The Expedition
Today's map
Every day starts on fresh fog. Your realm is raised in its own stretch of the new map, and its six neighbouring tiles start the day explored. Walking over known ground costs 10 stamina a step and finds nothing.
What a reveal pays
Every tile an army reveals sends Essence or labor home to the realm, as likely as each other: a share of the army's troops, larger the deeper it is. Each reveal also gives the army 2 XP.
| Ground | Reveal pays, of the army's troops | Entering costs |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | 10% | — |
| Ethereal I | 15% | 30 stamina |
| Ethereal II | 20% | 40 stamina |
| Ethereal III | 25% | 50 stamina |
What a reveal can find
| Find | Chance | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Beasts | 6% | A roaming band, the weakest guard. Clearing it pays XP only. |
| Troll | 4% | A guarded outpost. Clearing it pays labor: half its guard's starting troops. |
| Rift | 4% | A guarded fissure. Clearing it pays Essence: three times its guard's starting troops. |
| Ruin | 1% | A fallen realm, the strongest guard. Clearing it pays its chest in LORDS. At most one a day per realm, and only while the season's pool can fund its chest: a ruin it cannot fund leaves the tile empty. |
| Shrine | 3% | Once researched: grants an army 200 XP, then is gone. |
| Well | 3% | Once researched: gives an army 60 stamina, then is gone. |
| Chest | 1 in 10,000 | On the surface only, while the season's pool can fund it (Chests). |
After 7 empty reveals in a row, the next reveal draws only among the sites, shrines and wells above, so it finds one unless it draws a ruin the pool cannot fund. Scouting makes the kinds you pick for it more likely.
Guards
Every guard is shown before you attack. Guards grow with depth, so what counts as a safe fight moves as your realm grows.
| Ground | Trolls and rifts | Ruins | Minotaur (beasts) | Cyclops (beasts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | 1,000–1,600 | 2,000–4,000 | 300–350 | 450–550 |
| Ethereal I | 3,000–5,000 | 6,000–10,500 | 900–1,050 | 1,350–1,650 |
| Ethereal II | 8,000–12,000 | 18,000–22,500 | 2,400–2,800 | 3,600–4,400 |
| Ethereal III | 20,000–30,000 | 52,500–76,000 | 6,000–7,000 | 9,000–11,000 |
A band of beasts is a Minotaur's or a stronger Cyclops's, as likely as each other. Trolls, rifts and ruins show their depth's beast: a Troll on the surface, then a Wyvern, then a Hydra. A clear gives the army XP by the guard's starting strength, beasts included.
A site pays once. A cleared site leaves a standard that shows what the clear paid, and armies can walk onto it.
The spire and its depths
Research opens the Ethereal depths, one at a time (Your Realm). An army enters one from your realm's spire, paying the entry stamina above; the trip is one way for the day.
The day's end
When the day ends, the map and its fog, every site and every army you sent out are gone. An army with Homecoming first sends a share of its survivors home: 3% at uncommon, 9% at rare, 18% at epic and 30% at legendary. Your realm is raised on the next map with its buildings, research, troops and stores, and the game takes you to it.