The free Manta update, for every owner
A free update for every Age of Wonders 4 owner, version 1.017.001.126767, released 3 November 2026 alongside The Silver Seas. Trade routes and the water rework are not DLC-locked.
The Manta update is the free half of 3 November 2026. It ships as game version 1.017.001.126767, it is available to every owner of Age of Wonders 4, and it contains the trade route system, the water rework, the Sword and Staff loadout, the Chilled status and a long list of balance and quality-of-life changes.
If you are trying to work out whether you need to buy The Silver Seas to get a particular feature, this page is the answer key. The rule is simple: systems are free, content is paid.
Free for everyone
| Feature | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Trade routes | A new economic system connecting cities to outposts, Free Cities and other empires |
| Water rework | Flat 20-point embark, water outposts, new turning rules, ship skins, redressed battle maps |
| Sword and Staff | A new Magic Fighter loadout with Magic Strike, Dart and both Staff and Melee infusions |
| Chilled status | Frost counterpart to Burning; five stacks converts to a one-turn Freeze |
| Balance pass | Elder Vampire, Giant Kings, tomes and premade item equipment |
| Quality of life | Ability cooldowns show remaining turns; combat screens name the battle; five new Hunter form traits |
| Multiplayer | Session browser and connection handling improvements |
Paid, in The Silver Seas
The Mercantile culture, the Aqualon and Sharkkin forms, the four tomes, the Bond of the Free Captains dwelling, the Ocean Happenings, the sea wonders and landmarks, the Spawning Shoal, Pale Tidebloom, the new realm template and traits, the Seamare mount, the Children of the Waves trait, the pirate UI skin, six achievements, three music tracks and four premade rulers.
Three changes you will feel
Trade routes. Outposts no longer generate income automatically and no longer cost upkeep. Their domain income only reaches you through a route built by a city. That single change alters every opening build order in the game, because a second or third outpost is now a draft investment rather than a free claim.
Embark cost. A flat 20 movement points replaced "all movement, minimum 12". On a fresh unit that is most of a turn; on a slowed or damaged unit it can be more. Water is cheaper to cross for fast units and more expensive for slow ones, and turning while embarked now costs movement too.
Chilled. Frost builds finally have a stacking status that mirrors Burning. Five stacks converts into a Freeze, and a resisted Freeze now applies Chilled instead of Status Vulnerability, so freeze attempts always make progress.
Balance changes worth knowing
The patch is large, but a few changes affect builds that existed before it:
- Tome of Cryomancy and Cold Dark were updated to use the Chilled status, with a balance pass on their items and units.
- Summon Lesser Tide Spirit was buffed: the summoned unit now has Slippery, Swift and 5 combat movement.
- Elder Vampire and Giant Kings received a fresh round of updates.
- Premade item equipment got a broad balance pass, which matters for players who start with a premade ruler.
- Five new Hunter form traits grant camouflage and Very Fast Movement on a home terrain: Ashlands, Forests, Sand, Snow and Water.
Left untouched
It does not add a naval victory condition, and it does not make every culture equally good at sea. Mercantile remains the only culture that can turn a water outpost into a city, and the free update deliberately does not change that, it is the expansion's core selling point.
It also does not remove the risk of water. Embarked units are still vulnerable, routes can still be raided, and the AI still garrisons its coasts. What changed is the cost of trying, not the danger of failing.
How to check you have it
Open the game and look at the version number on the main menu or in the settings About panel. The launch build is 1.017.001.126767. If you see an older number, the game has not updated; verify files through Steam or check for a pending console update.
The trade routes page and the water combat page go deeper on the two systems this patch introduced, and the is it worth it page is about the paid half.
Your current save
An existing save loads with the new rules, which is both good and awkward. Good, because trade routes and the water rework apply to your current empire immediately. Awkward, because any outpost you founded before the patch no longer produces income until a city connects to it, a change that can turn a healthy economy into a stagnant one overnight.
If you are resuming a mid-game save, the first thing to do is open the trade panel and check which outposts are unconnected. Building those routes is usually the difference between a functioning empire and a puzzling deficit.
The patch also renames terrain. If a tooltip says Ocean and you expected deep water, that is the rename: Ocean is now the shallow band that used to be Coastal.
How to verify the build
The version string 1.017.001.126767 appears in the main menu and in the settings About panel. On Steam, the game's properties page shows the installed build; on console, the update history in the system menu shows the patch number. If you are on an older build, verify files or check for a pending download, the expansion content will not appear on a pre-Manta build.
