Microsoft and Relic Entertainment revealed that support for Age of Empires IV was nowhere close to ending when it announced more DLC packs for the game earlier this year. The first release of this plan is slated to be Age of Empires IV: Knights of Cross and Rose, a DLC carrying two new armies for skirmish and multiplayer players, new maps and modes, plus the single-player Historical Battles missions.
With the DLC, The Knights Templar and House of Lancaster are entering the game as variant civilizations for the French and English, respectively. Despite being variants though, Relic is saying that these armies will sport a high number of unique units, upgrades, and abilities to let them sit apart from their sources.
Here’s a description of what bonuses the Knights Templar will tout at launch, straight from the developer:
Historically, Templar Commanderies were established in nearly every European Kingdom acting as a source of power and prestige for the Order. With Knights of Cross and Rose, this system is brought to life with the Commanderie Age Up system, in which you can select one of three allies with each Age to receive a permanent bonus and unique unit. Did we mention yet that Knights Templar have a lot of unique units?
Furthermore, the Templars built a lot (like a lot a lot) of Castles, Fortresses and various fortifications around Europe and the Levant. Thus, the Fortress, their unique keep, plays a key strategic role in their overall gameplay.
Next, here’s how the House of Lancaster will drop into battle:
The Lancasters were known for their unparalleled ranged tactics on the battlefield and an unyielding patronage of the arts and sciences.
These historical elements inspired much of the gameplay when bringing the House of Lancaster variant civilization to life in this upcoming DLC. Not only does this variant civilization come equipped with a powerful ability called Synchronized Shot, which allows for a wide-ranging volley shot, but they’re also bolstered by the Manor, a unique building that generates resources.
Meanwhile, campaign enjoyers will find that Relic’s new Historical Battles single-player mode will be right up their alley. As expected with a name like that, this mode will offer various moments from history for players to jump into, letting them try out their strategies in battles that may have ended up differently back in the day.
Each Historical Battle of Age of Empires IV will have elements like secrets, traps and other objectives for players to find, offering some replayability to each scenario. A new scoring system will let players know how efficient they are being with battles and the map exploration.
The Age of Empires IV – Knights of Cross and Rose DLC is coming out in spring 2025 across PC (Steam and Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
