EE No Patch to 2.8 Most Complete and Correct Changelog

[Ippert]

  EE No Patch to 2.8 Most Complete and Correct Changelog

Hi there,

Unbeknownst to many people is the fact that the official changelogs are not always complete. Thus I have taken it upon myself to write my own notes which I hope are first of all more complete and also try to be clearer in some aspects. 

The changes made to the Chinese civilization are included in this list. The changes regarding them are of course not compared to no patch since they were not part of that. Those changes are compared to the initial release of the Chinese in patch 2.0. I have left out the changes made in a hotfix shortly after the release of the Chinese since they are really not interesting anymore. There are other changes which regard units the Tale of the Dragon expansion added in for the original civilizations. Those changes are also compared to patch 2.0.

A little explanation of the format I use. The official name for Atlantean heroes would be written like this: "unit (Hero)". I do not write it like this because I prefer to not have so many () in my notes. Instead I write "Hero unit" (for example Hero Murmillo). If it says (Hero) Destroyer this means both the Hero Destroyer and the regular Destroyer. So (Shennong) Fire Lance means both the regular Fire Lance and the Shennong Fire Lance.
If I say "Now provides" or "Now deals", this means that before this patch it didn't do what follows these lines. Meaning it is a brand new addition to the game.

This changelog provides only the changes which are most relevant to competitive play. Things such as texture and game menu fixes that have no influence over a game are not included.

If you spot any mistakes in this changelog please let me know so I can optimize this list.

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General Balance Changes: 

Spoiler

• Secrets of the Titans - Research time increased from 60s to 75s.      
• Titan Gates - No longer reveal their casting location (still visible on the minimap, but doesn’t give the opponents LoS).                                  
• Wall & Gate - Hack armor reduced from 65% to 50%.                                                            
• Wall Connector - LoS reduced from 5 to 1, upgrades also do not give Wall Connectors LoS anymore (Citadel Wall still does).
• Stone Wall - Hitpoints increase for Walls reduced from 600 to 500. 
• Fortified Wall - Hitpoints increase for Walls reduced from 600 to 300. 
• Siege Ships - Now get +220% damage vs Gates.                                                    
• Naval Oxybeles - Bonus damage vs Buildings for Siege Ships reduced from +200% to +100%.
• Monkeys & Baboons - Hitpoints reduced from 45 to 25. Pierce armor reduced from 20% to 5%.
• Guard Tower - Pierce damage increase for Towers reduced from 70% to 40%.
• Tower - Melee pierce damage increased from 10 to 14. (attack that becomes available after researching Boiling Oil)
• Dock - Pierce damage reduced from 10 to 8. Range reduced from 20 to 18.  
• Fishing Ship - Hitpoints reduced from 120 to 100.                                        
• The Bow of Artemis Relic - Now affects Throwing Axemen, Ballistae and all ranged Myth Units. Discount on Centaurs reduced from -20% to -15%.
• Scarab Pendant Relic - Bonus damage vs Buildings for Portable Rams, Helepolis, Fire Siphons, (Shennong) Fire Lances and Siege Towers reduced from +100% to +50%.                                                                          
• Reinforced Hull - Now gives +10% hack damage for Fireships.
• Goats & Pigs - Starting food increased to 51 (to solve a bug with the AI).
• Relics - You can now dropoff relics inside allied temples.
• Repair - You can now repair allied buildings (excluding Wonders).
• Blue Lagoon - Added to the game and added to the Random & Random All & Random Land Map sets. Meaning it is now also in the set used for quick match.

Greek Balance Changes:

Spoiler

General:

• New Hero Unit - Hippocrates. Healing Unit trained from the Town Center and Fortress. Available in the Classical Age.                                   
• Theseus, Jason and Ajax - -50% Damage while in Archaic Age. Training time reduced from 9s to 4s.                                          
• Trireme - Range reduced from 16 to 14.    
• Favor Gather Rate - Increased from 0.125 to 0.131.
• Pegasus - Population cost reduced from 2 to 1.
• Peltast - Heavy and Champion Archers now give 2 range each.
• Petrobolos & Helepolis - Now get +200% damage vs Gates and +50% damage vs (Mirror)Towers.   

Major Gods:    

Zeus:

• Odysseus - Hitpoints reduced from 320 to 300.                                                            
• Heracles - Cost changed from 350 Food, 4 Favor to 200 Food, 150 Wood, 4 Favor.                                                            
• Bellerophon - Special attack hack damage reduced from 100 to 60 .                                                            
• Bolt - No longer affects Villagers and Myth Transport Units. Now deals 1032 damage vs the Nidhogg and 363 damage vs the Son of Osiris before Armory upgrades (instead of killing them).                                                            
• Favor Gathering Bonus - Reduced from +38% to +20%. 
• Starting Favor - Reduced from 15 to 10.
• Myrmidon - Now receive their bonus damage against: Priests, Immortals, Monks, and Bogsveigir. Hitpoints increased from 110 to 120. Movement speed increased from 4.0 to 4.3.

Hades:    

• Chiron - Range increased from 14 to 16. Movement speed increased from 5.3 to 5.5. Track rating increased from 5 to 6. Damage vs Nidhogg increased from +600% to +670%.                                                           
• Achilles - Cost changed from 350 Food, 4 Favor to 200 Food, 150 Wood, 4 Favor.                                                            
• Perseus - Special attack range increased from 5 to 10. Hitpoints Increased from 360 to 400. Hack damage increased from 7 to 14. Damage vs Myth Units reduced from +900% to +400%.                                                           
• Vaults of Erebus - Food cost reduced from 150 to 100.                                                            
• Hades Shades - Are now affeced by Armory upgrades.                                                            
• Titan Gate - No longer profits from the +25% Building hitpoints.    
• Sentinel - Number of spawned Sentinels increased from 4 to 5. Track rating increased from 3.5 to 5. Minimum distance the Sentinels spawn away from the Town Center increased from 16 to 20 and the maximum distance increased from 20 to 26.
• Gastraphetes - Cost reduced from 120 Wood, 80 Gold to 110 Wood, 70 Gold.

