“You are the dragon. Your word is truth and law. “ – Daemon Targaryen
Last month, we discussed the effects that we experienced with the initial introduction of Keep 35 in 2019, and how this approach unintentionally made reaching Tier 11 troops (T11) the benchmark to competitive success by lowering the expected effort to entry, creating a power gap.
We also discussed the lessons and challenges in finding balance in this evolving landscape, outlining a 360 approach to our next expansion, aimed at addressing the power gap and delivering a better experience overall.
Want to dive more into the process of how we came to this decision? Make sure to head on over to our Dev Diary: Level Expansion First Look!
Today, we give a deeper look into Level Expansion, and the race to Keep 40.
In this post, we will:
- Rehash and dive into the biggest additions players can expect to see from our next Level Expansion.
- Go over and preview our newest troop: The Golden Company (T12).
- Discuss certain event brackets for the first iteration.
- Preview an additional Quality of Life Improvement that works hand and hand with Level Expansion.
- And last but not least, we’ll discuss the road ahead!
So, let’s dive into it!
The Basics:
⦾ Keep Level Expansion
We will add five levels to buildings up to Keep Lvl 40. With that, a new building material, Blackstone, will be required for building upgrades Keep Lvl 36 and higher.
⦾ Enhancement Expansion
In addition, we will be adding an additional five levels (36-40) to Enhancement Lines 1, 2, and 3. A new building material, Limestone, will be required for building enhancement upgrades Lvl 36 and higher.
⦾ Fourth Line Enhancements
Along with the above Enhancement Expansion, we will be introducing Enhancement Line 4. This new line will be added to all 40 levels of existing enhanceable buildings.
This 4th line will differentiate from previous Enhancements by having multiple cumulative stats within a single line with varying focuses. Each stat will have a maximum level it can hit, after or during which a new stat can be added.
For example, when enhancing The Keep building with the Enhancement Line 4, players will have 6 stats they can unlock along with upgrade improvements to your Keep’s power.
- Free Build Time will unlock at lvl 1 and can be improved until lvl 10.
- When players reach lvl 6, Research: Basic Resource Cost Efficiency will be unlocked and can be improved upon until lvl 15.
- At lvl 11, players can unlock Building Soldier Pine Cost Efficiency and can upgrade the stat until lvl 20.
- At lvl 16, players can unlock Building Keystone Cost Efficiency and can upgrade the stat until lvl 25.
- At lvl 25, players can unlock Rallied Troop Capacity and can upgrade the stat until lvl 39.
- At lvl 40, players can unlock Percent Increase to Maximum March Size.
Of course, each 4th Enhancement Line will differ between buildings, so make sure to investigate each building’s appropriate stats and upgrade them accordingly to take advantage of the savings this line provides!
Adding this fourth line of building enhancements is one of many key avenues in our 360-degree approach. Our goal is to help players grow as they climb the keep-tier ladder, providing support and guidance along the way.
Players can acquire Blackstone and Limestone by completing daily rewards and events.
Note: There will be no increase in house level or dragon level.
The Golden Company
Once players reach Keep 40, they’ll have the ability to unlock a new troop type: The Golden Company. These new Tier 12 (T12) Troops will follow similar cost progressions to previous troop types.
So prepare and plan; the Golden Company are some of the most skilled sellswords in the history of Westeros and one of the most lucrative armies you could hire. They are not easy to obtain and should be an aspiration to those across the seven kingdoms!
Not only will the Golden Company be available for hire, new traps will be available to train at Keep lvl 37, 38, and 39.
Events
As we introduce new keep levels, new building enhancements, T12 troops, and new traps, we’re also creating two additional leaderboard brackets.
- Progressive Events will typically be grouped by Keeps 34 – 37 and 38 – 40.
- Leaderboards will typically be grouped by Keeps 34 – 38 and 39 – 40.
In addition to these new brackets, we’ve added additional Tyrion Quest and Daily Quests.
[Updated] Strategic Terrain brackets will be adjusted so that Keeps 34-39 compete at level 9 nodes, and Keep 40 at level 10 nodes.
We plan to hold off on adjusting leaderboard bracketing for lower levels and these new brackets as we allow players to fluctuate between tiers and collect data on how these tiers may affect gameplay.
We look forward to seeing how you all adapt!
Additional Improvements
Now, let’s dive into an exciting improvement currently in development that will be introduced before Level Expansion on September 30th for post-merge kingdoms.
We are working on combat map adjustments. As more players reach Keep 30, overtime the lack of creatures available in their range becomes harder and harder to come by.
With that in mind, we will be adjusting the spawn rates in post-merge kingdoms to reflect its inhabitants by lowering the amount of lower level creatures that may spawn into a kingdom with a broader margin of high level creatures.
At the moment, this will only affect weekly caravans, creatures, and the following basic resource nodes: food, wood, stone, and iron.
However, the intention is to expand this across more events in the coming months.
The Road Ahead
We’ve been seeing an amazing amount of data telling us that more players have taken advantage of the cost efficiencies we have provided and are progressing faster than before. So we appreciate all the feedback and activity we’ve seen these last couple of weeks.
Along with the improvements listed above, prepare for a slew of Quality of Life improvements and new customization options that will be coming out in tandem with our 7th Anniversary!
Our aim is to release Level Expansion by mid-October.
When we expand our level cap, keep an eye out for additional avenues to acquire cost reduction boosts, and other cost saving measures to celebrate its release!
Also expect to see continued reward evaluation and improvement post-expansion as we continue adjusting the economy to the new cap, and taking feedback from players!
Have thoughts about our new expansion? Make sure to join us in the #level-expansion channel on Discord!