Rankings & Scoring
Rankings are the public face of private investment. They show who has built the broadest domain, which banners have gathered strength, and which commanders have turned war into reputation.
Achievements
Correspondence
AlliancesAlliance XPScore is development and deeds
Score reflects investment in structures, research, trained forces, direct rewards from achievements, and recorded accomplishments from the wider domain. The public ledger highlights the clearest score sources rather than every internal tally. The board is built from hourly snapshots. Troops lost in battle, buildings destroyed, new works completed, or counted accomplishments can all move the next total.
The board has three arguments
The Rankings panel carries three views, each useful for a different kind of judgement.
- Governors: individual score, island count, alliance flag, and your own rank at the top for quick reference.
- Alliances: combined member score, member count, and public banner standing.
- Warlords: combat reputation built from contested wins, losses, troops slain, notable wins, and streaks.
A name on any board opens the profile behind it. Profiles show score, rank, war record, alliance membership, public islands, and social actions such as private messages, friend requests, aid, or alliance invitations when those actions are allowed.
The realm watches the boards
Climbing matters in public. When a Governor or alliance rises into the top ten of the established boards — the realm rankings, the Warlords board, or a scoreboard such as Treasure Hunters, Plunderers, Spymasters, Stewards, or Wealthiest — the move is announced in the world ticker and recorded in the Chronicle, named board and all. Taking first place earns a gold celebration line and, where the board grants one, the title that comes with the seat. Only upward moves are announced; the realm does not gossip about who slipped.
Specialist standings
Black Tide Liberators ranks publicly credited islands freed. Market Traders counts completed marketplace sales; Market Buyers counts completed purchases. Treasure Hunters and Stewards record treasure finds and council affairs resolved. Each offers Today, This Week and All Time standings.
The Daily Chronicle celebrates a rotating selection of yesterday’s combat, trade, governance and exploration. Strong runners-up can earn the spotlight, and recent winners receive less preference. These editorial choices do not change the specialist standings.
Only standing Governors hold a seat
Every board ranks the living realm, not the archive. A Governor who has lost their last island keeps their recorded deeds, but holds no seat on any board — rankings, Warlords, or the scoreboards — until they hold land again. A Shuttered Governor is likewise hidden from every board while away and rejoins them on return.
Score moves slowly until it does not
Settlement score is recalculated regularly from the current state of a Governor's holdings. Buildings and research count from their invested upgrade costs. Troops count from their trained value, but at a much lighter weight. Achievement rewards add direct score on top.
Counts and score are separate ledgers. Inselnova counts treasure finds, Black Tide attacks and liberations, bazaar purchases, marketplace trades, spy successes, colonisations, affairs, and war facts from the record of the world. Some entries add Governor score directly, while derived records remain visible beside the score so the same deed is not counted twice.
Black Tide actions carry special weight because the whole archipelago benefits when those sails are broken. Spy successes, colonisations, profitable trade, treasure, plunder, and resolved affairs also add standing as proof that the Governor's authority reaches beyond the building yard.
This is why a commander can win a battle and still drop on the board if the victory burned too much army value. It is also why an active scout, trader, or Black Tide hunter can climb even before another warehouse roof is raised.
War record is a second reputation
War record is counted beside Governor score. Some combat deeds add to standing, while the full record remains separate so the board can distinguish builders from survivors. Public profiles track total wars, wins, losses, draws, surrenders, troops slain, notable wins, and win streaks.
The Warlords board turns that combat record into a dominance ranking — but only for battles you launch, and only for battles that were battles. A win over an island with troops standing on it pulls you upward; a lost attack pulls you down; troops slain on your own offensives break ties between commanders who look similar at first glance. Sailing into an empty harbour and taking what you find is a raid, not a victory: it earns you nothing here, though the spoils will carry you up the Plunderers board. Repelling a raid still builds your war record and your defense tally, but holding the wall never moves the Warlords board: dominance belongs to those who sail out and find someone waiting.
The Census counts what you have spent and taken
Realm → Census is your own ledger rather than a board. It holds four lifetime figures — blood drawn, blood spent, islands taken, and plunder hauled — and beside each one it tells you how many Governors in your world have any at all. A figure nobody else holds is worth more than a figure everybody holds, and the Census is where you find out which kind you are carrying.
Blood drawn also earns a Rank of Arms: six standings that run Untested, Blooded, Ironbrand, Wolfborn, Bloodtide, and Ashfall. Only troops slain move it — on your own offensives or holding your own wall, since both count — so a Governor who has never seen a battle stays Untested however large the treasury. The Census names your rank, how many Governors share it, and the nearest one standing above you.
The same page carries your identity compass and, under each of its four bearings, where that bearing places you against the rest of the world. The Realm Identity chapter covers how the compass itself is read.
Alliance standing is borrowed strength
An alliance's rank is the combined score of its members. A new recruit, a new building, a finished research level, or a lost army can all move the banner because member scores feed the total. The alliance board also shows member count, making large banners and elite small banners easy to tell apart.
The alliance profile carries its own war record as well, gathered from the members beneath the flag. That makes the board a recruiting tool and a warning label at the same time.
Common questions
Does score unlock bazaar tiers?
No. Bazaar access follows island prestige, not score. Score still matters because it shows growth, threat, and public standing.
Why did my score fall after a battle?
Troops are part of score. If losses remove more army value than your buildings, research, or achievement rewards add back, the total can fall.
Why is the Warlords board different from the score board?
The score board measures development and scored activity, and an undefended island still counts toward it. The Warlords board measures combat dominance — contested wins, losses, troops slain — so a harbour that could not fight back adds nothing to it.