The map
The layout
The map starts dark. At the start everyone sees every realm with the tiles around it, and every Hyperstructure site. Once a tile is explored, everyone sees it.
Hyperstructure sites stand in rings around the centre of the map, 12 hexes apart, and the number of rings grows with the number of players in the game:
The number of Hyperstructure rings is determined by:
Where:
r— Number of Hyperstructure ringsP— Number of players (Lords) registered to play in the session
Note: If r is not an integer, then it is rounded up to the nearest integer.
The number of Hyperstructures in a ring is determined by:
Where:
H— Number of Hyperstructures in ring rr— Ring number (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Each player's three realms stand close together, three hexes apart, among the rings.
Exploring
An army beside an unexplored tile can explore it, for 30 stamina. The tile is revealed to everyone, scores 5 points, and pays the army's home realm one of the finds below: a share of the army's strength (its troop count times its tier's strength), counted up to 3,000. An Exploration Reward relic adds its bonus on top.
| Material | Share of army strength | An army at 3,000 strength finds | Chance of Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 5% | 150 | 35% |
| 10% | 300 | 25% |
| 20% | 600 | 15% |
 | 10% | 300 | 15% |
| 20% | 600 | 5% |
 | 10% | 300 | 5% |
A revealed tile can also hold something:
| Find | Chance per reveal |
|---|---|
| A dormant spire | 0.5% |
| An Essence Rift | 2% |
| A camp | 2.9% |
Dormant spires. The finder's realm receives 1,000 Essence once, plus any active Exploration Reward relic bonus. The spire then stands on its tile for the rest of the game, blocking it.
Relic crates
When a player explores and no crate has appeared for 5 minutes, a relic crate appears within 10 hexes of the explored tile, where everyone can see it. An army beside it opens it: its pack of three relics is revealed, the army keeps the army relics, and the realm relics go to that army's home realm. Opening a crate scores 250 points.
| Pack | Relics | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| War | Damage Relic, Damage Reduction Relic, Stamina Relic | 30% |
| Explore | Exploration Relic, Exploration Reward Relic, Stamina Relic | 30% |
| Produce | Production Relic, Labor Production Relic, Troop Production Relic | 25% |
| Fortress | Structure Defense Relic, Damage Reduction Relic, Troop Production Relic | 15% |
One crate in five is lucky: its whole pack is level 2.
Relics
A relic is activated by the army or the realm that holds it, for Essence. A timed relic works for 3 minutes.
| Relic | Level | Effect | Activated By | Essence Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stamina Relic | 1 | Increases stamina regeneration by 50% | Army | 250 |
| Stamina Relic | 2 | Increases stamina regeneration by 100% | Army | 500 |
| Damage Relic | 1 | Increases damage by 20% | Army | 250 |
| Damage Relic | 2 | Increases damage by 40% | Army | 500 |
| Damage Reduction Relic | 1 | Reduces damage taken by 20% | Army | 250 |
| Damage Reduction Relic | 2 | Reduces damage taken by 40% | Army | 500 |
| Exploration Relic | 1 | Instantly explores a one-tile radius | Army | 250 |
| Exploration Relic | 2 | Instantly explores a two-tile radius | Army | 500 |
| Exploration Reward Relic | 1 | Increases exploration rewards by 100% | Army | 250 |
| Exploration Reward Relic | 2 | Increases exploration rewards by 200% | Army | 500 |
| Structure Defense Relic | 1 | Reduces attacker damage to the structure by 15% | Realm | 250 |
| Structure Defense Relic | 2 | Reduces attacker damage to the structure by 30% | Realm | 500 |
| Production Relic | 1 | Increases resource production rate by 20% | Realm | 250 |
| Production Relic | 2 | Increases resource production rate by 40% | Realm | 500 |
| Labor Production Relic | 1 | Increases labor production rate by 20% | Realm | 250 |
| Labor Production Relic | 2 | Increases labor production rate by 40% | Realm | 500 |
| Troop Production Relic | 1 | Increases troop production rate by 15% | Realm | 250 |
| Troop Production Relic | 2 | Increases troop production rate by 30% | Realm | 500 |
Camps, Essence Rifts and Hyperstructures
Each is held by bandits until a player clears its guard and claims it (Armies and combat).
- Camps start with one T1 guard of 999–1,499 troops. A claimed camp holds 500 wheat, 5,000 labor and 1,000 donkeys, makes 1 labor a second, runs production, and fields one army.
- Essence Rifts start with one T1 guard of 999–1,499 troops. A held rift makes 10 Essence a second, 36,000 in all.
- Hyperstructures are founded by any player on a site: double-click the site, or press Create here on its panel. It rises guarded by three T2 bandit guards of 1,499–1,999 troops each. Claiming it scores points once, and holding it scores points every second (Points, results and prizes).