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 20, advanced Sail research and a colony ship. The target island must be weakened militarily first. 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. Incidentally, you may build the ship during the waiting period after a colonization already -- only the fleet may not set sail before it ends. How long that waiting period is depends on how many islands you hold: with a few it is roughly two days, for middling realms three to four, for very large ones five. It ends at once if you lose an island to an opponent -- or if you take an inhabited island from a clearly stronger captain. 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; 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. Only colony ships stay where they were built. After the arrival the target island launches no attacks and no colonizations for a day -- one day longer per ocean border crossed, three at most -- but the moved units can defend right away. 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 batteries) 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. After that, your personal data is irrevocably removed; your islands remain in the world as ownerless old empires.

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. Your chart-room preference stays untouched and is never overwritten by this choice.

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 newbie protection? #

New players enjoy fourteen days of protection during which their islands cannot be attacked or colonized. This protection ends in three ways:

1. Automatically after 14 days. 2. Immediately and permanently, if you yourself dispatch an attack or colonization fleet. Before sending, a warning will appear listing the remaining protection days — you must actively confirm that you want to give up your protection. 3. Indirectly, if you don't play for 7 days — the transition into the slumbering state lifts your protection along with it.

Spying does not count as an aggressive action and does not end protection. Those who draw the blade lose the shield of the law.

Why can't I attack a specific player? #

There can be several reasons: the target island may be under newbie 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 colonise 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 short cooling-off period still binds both sides. Rudderless islands, ruins of the Old Empire and unshielded islands marked for deletion are exempt — they remain attackable despite a treaty.

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 (Stonemasonry) 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. 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 three 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 -- every level above that sharpens reconnaissance alone; more on this 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 harbourmaster 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 harbourmaster 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.

Email notifications and unsubscribing #

Kampfinsel sends notification emails for various game events and account status changes. You can disable each type individually in your settings under "Email notifications".

Every email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. That link disables all reactivation-related messages with a single click -- gameplay notifications (attacks, flotsam, Phoenicians) must be turned off individually 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.

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 Harbour Messengers bell, or not at all. There you can also switch on the "Completions" row -- the bell then tells you as soon as a building, a research, a training or a shipyard order is finished. This row is off by default; completions are never sent by email or Discord.

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.