Military Information – From basics to research

Overpowering the enemy with a strong military force and winning the match is very satisfying, but how do you get there and what are important steps in your economy you should keep an eye on – this and more will be explained in this week’s military dev blog.

The Basics: The core of every round is a strong foundation of an economic network – the interaction between buildings and carriers moving goods from one place to another interlinking with the new transport hubs. In order to produce military units, you will need to find coal and iron deposits with your engineers. You will need to build the corresponding buildings to mine the deposits and after that, you want to transform iron ore into iron bars – this is done in the furnace.

The blacksmith transforms the valuable iron bars and coal into a weapon of your choice – and you need to decide carefully. The blacksmith only focuses on one item at a time. If you want to make swords, the blacksmith will do so until told otherwise. Therefore, if you want a wider range of production, make sure to build more blacksmiths and provide them with the required materials.

"The opener, the list of actions that players will take in the early minutes, will largely determine which options become available in mid and late game. Heavy Engineer recruitment can lead to faster infrastructure. Research can compensate for unit count or set up speed. Support units can make engaging bandits possible faster. Your economy is directly tied to your military options." – Creative Director

Recruitment: After creating swords, axes or bows you need to train your carriers to become proficient in the arts of defending your or attacking the enemy settlement. The “rally point” feature comes in handy if you want to send your new recruits directly to a specific point and assign them to the dedicated group.

Map Opportunities: Besides preparing your economy for things to come, there are a few other ways to gain an early military advantage. One of these is landmarks. These special points of interest offer an alternative way to gain resources to boost your military strength in the beginning. Early scouting is essential to finding those special places and making the most out of them.
The second way to gain weapons is by trading your surplus resources. If you are close to the waterfront, make sure to construct a harbor and look into trade options to further increase your military might.

Direct Control: All units, besides carriers, can be controlled directly by you. Therefore, the military units will listen to your command. You can either send them around alone or in a group. It is up to you, how you want to defend your settlement or attack the enemy.

"We made an effort to reduce micromanagement need, so that controlling individual units during combat wouldn't be part of the strategy. It's far more attractive to only give slight nudges to big groups, like ordering all rangers to attack ritualists, or moving guardians in first for the initial clash" – Creative Director

Factions: As already mentioned in our faction dev blog, each faction has its own unique unit. The Elari benefit from a stronger crossbow unit dealing extra damage to the enemies. The Maru’s guardians are equipped with a spear and shield granting them longer reach, and the warriors from the faction Jorn wield two axes and attack faster.

Research: In addition to, the specific faction units you can also research and improve your military units in various aspects. You will need to invest various resources such as coins, tools, and gems to invest in upgrades such as “hit point improvements”, “dealing more damage” or “adding more range”.

What will your military look like? Do you want to focus on one specific unit type? Small army or large one? Heavy on research? Let us know in the comments.