World Map

Screenshot of the world map

Overview

The World Map is where Viceroys plan their missions out from the Smoldering City to build settlements and make their way toward Seals. Choosing where on the map to go for the next mission and Embarking, including selecting caravans and difficulty, are done from the World Map.

Smoldering City

Smoldering City on the Map

The Smoldering City is at the center of the World Map and is where all Viceroys start. This is where Viceroys can buy Upgrades, check their game history and visit their Home, once unlocked.

Fog and visibility

The Fog of War

The foggy cloud cover represents the unexplored world around the Smoldering City. The fog hides map tiles and their Biomes, World Events, and Map Modifiers until they are revealed by Embarking and completing a mission nearby. Once a Viceroy gets close enough to an unexplored tile with a question mark icon, "?", the fog will be revealed until the next cycle.

Vision range and Embarkation range

Typical settlement placement

Players start out with 2 hexes revealed around the Smoldering City and each of their completed settlements on the World Map. By purchasing upgrades, Smoldering City's vision range can be extended up to 4 tiles, and settlements' to 3 tiles. Obsidian Archive level 12 is the only upgrade that improves Embarkation/movement range, from 3 to 4. Do note that most of the time your Embarkation range will be limited by vision range - you can't settle 4 hexes away from a settlement with a 3-hex vision range using normal means without backtracking to the Smoldering City or previously completed settlements.

Regular tiles on the edge of your vision range are also revealed, but remain mostly covered in the Fog of War (unless they contain a World Map modifier). These partially revealed tiles can't be settled. The only exception to that are World Events that necessitate settlement on their hexes - as long as they are within Embarkation distance, you will always be able to claim to that hex.

Outside of upgrades, Caravan Wagons reward (+2 to both vision and movement ranges) from Royal Resupplies is the only way to increase settlements' and Smoldering City's vision range on the World Map. The vision range extension is temporary and only applies to the hex you are Embarking from. Once you are back on the World Map after the next settlement, all vision ranges will have returned to normal.

Vision and movement ranges

Obsidian Archive level	Smoldering city vision range	Settlement vision range	Embarkation range
Levels 0-6	2 hexes	2 hexes	3 hexes
Levels 7-11	3 hexes	3 hexes	3 hexes
Level 12+	4 hexes	3 hexes	4 hexes

Visual comparison of vision ranges at different levels of Obsidian Archive (the settlements are at different distances from the Citadel):

• 
  Levels 0-6
• 
  Levels 7-11
• 
  Level 12+

Minimum difficulty

Difficulty dropdown

See for more information: Difficulty selection

All tiles on the World Map have a minimum difficulty associated with them. Within 8 tiles of the Citadel, minimum difficulty is Settler, which means you can choose any unlocked difficulty on the list. As you get further from the Citadel on the World Map, lower difficulties gradually become unavailable. For example, once you cross the 12 tiles threshold, Settler, Pioneer, and Veteran can no longer be selected (they show up as Too Far in the difficulty dropdown).

Difficulty thresholds are communicated with rings formed by a dark colored outline on some sides of the World Map hexes. The distance between the rings on the World Map is 2 tiles for Pioneer, Veteran, and Viceroy zones. The next three zones, Prestige 5, Prestige 10, and Prestige 15, grow by 3 tiles each. Past 23 tiles of distance from the Citadel, only Prestige 20 difficulty is available.

Map tiles and biomes

Biome Conditions

The World Map has 6 biomes, plus 4 DLC exclusive* biomes. See their articles for more details.

• The Bamboo Flats*
• The Rocky Ravine*
• The Ashen Thicket*
• The Coastal Grove*
• The Coral Forest
• The Cursed Royal Woodlands
• The Marshlands
• The Royal Woodlands
• The Scarlet Orchard
• The Sealed Forest

Each biome has a different assortment of natural resources and unique mechanics. Some are simple, like double yields from cutting trees, or more complex like Scarlet Orchard's archaeology events.

You can read more about each biome on the Conditions and Summary tabs after clicking on a map tile, as seen in the image on the right.

Reward indicators

Total Tile Rewards

Tile Rewards

The rewards for completing a mission are determined by difficulty and modifiers. These rewards are mainly used for upgrades within the Citadel and to pay for Stormforged Cornerstones.

On the left, the Summary screen shows exactly how many of each resource you would earn from a successful mission.

On the right, the World Map shows what meta resource types will be rewarded on completion. These indicators can help you find the resources you need and to help you plan your route.

Food Stockpiles

Machinery

Artifacts

Embarkation Costs

See for more information: Embarkation Bonuses

The cost of Embarkation Bonuses will change with every caravan, this is to encourage players to try out different starting patterns. They are as follows:

Bonus	Cost
Amber	3 - 5
Blueprints	4 - 6
Bricks /  Fabric	2 - 4
Coal /  Oil	3 - 5
3 Cornerstone Rerolls	1 - 2
Delivery Lines	5 - 7
Eggs /  Roots /  Wood	1
Meat /  Vegetables	1 - 2
Pack of Provisions /  Parts	3 - 4
Planks	2 - 3
Reed /  Leather	2
Stone /  Clay	2
2 Villagers	2

World events

Main article: World Events

World Events on the Map

World events are opportunities for Viceroys to earn extra rewards by completing a challenge or otherwise engaging a special opportunity. When a World Event is within your visibility range, click on it to find out what it is. See the main article for the list of World Events.

World Map modifiers

Main article: World Map modifiers

Map modifiers outlined in Yellow

World modifiers add effects or conditions to any settlements built next to the tile the modifier is on. You cannot settle directly on these tiles. Some of these effects are beneficial and make your mission easier, and others add challenging constraints or significant limitations on your settlement. See the main article for the list of World Map modifiers.

Seals

See also: Sealed_Forest#Requirements_for_Entry

The End Cycle Button, and a Seal

Cycle Summary and Seal Contracts

On the World Map, Seals are the endgame objectives for every Cycle. Viceroys work towards a Seal, enter the Sealed Forest, and successfully reforge the Seal to successfully complete the Cycle. The higher tier a Seal is, the further away it will spawn on the map. Seals and their tiers can be viewed on the Sealed Forest page.

On the left, after the last mission of the Cycle is over, clicking on End Cycle in the bottom right of the screen is the last action to take before starting over again from the Smoldering City. Cycles can be ended at any point with no negative consequences for later Cycles.

On the right, a summary shows the Viceroy's accomplishments for that Cycle.

Once the Gold Seal (Viceroy difficulty) is beaten for the first time, Seal Contracts become available. They allow Viceroys to choose which Seals will spawn during the next Cycle. Only up to 3 Seals can be selected at a time.