Marches and missions¶
A host is a group of units sent from one of your strongholds on a mission. Hosts are sent from the Hosts panel (H) or by clicking a site on the map. While it is on the march a host cannot be attacked, and neither can what it carries.
Banners and quest slots¶
Every host away from home (marching out, camped or coming back) takes a banner.
Banners = 1 + Banner Command + 2 with the Marshal + 2 for a Warlord + 1 with the full council
Quests also need a free quest slot: ⌊√Cartography⌋, + 1 with the Marshal, + 2 for a Wayfarer.
Sending a host¶
Choose the mission, the target coordinates, the units, the cargo (if any), the pace and, for quests and reinforcements, how many hours to stay. The form shows the distance, the march time, the aether and the load before you send.
- Units must be in the stronghold you send from. Sun Prisms and Delver Golems cannot move.
- The aether for the whole march is paid at departure, from the stronghold that sends the host.
- If the host carries goods, the goods plus the march's aether must fit in its load.
- You cannot send hosts while your realm is in Sanctuary.
March time¶
One-way time (seconds) = (10 + (35,000 ÷ pace) × √(10 × distance ÷ speed)) ÷ world march speed
- Distance is in leagues; see the world.
- Pace runs from 10% to 100% in steps of 10%. A slower pace takes longer but burns far less aether.
- Speed is the speed of the slowest unit in the host (envoys travel at 10,000).
- The world march speed depends on the mission: peaceful, war or holding (see the table below and the charter).
The trip home takes as long as the trip out (quests may change that).
Unit speed¶
Speed = base speed × (1 + drive bonus × drive lore level + other bonuses)
| Drive | Lore | Bonus per level |
|---|---|---|
| Foot and wheel | Pathfinding | +10% |
| Mounted | Beastmastery | +20% |
| Ley roads | Leystriding | +30% |
Other bonuses: the Warlord gives +100% to fighting units and Scavenger Carts, the Guildmaster +100% to Pack and Wagon Trains, and kindred buildings and arts add march speed. Order callings speed up some marches by 10%: the Order of Blades towards Order-mates, the Merchant League on convoys, and the Circle of Sages on quests.
Aether¶
Aether = Σ (units × base aether) × distance ÷ 35,000 × (pace ÷ 100 + 1)² × consumption, rounded up, + 1
- At 100% pace the factor (pace ÷ 100 + 1)² is 4; at 50% it is 2.25; at 10% it is 1.21.
- Consumption is the world's aether consumption (100% by default), × 0.75 for a Warlord, and lowered by kindred buildings and arts.
- Hosts that camp (quests and reinforcements) also pay up front for every hour they stay: each unit burns a tenth of its base aether per hour. A Quartermaster's Depot at the stronghold being reinforced cuts that by 10% per level.
Load¶
Load of a unit = base load × (1 + 5% × Planar Lore + other bonuses)
The Guildmaster adds 25% to Pack and Wagon Trains, and kindred buildings and arts add load. Ravens carry nothing (5 each in worlds with raven satchels).
Load decides how much a host can carry to a friend, how much plunder it takes home after a victory, how much it salvages and how large a quest treasure it can load.
Recalling a host¶
A host marching out can be recalled: it turns around and takes as long to come back as it has been away. A camped host (quest, reinforcement) comes back in the full one-way time. A host already coming back cannot be recalled. Recalling a host from a War Council takes it out of the council.
If a host's target is gone when it arrives (a stronghold moved, abandoned or fell), it turns back and you receive a report. A host whose home has gone returns to another of your strongholds.
Missions¶
| Mission | March speed used |
|---|---|
 Convoy |
peaceful |
 Garrison |
peaceful |
 Assault |
war |
 War Council assault |
war |
 Reinforce |
holding |
 Scout |
war |
 Settle |
peaceful |
 Salvage |
peaceful |
 Sunder |
war |
 Quest |
peaceful |
 Envoy |
peaceful |
Convoy¶
Carry goods to any stronghold, yours or another lord's. The host must carry something. On arrival the goods are delivered (even beyond the vault caps) and the host returns. Both lords receive a report.
Garrison¶
Move units (and goods) to another of your own strongholds. They stay there; the host does not return.
Assault¶
Attack another lord's stronghold or Skyhold. The battle is fought on arrival; the survivors come home with the plunder.
- Protections apply: Sanctuary, fledglings and the hounding limit (at most six assaults by you on the same active stronghold in 24 hours, counting those on the march).
- Attacking a much stronger lord while you are a fledgling asks for confirmation and brands you an oathbreaker.
War Council assault¶
A combined assault by up to 5 lords and 16 hosts that all arrive at the same moment.
- Send an ordinary assault, then turn it into a War Council from the Hosts panel.
- Invite Order-mates and sworn friends by name. Invited lords join by sending their own hosts on the War Council mission.
- A joining host that would arrive later than the council delays the whole council to its arrival, but only if that delay is no more than 30% of the time the council still had to march. Faster hosts simply wait and arrive together.
The battle is fought by all hosts together against the defenders. If the leader recalls their host, the next lord's host leads the council.
War Councils must be enabled in the world's charter (they are by default).
Reinforce¶
Send units to camp at an Order-mate's or sworn friend's stronghold for 1 to 32 hours. While camped, the host fights alongside the defenders in every battle there, with its own lord's lore. The camp's aether is paid up front. When the time is up the host returns home. Needs War Councils to be enabled in the world.
Scout¶
Send Ravens (and nothing else) to look at a rival stronghold. See Scouting.
Settle¶
Found a new hold on an empty site (1 to 15) with a Settler Caravan.
- You need the Cartography level for that site and a free hold slot (counting caravans already on the way).
- On arrival one Settler Caravan is used up. The new hold rolls its plots and highest temperature from the site's range, starts with 50 Humans, and keeps the rest of the host as its garrison and its cargo as its first stock.
- If the site was taken in the meantime or you no longer qualify, the caravan returns.
Salvage¶
Collect a spoils field with Scavenger Carts or Rangers. Only their load counts. They take as much of the field as fits, in proportion across the three resources, and bring it home. Spoils fields in the Wilds can only be salvaged by Rangers.
Sunder¶
Bring down a rival Skyhold with War Colossi. See Skyholds.
Quest¶
Camp in the Wilds (site 16 of any province) for 1 hour up to your Cartography level in hours, then see what fortune brings. See Quests and the Wilds.
Envoy¶
Send envoys (no units) to any site 1 to 15 to seek the other kindreds. An envoy costs 5,000 iron · 1,000 runestone · 500 aether and travels at speed 10,000. See Kindreds.