FAQ & Help

TL;DR: Answers to the most common questions.

- Gameplay, safety and account management

- Short and to the point

- Always qualitative, no exact numbers

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Can I own multiple islands? #

Yes, through colonization. You need a harbor at level 15, advanced Sail research and a colony ship. On an inhabited island, the Main Building must be at level 1 or below after combat; the colony fleet itself can achieve that. An uninhabited island needs no prior attack. Each new island expands your empire and your score.

Why can I no longer build or pay for another colony ship? #

Because the price rises with every colony ship you have already built -- at some point the shipyard asks for more gold than your warehouse can even hold. The only remedy then is to expand the warehouse; that is possible up to level 40. You may build the ship at any time -- the fleet may set sail as soon as a colonization permit sits in your colony account; every departure takes one along. How fast time refills the account depends on how many islands you hold after the next colonization: up to four islands, at most roughly two to two and a half days per permit; with five to nineteen islands, at most three to four days; from twenty islands, at most five days. The harbor shows the exact time. Gifts come on top: losing an inhabited island (not to your feud opponent, and not when the conqueror receives an upward-conquest permit for it), conquering an inhabited island from an awake, clearly stronger captain, a treasure of your alliance or a promo code. If a colonization fails, you get the permit back as long as there is room in the account. More on that in the Colonization chapter.

Can I move ships and troops to another island for good? #

Yes, with the Home port mission. It takes ships and troops to another island of your own that has a harbor (and barracks if troops come along); from then on they belong there as if they had been built there. The road is opened by the Port Registry research in the laboratory -- level 1 inside your own ocean, level 2 across the borders of the seas. There is no fee, and they can come back the same way at any time. Every ship may come along, the colony ship included. After arrival, the target island temporarily launches no attacks or colonizations and cannot join combined attacks. On a colony, the rest grows with the ocean borders crossed; on the main island a shorter basic rest applies. An existing lock from the origin carries over. The arrival message tells you how long the rest lasts; while it runs, the island's fleet page shows the hours left. Rest pauses during vacation. The moved units can defend immediately. If your reinforcements are only meant to stand elsewhere for a while -- at an alliance partner, say -- use Dispatch instead. More on that in the Fleets & Travel and Fleet Dispatch chapters.

What happens if I am attacked while offline? #

Combat is calculated entirely on the server. Your defenses (walls, stationed troops, harbor defense) fight automatically. You receive a detailed combat report that you can review on your next login. Whatever the warehouse protects remains intact even after a defeat.

How do I change my email? #

In the settings you can enter a new email address. You will receive a verification link at the new address. The change only takes effect after confirmation.

Can I delete my account? #

Yes. In the settings you can request account deletion. There is a seven-day grace period during which you can cancel the deletion at any time. Note: your beginner protection and the protection of your main island end with the request itself — canceling blocks new attacks again as far as your account is eligible for protection. Anything already lost does not come back. After that, your personal data is irrevocably removed; your islands may remain as ownerless old empires. Very young accounts with little progress leave no old empire.

Your map pieces go straight into the display case when you request deletion. Whether a victor can take them still depends on the display case’s protection rules. They remain there even if you cancel deletion.

How do I switch between light and dark mode? #

Under Settings › Appearance you choose between Light, Dark and System. System follows your device setting and switches to dark automatically when your device is in dark mode.

How do I set the menu on my phone? #

On your phone the menu appears as a ☰ menu; in Settings, under »Menu on your phone«, you can switch this device back to the bar. The island picker sits right next to the ☰ menu, so you can switch islands without going through the menu. Every browser tab remembers its island: open several tabs and each one stays on the island you selected there.

What is beginner protection? #

New players enjoy fourteen days of protection during which their islands cannot be attacked or colonized. This is how protection ends; absence does not lift it:

1. Automatically after 14 days.
2. Through a confirmed action: If you attack an active captain, or create or join a combined attack against a player or a player-held fortress, your protection ends with that action and does not return. A captain who has requested deletion and is leaving the world also counts as an active captain until then. Before any such action, a warning always appears and you must actively confirm it. Colonizing and attacks on slumbering or rudderless captains, ruins or unheld corsair fortresses do not end it.
3. Not by absence: if you fall into slumber, the protection stays until the 14 days are over — inactivity does not lift it.

Spying does not count as an aggressive action and does not end protection.

