Beginner's Guide to Conqueror's Blade

Welcome to the world of Conqueror’s Blade, a world of terrifying battles, loyalty, treachery, and hard-won glory!

You should know that it takes more than simply reaching the maximum level to make yourself unconquerable. You need to learn how to obtain and distribute resources and valuables, raise a powerful army, make allies, go on challenging missions, raid your neighbours and enemies, among many other things. 

That's why we have prepared this overview - to help you get started in the game and to develop as a powerful warlord. You may find additional information in our forum, where seasoned players share their experience with rookies. You might also wish to refer to articles in the News section.

Part 1. Your Game Begins!

Part 2. Character Development & Gear

Part 3. Martial Arts

Part 4. Quests

Part 5. Houses, Alliances & Diplomacy

Part 6. Open World

Part 7. Economy & Trade

YOUR GAME BEGINS!

Character Generation:

Before you create a character you will need to answer some questions. Your answers will affect your character's initial stat distribution. You can fine-tune these later. We suggest you read more about a character's main stats in these articles: one, two, and three.

After answering the questions, you can select between a male and a female character. They have different stature (i.e., height and body type) and they can use different weapons. Ten types (classes) of weapons are currently available to you in the game. You may learn various types of weapons and switch between them as you play, so the choice you make here is not final. You can try all weapon types during the tutorial. 

Starting Location:

As soon as the character is created, you'll find yourself in the tutorial level; the so-called Mercenary Camp. Here you will learn to move, fight, control your units, and many other things. You can also watch detailed learning videos.

A quest chain in the tutorial will eventually bring you to the Watchman, who will offer to send you to one of the four currently available territories. Each region has its own style: In the east, Maoyang and Liangyun draw inspiration from ancient Mongolia and China, while Ungverija and Ostaria were inspired by Medieval European architecture and fortifications. What region you choose will affect what types of unit are more readily available to you when raising an army. 

New regions will be added in the future. Travelling between regions is done via the frontier Border Forts, and there's an inhospitable high-level region known as the Borderlands between the Eastern and the Western regions. The choice of a region defines which Houses and alliances will be available for you to join or fight against!

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT & GEAR

Character progress:

As soon as you've completed the tutorial level, you can explore the world, fight in battles, and develop your character. You will need to develop in several ways if you want to grow into a strong and masterful player. Press P to open the character screen and see your character information. 

The most obvious strategy is to level up your character, which will allow you to equip better weapons and armour. You will earn most of your XP through combat, and by completing quests. 

Every 10th level grants you 100 Leadership points, which will allow you to deploy higher-level units in battle. You will also receive other kinds of points that you will need to spend: Honour points can unlock new troops and technologies, while Mastery and Skill points are used to unlock weapons and skills. 

There's also the Capacity stat. It has nothing to do with what's in your inventory and everything to do with what you can equip. If you can keep your Capacity between 20% and 70% of your maximum, it will have no effect. Take it above 70% and it will inhibit your Stamina in combat. Below 20%, it will enhance your combat skills. Your equipment will need to be repaired occasionally, which will cost you bronze coins. Use the same interface to do so. Instead of hit points, your equipment has the Endurance stat, which wears out over time.

Character skills:

There are class-specific skills and progression trees. Press P to open the character window and go to the Skills tab to see them. Earn Mastery points by slaying and use them to unlock new skills on the weapon they were earned on. Skill points can be used to unlock new weapons, or to supplement Mastery points, and are earned in PvP battles and global map encounters. 

Special skills require you to collect Skill Pages, which you might find in post-battle drops. They can also be found in siege rewards or awarded to you for unlocking certain achievements. You can use up to three basic skills and one special skill in combat.  

Inventory and currencies:

Press I to open the Supplies interface, which has one tab for your personal inventory and one for your wagon. This interface also shows all of your character’s Honour, and their personal wealth in the form of Bronze Coins, Silver Coins, and Sovereigns. You can read more about the in-game currencies and consumables here.

Mounts:

Your mount, usually a horse, is your primary means of long-distance travel in the world of Conqueror’s Blade.  Early on you will receive a common bay horse without any barding or good-quality tack. You can buy additional horses from the Horse Seller. Your “stable” has six slots for mounts, three of which will need to be unlocked at the game store with the “trough” item.

