Oaths

An oath is a promise to your crew -- and you carry the price yourself.

Short version: An oath opens a research way of your own -- with advantages and a price. Without an oath you play as before.

- Two oaths: Builders (from Harbor level 10) and Merchants (from Trading Post level 10)

- Only one oath at a time; renounce it whenever you like, then no new oath for 14 days

- Both oaths cost attack permits: two slots, one currently refills every three days

- What you researched rests without the oath and works again as soon as you swear the same oath again

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Without an oath #

Nobody has to swear. Without an oath everything stays as it is: no attack permits, no oath prices, no oath research. An oath is a way for captains who would rather strengthen their alliance with their shipyard or their trade than with many attacks.

The two oaths #

• Builders' Oath -- You build for your crew: ships and troops are finished faster, your queues grow longer. Requirement: a Harbor at level 10.
• Merchants' Oath -- You supply your crew: more market offers, faster trade ships, better rates, Market Days. Requirement: a Trading Post at level 10 on the island you swear from.

From Harbor level 10 or Trading Post level 10, the research page of that island shows you the way to the oath page. That is where you swear, where you renounce, and where you see your way stage by stage.

Swearing and renouncing #

• Only one oath at a time. While you hold an oath, you cannot swear a second one.
• You can renounce at any time. Advantages and price end in the same moment -- only a running Market Day still runs to its end. After that, you cannot swear a new oath for 14 days.
• Nothing is lost. What you researched rests without the oath and works again as soon as you swear the same oath again. Research that is already running finishes; new stages of your way can only be started while you hold the oath.
• Every oath starts full. Each time you swear, you begin with two full attack permits.

The shared price: attack permits #

Whoever holds an oath attacks less often. You have two slots for attack permits; currently one refills every three days while a slot is free. How many you have right now and when the next one arrives -- with date and time -- is shown in the fleet form and on the oath page.

One permit each is the cost of:

• every attack, on any target -- including ruins and Corsair Fortresses. Several fleets on the same target cost several permits.
• every conquest by colonization, that is a colonization of an inhabited island or a ruin -- on top of the usual rules of colonization.
• founding a Combined Attack and every time you join one.

Free remain defense, espionage, trade, Dispatch, Home port and colonizing an empty island.

Handovers under a foreign flag cost no permit either.

With no slot filled, no attack fleet sets sail -- you can always defend. A used permit only comes back if the attack never takes place under the rules of the game: if a Combined Attack is called off, or if your fleet bounces off its target because it is protected, on vacation or deleted. If you recall your fleet yourself or leave a Combined Attack after it has sailed, the permit stays used.

The Builders' way #

The price: At the Trading Post you get back at most 40 percent, you have at most three market offers at a time, and there is no Market Day for you. Offers that are already running when you swear stay until they are accepted or expire.

The stages -- each one needs the one before and a Laboratory at level 5 on the researching island, the first also a Harbor at level 10:

1. Shipyard Ledger -- Ships and troops are finished 10 percent faster. This applies to orders you pay for after the research.
2. Builder's Seal -- Your handovers under a foreign flag currently count only one tenth against the recipient (chapter "Fleet Dispatch").
3. Great Slipway -- Two more places in the Harbor and Barracks queues. You can queue more; nothing gets faster because of it.
4. Master Shipyard -- Your duty under a foreign flag is halved, plus the title Master Shipyard.

The Merchants' way #

The price: The half price for warships does not apply to you -- you pay the full price for them; for troops the same rules apply as for everyone. On top of that, your warships sail 30 percent slower, on every departure and every mission. Ships already ordered keep their price, fleets at sea keep their speed.

Overtime from lost warships is credited at the half price while the half price applies. Because you pay the full price as a merchant, your credit then covers half as many warships.

The stages -- each one needs the one before and a Laboratory at level 5 on the researching island, the first also a Trading Post at level 10:

1. Market Stall -- Eight market offers at a time instead of five.
2. Swift Sails -- Trade ships sail 25 percent faster, on trade runs and on the routes of the Shipping Office.
3. Trading Clerk -- At the Trading Post you get back 55 percent, and you have twelve market offers.
4. Market Day -- Real trade fills a Market Day for you (see below).
5. Master Merchant -- Twenty market offers; you may give a full Market Day to a member of your alliance; when you withdraw from the alliance treasury to yourself, you pay only half the ocean tax. Plus the title Master Merchant.

The Market Day #

The Market Day meter fills with real turnover on the Marketplace: what you deliver and what you get for it both count -- with at least three different partners. Trade routes, auctions, the Resource Exchange and Direct Trade without fees do not count. Once the meter is full, you pick one of your islands: it produces a quarter more for 24 hours. A full meter never expires -- you decide when the Market Day begins. What has been filled stays even if you renounce the oath, and a running Market Day runs to its end.

Your handovers under a foreign flag count with their list value, double as a Master Merchant.

The title #

Whoever researches the last stage of their way carries the title Master Shipyard or Master Merchant -- as an achievement among your Achievements. It stays with you even if you renounce the oath later.

Frequently asked questions #

• Does an oath make me an easier target? No. Your defense stays as it is -- only your own attacks cost permits. And you can renounce at any time.
• Can I switch oaths? Yes: renounce, wait 14 days, swear the other one. What you researched on the first way rests and works again should you ever swear that oath again.
• Do attack permits expire? No. Full slots stay full; they only refill while a slot is free.