Poseidon:     

• Hippolyta - Hitpoints increased from 240 to 280. Damage vs Nidhogg increased from +600% to +705%. Attack animation duration reduced from 2s to 1.75s. (this leaves her dps intact)                                              
• Polyphemus - Movement speed increased from 3.5 to 4.1. Special attack range increased from 0.1 to 3. Crush damage increased from 5 to 20. Hitpoints increased from 540 to 700. Special attack can now only be used on Myth Units and now instantly kills with it. 
• Lure - Is now deleteable.                                                          
• Lord of Horses - Cost reduced from 150 Food, 10 Favor to 75 Food, 3 Favor. Research time reduced from 40s to 25s.
• Trade Rate Bonus - Increased from +10% to +15%.
• Hippocampus - Now spawns when the first Dock is built. (no longer requires a Temple)
• Militia - Now benefit from the Phobos' Spear of Panic upgrade.
• The Argo - Changed the age when it becomes available from Mythic to Heroic. Cost reduced from 250 Wood, 8 Favor to 200 Wood, 4 Favor. Burning Pitch now gives +300% damage vs Buildings.
• The Argo - Movement speed increased from 4.8 to 6. Crush armor reduced from 20% to 15%. Damage vs Myth Units reduced from +400% to +300%. No longer deals bonus damage vs Buildings.
• Hetairoi - Hitpoints increased from 110 to 140. Hack damage increased from 8 to 8.5. Movement speed increased from 4.8 to 5.3. Cost reduced from 55 Food, 90 Gold to 45 Food, 80 Gold.

Minor Gods:    

Ares:   

• Will of Kronos - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15.                                                            
• Deimos’ Sword of Dread - Favor cost reduced from 15 to 10.                                                            
• Enyo’s Bow of Horror - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.    
• Cyclops - Movement speed increased from 3.5 to 3.8. Favor cost reduced from 20 to 18.

Athena:   

• Restoration - Duration reduced from 8s to 6s.                                                            
• Sarissa - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.                                                            
• Aegis Shield - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15.
• Minotaur - Can now use its special attack vs all non-Hero Villagers.

Hermes:    

• Centaur - Movement speed increased from 5 to 5.2.                                                             
• Sylvan Lore - Movement speed bonus reduced from +1.5 to +1.    

Dionysus:   

• Scylla - Favor cost increased from 15 to 20. Training time increased from 5s to 15s.                                                        
• Anastrophe - Research time reduced from 40s to 30s. Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.                                                             
• Thracian Horses - Food cost reduced from 400 to 300.        

Apollo:   

• Underworld Passage - Repair rate reduced by 72%.
• Temple of Healing - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 12.
• Sun Ray - Favor cost reduced from 30 to 20. Now affects Medusae.

Aphrodite:   

• Divine Blood - Now affects the build rate of Towers & Town Centers. Build rate bonus reduced from 20% to 15%. Favor cost reduced from 35 to 30.
• Golden Apples - Is now available in the Temple.

Hera:   

• Lightning Storm - Accuracy increased from 66% to 100%, meaning no lightning bolts will miss.                                                        
• Athenian Wall - Cost reduced from 400 Wood, 30 Favor to 300 Wood, 20 Favor.
• Face of the Gorgon - Cost reduced from 400 Wood, 30 Favor to 300 Wood, 20 Favor.                                                          
• Monstrous Rage - Now affects the special attacks of the Manticore, Centaur and Minotaur.    
• Medusa - Favor cost reduced from 32 to 28.
• Carcinos -  Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.

Artemis:   

• Flames of Typhon - Food cost reduced from 400 to 300.                                                            
• Shafts of Plague - Pierce damage increase for Toxotes and Peltasts increased from 15% to 20%. Now affects Gastraphetes. Favor cost reduced from 40 to 30.  
• Trierarch - Cost reduced from 300 Gold, 40 Favor to 200 Gold, 15 Favor. Crush vulnerability reduction for Triremes increased from 20% to 30%. Now provides its benefits to The Argo.

Hephaestus:   

• Colossus - Hitpoints reduced from 1100 to 1000. Eating/Healing rate reduced from 30/s to 15/s.                                          
• Forge of Olympus - Favor cost reduced from 60 to 30. Research time increased from 30s to 60s. Discount on Armory upgrades' cost reduced from 75% to 50%.                                                            
• Weapon of the Titans - Gold cost reduced from 400 to 300.    

Egyptian Balance Changes:

Spoiler

General:    

• New Unit - Khopesh Swordsman. Fast raiding infantry trained from the barracks (Classical Age). Good against Villagers, weak against soldiers.        
• Khopesh - Hitpoints increased from 65 to 75. Hack damage increased from 5 to 6. Now deals +50% damage vs Caravans.    
• Pharaoh - Range reduced from 4 to 3 in the Archaic Age. Advancing to the Classical Age now increases Pharaoh's range by 9 instead of 8 to balance it out again.
  Pharaoh's damage reduction during the Archaic Age is partly reworked. The total reduction is increased from -70% to -90%. Reaching the Classical Age now gives back 40% of this damage (before it would give back the full reduction of 70%). Hands of the Pharaoh now gives back the remaining 50% of the damage.
• Hands of the Pharaoh - Moved from the Archaic Age to Classical Age.                                                                
• Mercenary - Hack armor reduced from 45% to 35%, pierce armor reduced from 30% to 15%. Training time increased from 1s to 2s.
• Mercenary Cavalry - Hack armor reduced from 40% to 20%, pierce armor reduced from 45% to 35%. Training time increased from 3s to 4s.
• Camelry - Training time reduced from 9s to 7s. Pierce armor increased from 30% to 35%. 
• Ballista Tower - Pierce damage increase for Towers reduced from 50% to 33%.
• Citadel Wall - Hitpoints increase for Walls reduced from 600 to 300. 
• Catapult - Population cost increased from 3 to 4.
• Slinger - Heavy and Champion Slingers now give 2 range each.
• Siege Works - Gold cost increased from 25 to 75.
• Chariot Archers - Can now garrison in: Towers & Town Centers.

Major Gods: 

Ra:   

• Skin of the Rhino - Is now available in the Temple.    

Isis:   

• Monuments - Hitpoints reduced by 20%.  

