Hero duels
Duels are turn-based. Whether you hit is decided by your agility against the opponent's luck; how hard you hit by your strength against their defense. High luck occasionally lands a critical hit for double damage, and stealth helps dodge incoming blows. Accompanying units shield the hero and absorb damage first. You raise attributes by levelling up and through six equipment slots (weapon, armour, helmet, necklace, ring, boots).
Tower defense
An attack on a tower plays out as a tower-defense battle. The defender prepares a layout in the editor beforehand: units with different ranges, a reserve garrison at the tower, and traps — the spike trap wounds attackers, the frost trap also slows them. The attacker then sends units down the path towards the tower. Battles are deterministic, so you can replay the recording any time and tune your defense based on the result.
Factions in battle: Kingdom Loyalists get +15% defense, Warlords +15% attack. A Loyalist's building defends 3% better for every other Loyalist's building within 1 km (up to +15%), and a Warlord attacks 10% harder when no other Warlord has a building near the target. Faction mates' reinforcements can also defend a Loyalist's building. The battle result shows which effects applied.
Army march
You do not have to go to a foreign tower in person. In the tower's detail choose Send army, pick units from your hero's army, decide whether a won battle captures or razes the tower, and send the army at a tower up to 2 km away. You must know the tower, which means having visited its region. A march costs the same energy as a personal attack plus food for every unit.
The army first musters for 10 minutes, then walks in a straight line at the pace of its slowest unit. Most infantry walks about 2 km/h, the crossbowman 1.5 km/h, the assassin 3 km/h, the knight 4 km/h and the scout 5 km/h. You can have only one army on the march at a time.
Until the army arrives you can recall it. While it musters this is free and you get the food back, but not the energy. On the way you pay food for the way back, by the number of units and the distance home, and the army walks back at the same speed. Without that food the march goes on. After the battle the army can no longer be recalled.
On arrival the battle plays out on its own, without your hero, under the same rules as a personal attack. Depending on your choice a won tower becomes yours together with its region, or the army razes it. You get a notification with the result and can replay the battle.
After the battle the army does not come back, it stays at the target. When it captures the tower, the survivors become its garrison as far as there is room, and the rest wait in a camp next to the tower. After razing the tower or losing the battle all of them go to the camp. You have to pick them up in person from the camp, like from any other building. Other players can attack the camp, only the soldiers in it defend it, and if it falls they are lost. An empty camp disappears.
When someone marches on your tower, you get a warning with the expected arrival as soon as their army comes within range of that tower or of one of your Observatories.
Stealing
There are two ways to rob a foreign region. An open attack means combat — win and you take everything. A stealth theft avoids the fight: the success chance grows with your stealth, agility and luck, and drops with the defender's defense. Succeed and you carry off part of the resources; fail and you risk detection and injury.
Player protection
- Newcomer shield: new players cannot be attacked for their first 7 days, until level 5, or until they attack someone themselves.
- Protecting the weak: attacking a much weaker player yields only a fraction of the loot.
- Vendetta: attacking the same player three times in a day grants them a day of protection — further attacks bring no loot and a penalty.