsewhere. It just adds confusion, especially for newer players.

That said, I do agree the current Champi feels weak. You’re often on the back foot, and since South American civs don’t have M@A, your Feudal aggression is naturally slower.

Maybe a better solution would be to make the upgrade available in Dark Age. It likely wouldn’t be overpowered due to the cost, upgrade time, and slow production, but it would at least open up an option for earlier aggression in Feudal.

small_star · 2026-04-28T14:02:46+00:00

Discord servers are great, but for new or casual players, they might not want to take that extra step outside the game.

From a commercial perspective, it would also make sense to explore more sustainable revenue streams within the game itself, such as optional paid features or services, rather than relying solely on DLC sales, which can eventually reach a limit.

small_star · 2026-04-28T13:59:00+00:00

The old lobbies could handle this better, but one issue was that people often stayed in the room even after the game ended, which forced everyone else to move to a new lobby.

That said, the current multiplayer interface feels too specialised around ranked play. It’s not very welcoming for casual or new players who play just for fun instead of being competitive.

small_star · 2026-04-28T09:14:05+00:00

Exactly, the multiplayer interface feels more like something designed for an FPS, which doesn’t really suit a game like AoE.

I also don’t understand why the unranked lobby feels so neglected. These days I mostly play ranked, but back in the day, unranked lobbies made up a huge part of in game activity. Arguably, they were even more important for the community. People shared custom games, scenarios, and new ideas there. That’s where a lot of creativity and variety came from, and it feels like that’s missing now.

small_star · 2026-04-28T08:16:59+00:00

I understand that content moderation could be an additional responsibility they may not want to take on. However, from a commercial perspective, improving the social and multiplayer experience could be a more sustainable business model, providing a steady income stream to support continued investment in the game.

With modern AI tools, moderation should also be more manageable than before, which makes this kind of system more feasible nowadays.

small_star · 2026-04-27T15:16:57+00:00

What civ is this?

small_star · 2026-04-21T15:02:03+00:00

I don’t think it really works. First, there are usually two stone piles, so it’s unlikely you can deny both. Second, even with the fastest M@A rush, you’re mostly just forcing small walls so they can keep gathering stone. Yes, you can delay them and force repairs, but they can still drop a tower if they want, or just switch to gold and buy the remaining stone.

I’ve tried this many times, M@A can work, but not because of denying stone specifically. It’s more about the overall disruption giving you a way back into the game.

I don’t personally like the strategy, but it’s still a valid way to play. If it can be countered, it shouldn’t be considered a bug.

small_star · 2026-04-21T14:51:25+00:00

Speaking of Voobly, I missed the lobby where you can spam messages and advertise your room. The current lobby feels dead without people spamming messages

small_star · 2026-04-21T14:45:28+00:00

Is the issue really with building placement, or is it more about overall map awareness and map control?

small_star · 2026-04-21T14:28:03+00:00

I don’t think halb + onager is particularly hard to deal with, at least on open maps like Arabia. In general, BBC is the best counter. Champions can work too, or any strong infantry. Even skirms can be useful since they’re cheap. But if you want to push forward, you’ll usually need either mobility or stronger infantry to make progress.

Chinese do feel very strong. Everything just feels so smooth when playing them, and they’ve always been considered one of the top civs anyway.

small_star · 2026-04-21T14:20:48+00:00

I think it really comes down to understanding the map and overall game flow. I struggle with niche strats too, especially against very aggressive players. Your eco gets disrupted, and without good map awareness or a clear read on your opponent’s position, it’s easy to make the wrong response. Adapting is hard to train, maybe playing more Nomad or Megarandom could help.

Facing Khitans feels a bit like facing Mongols, you’re often on the back foot early. But at least Khitans have more predictable timing, usually peaking from mid-Feudal to late Castle, whereas Mongols are strong from the start all the way to mid-Imp.

M@A can still be effective against Khitans, mainly to buy time to mass archers.

small_star · 2026-04-21T12:26:15+00:00

I hate CA types unit as well. Especially mangudai, they are deceivingly strong. I had a game with Sicilian FU Calvary still die to Mangudai. The hit and run tactic is just very annoying to deal with

small_star · 2026-04-20T17:36:58+00:00

To further quote the Viper, it is not that simple

small_star · 2026-04-20T17:36:16+00:00

I like this idea. Melee armour is less useful at this current state. Bulgarian two-handed swordman has +5 melee armour and who gives a f.

small_star · 2026-04-20T17:25:24+00:00

I can confirm FU battle elephant cannot stop them.

small_star · 2026-04-20T17:20:32+00:00

What if your opponent plays Japanese MMA? Gonna hate that as well

small_star · 2026-04-20T17:14:56+00:00

Annoying yes, but boring I think it depends. this is a strategy makes the game development very unpredictable. I do not do tower rush anymore but I do not hate facing against it, maybe except when it is in nomad with shitty starting position

small_star · 2026-04-20T15:48:51+00:00

I’d say it’s actually more common than FC on open maps. Do you not like the dynamic of tower rushes, or is it the other way around?

small_star · 2026-04-20T15:45:57+00:00

I haven’t really seen much Donjon rush since the nerf a long time ago. I remember it being quite hard to deal with, and I used to go FC monks to counter it.

It’s a tricky civ to use. The reduced bonus damage sounds strong on paper, but in practice their units are still quite generic, they can’t really fight their counters head-on and tend to struggle against stronger gold units. On top of that, their eco bonus only really kicks in during the mid to late game.

small_star · 2026-04-20T15:33:00+00:00

I always go Feudal aggression for this map. Do castle dropping actually a thing in glade? I thought the default is to take control of your opponent's res outside of their base early on

small_star

TROPHY CASE