Why can't I attack a specific player? #

There can be several reasons: the target island may be under beginner protection, or the gap in strength between you is simply too large. The sea demands a measure of parity — a captain who has grown overwhelmingly strong can no longer attack or colonize clearly weaker players. The reverse is always permitted: smaller captains may challenge larger ones at any time. Diplomacy adds to that: a confirmed alliance or non-aggression pact between your alliances blocks attacks between you, and after a cancellation or an armistice a cooling-off period still binds both sides. The treaty or war page shows when it ends. Rudderless islands, ruins of the Old Empire and unshielded islands marked for deletion are exempt — they remain attackable despite a treaty.

Where did the sea doctrines go? #

Sea doctrines, the counter circle and Art of War points are gone -- your fleet fights without a doctrine. The War Academy stays: level 6 anywhere in your empire unlocks the Destroyer, Boarding Brig and Firebrand on all your islands. More in the chapter "The Art of War".

Why does a small empire build faster? #

Whoever owns few islands catches up faster: with up to four islands, building, training, shipbuilding and research run twice as fast, with ten islands 1.25 times as fast, and from 20 islands on at normal speed. Every extra island still brings you more building power in total. Your islands are counted when an order starts or enters a queue. More in the chapter "Your Island".

Why do troops and warships cost only half? #

So that you are ready to fight again sooner: all four troops and all warships cost half; trade, spy and colony ships cost the same as always. Your points still count the units at their full value. After a battle you rebuild your losses below the combat report with one click. More in the chapters "Units & Military" and "Combat".

How do alliances work? #

You can join an existing alliance or found your own. Alliances enable shared chat, a treasury, buffs and coordinated attacks. More details can be found in the Alliances chapter.

Why is Stone always scarce? #

Stone has the lowest base production of the three resources and is needed for most buildings and defenses. This is intentional -- Stone is the eternal bottleneck that forces strategic decisions. Trade and economy research (Masonry) help ease the shortage.

How fast do resources produce? #

Production depends on the level of your resource buildings. Higher levels mean more per hour. Economy research can further boost the production of one resource. Resources are produced continuously, even offline, until storage is full.

Can I recall a fleet? #

Yes, as long as the fleet is within your recall range and is still eligible for recall. For attacks and colonizations, recall closes before arrival. The recall range is smaller than the watchtower's full line of sight, but it grows with every watchtower level up to level 20. Fleets beyond the recall range can no longer be called back.

What does the watchtower do? #

The watchtower serves several purposes. It extends your line of sight on the map so you detect enemy fleets earlier. It extends the recall range for your own fleets. And it sharpens your reconnaissance: the type and the exact arrival of an approaching fleet reveal themselves to you earlier. Line of sight and recall range only grow up to level 20 -- higher levels sharpen reconnaissance. The fleet page shows how many spy missions you have left and what that depends on; more on reconnaissance in the Combat chapter. Without a watchtower you are effectively blind.

I have suffered a heavy defeat at sea — will anyone help me? #

If you sail in an alliance, you can allow your comrades to learn of it with one click in the battle report; they then see in the alliance where a care package can go. More on that in the Alliances chapter. If you sail alone, you get word from the harbormaster instead: a few sober lines, pointers to the explanations that actually help, and — once in a captain's life — a small leg-up at the quay wall so you can put to sea again. The harbormaster does not write after every defeat but leaves a long gap between two notes; he writes only in game, never by e-mail or Discord, and he pushes for nothing.

What are the polls on my island? #

From time to time the game asks all captains for their opinion: an open poll shows up as one line on your island. Active captains can vote, once per poll; you can change your vote until it ends, and voting is optional. As soon as the poll ends, everyone sees the result.

How do I submit a suggestion, and how do I vote? #

On the "Feedback & Suggestions" page you can submit an idea, a bug report or general feedback and vote on other people's suggestions -- but not on your own. The team sets the status (open, planned, in progress, implemented or rejected) and replies when there is something to say. An implemented or rejected suggestion is closed: you can no longer vote there or change your vote.

When you submit, an extra step "Does this already exist?" may appear first. It shows up to three similar suggestions. If one fits, you vote there -- your vote then counts for the existing suggestion. If yours is different, you submit it anyway with one click. Implemented suggestions can no longer be voted on; they show "Implemented" instead.

If you want to report something that should not be public -- a security hole, an exploit or a personal matter -- tick the box "Team only" when you submit. Then only you and the team can see the suggestion: it does not appear in the list for others, not in the changelog and never on Discord. You can also tick the box later on your suggestion's page; only the team can take it back.

