Advanced Buildings

Topics Include:
--Chancery of Estates
--Foreign Office
--Unit Cost-reducing Buildings
--Biome Warfare Colleges
--Geomancers' Retreats
--Runemasters' Grounding
--Res Booster Buildings
--Vault
--Bookbinder



Many of the buildings discussed in this post have a specific purpose - understanding how they work within a city can allow a player to best pick when and where to effectively use them.



Chancery of Estates

This gives a 2% reduction (per building level) to the cost of claiming Level 1 Sovereignty on a square, with a total potential of a 40% reduction at level 20. This reduction applies to both the hourly gold upkeep of sovereignty, as well as the hourly Research Points cost as well. However, it only effects the level 1 claims, level 2-5 costs are still the normal amount (based on distance from city).

At level 20, it consumes 800 wood, 3200 clay, and 1600 stone per hour. The option to have multiple of this buildings exists, though each subsequent building only provides 1/2 the boost for the same upkeep costs.

This building is most effect for players claiming all 20 nearby tiles for their city sov'ing, or for those placing level 1 sov on distant tiles for purposes of claiming a resource or location on the map. Players with an excess of hourly basic resources, but low hourly Research Points, can also benefit from the Chancery to allow for tax adjustments or a more sov. Military players often seem to avoid this building, at least at its maximum level, as the res upkeep for it tends to interfere with the hourly upkeep of troop production sov buildings.



Foreign Office

This building increases your city's radius of visibility and detection by 10% per level of Office (how far away an NPC or army can be from you before you can click on it and see the approximate size (Few, Horde, Legion, etc), and how close an enemy diplomatic unit can get before it gives you a red warning for incomings). Additionally, similar to the Consulate, each level of a Foreign Office allows 1 additional diplomatic mission to move simultaneously.

This building has an hourly upkeep of 400 clay, 800 iron, and 1600 stone at level 20.You may build multiple Foreign Offices; however, each subsequent one, while costing the same as the first, only performs half as effectively as its predecessor (i.e. the second building performs half as well as the first , while the third is half as effective as the second, and a quarter as effective as the first).

Hunters find this building useful, to avoid having to send scouts to NPCs before hand (though scouting is still a far more accurate assessment) - depending on how far out you hunt, a maximum level is not required for effectiveness of this building. Mystery/Discovery seekers may also benefit from the ability to send 40+ scout/spy missions out at once to explore the lands. PVP Military players don't seem to have much praise for this building, reserving its hourly res upkeep for other tasks, though in the right setting, one may find use for it.



Unit Cost-reducing Buildings

There is one building for each military unit type (aside from siege units), as well as each diplomatic unit type (aside from messengers). These buildings each consume hourly res to maintain, and are all among the highest population buildings you can place (1797 population at level 20). With their hourly res upkeep at level 20, they are:

Spearmens Billets - 2700 Clay, 1100 Iron
Infantry Quarters - 2700 Stone, 1100 Iron
Cavalry Parade Grounds - 2700 Clay, 1100 Wood
Archers Field - 2700 Wood, 1100 Iron
Scouts' Lookout - 1500 Clay, 700 Wood
Spies Hideout - 1100 Clay, 1100 Stone, 700 Wood
Thieves' Den - 1700 Wood, 1700 Iron, 11 Clay
Saboteurs' Sanctuary - 2700 Wood, 1500 Clay
Assassins' Abode - 3100 Iron, 1900 Stone

You may build multiple Unit Cost-reducing Buildings; however, each subsequent one, while costing the same as the first, only performs half as effectively as its predecessor (i.e. the second building performs half as well as the first , while the third is half as effective as the second, and a quarter as effective as the first).

These buildings are most effective when housing large unit counts over the course of many months. Military players may find them useful during times of peace, when troop production sov is lowered and more hourly res can be devoted to reducing costs of large standing armies. During times of war or tournaments, these buildings levels can be reduced, or demolished all together, to redirect the hourly upkeep costs back to troop production. More information on the effectiveness of these buildings can be read on the Illy Warmonger site. Players housing large reserves of diplomatic units, especially the more expensive T2 Assassins, may also find relief in the Unit Cost-reducing Buildings.

As with all hourly resource eating buildings, it is wise to pair these buildings with appropriate resource distributions in a city, else you may find yourself with a heavy imbalance in hourly res.