Set:   

• Animals - Lose 35% extra attack making the total loss 75%. Classical Age now gives all Animals +35% damage.
• Animals - Population cost reduced to 1 for small Animals and 2 for big Animals.                                                            
• Feral - Is now available in the Temple. Hitpoints increase for Animals increased from 10% to 20%. Now provides a 10% movement speed bonus.  

Minor Gods: 

Ptah:                    

• Leather Frame Shield - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.    
• Shifting Sands - Visual radius indicator reduced from 12 to 10. Note that the actual radius is unchanged from 10. Ox Carts can no longer be shifted. 
• Shifting Sands - Potential to shift enemy units reduced from 800 to 400 worth of hitpoints. Potential to shift enemy Villagers reduced from 150 to 70 worth of hitpoints.

Anubis: 

• Plague of Serpents - Wander distance increased from 4 to 8. Are now affected by Armory upgrades.
• Necropolis - Favor gather rate increase for Monuments increased from 10% to 25%.
• Feet of the Jackal - Hitpoints increase for Anubites increased from 50 to 75.

Sekhmet: 

• Slings of the Sun - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15. Bonus damage dealt to infantry for Slingers increased from 30% to 75%.
• Citadel - Garrison limit increased from 20 to 25. Gold cost increased from 300 to 400 (which affects repair cost). Accuracy increased from 0.8 to 0.9. 

Hathor:

• Roc - Movement speed reduced from 4.8 to 4.6.                                                            
• Crodocodopolis - Wood cost reduced from 400 to 300.    
• Locust Swarm - Hack damage increased from 20 to 30. Area of effect radius increased from 6 to 9. Total number of Swarms reduced from 4 to 1. Duration reduced from 27s to 23s. Damage vs Fishing Ships increased from +200% to +300%. Casting mechanism changed into a point and click system like for example the Bolt god power also uses.

Nephthys: 

• Leviathan - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.

Thoth: 

• Meteor - Accuracy increased from 0.85 to 1.0. Radius reduced from 32 to 25, to boost accuracy.     
• Phoenix - Favor cost reduced from 30 to 25.                                                             
• Phoenix & Phoenix from Egg - Hitpoints increased from 400 to 500. Hack damage increased from 30 to 40. Crush damage increased from 30 to 50. Now deals +100% damage vs Myth Units. Movement speed increased from 3.6 to 4.                                                     
• Phoenix from Egg - Costs Gold only now (removing the 25 Favor cost). Egg's hitpoints increased from 300 to 400. Damage vs Heroes reduced from -50% to -75%. (to match regular Phoenix)
• Book of Thoth - Wood cost reduced from 400 to 300.    
• War Turtle - Favor cost reduced from 20 to 15.

Horus: 

• Avenger - Favor cost reduced from 30 to 25. Movement speed increased from 5.3 to 5.5.                                                            
• Axe of Vengeance - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 20. Now gives Axemen +20% hack damage.                                                            
• Greatest of Fifty - Favor cost reduced from 40 to 30.    

Osiris: 

• Atef Crown - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 20. Now propperly increases Mummy pierce damage by 40%.                                                 
• Funeral Barge - Cost reduced from 500 Wood, 30 Favor to 300 Wood, 15 Favor.                                                         
• Desert Wind - Cost reduced from 400 Gold, 40 Favor to 300 Gold, 30 Favor.
• Pharaoh secondary - Range reduced by 1 (to match that of a regular Pharaoh after the nerf read above).
• Pharaoh secondary - now has the same movement speed and Damage Bonuses as the main Pharaoh.      

Norse Balance Changes:

Spoiler

General:

• New Unit - Bogsveigir. Archer good against Infantry and Myth Units. Trained at the Hill Fort (Heroic Age).
• Bogsveigir - Training time reduced from 15s to 9s. Favor bounty increased from 1.0 to 1.1. Pierce and hack armor reduced from 20% to 15%. Pierce damage reduced from 7 to 6. Changed the Unit line upgrades from Archer to Infantry. Bogsveigir only get +10% Hitpoints from Heavy and Champion Infantry. 
• Starting Units - The initial Ulfsark is now a unique Unit that can use the stand ground stance, and is immune to Bolt. You can not re-train it.     
• Ulfsark - Hitpoints increased from 80 to 85. Dock building speed increased from 0.75 to 0.88.           
• Dwarf - Now deal +100% damage vs Siege. (to match that of other Villagers)  
• Hersir - Movement speed increased from 4.2 to 4.3.                                                             
• Portable ram - Movement speed increased from 3.25 to 3.5. Training time reduced from 20s to 15s. Hitpoints increased from 215 to 225. Hack armor increase from 5% to 10%.                                                   
• Burning Pitch - Crush damage increase for Ballistae increased from 20% to 50%.                                        
• Ballista - Now auto-attack Units instead of Buildings.     
• Ballista - Now get +300% damage vs Gates and +75% damage vs (Mirror)Towers.      
• Hill Fort - Range increased from 18 to 20.
• Throwing Axeman - Damage vs (Hero) Fanatics increased from +125% to +175%. Now get their regular damage bonus vs Khopesh and Skrealing (+125%).       
• Axe of Muspell - Moved from the Heroic age to Classical age. Now gives 2 range to Throwing Axemen. Research time reduced from 40s to 20s. Gold cost reduced from 250 to 100.        
• The Toothed Arrows and Trios Bow Relics - Now affects Throwing Axemen.                   

Major Gods:    

Odin: 

• Raven - Now spawns when the first Temple is built instead of spawning on Classical Age advance.
• Great Hunt - Accuracy increased from 75% to 100%.                                                       
• Bogsveigr - Gets the 20% hitpoints bonus.    
• Human & Hero Unit Regeneration - Increased from 0.8 HP/s to 2.0 HP/s. 
• Jarl - Hitpoints bonus increased from 10% to 15%.

Thor: 

• Hammer of the Gods - Now affects all the same units as regular Armory upgrades.
• Meteoric Iron Mail - Provides -15% Hero Hack Armor Vulnerability instead of -10%. Now affects all the same units as regular Armory upgrades.
• Dragonscale Shields - Provides -15% Hero Pierce Armor Vulnerability instead of -10%. Now affects all the same units as regular Armory upgrades.

