Specializations
A specialization is a permanent path you choose for a building as it matures. Nine buildings open a specialization choice when they reach a set level: you pick one of two or three paths and sharpen your holding in that direction. The choice stays for the Age, and two of your holdings can take different paths in the same building.
How it works
- When a building reaches the threshold level, the choice opens on the City screen.
- The choice can't be undone. Once you choose a specialization, it stays in that building in that holding for the whole Age.
- Choosing is optional and there's no rush; until you choose, there's no effect, and you can choose whenever you like.
- A specialization belongs to the holding: if you have two holdings, you choose separately in each.
- Two effects that do the same job (for example, carry bonuses from two different buildings) multiply with each other.
- A conquered holding passes its specializations on to its new owner.
All specializations
| Building | Level | Specialization | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawmill | 8 | Ram beams | Rams cost a quarter less to build. |
| Sawmill | 8 | Shipwright's timber | Boats cost a quarter less to build. |
| Sawmill | 8 | Wainwright | Your army and your caravan carry more. |
| Quarry | 10 | Trebuchet shot | Your trebuchets wreck deeper: a rival's building drops more levels. |
| Quarry | 10 | Wall stone | Knocking down one level of your wall takes a quarter more rams. |
| Foundry | 9 | Armor forge | The garrison defending your holding fights a tenth harder. |
| Foundry | 9 | Farrier | Your cavalry moves a seventh faster. Raids are shorter and get intercepted less. |
| Foundry | 9 | Weapon forge | Swordsmen cost a fifth less to train. |
| Farm | 11 | Cash crop | Trades on the world market yield more: the road toll shrinks. |
| Farm | 11 | Rations | Grain upkeep for infantry and cavalry drops by a fifth. The same Farm feeds a bigger army. |
| Barracks | 12 | Armory | When a raid comes, your garrison fights with more staying power. |
| Barracks | 12 | Provision store | Grain upkeep for Barracks units drops by a quarter. The same Farm feeds a bigger army. |
| Barracks | 12 | Supply wagons | Your army carries more: the same raid comes home fuller. |
| Stable | 8 | Heavy cavalry | Your riders' defense rises by a quarter. Cavalry earns its keep at home, too. |
| Stable | 8 | Light cavalry | Your riders move a fifth faster. Raids are shorter and get intercepted less. |
| Stable | 8 | Scout horses | Your scouts move one and a half times faster; you pick your target with fresher intel. |
| Workshop | 9 | Siegecraft | Each of your rams counts as one and a half; walls fall faster. |
| Workshop | 9 | Demolition line | Each of your trebuchets counts as one and a half; a rival's buildings are wrecked deeper. |
| Shipyard | 11 | Galley fleet | Your boats carry half again as many troops; you reach an altar at sea with the same army and fewer boats. |
| Shipyard | 11 | Merchant fleet | Trades on the world market yield a fifth more: the road toll shrinks. |
| Wall | 11 | Lookout tower | The wall's sentry spots a raid much earlier; warning time grows two and a half times. |
| Wall | 11 | Moat | The cooldown on digging a trench is halved. You can dig again against raids that come one after another. |
| Wall | 11 | Thick stone | Knocking down one wall level takes four rams instead of three. Sieges drag on. |
Paths and play styles
Each specialization complements a play style. A few examples:
- Raider: Light cavalry in the Stable or Farrier in the Foundry makes your riders faster; Supply wagons in the Barracks and Wainwright in the Sawmill carry more plunder home from every raid.
- Besieger: Siegecraft in the Workshop strengthens your rams, and Demolition line your trebuchets; Ram beams in the Sawmill makes rams cheaper, and Trebuchet shot in the Quarry increases demolition.
- Defender: Armory in the Barracks and Armor forge in the Foundry strengthen your garrison; Thick stone in the Wall and Wall stone in the Quarry harden your wall against rams, Lookout tower warns you of raids earlier, and Moat lets you dig trenches more often.
- Trader: Cash crop in the Farm and Merchant fleet in the Shipyard shrink the road toll at the world market; carry specializations help your caravans too.
- Seafarer: Galley fleet in the Shipyard fits more soldiers into your boats, and Shipwright's timber in the Sawmill makes boats cheaper.
- Grand army: Rations in the Farm and Provision store in the Barracks lighten your infantry's grain cost.
Combining trade specializations
The road toll on the world market rate shrinks with trade specializations: Cash crop, Merchant fleet and the level 15 exchange for that resource multiply with each other. The rate never gives you back more than you put in (World market).