AOE3 Forums

so I have been playing casually competitive Warcraft III for a little while (about a year or so) and I would say I'm a decent player (was ranked on Battle.net ladder for a little bit). I am getting tired of both of these and want to get into another game before SC2 comes out, so since one of my good friends has this game I am planning on getting it.

Questions I have:

1)Which expansion is the one to get/which one is most competitive (am assuming Asian Dynasties so I posted here)

2)What is the balance like in AoE 3? Because in AoE 2 there would be resource hoarders who would just mass janissaries and thus I concluded that AoE 2 (AoK was a small improvement but still) was pretty much a 'noob' game. AoE 3 seems a LOT better though :) so I'm givin it a shot.

3)What race is best for me?  I play Orc in Warcraft III and the playstyle epitomizes what I'm best at/what I love to do: extremely aggressive, harassing, hit and run, but with high damage output, burst damage, expensive units. No massing, keep a low food count with a tidy army of good units and bank to be able to macro the army back after big battles. If AoE is imbalanced, what race is considered the best (and why)?

4)Generally speaking, how is the casual scene? Will I be able to find a clan assuming I play decently after the learning curve? Does the average player have 150APM like in War3 and makes it hard at first? (i know APM not equal skill but you know what I mean. I myself only average 100. efficiency of clicks ftw) 

1) tad (the asian dynasties) has the most players but i recommend u get both expansions (the asian dynasties aka tad and the war chiefs aka twc). Vanilla (the normal game) is needed to play. Makes 3 games u should get in total. U can best start buy buying vanilla only.

2) Balance isn't that bad. There are alot of people who complain about the balance but its getting better. And team games are pretty good imo. Depends on the version u play on aswell.

 3) u should first just buy vanilla and use ottoman or russia.

 4) everbody can create a clan so finding a clan is easy. A good clan might be harder but it depends on what ur looking for. Idk what apm rate u should have, but the more the better ;).

well i hey, y dont u join our clan (A414A) when u get the game? it has me,vizor,goodspeed,incog, and other pps on it. weve also got our own forums, were we talk and discuss thinga majigor bobers.

http://z15.invisionfree.com/A414A_clan/index.php?act=idx

1. Get both x packs because TWC and vanilla are both deserted, most players bought both. TAD is compatible with TWC so you can play as all the civs.

2. Balance is pretty good for a rts with 14 civs, the top ones are Japan and India, but those players often get flamed for doing so. Ports are rock bottom, I don't suggest you play as them unless you lots of turtling and booming.

3. Don't know. Just try a few civs out and you'll get the hang of it.

4. Yes, easy learning curve.

RTS_playa:

what about India? their 10/10 rush looks like a lucrative strat, and their units are solid throughout the game, no archaic units (if you've played WC3 Orc is similar in that respect). russian units are weak, and you win in numbers. I suppose i would be good with ottoman though. So ottoman in vanilla i guess.

India is lame (OP), for beginners, French are the best, they have decent units (Cuirs are very strong), allround units, and a good civ to grasp the game with.

and he aint just saying that cuz hes from france 2! lol, and also Incog, 2 things

1-how do i get the clan thing infront of name?

2-when can we OBS again?