Castle
Castle Improvements are a vital part of any efficient strategy.
They are not as important (if used at all) when playing a speed-dependent strategy. They are used extensively by explorers and converters, while attackers use them to a lesser degree.
Investment
You invest resources in your castle. Each resource type is worth a different amount of points:
As per the formulas, it takes exponentially more points to reach a higher bonus. Therefore, it is wise to build as many Diamond Mines as possible early on. Most players stop building Diamond Mines by day 25 of the round. Depending on your speed, strategy, and play style, players often have between 300 and 800 Diamond Mines.
However, Diamond Mines are not always the best building choice. See racial differences.
Lightning Bolt Damage
When a dominion's castle has been damaged by lightning, the dominion gains a temporary bonus to investing. Each investment point, after applying standard bonuses such as racial or tech, is worth 2 points.
Example: a dominion has 30 million points invested and loses 1 million points due to lightning. While the dominion's castle is below its all-time high of 30 million points, investment is doubled. That is, only 500k points, after standard bonuses, are needed to recoup the 1 million lost points.
Racial Differences
The general approach is that races without units whose OP or DP is dependent on a certain land type should use exclusively DMs for investing in castle.
For all races except Sylvan and Icekin, Diamond Mines are the most efficient way to invest in your castle.
Despite having a unit that depends on a building, Dark Elves are often seen with DMs.
Sylvan players usually use lumber from lumberyards and Icekin players use ore from ore mines.
Goblins have a +20% bonus to improvements, meaning every 1 point invested counts as 1.2 points for Goblins.
There is debate as to whether Gnome are better off with Diamond Mines or more Ore Mines. Since Rockapults reach maximum DP at only 40% mountains (compared to 60% mountains for Icekin's FrostMages) and those 40% are easily designated for ore mines and homes, many players find room for DMs.
Castle Parts
There are six parts of the castle into which the player can invest resources.
| Part | Bonus | Max | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science | Platinum Production | 20% | Useful if you have a good population. Otherwise, resources are better spent on Keep. |
| Keep | Maximum Population | 30% | Always invest in Keep. It is the most beneficial improvement in nearly all cases. See Population. |
| Spires | Offensive Wizard Strength
Magic Damage Reduction Mana Production |
60% | Makes your wizards and Arch Mages stronger (offense only) and reduces damage taken by black-ops. Boosts mana production. Not commonly used other than dominions which specialize in magic and black-ops. |
| Forges | Offensive Power | 30% | Often used, especially by races with inefficient or costly offensive units. |
| Walls | Defensive Power | 30% | Practically always used, especially by races with inefficient or costly defensive units. |
| Harbor | Food Production
Boat Production Boat Protection |
60% | Often underrated improvement. By increasing food production, you need fewer Farms which saves land for other buildings. |
Formulas
The formula is different for Science and Keep, Forges and Walls, and Spires and Harbor.
- MAX: replaced by the maximum for the improvement (see above).
- POINTS: the amount of points you have invested in this part of your castle.
- LAND: your land size.
The formula for Science and Keep is:
MAX*(1-e^(-1*POINTS/(4000*LAND+15000)))
The formula for Forges and Walls is:
MAX*(1-e^(-1*POINTS/(7500*LAND+15000)))
The formula for Spires and Harbor is:
MAX*(1-e^(-1*POINTS/(5000*LAND+15000)))
See Also
References
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