“Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again – the fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love… illusions. Only the ladder is real, the climb is all there is.” – Petyr Baelish
Guide Index
Introduction to Star Levels
We’ve touched on the benefits of holding Seats of Power for your allegiance in our PvP guide, as well as the mechanics of “Climbing the Ladder” through gaining Attacker titles. These strategic Seats can improve all aspects of gameplay including managing your military, building and progressing your keep & even forging your gear. Here we will get into the details of SoP ownership & defense.
The higher the star level of the Seat, the wider the effects of SoP ownership span and the higher the benefits offered are. The largest Seats give the most secure gains, locking for long stretches of time, allowing for higher numbers in their defending armies, and only allowing those with many followers to own them. These factors make it harder to take from you once ownership has been established.
Takeover Requirements
If you wish to hold a high Seat of Power then you will need bannermen to support your claim and come to your aid in defending the Seat when necessary. The takeover march function on each SoP can only be selected by those with the required number of bannerman, starting with two stars. Anything lower than 2 stars don’t require any bannerman, and can be taken over by anyone. Each star level has a different bannerman requirement.
through Seats each require only a single bannerman to send a takeover march. This means that ownership is restricted to T3 Allegiance members or higher, as T4 cannot accept the pledges of bannermen.
star Seats require 12+ bannermen. This restricts them to T2 Allegiance members or higher, as T3 can only accept 5 bannermen pledges each.
Seats require 20+ bannermen. These can also be held by T2.
Seats require 30+ bannermen. These can also be held by T2, but only with full banners, 5 pledged to them directly and 5 pledged to each of their bannermen.
The only seat is The Iron Throne itself at King’s landing. This requires 62+ bannermen to take, restricting it to only the T1 of an Allegiance.
Tip: Once a Seat is owned, the Owner must maintain the specified number of bannermen or will lose the benefits of SoP ownership. However, the Titles & Regional Boosts gained for your Allegiance will still function if the owner does not meet the requirements themselves.
Reinforcement Capacity
In addition to increasing bannermen requirements for taking seats, the increasing reinforcement capacities also aid in defense of higher star level Seats.
Tip: You can further boost your reinforcement capacity by improvements to your Armory, Gear, & select Heroes.
March Size Boosts
The reinforcements you are able to contribute to defense of your own Seat and those of your Allegiance members Titled with boosted marches according to each star level also get larger with higher levels, making it easier to defend with fewer numbers.
Tip: Be wary when defending, as a unique situation occurs at and star SoP’s. There only, the owner march size reinforcements you are able to defend with are lower than that of your Attacker Titled opponents and the seats to gain those titles are more plentiful, leaving the owner of the Seat more vulnerable to attacks here than at other star levels.
Titles
We’ve touched on Titles as well in our PvP guide. These additional boosts you are able to bestow on your Allegiance members also gain strength at higher Star Level Seats. These vary widely, offering such boosts as Training Speed, Healing Efficiency, Creature Speed, Defender Defense, Infantry Attack, and Cavalry Health. The highest Star Level titles are often more sought after by allegiances than even the multitude of boosts Ownership provides, since they can be cycled through many teammates flexibly as they need them.
Regional Boosts for your Allegiance
The higher the star level of your Seat, the further the Regional Boosts available to your Allegiance members in the area. Each Tile on the map can only be under the Influence of a single Seat of each Star Level at a time. The distance your Seat’s influence stretches will vary depending on the star rating and can also be impacted by factors of terrain and water, so there is a high degree of variance in this regard.
By gaining several Seats of different star levels within a region, you can find places on the map where your regional boosts overlap to give players in those areas the benefits of several SoP region bonuses. You can check what Seats a specific Tile is under the Influence of and who currently owns them by tapping the information button on the map tile.
Unlock Cadence
The higher the star level, the less often they open. The cadence of this creates an intricate schedule of different Seats unlocking together each week causing unique opportunities and vulnerabilities depending on the Seats your Allegiance owns. Every so often, the stars may align perfectly and you could have the opportunity to catch your opponents stretched thin in their defenses!
