The final stage of Season VII’s Campaign is underway, which means that, as well as regional capitals being up for grabs, the Core Capital is ripe for conquest. Of course, only those warlords that count themselves among the best of the best can hope to take the season’s ultimate prize, but for those that can manage modest gains in Territory Wars, the benefits are more than worthwhile. Access to local resources, income from taxation, denying your enemies - as well as the end-of-season rewards for taking part in all those epic battles!
 

It’s not too late to join the fight! Just complete the following checklist and you should be taking over fiefs in no time.

Join an active House

You don’t have to be part of a group to engage in battle, but if you want to share in the glory and income of controlling territory, being part of a formal group of players is mandatory. You can either join a Cohort, which is an NPC-controlled organisation where the AI will determine which fiefs that members of the Cohort should focus their attention, or join a Free House in which the leader chooses where to strike next. 

Keep questing

Territory Wars occur bi-weekly every Tuesday and Saturday, but you don’t have to join the frontline to help the war effort. Between events, you can help out your teammates by completing Fief Quests. These missions will reward you with the materials needed to level up your settlements and keep your armies well stocked, which ultimately makes them more difficult and costly to attack for your enemies.

Practise in Matchmaking Battles

If you’ve played a Siege or Field Battle, congratulations - you are well on your way to becoming a conquering hero! When you target a fief, whether it’s a small village or a regional capital, the resulting battle is played out across maps based on those that are common to matchmaking battles, so the more battles you play outside a Territory War, the more you’ll be ready when the next one comes around. If you can join battles with friends and allies and coordinate your efforts, even better!

Territory War battles are different

Yes, the maps will be familiar, but there are some important differences between battles that are played out during a Territory War session. The most immediate is that there are no pre-placed artillery pieces on the map. You must remember to bring your own. Another important difference is that a queue exists where allies can take your place when you die in battle, and if there’s time left on the clock (assuming you win), you might be required to defend the same fief immediately afterwards. 

Have a plan!
Planning for a battle should begin way ahead of Territory Wars starting. You and your team need to discuss your mix of weapon classes and units, and ensure they are in place on the open world map ahead of time. Then you should have a tactical plan of how you envisage the battle playing out. Try to stick to the plan as much as possible, and listen to the commands of the team leader in case the plan changes - which it undoubtedly will.

Communicate!

Matchmaking battles tend to play out as free-for-alls, with very little communication going on between allies unless they are already assigned to one another as friends. However, in a Territory Wars battle, accurate and timely communication is absolutely essential for any team hoping to win a fight. Using some form of real-time voice system is almost as necessary as equipping weapons and units, while a knowledge of the tactical commands available via the chat wheel (accessible via the middle mouse button) should be a basic requirement.

Have we missed anything important, apart from remembering to go to the toilet before Territory Wars starts? Let us know by joining in the discussion on Discord, Facebook and Twitter.