Game map

Map is the core of the game. It has 431 unique lands and is divided into nine rectangular areas. When you register, you can choose in which area you want to start - but during the game there are no visible borders between areas, just between individual lands. The areas just help you to display only that part of the map that is interesting to you. Players fight to capture as many lands as possible. Generally said, the more lands you have, the stronger you are.

A nice graphical description of the map can be found here: Map description

Map terrain and movement

Map terrain affects whether the two lands can "communicate" with each other - whether you can attack the land, move your army there or sign any treaty between these lands. Either all of it is possible or nothing. Lands that can "communicate" are called adjacent or neighbouring in this help.
  • Mountain ranges - lands are not considered adjacent, if the whole border is along a mountain range
  • Water (river, sea) - lands are not considered adjacent, if the border is a large river or sea
  • Harbours (anchor marks) - lands are considered adjacent although across the sea, if both lands have harbour in them and they are not too far from each other (approximately at the distance of 2 or 3 average size lands)
  • Portals - these are magical trasportation devices in some lands on the edge of map, that connect two lands on the opposite ends of the map. This way, the map wraps around, so that the map edges are not too isolated (protected) from one direction.
You will see which lands are adjacent once you capture a land - just go to Treaties window, all lands listed there are adjacent.

Moving your army on the map

You can only move your army into neighbouring lands, unless you have valid Free Pass treaty which allows you to "skip" one land when moving your army.
Spells can be cast on any land on the map, no matter how far from your lands it is.

Land info shown on map

In each land on the map you can see how developed it is. If you build a fortress, magical tower, or recruit an army, it will be displayed on map immediately (after you refresh the map, that is).
Other players (except alliance colleagues) will see these changes only after recalculation (next day in standard leagues), and same goes for you when viewing lands of other players.
  • Flag - there are 200 flags in the game, players can also purchase the right to use their own custom flag for DE-credits
  • Houses - the house icon is changing depending on the number of houses in the land - see Houses table. If there is a fortress in the land, it replaces the house icon and so hides info about number of houses.
  • Magical tower - you can see what type of tower is in the land.
  • Army strength - the more swords, the stronger the army is (see table at this page). Crossed swords mean that the land is at war with some other land (they appear as soon as war is declared - it does not always mean that the war is already valid, and also it does not mean that an attack was sent).
  • Alliance coat-of-arms - helps with orientation to which alliance that player belongs. Crowned coat-of-arms means it is the alliance leader.
  • Hero - shows there is a hero in this land; depending on situation, it can change to a cage or grave.
  • Crypt - there are several types of crypts with different danger level. Open door (black central rectangle) means the crypt was already explored and is empty.

Map display tips

If you press F11, browser window will become slightly larger and you'll see more of the map. Press F11 again to fall back to original display.

Dictionary

Some of the lands have names in the language of Dark Elves. If you are interested what these names mean, you can find these words in a DE Dictionary

Table : Army strength icons

Displayed army strength icon
Total army strength
(attack+defense)		 Icon in land With war declared
no army
Strength 1 to 99
Strength 100 to 199
Strength 200 to 399
Strength 400 to 599
Strength 600 to 799
Strength 800 to 999
Strength 1000 and more