Press B to summon (or dismiss) your mount. Your horse can canter normally, or you can make it gallop by holding down the Shift key. Some weapon skills are also available in battle only while your character is riding a horse. Killing an enemy's horse puts them at a considerable tactical disadvantage!

Career (achievements, statistics and rewards):

In the Career tab you can unlock achievements, look up your combat statistics, and track your rewards. This tab also lists all battles in which you have fought. The Heroics tab contains the requirements and descriptions of rewards. 

Personal camp:

Your camp is your base of operations, and where your units and supplies are kept. Your camp is by default located in the capital city of the region you selected after the tutorial phase of the game. Your camp's main functions are to hold your supplies of food, horses, resources, materials, spare weapons, and to resupply and reinforce your units after battles. You can move your camp once every three days by using a Migration Token, which can be bought in every town from the Apothecary. Take this order to the Billeting Officer in the target village or town to move your camp to that fief. You can instantly return your warband to your camp from anywhere on the global map once every hour, provided that the fief it is located in is not under siege, and your warband has no artillery or resources in its wagon. Purchase the Return Order first, and select Return to Camp from the menu.

MARTIAL ARTS

Preparing for battle: Units

Apart from progressing and developing your character, you will gather your own units to form a warband which you can see by pressing U. Your units will have a great effect on your successes in the game, so pick carefully.

All units are categorised as cavalry, ranged infantry or and melee infantry.

There are six “eras” on each unit development tree. You must unlock a number of units before you can unlock the next era. Unlocking a unit will also cost you Honour points, and your character may need to have reached a specified level and/or unlocked specific technologies in order to do so.

To build a new unit, go to the Barracks tab and left-click on an empty slot. If all the slots in the barracks are occupied, use an Expansion Permit to unlock a new slot. When you click on an empty slot you will see a list of all available troop types. Select one and click on the “Build” button to see what type of equipment and horses (if any) are used by this unit. You can buy unit kit on the Market, craft it at the Unit Weaponsmith, or buy it directly from this menu for Bronze Coins.

Each unit has its own qualities, skills, and formations. It also has a unique tree of Veterancy Bonuses. You can spend Veterancy Points earned in battle to unlock each one. A unit’s appearance can be amended by purchasing Unit Attire in the in-game store and equipping it to the unit in the “unit attire” tab. Note that attire only changes the unit’s appearance, not its attributes or capabilities.

You can take several units to battle, up to the limit of your character’s Leadership statistic. They must be different, it's important. You deploy and command only one unit at a time, so it's worth thinking about which unit is most suitable for the current situation. If your character dies, you can still issue commands to the unit for a while, but without their leader your unit will eventually flee the battlefield. If the unit survives the retreat, it can be deployed again during the same battle.

Use these keys to control your unit in battle: C: Follow; X: Defend; V: Attack. You can also order a unit to change formation (keys F1, F2, and F3). You should take into consideration your unit type.

• Ranged infantry should be placed somewhere safe (eg high ground, behind fortifications) or be protected by another unit. Avoid close combat.
• Cavalry is perfect for surprise attacks, but should avoid head-on encounters with pikemen.
• Melee infantry isn't good against cavalry, any units with large shields, and units with ranged weapons.

Don't forget about the allies on your team! Work in cooperation, and build synergy between your units.

You can use your troops to mine resources in the open world (a mighty warlord shouldn't be swinging a dirty pickaxe in front of the troops - they'll get ideas above their station) Pay attention to the Labour stat. The higher it is, the more resources the unit can mine.

If you didn't find the unit useful, or if it fails to match your playstyle, or you simply need an empty slot, you can disband the unit via the barracks screen.

Preparing for battle: Field artillery

Why throw your units directly at the enemy? You could start off by thinning the enemy's ranks with some artillery fire!

There are several types of artillery in the game. You could craft them at the Artillery Craftsman NPC, or purchase ready-made artillery from the Siege Engineer or on the Market. Up to three artillery pieces can be taken into battle, but only one can be ready to deploy at any one time.

Place your artillery piece anywhere you like on the field. Be aware that it has limited ammunition and can be destroyed (or even taken over) by the enemy. Artillery is expensive, so be sure to make them count!

Battles: Battle types and missions

Battles are the most exciting and thrilling part of the game! You can join a battle at any moment by pressing J and selecting the mode and level. Let's look at the main battle types.

