Age of Wonders 4’s Manta Update is now available free to all owners, adding Trade Routes as a new economic system. Detailed in the official announcement, these routes connect Cities with Outposts, Free Cities and other Empires’ Cities.
The update also makes embarking cheaper and allows Outposts to be founded on ocean waters. Together, those changes give the sea a broader role in expansion and economic planning, rather than treating it simply as a stretch of water to cross.
Naval battles get attention too, with new rules for ships in combat and a visual overhaul of ocean combat maps. Away from the water, Manta gives Magic Fighters a Sword & Staff loadout.
The Silver Seas expansion adds the Mercantile Culture, which can found Cities on both ocean and land. That’s an important distinction from the free update’s ocean Outposts: the Culture brings city-building at sea into the mix. It can also establish Trade Routes with any non-hostile Free City and has two Organisations to choose from: the Cartel and the Barony.
Silver Seas also adds the Aqualon and Sharkkin Forms, alongside four new Tomes: Hydromancy, the Damned, Piracy and Eternal Ice.
