Balance Changes February 2026: Tier List Impact

Update 169123 landed on February 17, 2026, alongside The Last Chieftains DLC. The headline features were the three new civilizations, the Inca rework and the naval overhaul, but the patch also contained more than 20 civilization-specific balance changes that will reshape the ranked tier list over the coming months. This article goes through three civs that gained ground, three that lost ground and three that stayed roughly stable — every change cited comes directly from the Update 169123 patch notes.

Three civs that went up

Byzantines. The Fire Ship and Dromon bonus attack was increased from +20% to +25%. The change is small on paper but compounds quickly in the new naval meta, where Byzantines now hit harder in close-range water fights. Combined with the addition of the Hulk line for civilizations that have access to it, Byzantines remain one of the strongest water civs in the game and are arguably stronger than before the patch.

Wu. Careening and Dry Dock are now free for Wu. On any water or hybrid map, free access to both Dock technologies is a meaningful economic swing — 150 food 200 wood plus 600 food 400 wood that other civs must pay. The patch also adjusted Infantry HP regeneration from 15 HP per minute to 10 HP per minute, starting in Castle Age instead of Feudal, and reduced Elite Jian Swordsman melee armor from 2 to 1. Net effect: Wu is stronger on water and slightly weaker on land.

Poles. Folwarks now collect food from existing farms placed nearby, not only newly seeded ones. The collection amount is unchanged at 10%, but the change means a Folwark dropped in a mid-game expansion can immediately capitalize on already-existing farm rings. This converts the Folwark from a "plan ahead" building into a flexible economic lever that responds to the state of your base right now.

Three civs that went down

Portuguese. Portuguese lost their Carrack unique technology (replaced by the generic Carvel Hull available to all civs) and lost access to Demolition Ships entirely. In compensation, they received a new unique technology, Circumnavigation (Imperial Age, 400 food 400 gold), giving ships +15% speed and +2 line of sight. On paper, this is a lateral move, but the loss of Demolition Ships removes a historical Portuguese naval tool and the Circumnavigation tech has to pay for itself to justify the swap.

Vikings. Multiple concurrent nerfs: Longboat HP reduced from 130/160 to 120/150, access to Demolition Ships lost (replaced by Feudal-only Fire Galleys), and the naval cost discount reduced from -15/15/20% to -10/10/15% across Feudal/Castle/Imperial. Vikings remain a water civilization, but the previous oppressive cost advantage has been softened meaningfully.

Bengalis. Ratha pierce armor reduced from 3/2 to 2/1 at both regular and Elite tiers. This is a straightforward nerf to the Bengalis' signature unique unit and directly affects their land game. Rathas now trade worse against archer masses than before, which pushes Bengalis toward different mid-game compositions.

Three civs that stayed roughly stable

Khitans. Herder gather rate reduced (net income advantage over generic farmers dropped from +7% to +5%), and the training speed bonus on mounted units reduced from 15% to 12%. Both are mild nerfs rather than identity changes. Khitans' core playstyle is unchanged, they are just slightly less efficient than before.

Koreans. A mixed package: Turtle Ship cost reduced from 200 wood 200 gold to 180 wood 180 gold (a concrete naval buff), but Elite War Wagon pierce armor reduced from 4/5 to 3/4 (a concrete land nerf). The two changes roughly cancel out on maps with both water and land fights. On pure land maps, Koreans are slightly weaker; on water maps, slightly stronger.

Berbers and Vietnamese. Both civilizations received the same situational buff: Genitour (Berbers) and Imperial Skirmisher (Vietnamese) bonus damage versus the Mameluke armor class increased from +0 to +3. This matters only in the specific matchup against Saracens, and it is not enough to change the overall position of either civ in the broader tier list.

What this means for ranked play

None of the changes above are individually large enough to reshape the top of the tier list on their own. The real impact is cumulative: civs that got one buff in a context that overlaps with the new naval meta (Byzantines, Wu) benefit from both at once; civs that got one nerf in a context that overlaps with the naval losses (Portuguese, Vikings) suffer from both at once. The patch is not a top-of-tier-list shake-up — it is a nudge across the middle of the ranked ladder, with naval and hybrid maps seeing the most movement.