⦁    Field Battle:  Take and hold the flagged locations on a battlefield and defeat enemies to reduce the other team’s score. The first one to lose all their points loses the battle.

⦁    Siege. Show some tactical ability! The attackers must storm the fortress and capture all of the flags to win. The defenders must protect the fortress until time runs out.

⦁    Conquest. Conquer the strategic points on the map and kill enemies to win.

⦁    Expeditions. Gather a team of other Warlords to fight together against AI units in distant lands.

⦁    Deathmatch: Warlords fight one-on-one without units. They only have themselves to count on! Test your skill in controlling your character. The first team to destroy 30 enemies wins.

Battles: Map elements and missions

Blue capture Points belong to your team while red belong to the enemy. Capture these points to reduce the enemy’s score in Field battles. In Siege battles, these will extend the time available to the attacking side. To capture a point, just stand inside the circle while the area within is kept free of all enemies.

Supply Points are marked with a plus sign (+) on the overview. You can use them to restore the hit points and/or ammunition of your unit, heal your mount, swap out your active unit or mount, and change weapons or deployable artillery piece. Approach the Supply Point Quartermaster standing by a friendly Supply Point, press F to open the interface, and select the action.

On some Siege maps there are artillery pieces available to both teams.  To use an artillery piece, approach it, dismount if necessary, and press F. You can watch the fall of the projectile by pressing Z when you fire. Watch out! An enemy may sneak up on you or shoot you from afar.

There are ways to overcome the defensive walls on a siege map. Carefully study the map before the battle begins, taking note of where the gates and ladders are.

Siege towers are your trump card when capturing a city. Have your unit push a tower to a wall (Press Ctrl and click on the siege tower, ladder, or ram to order your unit to make use of it) and storm the battlements! If you're the defender, use the cannons on the walls to destroy any tower that is moving towards the walls.

Ladders are an alternative method for scaling walls, and they are more discreet. Your unit will be more vulnerable if it is attacked on top of the wall before all troops have finished climbing the ladder, and defenders can kick away the ladder while you’re still climbing it!

Use the battering ram to smash open the fortress gate. Battering rams (and siege towers) provide a small amount of cover against ranged weapons to the unit using them.

Trebuchets provide a significant if limited fire support to the attackers in a siege. Every player on the attacking team can call in a trebuchet strike once per battle. Press G to activate it, then use the mouse to direct where the shots will land. The defenders can destroy the attackers’ trebuchets using artillery.

Battles are chaotic. You should watch out for other characters and your own units and act together with your allies to succeed. Study fortress maps and battle tactics, improve your unit management and character skills, keep an eye on the troop movements on the mini-map, and victory will be yours! 

QUESTS

Press L to open the quest interface. You will complete most of them in their starting location. Complete quests to master the main elements of the interface, learn to manage your character and units, learn about the NPCs, and take part in training battles against AI enemies. As soon as you're out into the big world, the quest chains will take you through the crafting and mining processes. Further on, you can accept quests in cities and weekly quests to earn extra resources and currencies. 

• Fief quests: Approach Quartermaster. Select Fief Overview and go to the Fief Quests tab. The list contains level of difficulty, progress, conditions, and rewards. Just pick the one that you like and go for it.
• Weekly and daily quests: Press L to open the quest interface. Most quests are battle-related. Complete them to earn currencies, rewards, and boosts. 

HOUSES, ALLIANCES & DIPLOMACY

Houses (aka guilds) aren't just groups of friends, they're major associations that provide many of the game's opportunities! House members can participate in global confrontations, capture fortresses, own territories, enjoy privileges, and ultimately they write the server history.

Any player of level 10 or higher may found a House for 20,000 Bronze or Silver Coins. Each House chooses a unique name, a coat of arms and a banner. As it's a great responsibility to be the Liege, you might want to join an existing House at first. Just choose one to your liking, apply to join, and if the Liege or Seneschal approves, you’re in!

Houses can fight each other in the Territory Wars which take place twice a week. To join a Territory War, the House Liege must declare war on another fief. At the appointed time, the members of this House should bring their units, artillery, and siege engines to assault this fief. The battle will resemble a PvP siege. If your assault is successful, you get to own the whole fief! Your House will now receive income from it, such as taxes from the collection of resources, and the other members of your House members will receive bonus yields every day from Resource Sites owned by your House.