Westerosi Guide to the Regions
Every region in Westeros is unique in its culture & fighting methods, and so offers unique benefits to its Lords & Ladies. Here we’ll touch on the key benefits of Seat of Power ownership that are unique.
All players in the Kingdom are influenced by whoever controls the Iron Throne. To the victor of this highly contested Seat goes the spoils!
The Allegiance in control of the Iron Throne gains 30% Infantry Attack, as well as hefty Construction, Dead to Wounded and March Speed & Size boosts throughout the Kingdom.
On top of that the ownership and titles offer well rounded and significant gains in General Battle Boosts, & stats like Steel Efficiency, Healing Cost Efficiency, an extra March Slot, & Defender Defense.
Northerners are a proud folk! Strong in Infantry Attack. They are used to gathering great food stores for long winters and setting traps to stave off their enemies from raids.
Additionally, The Lord & Lady Paramount of the North are among the top in Training their troops for battle, in preparation for whatever is to come.
Those in the Riverlands take great pride in the resilience of their fighters. They focus on their Infantry Health & training speed and are skilled in gathering lumber which is plentiful across the region.
The Lord & Lady Paramount of the Trident are also skilled in the Forge and supply their house with new weaponry and armor at top-speed.
The Knights of the Vale are often praised as the most skilled in Cavalry Attack maneuvers throughout the Kingdom! They boast of the largest stable training capacities and keep their food stores plentiful, gathering grain for the horses.
The Lord & Lady Paramount of the Vale are also diligent in training their troops for battle but at a more leisurely pace than the Northern armies, as their terrain already bolsters their defenses.
The wide sweeping Westerlands are more sparsely populated and focus their battle skills on precision with Ranged Attack, as well as hunting speed. They also host some of the most skilled and well-read Maesters who study round the clock.
Once the wealthiest house, the Lord of Casterly Rock also is skilled in gathering gold to keep up appearances, rather than giving in to the mysteries of the Far East and their red priests’ skills in bringing dead troops back to life, as all of the other Lord & Lady Paramounts throughout the Kingdom do. They keep a quick pace in training though, to deter any would-be challengers.
The Crownlands are a small and rocky coastal region offering large iron stores. Though seeming baron, the rocky land is endowed with hot springs which have natural healing properties, people often journey here to find shelter after a battle.
The isle of Dragonstone’s Lords & Ladies also have been known to handle the fiercest dragons in the realm.
Closely related to their brethren in the Westerlands, these battle-worn peoples are also focused on Ranged Attack, hunting & Maester studies. If asked though, they will refuse their association with Castlery Rock and are staunchly loyal to the ruler of Storms End.
The Lord & Lady Paramount of the Stormlands also trains at high pace to defend against any challengers.
A bountiful land, the Lords & Ladies of the Reach are skilled in Cavalry Attack & Troop Training. They also have the largest Troop Loads, allowing them to build up their resource stores and keep supplies well stocked throughout the region.
The Lord & Lady Paramount of Highgarden also fund their Maesters’ studies, as they are dutifully supplied with the best Maesters in the Kingdom by Oldtown.
Finally, we come to Dorne. The southernmost region of Westeros is known for being the only Kingdom to resist defeat by Aegon the Conqueror! Their skills in Defender Defense are unmatched outside of King’s Landing itself, and paired with Infantry Attack, their forces are formidable. A sandy, rocky region they also are able to gather stone quickly.
The Prince & Princess of Dorne, always doing what they can to maintain their independence, favor Maester study over troop training to gain an edge over any who wish to contest their rule in the region.
As you can see, depending upon what you find the most helpful to your gameplay, you may wish to hold Seats in different regions or of different levels according to your needs and your Allegiance goals and strategy. Taking advantage of these plethora of boosts available is key to your success on the battlefield!