Tips and strategy¶

Advice that follows from the rules. None of it is the only way to play.

Economy¶

Balance mana first. A mine without mana yields nothing, and a mana shortfall slows every mine by the same ratio. Raise the Ley Tap whenever the mana counter turns red.
Iron, then runestone, then aether. Most costs are mostly iron. Runestone matters for lore and for Mage Tower-heavy builds. Aether pays for marches and late units, buildings and lore.
Cold sites condense more aether. The Aether Condenser's yield is multiplied by 1.44 − 0.004 × the stronghold's highest temperature: ×1.44 at 0 °C, ×1.8 at −90 °C, ×0.56 at 220 °C. A hold in the Frostmarch is a natural aether mine, while the Sunscar suits Sun Prisms and runestone.
Throttle what you do not need. In the Realm panel, every producer has a throttle. Turning down a mine you do not need frees mana for the others.
Build vaults before going offline. A full vault stops its mine. Plunder and deliveries can exceed the cap, so a full vault is also a juicy target.
The Builders' Guild pays for itself. Each level divides build time by one more, so going from level 1 to 2 cuts times by a third.
The Aether Furnace turns aether into a lot of mana. It needs Aether Condenser 5 and Mana Theory 3, and Mana Theory makes it grow faster per level.

Only one study runs at a time for the whole realm, so keep the Mage Tower busy.
Banner Command lets more hosts march at once, Pathfinding and Beastmastery make early hosts faster, and Cartography opens more sites, holds and quest slots.
The war disciplines (Weaponsmithing, Warding, Armoursmithing) add 10% per level to every unit and fortification, at home and on the march.
With several strongholds, the Conclave of Towers links their Mage Towers into every study.

Spend or hide your stock. Whatever sits in a stronghold can be plundered. A host on the march cannot be attacked, so a slow convoy is a safe place for wealth.
Fortifications are cheap to lose. About 70% of the fortifications destroyed in a battle are rebuilt for free (the Master Mason halves the rest of the losses). A wall of towers makes raids expensive.
Ward Domes soak blows. The Lesser and Greater Ward Domes have huge wards: weak attackers' blows glance off them entirely (a blow under 1% of a ward does nothing).
Watch your scouts. Every scouting attempt on you is reported, with the origin and the lord. Keep units at home: ravens are intercepted more often the more units are stationed, and your Spycraft counts double for every level above theirs.
Ordered retreat (in the Hosts panel) pulls your mobile army out of a battle it cannot win, for an aether fee, so it survives to fight later.
The Healers' Lodge saves part of the army lost in a defence. Remember to order the restoration within 72 hours.
Sanctuary stops everything, including your own realm, for at least 48 hours. Use it for holidays, not for a single night.

Scout first. Two effective ravens show the army, three the fortifications. Your Spycraft against theirs changes how many ravens count.
Bring load. The victor plunders only what the surviving hosts can carry. Cargo units such as Wagon Trains add load but also give the enemy more targets.
Pick your counters. Flurry lets some units strike again: Lancers ride down Skirmishers and Archer Towers, the Siege Train wrecks towers, Eagle Riders hunt Knights. See the flurry table.
Respect the rules of honour. Attacking lords with at least half your renown earns honour; picking on active lords under a fifth of your renown costs it. You may assault the same active stronghold at most six times in 24 hours.
Salvage the field. Destroyed units leave a spoils field worth 30% of their iron and runestone (in a default world). Scavenger Carts and Rangers collect it.
Skyholds rise from big battles. A battle that leaves 100,000 spoils or more may raise a Skyhold over the defending stronghold. It belongs to the defender.

Guildmaster: Push mines and the Ley Tap hard, add Delver Golems once mines are high, and run Wagon Trains (which move twice as fast and carry 25% more for you) between holds and to friends.
Warlord: Two extra banners, faster fighting units and two free levels in every war discipline make early raids pay off. Reavers strip part of the spoils field after every victory.
Wayfarer: Quests are your income: finds are 1.5× (times the world's economy speed), you get two extra quest slots, and Rangers double finds and salvage the spoils you leave in the Wilds. Study is 25% faster.