There’s something special aboutAge Of Wonders 4- the latest release from Dutch developer Triumph Studios - that separates it from the other 4XSid Meier’s Civilization-style games that populate the market. Much of the game plays the same way as those other entries in the genre. It’s still turn-based and still requires players to start by building their Faction’s capital city (or Throne City) and then expanding their development from there, recruiting units andbuilding city structures within their landsto advance their culture.
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What makes theAge Of Wonders 4stand out is the degree of customization players can apply to their Faction to make it unique. There areten races to choose from,with more on the way in a series of planned DLCs, but each of those races can be customized through body and cultural traits that completely reshape not only the look of their units and buildings but the focus of their playthrough. There are just six cultures to choose from, but fourteen body traits, some of which are more effective than others.
10Resilient
This first body trait is a relatively basic concept. It grants the player’s units +3 to their status resistance. In short, that bonus will make it less likely for units to suffer debuffs from status effects like weakness or blight. Beyond that, it won’t affect gameplay much.
The thing here is, a resistance to status effects is easy enough to acquire by simply investing in unit enhancements. While this body trait can come in handy in the very early stages of a run, by the time players have established their culture, they can acquire an equivalent bonus just by spending some gold.
9Resistant
Working similarly to Resilient, the Resistant body trait will increase the resistance of a player’s units by +2. Resistance will affect a unit’s ability to resist magic damage. It has no bearing on physical resistance, so players should ensure not to get those confused.
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Again, much like Resilient, the +2 to resistance acquired from Resistant is fairly easy to replicate via unit enhancements. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this trait, it just doesn’t accomplish anything that can’t be achieved through other means, and its effectiveness tapers off a lot in the end game.
8Resolute
Running parallel to Resisient once again, Resolute reduces the duration of any status effects inflicted on a player’s units by 1 turn. If a status effect’s duration starts at just 1 turn, then this body trait will have no effect, and the debuff will still affect the unit for a single turn.
There is some value to be had here, to be sure, but a status effect lasting for 3 turns instead of 4 isn’t that significant of a bonus. Particularly since it doesn’t outright eliminate status effects that only last for 1 turn, this trait just doesn’t make as much of a difference as some of the others appearing further down this list.
7Tough
This body trait is so self-explanatory players can probably guess what effect it has just from its name alone. Tough increases the defense of a player’s units by +2. This is the trait that will increase their army’s resistance to physical attacks.
Once again, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this trait at all. In fact, for players looking tofocus their Faction on combat and warfare,it can be very valuable. There’s just another body trait that accomplishes essentially the same thing but with a bit more versatility in its application.
6Hearty
It’s hard to complain about having a ton of HP. There’s really no downside; all it does is make units harder to kill or, at the very least, able to withstand an enemy attack for longer, weakening their units in the process. Hearty does exactly that, increasing the HP of a player’s units by +10.
Much like with the earlier entries on this list, it’s possible for players to increase their unit’s HP through unit enhancements. The difference here is that all those HP increases will just continue to stack on top of each other, which can leave those units with one heck of a health pool by the end game.
5Strong
Another mostly self-explanatory body trait, although this one plays into offense rather than defense. Players who choose Strong for their Faction will see a 10% increase in the melee and physical ranged damage of their units. This trait is great for players planning to take the offensive with their armies.
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It’s important to note that physical ranged damage is restricted solely to attacks from units like archers and ballistae. This trait will not increase the damage of ranged magic. Similarly, if a unit does fire damage as opposed to physical damage, this trait will only add a small amount of physical damage rather than increasing the fire damage.
4Mounts
Of all the body traits available, these are the only ones that will significantly change the look of a player’s units. In this case, this trait will specifically affect their Faction’s mounted units, replacing their standard mounts with either unicorns, wolves, spiders, or nightmares.
Each of these mounts comes with its own bonuses. Spiders can web up and immobilize enemy units, unicorns can move an extra three spaces for free with their Phase ability, wolves deal increased damage when surrounded by other units, and nightmares can intimidate any enemies that come near. Whichever trait players pick,their Faction’s rulerwill also start the game mounted on their chosen creature.
3Keen-Sighted/Quick Reflexes
These traits are essentially mirrors of each other, so we’ll group them together here. Keen-Sighted increases the accuracy of the player’s ranged units by +20%, and Quick Reflexes decreases the accuracy of the enemy’s ranged units by 30%.
Keen-Sighted is particularly useful for players who arebuilding a versatile armyof infantry and ranged units. When infantry is placed in front of ranged units, it will decrease their accuracy by blocking their view. The Keen-Sighted trait will offset that decrease. Meanwhile, Quick Reflexes is excellent for players focused on recruiting infantry armies, as it will protect their units from ranged fire during their assaults.
2Fast Recuperation
There is a mechanic inAge Of Wonders 4that players should be aware of early on. When a unit loses health, the amount of damage it can deal will also decrease. This is what makes the Fast Recuperation trait so valuable, as it will regenerate +5 HP to all damaged units every turn.
It’s also important to note that units will recover +25 HP automatically every turn that they are stationed in a friendly city. When combined with Fast Recuperation, that number jumps to +30. Given that most units will start out with an HP of around 60,players can fully heal their unitswithin two turns if they station them in a city with this trait equipped.
1Bulwark
The Bulwark trait is the better alternative to the Tough body trait mentioned before. When units are placed in Defense Mode, Bulwark grants a +2 to their defense and a +2 to their resistance. Essentially, this trait is a combination of Resilient and Resistant wrapped into one, with a caveat for when those bonuses take effect.
The important thing to note here is that these bonuses will only take effectwhen units are in Defense Mode. Defense Mode can be activated by the player to protect a unit that’s overwhelmed and waiting for reinforcements. It’s also worth noting that Defense Mode will turn on automatically if the player ends their turn while a unit can still take an action, and therefore will automatically activate Bulwark’s bonuses.
Age Of Wonders 4was released on May 2nd, 2023, and is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
