Kingdoms At War (KAW) Guide, Estoc Wars (Trials) And Estocs Edge

In Kingdoms At War Estoc Wars represent the latest game development following the release of T5 buildings. Traditional system wars were handled completely differently relying on clans finding opponents manually and battling for extended periods of time using the existing battle mechanics of the game that apply when not warring. These new wars are a very different approach, much faster paced lasting a shorter 4 hours.

Estoc wars happen on a specific schedule which is still being tweaked and fine tuned by the game developers. Currently there are 5 set times for wars each week. A clan needs to have a minimum of 30 members available to participate in the war. Initially during the beta and the first few months there was no maximum number of players in a clan who could be active. Analysis of the wars being completed each showed that in almost all cases clans were using between 30-60 members and the developers have now set a maximum number of participants at 45 players for some of the wars and 60 players for the rest.

The game developers have recently changed the participation process for players. Previously there was an opt-out system where players would cast a spell (Veil of Evasion) to be excluded for a set number of hours. This method was strongly opposed by players who lobbied for an opt in system. Having listened to feedback players now need to cast the spell "Wave of Conflict" which will allow them to participate in an Estoc War within the next 24 hours.

Once the spell is cast it cannot be revoked so if a player decides to use this spell they cannot change their mind at the last minute. The only way to avoid war participation once the spell is cast the only option for a player is to leave the clan. If they leave and rejoin before the war begins the spell will still be in effect and they will be part of the war.

In order to take part in an Estoc war a clan owner or admin must first “sign-up” for the war they wish to participate in. The sign-up window begins 6 hours before each wars start time and lasts for 4 hours.

Once the sign-up window closes 2 hours before the war starts the match-up process kicks in. The developers game engine looks at the clans that have signed up and attempts to make as close a match-up as possible. As they can only work with the clans that opted in there have been some “unfair” match-ups.

At the 1 hour mark before the war start time an “activity lock” kicks in. During this period it is not possible for players to hit other players or to be hit from the outside. Players cannot complete any quests and if a clan was running an Epic Battle that they had not completed this is automatically failed and any bonus is lost. This activity lock essentially allows each player to fully regenerate their troops and spies to maximum so all players competing begin the war at full strength

During the activity lock period a notification is given to players that they may cast spells and spells cast during this period will have their Mithril cost added to the players Mithril payout at the end if their clan is the winner.

During the war a maximum of 2 crystals may be used. However if a player has already used the maximum in a 24 hour period already (24) then they will not be able to use any.

In normal Player vs. Player (PvP) actions and in system wars when attacking or using spy actions against players, once their opponent’s troops or spies are dropped below 20% attackers receive a Defender Too Weak message. They must wait for their opponent to regenerate naturally (8% every 5 minutes) or for them to use a crystal or nobility points to fully regenerate their troops and spies.

Estoc Wars remove this DTW message and allow a player to be attacked or spied to 0 and even reward a player for doing so. If a player has both their troops and spies reduced to 0 they are “knocked out” (KO). These KO’s are recorded as part of the final war statistics.

When a player is KO’d it is not possible for them to be hit, or to hit other players for 15 minutes unless they use a crystal to regenerate their troops and spies in which case they immediately come out of this 15 minute KO window and can hit and be hit as normal again.

When attacking a player, whether you are successful or not, your opponent will still lose troops or spies. As a result any successful or unsuccessful attack can result in a KO. The reason for this is it is quite possible for any player to be facing an opponent that is much stronger than them so this allows them to contribute to the war score regardless.

The rewards gained from a KO vary slightly depending on the attack type, if it was successful or not and the target.

If an attacker uses a troop attack or assassination to bring a player to 0 and it was successful hit then:

• 10% of the enemy’s plunder score is given to the attacker. This is not a cash gold amount it is simply a plunder score
• If the enemy had cash out from hitting other players then a portion of this cash is allocated to the attacker which will further increase the attackers plunder score

If attackers use a troop attack or an assassination to bring a player to 0 and it was an unsuccessful hit then:

• 10% of the enemy’s plunder score is given to the attacker. This is not a cash gold amount it is simply a plunder score

If attackers use a scout or steal action to bring a player to 0 whether it was successful or not:

• 10% of the enemy’s plunder score is given to the attacker. This is not a cash gold amount it is simply a plunder score

Players can self KO to reduce the plunder score given away to the enemy team. Using a self KO is a judgement call and due to the high volume of actions hitting the game servers at the same time can sometime be difficult to achieve. Although the actions are received by the servers relatively quickly there is always a slight delay before the notification of the actions can be passed to the user’s phone or PC.

A player can self KO by simply using troop or spy attacks on the enemy to bring both of their bars to 0. If a self KO is achieved the enemy will never receive any of the player’s cash and only 2% of the players plunder score is awarded to the opposing clan.

Estoc wars are now the only way for a player to accrue Mithril beyond the strict base limits set by the developers. Mithril is available for purchase permanently but a player can only carry/buy a maximum of 6 bars. If they use the Mithril on a spell they can buy up to 6 three times in a 24 hour period.

If a clan wins an estoc war then they are rewarded with Mithril. The amount of Mithril you receive depends on a number of factors.

• The number and type of successful actions you made during the war
• The amount of Mithril used casting spells in the activity lock period before the war
• The cost of potions used during the war is converted to Mithril

The details of how exactly all these factors contribute to your payout is something that has not been shared by the game developers. Like many of the games mechanics these are a closely guarded secret.

As well as Mithril winners of an Estoc war receive the Estoc's Edge spell. This spell gives a % increase to the plunder made from Epic Battles and also increases the drop rate chance from Epic battles by the same %.

Each Estoc War that is won increases the spell by one level to a maximum level of 5. The % increases for each level is as follows:

• Level 1 - 25%
• Level 2 - 35%
• Level 3 - 42%
• Level 4 - 47%
• Level 5 - 50%

The spell lasts 2 weeks but can be negatively affected. If a player leaves a clan they lose one level of Estoc edge each time. If their Edge was at level 1 they lose the spell completely. Losing an estoc war will also reduce the spell by one level. Each time the spell is modified the 2 week counter on it is reset.