Minor Gods: 

Heimdall: 

• Undermine - Accuracy increased from 50% to 100%. Persistent crush damage increased from 25/s to 30/s.
• Safeguard - Is now available in Towers.
• Elhrimnir Kettle - Now reduces the Einherjar's special attack duration from 4s to 3s.
• Einherjar - Movement speed increased from 3.0 to 3.5.

Forseti: 

• Hall of Thanes - Movement speed bonus reduced from +1.1 to +1.                                                            
• Healing spring - Healing rate increased from 3 HP/s to 4 HP/s.  

Bragi: 

• Flaming Weapons - Can now be cast anywhere on the map (you no longer need to target a Unit).    
• Call of Valhalla - Hitpoints bonus for Ulfsarks reduced from 20% to 15%.
• Battle Boar - Movement speed reduced from 5.3 to 5.

Njord: 

• Walking Woods - Always spawns 8 Trees as long as there’s enough targets (used to be 75% accurate on 7-8 Trees).   
• Walking Woods - Instead of wandering and attacking nearby Units transformed Trees can now be issued commands. The default stance changed from Defensive to Aggressive. Hitpoints reduced from 300 to 240. Crush damage reduced from 30 to 15. (this is to compensate for them being player controlled now). They now automatically attack Buildings.                            
• Mountain Giant - Cost reduced from 300 Food, 27 Favor to 250 Food, 25 Favor.
• Long Serpent - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 10. Research time reduced from 45s to 30s.                                                            
• Ring Giver - Gold cost reduced from 400 to 300. Research time reduced from 60s to 20s.    
• Kraken - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 20.

Skadi: 

• Frost - Accuracy increased from 90% to 100%.   

Tyr & Loki: 

• Fenris Wolf Brood - Special boost aura which grants an attack and speed boost increased from 15% to 18%. Range of the boost aura increased from 25 to 30.

Tyr: 

• Berserkergang - Favor cost reduced from 45 to 30. Hitpoints bonus for Ulfsarks reduced from 20% to 15%.                                                  
• Bravery - Cost reduced from 400 Food, 30 Favor to 300 Food, 25 Favor. Bonus damage dealt vs Buildings for Huskarls increased from +100% to +125%.   

Baldr: 

• Dwarven Auger - Movement speed bonus reduced from 20% to 10%. Training time reduction reduced from 50% to 25%. Favor cost reduced from 35 to 30.                                                            
• Sons of Sleipnir - Cost reduced from 400 Food, 30 Favor to 300 Food, 20 Favor. 

Hel: 

• Nidhogg - Hitpoints increased from 2000 to 2500. Hack damage increased from 30 to 40. Movement speed increased from 3.7 to 4.0.        

Atlantean Balance Changes:

Spoiler

General:

• New Unit - Onager. Long-range Siege trained from the Palace (Mythic Age).
• Onager - Crush damage increased from 12 to 14.      
• Draft Horses - Can now be researched.                                                              
• The Scarab Pendant Relic - Now affects Fire Siphons.                                                            
• Fire Siphon - Maximum range increased from 12 to 16. Crush damage increased from 55 to 60. Now deals 12 pierce damage.              
• Medium Archers - Is no longer freely granted upon advancing to the Classical Age.                                                                             
• Contarius - Food cost reduced from 70 to 60.                  
• (Hero) Contarius - Pierce armor increased from 15% to 25%.                                                
• Hero conversion - Cost reduced by 30% (rounded by 5 and excluding Favor).        
• Hero Citizen - Favor cost reduced from 3 to 2. Population cost reduced from 4 to 3.       
• Hero Katapeltes - Damage vs Siege increased from +100% to 150%. (to match that of the non-Hero version)                                  
• Town Centers -  Are no longer weaker compared to other civilizations which means: Pierce damage increased from 9 to 12. Range increased from 18 to 20. Hitpoints increased from 2100 to 2800.                                                            
• Cavalry Line Upgrade - Costs reduced by 50%.                                                                                                                    
• Fireship - No longer has a minimum range. Track rating increased from 3.5 to 5.0. 
• Iron Wall - Hitpoints increase for Walls reduced from 500 to 300. 
• Walls - No longer cost 50% more.
• Cheiroballista -  Now benefit from Weapon & Mail & Shield Armory upgrades (not from Volcanic Forge which should mirror these upgrades). Damage bonus VS Hero Destroyers reduced from 400% to 300%. (to match that of the damage bonus VS regular Destroyers)
• (Hero) Turma - Heavy Archers now gives 2 range.
• Burning Pitch - Bonus damage vs Ships for Hero Arcus/Turma reduced from +150% to +50. 
• Relic Tusk of the Iron Boar - Now affects Hero Contarius.
• Relic Heras Thundercloud Shawl - Now affects Hero Oracles.

Major Gods:    

Kronos:

• New Movement Speed Bonus - Myth Units, Siege, (Hero) Destroyers, and Siege Bireme movement speed increased by 10%.
• Deconstruction - Cooldown increased from 240s to 270s.
• Focus - Now increases Hero Oracle hack damage by 20%, and their hitpoints by 15%.

Oranos:

• Shockwave - Stun time reduced from 4s to 2s. Now affects Animals.                                                            
• Safe Passage - Is now available in the Temple.

Gaia:

• Channels - Is now available in the Temple. Cost reduced from 25 food, 100 gold, 10 favor to 100 gold, 5 favor. Now affects Caravans.    
• Lush - Range increased from 8 to 10.
• Building Hitpoints Regeneration - Increased from 1HP/s to 3HP/s.

Minor Gods: 

Oceanus: 

• Bite of the Shark - Now affects (Hero) Fanatics.                                                            
• Weightless Mace - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15.    
• Weightless Mace and Bite of the Shark - Can now be researched in the Armory.
• Carnivora (Land) - Hitpoints increased from 500 to 600. Special attack recharge time reduced from 12s to 10s.
• Servant - Favor cost reduced from 15 to 12.

Prometheus: 

• Valor - Amount of charges reduced from 3 to 2.

