r/aoe3

i heard some rumors that they will be removing the f2p aspect of the game, with the 3 rotating civs

is that true? if i already played the f2p version for some time, will i loose access? or will still be able to play it?

Hey guys! I really like maining Malta but I genuinely struggle with its meta? I often just mess around with them with my friends, but don’t necessarily do very well. What is the best move for Malta ?

I think Sentinel-Cannoneer combo could be strong with the politician age-up and maxing out the gunpowder unit stats but I’m unsure.

What are your guys’ thoughts?

Coming in as a new player, and I have a personal fascination with the Inca. However, a lot of the online discourse regarding them seems to be both negative, very old, and possibly outdated. So I guess this is a question for the community: How well do the Inca fare today? What is good/fun about them?

AoE2 main, New to the game (somewhat) and trying to get into Ranked - mainly playing Indians.

All the old builds online were Agra rush that seem to have given me the wrong idea about how this civ should be played. Seeing recent gameplay videos by high elo show the Indians turtling till all the boosting cards get shipped. Frankly, randomly spectating games I was surprised how many games had become turtly compared to what I remember from years ago with hyper fast Spanish FF.

The main question is around whether the Indian boom / defensive playstyle outscales opponents like Portuguese, Swede Torps, Japanese Shrines, Dutch banks etc? I feel in these matchups the Indians need to go out and about.

Maybe it's just my AoE2 overhang but Commerce war with Sepoys should really be something Indians shine at. The Zamindars card has been really interesting me, replaced the free vill for 2 sepoys per shipment, for a hard age 2 map control play against turtles so I'd like to hear feedback on it.

One particular tidbit said that Gurkhas are weaker Age 2 skirms but scale better, but I only have East India Company and Royal Green Jackets to ship for them. It feels like late game Gurkhas don't shine as much as Sepoys, unless I'm missing something. Am I supposed to just face tank into counters with FI Sepoy stacking with this civ? I've been shopping Desert Terror for anti infantry Sowar and Camel Attack for anti cav Zamburaks; but that's just my vibe rather than any actual meta feedback.

One particular game that really stumped me was a British player who manored into Artillery Foundry and spammed culvs and falconets - and I had no answer. This is just me theory crafting by myself and I realise that may not be the smartest so I should ask around for how to play this civ.

If your civ has a rush strat, always use it. People tend to try fast fortress that they have seen on internet without scouting , and even if they scout they don't use the info. If they don't fast fortress, usually they have some other slow strat without defenses, I won several matches with the guys just surrendering at 6 or 7 minutes cause they have nothing to stop my rush.

I prefer middle mouse to drag with as I do in other rts games.

Is it safe to assume the guy uses the church rush strat? I am really interested in knowing what he builds

AoE III missions are strongest when the objective forces you to use a civilization’s identity rather than just explaining it. A map that changes tempo, resource priorities, or army composition can teach more than a pop-up ever could. Which campaign mission does this best for you—and what mechanic did it make click?