Biome Warfare Colleges

This world offers 3 different 'Biomes' in different territories around them map. These are: Arctic, Desert, and Jungle. As a result, there are 3 buildings that can be built to match the different biomes, each offering a 1% (per level of College) Attack and Defense for all your city's troops who are fighting in the biome, for a total potential of +20% to Attack and Defense within the biome. With their respective hourly upkeeps, they are:

Arctic Warfare College - 2300 Stone, 1000 Iron
Desert Warfare College - 2300 Clay, 1000 Iron
Jungle Warfare College - 2300 Wood, 1000 Clay


Hunters in these biomes benefit from these buildings, as well as Military players with ally or enemy cities within the biome.



Geomancers' Retreats

This building increases the potency of your cities Geomancy spells. At level 20, it doubles spell effects (such as Natures Bounty from +8% food production to +16%), and consumes 2300 Clay p/h, 100 stone p/h, and 700 clay p/h.

You may build multiple Geomancers' Retreats; however, each subsequent one, while costing the same as the first, only performs half as effectively as its predecessor (i.e. the second building performs half as well as the first, while the third is half as effective as the second, and a quarter as effective as the first).

This building is found effective when used in a city central to your empire, within casting range of your other cities - while only one Geomancy spell may be cast on a individual city at a time, one city may cast as many Geomancy spells on other different cities as they want. Many players choose to build 2 of these buildings in one city, to bring the bonus to casting on other cities to +20%, and thus not have the need to build them again in any other cities. These buildings are particularly liked by Expansionist players seeking food for high population cities (though only used sparsely, as the building itself is under 900 population at level 20).

*Note: Be sure to monitor your income/expense, as Geomancy spells have an hourly Mana upkeep



Runemasters' Grounding

This building increases the potency of your cities Rune spells. At level 20, it doubles spell effects (such as Rune of Intentions from 400 slain to 800), and consumes 1700 Stone p/h and 900 Clay p/h.

You may build multiple Runemasters' Grounding; however, each subsequent one, while costing the same as the first, only performs half as effectively as its predecessor (i.e. the second building performs half as well as the first , while the third is half as effective as the second, and a quarter as effective as the first).

The effectiveness of this building is rather limited. Some like it for the added deterrent against thieves (Rune of Intentions), but others argue that the standard 400 killed is usually enough to stop players from returning attempts to steal from you, and point towards other less costly methods to prevent theft (vault or storing valuables in local hub). Military players tend not to have a huge use for it either, as even with double or triple bonuses to Rune of Slaying, less than 1000 enemies killed isn't often worth the res upkeep costs. For Hunters/Gatherers that don't maintain large armies and have cities near hostile faction hubs, this building may provide use to defend against random faction attacks on your city.



Res Booster Buildings

There are 5 different buildings - Carpentry, Kiln, Foundry, Stonemason, and Flourmill - that each provide a +2% bonus per level of the building to one of your cities base production of the 5 basic resources (wood, clay, iron, stone, and food). At level 20, each offers a +40% total bonus, and has a 1497 population.

Because the bonus is based off your cities existing res production, these buildings are most effective once the cities resource plots have all been upgraded to 15+. Players who settle on 6 or 7 food (and thus have another basic res with only 3 or 4) can find use in these buildings to help balance out res production. Any player building many high level sov buildings can also benefit from the added resources.

Though not an early priority, almost all players will eventually want a Flourmill in every city.



Vault

This building offers a minimal level of security for stored goods, as well as a slight increase in your total inventory space. It is among the smallest buildings, at 37 population.

Wood, Clay, Iron, Stone, Food, Gold Protected at level 20: +47,703
Inventory Space Added at level 20: +47,703

This building is great if you have the space in your city, but not enough food for a high population building. While the amounts protected are minimal, it is that much less a thief could take. Most recommend shipping bulk items out of the city to the local faction hub (which works as a vault with unlimited storage), but the Vault can act as a good safe-guard while the items are being created. The added inventory, when matched with a warehouse, is also enough to hold the stone amount required to build a level 20 Wall (without vault, need Warehouse + low-level Storehouse to get Wall to 20). Generally speaking, there are more beneficial buildings to be had in a city, but if you have the spare room (and already have or don't want a brewery and cottages), a Vault does have its small perks.




Bookbinder

A crafting building, the Bookbinder converts 25 of your Research Points into a Book, which then can shipped out and converted back into 20 Research Points in another city, used to create Diplomatic Units or cast spells, or sold. It is considered a higher population building, with 1497 at level 20.

This building is usually avoided in cities that plan on claiming a lot of sov, since sov has an hourly upkeep of Research Points. In order to keep the production ques full, only cities with high reserves of RP and/or higher hourly RP income should consider a Bookbinder.