Will I find out what happens to my suggestion? #

Yes. A new status or reply to your suggestion usually brings a message in the game (under "Messages"). Replies to implementations completed some time ago can remain without a message; you can find them on the suggestion page. If you have switched on the row "Suggestion updated" in the Dispatch Office of your settings, it also reaches you by email or Discord.

You get at most one message at a time: if something changed on several of your suggestions, they appear together in one combined message -- in the game as well as in the email and the Discord message. An email or Discord message that falls due at night waits until morning; the message in the game appears right away. Nobody sends you reminders.

Can I rate how a suggestion was implemented? #

Yes. Once a suggestion is implemented, whoever submitted it and everyone who voted for it can, for a while after the implementation, rate it from one to five stars and optionally write a sentence. Only the team reads the comment. While rating is open you can change yours; afterwards the page shows "Rating closed". The request comes exactly once -- as a message to the submitter, as a Harbor Messengers bell notice to supporters (at most one a day) --, never as a reminder. The stars are on the suggestion's page.

That page also shows the version in which the suggestion was implemented. The number of ratings is always shown; the average only from three ratings on. When a version includes implemented public suggestions, the changelog links them under "From your suggestions". And at the top of the "Feedback & Suggestions" page the box "Up next" shows what is being worked on right now and what is planned next.

Is there recognition for implemented suggestions? #

Yes: the achievement "Idea Giver" in three levels (Idea Giver, Idea Smith, Visionary) -- for one, three and ten of your own implemented suggestions (bug reports count, including those sent to the team only). The highest level you have reached appears as a line on your profile. It is pure recognition without any advantage in the game.

Email notifications and unsubscribing #

Kampfinsel sends email notifications about game events and account status changes. You can switch off optional emails in settings: game events under "The Dispatch Office", newsletters and return reminders under "Notifications". Emails about account suspensions and deletion are part of the account process and cannot be disabled.

Optional notification emails include an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Open it and confirm the unsubscribe on the following page. In the reminder emails sent after a longer absence (reactivation), that link stops only those reminders; attack, flotsam and all other notifications stay active. For other optional emails, the confirmation page tells you whether you are stopping all optional notifications or just the emails listed there. You switch off individual types in settings. Reactivation emails also include a secure one-time login link that is valid for 72 hours and becomes invalid after the first click. Do not forward it.

At your first build, the Harbor Messenger may ask whether to report flotsam to you and send you one build notification. "Yes, please" turns both on. "No, thanks" leaves both off, and the question does not come back. If you already have flotsam on by email or Discord, or finished the Flotsam Alerts quest step, it asks only about the build notification and leaves your flotsam settings as they are. The build notification comes at most once, when your first build is finished and you have been away from the game for a while. If you stay in the game or come back before then, it does not come. It is not sent at night; what counts is the time zone detected when you registered. You cancel the build notification in settings and the flotsam email in the Dispatch Office. The unsubscribe link in the build notification turns off only what your yes turned on; all other emails stay on.

Not everything arrives by email: in the Dispatch Office of your settings you decide per event whether it reaches you by email, in-game via the Harbor Messengers bell, or not at all. The "Completions" row gathers construction, research, training and shipyard into a single row with three channels: the bell reports immediately, while email and Discord bundle what was finished in the last hour. Every channel can be switched on and off on its own and is off by default; the Discord message lists the same completions as the email and ends with the way back to the Dispatch Office.

In the same office you also decide about the notices on the outcome of an attack on your island: when catapults tear down building levels, when your Main Building takes damage, and when it falls. The first two follow your setting for attack warnings and report sparingly, so a long storm does not bury you in messages. The fall of the Main Building is the one exception: that message always reaches you in game.

In the Dispatch Office almost every row has all three channels: bell, e-mail and Discord. Exceptions: attacks and the weekly chronicle have no bell, and the planned upgrade reports only in the game. Attacks arrive immediately. The rows that used to live only in the bell (except the planned upgrade), plus the e-mail cell of fortresses and treasure hunting, come by e-mail and Discord in the hourly messenger's bundle, at most once an hour; all other rows arrive as before. New cells start off for e-mail and Discord and on for the bell; only the bell for new pirate auctions is one you turn on yourself. "News & Community" stays on Discord. After you confirm your e-mail or connect Discord, the office shows a "Recommended" box with a button for immediate attack alerts and the weekly chronicle: it turns on attacks and the weekly chronicle for exactly that channel, nothing else.