Leto: 

• Automaton - Movement speed increased from 3.75 to 4.2. Favor cost reduced from 8 to 6. Hitpoints increased from 200 to 230.                  
• Volcanic forge - Now acts as a pierce armor upgrade for every Unit affected by Armory upgrades, retains its bonus for Automatons. Favor cost reduced from 18 to 15. Can now be researched in the Armory.  
• Spider Lair - Recharge time reduced from 300s to 150s. Egg hatching time reduced from 10s to 5s. Warning time reduced from 1s to 0.5s.
• Hephaestus Revenge - Favor cost reduced from 15 to 10. 

Rheia: 

• Traitor - Amount of charges increased from 2 to 3.                                                            
• Mail of Orichalkos - Now gives -10% pierce vulnerability for Archers.                                                        
• Behemoth - Regeneration rate increased from 1 HP/s to 2 HP/s.    
• Rheia’s Gift - Reduction on Favor cost of upgrades increased from 25% to 50%. No longer reduces the Favor cost of Secrets of the Titans.
• Dryad - Crush armor reduced from 99% to 80%.
• Horns of Consecration - Favor gather rate bonus for Town Centers increased from 0.01/s to 0.02/s.

Theia: 

• Poseidon’s Secret - Favor cost reduced from 35 to 20.    
• Lance of Stone - Bonus damage dealt vs Buildings for Hero Contarius reduced from +200% to +175%.
• Lemurian Descendants - Now affects Heroes as well.

Hyperion: 

• Chaos - Amount of charges increased from 2 to 3. Minimum number of Myth Units that are converted increased from 0 to 1, and minimum number of Humans increased from 3 to 4.
• Satyr - Cost increased from 225 Wood, 18 Favor to 250 Wood, 20 Favor. Pierce damage increased from 12 to 20. Special attack pierce damage increased from 22 to 27. Special attack now deals AOE damage in a range of 1. Training time reduced from 30s to 15s.
• Gemino - Cost reduced from 350 Wood, 150 Gold, 25 Favor to 200 Wood, 15 Favor.
• Heroic Renewal - Regeneration rate for Heroes increased from 1.5 HP/s to 2.0 HP/s. Cost reduced from 150 Food, 150 Gold, 20 Favor to 200 Gold, 15 Favor.

Helios: 

• Heka Gigantes - Hack & pierce armor increased from 45% to 60%.                                                            
• Man O’ War - Range increased from 8 to 16. Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15.                                                         
• Halo of the Sun - Gold cost reduced from 350 to 300. Crush damage increase for Fire Siphons reduced from 25% to 15%. Now increases Fire Siphon pierce damage by 15%.
• Mirror Tower - Cost reduced from 300 Wood, 150 Gold, 5 Favor to 250 Wood, 100 Gold, 3 Favor. Pierce damage increased from 20 to 25. Build limit reduced from 10 to 5. Now benefits from weapon upgrades researched at the Armory.

Hekate: 

• Asper Blood - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15. Wood cost removed. AOE damage effect increased from 25 to 50 pierce.
• Tartarian Gate - Is now repairable. Because of this change you can now walk through the Gate itself.

Atlas: 

• Argus - Hitpoints increased from 360 to 550. Training time reduced from 30s to 20s. Special attack range increased from 2 to 3.                 
• Titan Shield - Wood cost reduced from 350 to 300.    
• Io Guardian - Favor cost reduced from 25 to 15. Special attack recharge time reduction increased from 20% to 40%.

Chinese Balance Changes:

Spoiler

General: 

• General - Can no longer buff Titans. Now benefits from Castle Line and Castle Soldiers upgrades. Cost reduced from 200 Food, 200 Gold to 180 Food, 140 Gold.                                                  
• Garden - Garden 1 cost reduced from 35 Food / Wood / Gold to 25 Wood / Wood / Gold. Garden 2 cost reduced from 50 F / W / G to 40 F / W / G. Gardens 3 - 10 cost reduced from 75 F / W / G to 60 F / W / G.
• Villager - Gold / Wood gather rate reduced by 5%.                                                            
• Junk Boat - Hitpoints reduced from 330 to 310.  
• Scout Cavalry - Movement speed reduced from 6.00 to 5.75. Hack damage reduced from 7 to 6. Now deals +30% damage vs Caravans & Archers. Damage reduced by a further 50% in Archaic Age, now -90% in total.                                                    
• Immortal - Hack damage reduced by a further 35% in Archaic Age, now -75% in total. Pierce damage is now lowered by 75% in Archaic Age. Hitpoints increased from 130 to 150. You now need a Temple to build Immortals instead of 2 instantly becoming available. Can now be trained from the Castle. Range reduced from 14 to 13, pierce attack increased from 6 to 7. Each age up now gives Immortals 1 range.         
• Great Wall - Hitpoints increase for Walls reduced from 600 to 300. 
• Garden - Cost reduced from 35 Food, 35 Wood, 35 Gold to 25 Food, 25 Wood, 25 Gold. Gather rate increased by 5%.
• Cataphract - Pierce armor reduced from 20% to 15%. Hitpoints reduced from 120 to 110. Damage dealt vs Hersirs & Norse Infantry reduced from +200% to +150% (damage vs Heroes of Ragnarok remains the same). Now deals +100% damage vs Siege.
• Chu Ko Nu - Range reduced from 16 to 14. Pierce damage increased from 4 to 7. Accuracy increased from 0.7 to 0.8. Number of projectiles reduced from 2 to 1.
• (Shennong) Fire Lance - Hitpoints reduced from 80 to 65. Pierce damage reduced from 8.0 to 5.0. Crush damage increased from 10.0 to 12.0. Damage vs Archers increased from +50% to +150%, this bonus now affects Hero Arcus/Turma. Movement speed reduced from 4.0 to 3.6. Training time reduced from 15s to 12s.
• (Shennong) Fire Lance - Are now affected by the Relics: Bow of Artemis, Toothed Arrows and Trios Bow. Now benefits from weapon upgrades researched at the Armory. Burning Pitch now gives this Unit +3 crush damage. 
• Shennong Fire Lance - Can now garrison in all buildings excluding Citadel Centers.
• Monks - Can no longer convert frozen or stoned Units. Base Convert time on Humans increased from 6s to 11s, minimum Convert time increased from 6s to 9s, maximum Convert time increased from 10s to 11s. Conversion range reduced from 15 to 11. Can now pick up Relics. Can now melee attack Villagers.
• Halberdier - Food cost increased from 40 to 50. Damage dealt vs Cavalry reduced from +30% to +10%.
• Mounted Archer - Pierce damage reduced from 7 to 5. Damage dealt vs Cavalry increased from +100% to +200%. Cost reduced from 80 Wood, 60 Gold to 75 Wood, 55 Gold.
• Halberdier and Mounted Archer - Now have a damage bonus against Hero Contarius, same bonus as against other Cavalry.     
• War Chariot - Hack damage increased from 12 to 13. Training time reduced from 18s to 9s. Now deals +25% damage vs Archers.
• Heavy Barracks - Increases Halberdiers' hitpoints by 15% and Chu Ko Nu by 10% (was swapped in 2.6).
• Champion Barracks - Increases Halberdiers' hitpoints by 20% and Chu Ko Nu by 10% (was swapped in 2.6).

