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Hello there Celeste players! We are back with another Developer Blog. This time, we will be showing you some of the things that we have planned for the near future, alongside our other goals.

You might have heard or seen some of the things mentioned here in our Discord already, but to make sure that everyone is on the same page, we will be posting them all here in this blog post.

So without any further ado, let's get started, shall we?

New Civilization: The Phoenicians
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The Phoenicians are another economic powerhouse, rivaling even the mighty Babylonians. Command the unique Thief unit which is an Age II Infantry Unit who can steal Gold from the enemy when it attacks their Storehouses, Markets and Town Centers.

The are also able to build Special Markets (called Bazaars) before any other civilization, as early as Age I. With every age-up, the Phoenicians receive free Caravans (upgrading with each age-up) to further establish their economic dominance.

Though the Phoenician economic power might seem oppressive and overpowering and more than enough to crush any other civilization, their lacking Military will work as a counter-balance to ensure a fun and balanced gameplay experience for all players, regardless of their Civilization pick.

New Civilization: The Indians
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Based on the mighty Mauryan Empire, the Indians are a powerful civilization with a fairly balanced approach towards Economy and Military.

The Indians use an improved version of the Farm, which can be worked on by multiple Villagers instead of one, while also having access to the Gatherer Elephant which is a dedicated Gatherer Unit trained at the Town Center that gathers resources faster than Villagers, but cannot construct Buildings.

The Indians are also the first playable civilization in Age of Empires Online who will utilize the Club gear class. This gear type will be used on their Age II Infantry Unit, the Clubman.

New Civilization: The Huns
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As the most mobile and aggressive civilization ever made in Age of Empires Online, the Huns rival even the Celts and the Norse, with the difference here being that unlike those two civilizations, the Huns have much greater emphasis on their Cavalry, instead of their Infantry.

The Huns have as many as five Cavalry Units in their Stables, starting in Age II, with units such as the Nokkors who wield an Axe and a Shield onto battle, or the powerful Mounted Archers who lay waste to all Cavalry Units in Age III, going all the way to Age IV, where their powerful Steppe Cataphracts decimate all enemy infantry units.

The Huns will also start the game with 200 population cap already available, with the unique ability to pack up their Buildings and move them anywhere on the map.

What the Huns lack in static defenses (such as Guard Towers and Fortresses) and Siege units, they make up for in extreme mobility and aggression.

New Item Rarity: Mythic
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We've heard your requests for higher item tiers, and now we are excited to share with you an all-new item rarity type, the Mythic rarity.

Available only to players who have reached level 40 on ALL civilizations, the Mythic item rarity is the ultimate end-game for players who have already maxed out on everything and want even better items.

As creating new item rarities is no small task in Age of Empires Online, we will be first starting out with Gear and Consumables, and will later on expand this to other item types such as Advisors, Materials and Blueprints (and more)

Mythic Gear
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Mythic Consumables
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Update on Legendary Gear Icons
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Starting from next patch, every single Legendary Gear in the game will have its own unique icon.
This was done to bring that little extra flavor to Legendary Gear and to make sure there's no confusion when you're trading with other players.

By adding over 80 new icons, we've ensured that no two Legendary Gears will have the same icon. This will be the case moving forward, too.

New Feature: Gear Dismantler
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Coming soon is the new Gear Dismantler shop in the City of Rome. Here you can use any Legendary Gear and turn it into three different Materials, which you can then use to craft other items, trade with other players, or whatever you wish to do with the materials.

The type and number of Materials you receive will depend on the type of Legendary Item you use, and its quality (max stats, low stats, etc.)

New Feature: Bahram's Epic Exchange
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Bahram has been busy in Tarsos! Coming soon is the new Bahram's Epic Exchange interface, where you can trade in any Basic Epic Materials (Obsidian Blocks, White Honey, Arctic Fox Fur, Guayacan Planks or Pure Gold Ingots) for an equal number of a Basic Epic Material of the same time (alongside a small fee, of course. Bahram needs to make a profit, after all!)

Alternatively, you can trade in multiple stacks of Basic Epic Materials for a stack of Advanced Epic Materials (Flawless Diamond, Philosopher's Stone, Illuminated Codex, Archimedes' Tools or Silk Cloth)

Alliance Gear Changes
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Even though Alliance wars are still not implemented into Project Celeste (and we have no ETA on it, either, if at all), the Gear available from the 3 Alliance regions (Delos, Farafra Oasis and Carthage) are still part of the game and players can buy the Gear from those regions' shops.

Due to popular demand, we have promoted two rare pieces from each Alliance to Legendary status with updated names and icons.

There have been no changes to stats for these items, with the exception of the Carthage Oil Flask, which has received a buff to its Damage stat.

You will be able to keep your original items. They will not change names or icons, and will remain exactly as they are, but they will no longer be available for purchase in the Alliance Stores.

To get the new items, you can buy them from the Alliance Stores in each Alliance's dedicated region.

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Update: Since this thread has had many people confused, we would like to clarify that this thread's main purpose was to be an April Fool's Joke. However, not everything here is untrue.

So to summarize:

• New Civs: Obviously a joke. (Maybe not the Indians, but the others, definitely.)
• Mythic Rarity: April's Joke
• Legendary Gear Icons: Already implemented
• Gear Dismantler: Scheduled for (much) later.
• Bahram's Epic Exchange: Scheduled for (much) later.
• Alliance Gear Changes: Already Implemented

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All current and future content will stay 100% free and accessible to everyone.

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Thank you so much for reading, and we will see you all next time!

Project Celeste Development Team

What do you think about this week's blog? What would you like to see next? Let us know in the comments below!

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The Romans are here! Watch the Overview Trailer.

Project Celeste is completely free and always will be. However, we gladly accept donations for our overhead costs, which are larger than we have budgeted. If you want to support us, you can do so HERE.

Read every Romans related blog HERE.

Tell your friends! Join our Discord HERE.
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