Cities

oday, we'd like to introduce one of the most important systems in the game: Cities.

Cities are the political, military, and economic centers that surround your capital. Controlling a city provides access to valuable resources, strategic opportunities, and unique military advantages. They play a major role in shaping the balance of power across the world.

City Buildings

Each city contains six unique buildings:

Castle

Unlocks four exclusive elite unit types that can only be trained in cities.

Barracks

Increases military capacity.
Allows the training of city-specific military units.

Intelligence Guild

Trains spies and supports espionage operations.

Workshop

Generates gold income for the city treasury.

Tax Office

Collects taxes from goods traded within the city.

Walls

Serve as the city's first line of defense against enemy attacks.

City Treasuries

Every city possesses two important resources: Gems and Gold.

Gems

Gems are required to construct and upgrade city buildings.

However, gems are extremely rare. Each city can produce only one gem per day, making them one of the most valuable resources in the game.

A successful ruler must not only acquire gems but also protect them from rival players.

Gems can be obtained in four different ways:

City production
Attacking other cities
Eliminating gem smugglers
Stealing them through espionage operations

This system creates meaningful interactions between warfare, economics, and espionage, adding another layer of strategic depth to the game.

Gold

In addition to your empire's main treasury, each city maintains its own independent gold reserve. All city-related expenses are paid from this treasury.

Gold can be acquired through several methods, including:

Workshop income
Tax revenue
Looting enemy city treasuries
Various other economic activities

Managing separate city treasuries encourages players to think strategically about the development and prosperity of each city under their control.

Elite City Units

Cities offer more than just economic benefits.

Each city grants access to four elite unit types that cannot be trained in your capital:

Hunter
Valkyrie
Templar Knight
Ballista

These units require only gold to train and can be recruited very quickly.

Among them, the Templar Knight stands as one of the most powerful units in the game. Owning cities and gaining access to these elite troops can provide a significant advantage over your rivals.

Closing Thoughts

That's all we have to share about cities for now.

As you can see, cities bring together economics, warfare, resource management, and espionage into a single interconnected system. We believe they will become one of the most exciting and strategically rewarding features of Lords & Empires.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you may have.

Until next time, take care and see you in the next Developer Diary!