Major Gods:    

Fu Xi:

• Blessed Construction - Cost to use for Towers increased from 40 Wood, 20 Gold to 100 Wood, 50 Gold. Cost to use for Castles increased from 60 Wood, 60 Gold, 2 Favor to 150 Wood, 150 Gold, 5 Favor.

Nü Wa:

• Villager - Cost reduction removed.    
• Recreation - Amount of possible resurrected Peasants increased from 3 to 4.

Shennong:

• Fire Lance - Splash area reduced from 3 to. 2. Now deals +150% damage vs Buildings.
• Sitting Tiger - Now deals +320% damage vs Buildings.
• Monk - The average time it takes to convert Myth Units reduced from 15s to 14s.

Minor Gods: 

Change'e: 

• Barrage - Minimum damage increased from 500 to 600. Radius increased from 8 to 10. Now deals 100% damage vs Ships.
• Jade Rabbit - Cost increased from 150 Food, 10 Favor to 225 Food, 15 Favor.
• Qilin - Favor cost reduced from 18 to 14.

Huang Di: 

• Call to Arms - No longer affects Naval Units. Maximum number of Humans duplicated reduced from 5 to 4.                                        
• Terracotta Warrior - Can now be healed. Lethal dust now instantly deals 15 pierce damage (instead of dealing 10 pierce damage per second). Lethal Dust's Area of effect increased from 6 to 7.                                                                                                                 
• Terracotta Warrior - Cost increased from 90 Wood, 10 Favor to 120 Wood, 10 Favor. Terracotta Warrior cost return on death has been reduced to an average of 22 Wood, 2 Favor (from 20 / 4).    

Dabo Gong: 

• Pixiu - Gold generation rate increased from 1.5 to 2.5 gold/second.
• Imperial Examination - Now affects the build rate of Towers & Town Centers. Duration reduced from 60s to 45s.
• Landlord Spirit - Now available in the Temple.
• House Altars - Cost changed from 150 Food, 150 Wood, 150 Gold, 10 Favor to 100 Food, 100 Wood, 100 Gold, 15 Favor. 

Zhong Kui:

• Uproot - Lifespan reduced from ∞ to 50 seconds. Adjusted the amount of hack damage dealt per second: [1×1] 20 to 10, [2×2]: 20 to 15, [4×4] 20 to 25, [5×5] 20 to 30, [6×6] 20 to 40, [7×7] 20 to 40, [8×8] 20 to 40.
• Jiangshi - Special attack recharge time increased from 12s to 16s. Favor cost increased from 20 to 25.

He Bo:

• Geyser - Can now be placed on water, where it affects Ships. Obstruction radius lowered by 80%. No longer shows up as idle military. Can now be placed beneath mobile units.
• Rammed Earth - Now reduces Buildings (excluding Titan Gate) their hack vulnerability by 10%. 

Chongli: 

• Heavenly Fire - Cost reduced from 500 Gold, 50 Favor to 400 Gold, 40 Favor.
• Vermilion Bird - Hitpoints reduced from 700 to 600.
• Inferno - Lifespan increased from 15s to 20s.
  Now respects damage caps where it before negated those existing caps.
  The useful to know caps are:
  - Max damage to enemy Villagers: 800.
  - Max damage to enemy Units: 4800.
  - Max damage to enemy Buildings: 9000.
  - Max damage to allied Villagers: 600.
  - Max damage to allied Units: 600.
  - Max damage to allied Buildings: 1200.
  Inferno no longer selects units when it has reached the damage cap for units when doing its target selection. This allows it to keep damaging buildings more reliably when the unit damage cap has been reached but the building damage still has not.

Xi Wangmu: 

• Tiger Spirit - Hitpoints and movement speed bonusses increased from 15% to 20%.
• White Tiger - Favor cost reduced from 30 to 27. Hack damage increased from 20 to 30. Special attack hack damage increased from 100 to 200. Removed the special attack AOE damage. Damage vs Myth Units reduced from +200% to +100%. Obstruction radius reduced by 20%.
• Earth Dragon - Hitpoints reduced from 5000 to 2500. Lifespan reduced from 180s to 90s. Pierce armor increased from 60% to 70%. Range increased from 6 to 7. Recharge time reduced from 3m to 2m. Obstruction radius lowered by 33%, this means it can now be hit by melee units. Can no longer hit allies with his crush damage.
• Golden Peaches - Hitpoints bonus for General & War Chariot & Fire Lance & Sitting Tiger increased from 20% to 25%. Now also affects Immortals.
• Celestial Palace - Now also affects Immortals.

Ao Kuang: 

• Great Flood - The god power was significantly reworked but in general these 2 things changed: 1 - Now picks up humans and constantly damages Units while caught in the wave (Units can garrison inside Buildings to protect themselves). 2 - The wave does more damage to Units whereas buildings suffer more damage from the initial impact. 
• Great Flood - After the rework these changes went through:
  • Main crush damage increased from 100 to 125.
  • Persistent crush damage increased from 1.25 to 2.0.
  • Persistent hack damage reduced from 2.5 to 1.5.
  • Maximum damage dealt vs units reduced from 3000 to 1000.
  • Maximum damage dealt vs Buildings reduced from 9000 to 4000.
  • Maximum damage dealt vs allied units reduced from 900 to 600.
  • Maximum damage dealt vs Villagers reduced from 1200 to 600.
  • Maximum damage dealt vs allied Villagers reduced from 600 to 300.
  • Now deals -75% damage vs Villagers.
    It is important to note here that the persistent damage is not bound to any damage caps, only the initial blast is.                        
• Dragon Turtle - Now deals +100% damage vs Myth Units.
• Dragon's Scales - Now affects Heroes.