By being active in the game, the House members contribute to the House development, which means more vacancies for new members, more fiefs to own, and more opportunities to conquer cities and fortresses.

If your House owns a fief larger than a village, you may form an Alliance. This will cost you 50,000 Silver coins. An Alliance may unite up to 3 Houses. Alliance members can expect to gain access to allies’ resource sites and fiefs.

OPEN WORLD

Conqueror's Blade does not only consist of battles. It's also a big open world, full of mysteries, treasures, and dangers.

As soon as you're out of the tutorial location, you will be offered the choice of the four uniquely styled starting regions, each featuring a resource of its own. If you're playing with friends, you should arrange somewhere to rendezvous.

To exit into the open world, approach the Watchman at the gates, choose the units and weapons that you want to take with you, stock up on food (starving troops fight very poorly), and go on an adventure! If you travel on your own, you’ll move relatively quickly. Units will slow you down a little bit, while a laden wagon or artillery will slow you down a lot - you always travel at the speed of your slowest unit. If you engage in combat with another player or any rebel units during a journey, you will have to visit a friendly or safe zone fief (or a Wayside Inn) to heal your units. The cost of healing will be higher compared to that after an ordinary PvP or PvE encounter.

What's there to do in the open world?

Territory Wars: Territory wars form one of the major political components of the game, as they involve Houses and Alliances fighting over possession of fiefs (towns, villages, and forts). Let’s look at the principles and benefits of owning a fief.

Resource Collection: This refers to collecting raw resources to craft into materials, which can be used to create unit kit, siege engines, artillery, to and complete fief quests. Resource sites are indicated on the map. There are several types of resources. You can read more about them in this article. To gather resources, you need to bring a unit (for best results they should have maxed out their Labour stat) with some food. Leave your fief, and march to the resource site.

Each site will only produce a limited number of yields each day, so plan wisely, and decide what resources you need first before you go. Depending on your warband’s total Labour stat and the level of the site, you may also find some exotic resources or treasures.
 
Pursuit Battles: In the open world, you may attack any player who isn't of your House or a member of your Alliance. Click on the player you want to pursue and click Pursue. If you catch up with your target, a PvP battle will begin. Any other player can join either side in the battle. The victorious player has the right to take some materials and resources from their opponent’s wagon, which you should bear in mind when you go collecting resources!

Rebels: You can also be attacked by bands of rebels lurking around the open world. You can deliberately attack rebel bands, or even join in someone else’s battle against the rebels. If you're victorious, you will receive resources as a reward. If the rebels intercept you, you have the option to either bribe them, fight them, or try to flee. There are three difficulty levels of rebel bands: easy, medium, and high. Their combat strength and rewards for victory vary accordingly.

Rebel Camps: A rebel camp is a special PvE location for a group of at least 3 players. These are also available in three levels of difficulty and are a great way to get XP for your character and your units. 

ECONOMY & TRADE

Trade: 

There are two types of items you can get in the game: personal (bind on pickup) and transferable, which you can trade on the Market for silver. Access to the Market opens at level 10.

Craft:

You can craft unit kit, saddles, barding, and tack for your horse, weapons and armour for your character, artillery and siege engines from the materials refined from the resources you have bought or collected.

Craft weapons and armour for your mount and character at the Smith. He will also help you break down such items to obtain crafting resources via the “Salvage Materials” menu option. The Unit Weaponsmith crafts unit kit and the Artillery Craftsman knows how to build artillery. 

List of NPCs:

⦁    Apothecary. She sells certain consumable items such as hair dye, Migration Tokens, Return Orders, and Speaking-Trumpet. 
⦁    Siege Engineer: Sells artillery. 
⦁    Artillery Craftsman builds artillery, for a price. 
⦁    Refinery Overseer refines resources into materials.
⦁    Unit Weaponsmith makes unit kit from refined materials.
⦁    The Artisan can change the looks of your character’s equipped armour, and weapons, and that of your mount’s barding and tack.
⦁    Armourer sells weapons and armour for your character.
⦁    Master-at-Arms unlocks your new weapons and also arranges sparring sessions in the training yard. 
⦁    The Horse Seller sells horses, barding and tack, and fodder to feed your mounts.
⦁    The Billeting Officer is in charge of your camp. The Sheriff represents the local law enforcement system and runs most of the quests you can take and the Matched Battles.
⦁    The Warden represents the local government of the fief and runs the Fief Quests system.