Deathmatch Balance Changes:

Spoiler

• You can now win a Deathmatch game by owning all Town Centers. (like in Supremacy)
• Fortress build limit reduced from 10 to 8.    
• Removed free Favor trickles for each civilization.        
• Units which can heal have their healing rate increased by 25%.  
• Tower limit reduced from 20 to 14.                       
• Greek favor gathering bonus increased from +20% to +30%.                                               
• Deathmatch specific Mercenary limits removed, Deathmatch now uses the regular limits.       
• Starting number of Egyptian Villagers increased from 10 to 11.          
• Starting number of Ulfsarks increased from 5 to 6.                                    
• Hersir's & Hero of Ragnarok Town Center build speed reduction reduced from 50% to 25% .                                                                         
• Hersirs' Deathmatch specific favor generation buff removed.                                        
• Atlantean's increased favor income increased from 30% to 70%.      
• Atlantean Favor per Town Center reduced from 0.25/s to 0.225/s.   
• Sky Passage build limit reduced from 10 to 4.
• Atlantean starting Citizens reduced from 6 to 5.          
• Atlantean Citizen Town Center build speed reduction increased from -10% to -20%.                                
• Monk conversion rate increased by 20%.

Balance Related Bug Fixes:

Spoiler

General:

• Walls and Farms no longer delete dead Animals. Other Buildings will continue to do so but only once they are completely built.
• Transport Ships can now carry Caravans.                                                            
• Meteor, Pestilence, Restoration and Lightning Storm now display their real range.                                                            
• Docks are now able to shoot at all Naval / Amphibious Myth Units.                                                     
• Oracle Scouts and Gastraphetes can now garrison.                                                            
• Caravans & Fishing Ships now use aggressive as the base stance to prevent the drop off bug.      
• Caravans can no longer drop off Gold at a Market that was not fully built.       
• Trees and gold mines will no longer reward 1 less resource than they're supposed to. You would for example only get 9 wood from a tree that had 10 wood left due to a rounding issue.                                               
• Unfinished Walls which are next to finished Walls will no longer take damage if the finished Walls are attacked.
• Uncompleted Walls can no longer be converted into a Gate.
• Crenellations now gives Towers +100% damage vs Hero Contarius.
• Centaur, Manticore, Azure Dragon, Nemean Lion, Avenger, Chimeras, Titan, Fire Giant, and Satyr can no longer use their special attack vs Hero Citizens.
• Town Centers under construction will now receive damage from Earthquake and Tornado.
• Engineers now gives 2 range to Sitting Tigers and Onagers. (it grants this by default to all Siege of this type hence it is under bug fixes)
• Units which use lightning attack will no longer get stuck in animations.
• Masons now also reduces Citadels' hack Vulnerability. 

Civilizations:

Hades: 

• Perseus will no longer walk to dead petrified bodies after using his special he will instead acquire a new target instantly.
• Relic Ring of Nibelung will no longer decrease gold income provided by the Vault of Erebus upgrade. (this would only occur if you garrisoned the Relic after researching the upgrade)
• Immovable units can no longer be garrisoned, this is meant for Sentinels.

Poseidon: 

• The Argo now has the Hero tag.

Apollo: 

• The Temple of Healing upgrade will no longer work on Temples that are not fully constructed.

Egyptian: 

• Kebenit now receives its bonus damage vs Chinese Fishing Ships.
• Laborers no longer build Wall Medium slower than the other wall pieces.

Isis:

• Unfinished Monuments no longer sometimes block god power usage.

Set: 

• Caribous of Set now convert nearby Herdables.
• Priests can now convert: Elephant Indian, Lizard, Panda Bear.    

Anubis: 

• Plague of Serpents: Sea Snakes no longer show up as idle military, Sea Snakes can now attack Villagers & Caravans & Ox Cart & all Myth Units and land Military.

Hathor:

• Locust Swarm now shows up on the minimap.

Sekhmet:

• Slings of the Sun now propperly increase the damage Slingers deal vs Hypaspists & Throwing Axemen & Axemen (+75%).

Nephthys: 

• Leviathans now use aggressive as the base stance.                                                            
• Spirit of Maat now affects New Kingdom Pharaohs and Son of Osiris.                                                            
• Funeral Rites now affects New Kingdom Pharaohs.        

Horus: 

• Tornados can't be manually controlled anymore.    
• Tornado will not longer show up for 60 seconds on the minimap as an active god power, it will now show up for 20 seconds which is its actual duration.

Osiris:                                                       

• While you have a Son Of Osiris you now always get a 3rd Pharaoh instead of it relying on which Pharaoh you used the god power on.       
• Mummys can no longer use their special attack on Hippolyta.    

Thoth: 

• Phoenixes can no longer damage allied Phoenixes when flying in groups.

Norse: 

• Norse will now get Favor bounties from these units: Phoenix, Phoenix from Egg, Sphinx, Stymphalian Bird, War Salamander, Vermillion Bird.

Heimdall: 

• Undermine now affects Mirror Towers.

Njord: 

• Kraken's special attack now works on Fireships.                                                            
• Walking Woods can now be used on Gaia forests.                                                            

Skadi: 

• Frost now affects all huntable Animals.                                                            
• Frost no longer makes Bronze stay active after it has expired.  
• Frost now affects Immortals. 

Atlantean: 

• All Myth Unit special attacks now work on Oracle Scouts. They received the HumanSoldier tag to achieve this. This also means that Oranos' Oracles are now 10% faster.            
• Hero Oracles now use aggressive as the base stance.                                                   
• (Hero) Destroyers' bonus damage now affects Underworld Passages, Titan Gates, and Tartarian Gates.                                                     
• Citadel centers now provide Favor.                                                            
• Fire Siphons are now able to hit targets on higher/lower ground from their max range.             
• Hero Citizens now get their damage bonus vs Set Animals (+400%). When you manually heroize (so not Valor) Citizens they will now remember their original build / repair task and continue performing it.                                               

Kronos: 

• Now has access to Omniscience.                                                            
• Deconstruction no longer works on Healing Springs.
• Can now Timeshift Markets using the button.

Oranos:                                                     

• Shockwave no longer knocks Units off the map.    

Leto:

• Volcanic Forge now affects Cheiroballista.

Rheia: 

• Traitor now affects Caribous of Set.    

Theia: 

• Bow of Artemis Relic now reduces the Gold cost of Stymphalian Bird.

Hyperion: 

• Transport Ships can no longer carry Nereids.                                                            
• The Satyr`s accurate attack now correctly hits targets with its spread javelins.
• Chaos no longer affects Fishing Ships.

Hyperion & Hekate:

• Chaos and Lampades Special Attack no longer work on Pegasus & Hippocampus & Raven & Oracle Scout.
• Chaos and Lampades Special Attack now work on Hades Shade & Serpent & Sea Snake & Sentinel.

Atlas: 

• Implode will no longer fail to explode sometimes.
• Son of Osiris is now affected by Implode.

Hekate: 

• Nereids are now affected by Mythic Rejuvination.

Chinese: 

• Yak Caravans are now affected by the Coinage upgrade.      
• Immortals can now use their ranged attack against: Fire Giants, Hero Arcus/Turma, Mummies and Water Carnivora. They can no longer use their ranged attack against Argus. 
• Cataphracts now get their Damage Bonus VS Hero Murmillo.
• Monks can now melee attack Ox Cart & Hades Shade & Ships & Titan Gates & Underworld Passage & Tartarian Gate.

Sun Wukong:

• Monkey Kings can now propperly use their special attack against Earth Dragons.

Huang Di & Dabo Gong:

• Oracle Bone Script now has the correct modifier to reduce training time, this means that the upgrade is no longer stronger than intended when combined with other training time reducing effects. 

Dabo Gong:

• Imperial Examination will now correctly reduce training time, this is a nerf. 
• Landlord Spirit now has the correct modifier to reduce training time, this means that the upgrade is no longer stronger than intended when combined with other training time reducing effects. 

Ao Kuang: 

• Great Flood now deals its damage as intended, making it deal 75% more damage.  

Most Relevant Bug Fixes:

Spoiler

• Recorded games with 2 or more observers are no longer corrupted.
• Cycling through Atlantean Counter Barracks with hotkeys while built in uneven numbers is now possible.
• The game's console can no longer be opened.
• Clicking twice on the same spot on the minimap will not longer make you click through the minimap and click on the underlying map.
• Players can no longer view the post-game screen while playing.
• Players can no longer open the editor while playing a game.
• Locust Swarm is now rendered in a visible way.
• The hotkey bug has been fixed. You will no longer have your custom and default hotkeys active at the same time.
• Players can not longer be kicked from the game for not owning DLC-specific units. (scenarios most often)
• If you for example select 5 Toxotes and order them to attack 3 different targets via way of shift-clicking. If they killed the first target they would logically move on to attack the second target. But if that second target had died in the meanwhile the Toxotes would not start attacking the third target but they would walk to the spot where the second target died. This will no longer occur and in this example the Toxotes will recognize that their second target is dead and start attacking the third.
• Fixed melee units (and ranged units if they were in the same group that got the command) ignoring Shift-Queue attacks on buildings. Previously the units would attack the first target and then just at their own will reacquire another target instead of going to the shift-clicked targets.
• Training time reducing upgrades & relics & god powers will not longer somtimes remove units from the production queue.
• Players can no longer use the most common ways to "Town Center foundation" & "Hunt / resource* scout under the Fog of War, there are still some obscure ways in which this can be done.
• Unfinished buildings that are part of a control group no longer break the ability to use hotkeys to create units.
• Loading a saved game will no longer cause Gardens to gather all resources.
• Buildings no longer construct slower when their initial builder is garrisoned.
• War Salamanders no longer path off the map to avoid obstacles or cross cliffs.
• Fixed Auto Queue / Blessed Construction only working on one of multiple selected buildings.
• The UI now shows the Auto Queue button when multiple buildings are selected.
• Players are no longer able to get an invalid Elo ranking (billions).
• Players can now properly host maps that were downloaded to the "rm2" folder.
• God Power counters now show for Powers with multiple uses even if you're not Atlantean. (scenario only)
• Units are less likely to get stuck in gold mines.
• God Powers on flying units can now be properly cast at the edge of the map.
• Fire Ships now show the correct upgrade in the technology tree.
• All Costs in the technology tree now display the correct values.

Map Changes:

Spoiler

Standard mapset:

• Maps have been rewritten to run more efficient, are more readable and have Giant compatibility.
• Town center, Food and Gold mine location imbalances have been greatly reduced.     
• Town Centers can never spawn as close to the edge of a map to the point it blocks farms around it.       
• Highland removed from the random map set.      
• Predators avoid Gold mines and Town Centers.                                                            
• Chickens / berries no longer spawn on top of gold mines.  
• Hunt should always spawn within Tower LoS or very close to (nearest black spot) on all maps except Oasis.
• Oasis' variation with one central forest has that forest's size reduced.
• Anatolia now spawns with less cliffs.
• Alfheim and Highland cliffs can no longer be landed on.     
• Tundra no longer spawns rocks that prevent building placement.      
• Towers are more likely to protect the initial Gold mine, as the initial Gold mine is now closer to the Town Center.         
• Maps with safe large Gold mines now consistently spawn either for all or no players.
• Town Centers on Mediterranean and Midgard are less likely to spawn within water range.
• Cliffs on Alheim no longer avoid the edge by 2 range.
• Increased minimal number of initial berries from 2 to 4 on Midgard. Moved the initial fish trio closer to the players. There is now a small chance of Boars to spawn as starting hunt. (bug fix)    

Other:

• Team Migration and Vinlandsaga now have Transport Ships for Chinese.
• Nomad now has faster building speed for Chinese as well.