Commander

In The Last Knights, the player (you) is the commander of their own military force. As the leader in charge of all personal operations in the game, they are given the ability to hire a select range of unit types to help mold their ideal army. Additionally, a commander has their own specific stats that increase as they promote in rank. This includes their overall hitpoints, strength, ranged accuracy, and ranged strength. They also hold a level of authority that is given to the commander at the start of each new rank. This authority is what allows the commanding officer to hire army units as gold, alone, is not enough.

Think of the amount of authority as popularity. As a commander rises in rank, their popularity grows. As their popularity grows, their status becomes that of a more ideal leader for a singular driving military force. Ergo, they are given the privilege of increasing the size or strength of their army as a result. Commanders start off with a simple restriction from joining or creating what are called military forces. These often consist of one or more commanders, and their armies, and are joinable as long as they are of an ideal rank and do not exceed the rank of the commander who is leading the force.

Authority

Each Commander is given a set Authority amount (determined by their rank) that can be allocated to the purchase or promotion of units. As you promote up the ranks you will be allowed more authority to increase your army size or improve your individual units.

Each unit is given an authority value based off their stats. From the initial value of Stage 1 Apprentice, Stage 2 Standard, Stage 3 Standard which can be purchased at the Barracks there are multipliers that give us each value after promoting.

When you reach your authority cap (also called the "Hard Cap") set by your rank you will not be able to purchase or promote further until your Commander ranks up or you dismiss other units.

Sometimes you'll find your authority looks incorrect, in these cases, switching to the Encampment page tends to update the figure, if not try clicking "dismiss" without any units selected to force the figure to update. Any issues after this, use the in-game "Support" feature to notify the Admins.

The Authority of units also has an impact on the rating of your individual army and the points awarded in battle. Your rating is calculated using the number of units, their authority and their rank, in addition to your commander XP and your gold. When battle points are awarded after a battle, this figure uses the authority of soldiers, heroes, and commanders injured or killed in battle.

Rank

A player's commander rank refers to their position as a leading officer of an army. Starting off as a private, you can work your way up in rank through promotions that you can receive after obtaining a certain level of experience. The following lists provide a rundown of each rank as well as the promotional changes that your commander goes through as a result.

Basic Ranks

A list of all ranks

Rank	Female	Health	Strength	Authority	Promotion XP	Starting Gold
Private		180	15	450	90	50,000
Lance-Corporal		190	16	600	200	50,000
Corporal		200	17	800	350	50,000
Sergeant		210	18	1000	520	60,000
Master-Sergeant		230	18	1200	700	60,000
Sergeant-Major		240	19	1500	1000	70,000
Ensign		250	20	1820	1350	130,000
Second-Lieutenant		260	22	2040	1900	150,000
Lieutenant		270	24	2260	2400	170,000
Captain		280	26	2500	3100	190,000
Major		290	28	2740	4500	210,000
Lieutenant-Colonel		300	30	3000	6000	850,000
Colonel		310	31	3220	8000	890,000
Brigadier-General		320	32	3540	10000	1,200,000
Major-General		330	33	3800	13000	1,300,000
Lieutenant-General		340	34	4060	16000	1,400,000
Vice-Marshal		350	35	4370	20000	1,500,000
Marshal		360	36	4700	25000	4,200,000
Knight	Dame	370	37	5060	32000	4,500,000
Baron	Baroness	390	38	5400	45000	4,800,000
Count	Countess	400	39	5560	80000	5,000,000
Marquess	Marchioness	400	40	5560		5,000,000

Royalty Ranks

The following ranks are allocated to the Leader of a country after reaching the equivalent of rank Knight:

Royalty Ranks

Rank	Female	Health	Strength	Authority	Promotion XP	Starting Gold
Viceroy	Vicereine	400	37	5060	32000	4,500,000
Prince	Princess	420	38	5400	45000	4,800,000
King	Queen	440	39	5560	80000	5,000,000
Emperor	Empress	450	40	5560		5,000,000

Hero

When a player's commander has reached a certain rank, they are granted a crusader, of sorts, for no additional gold or initial cost to authority. These units are referred to as Heroes. A player can acquire up to 3 heroes in a single age and are often considered the backbone of a commanders army.

Each hero has access to a number of skills that can be acquired through points they gain in battle simply known as Battle Points. These points can, then, be distributed among said skills. The higher the digit, the more benefit to the player, heroes, and their army.

A player's heroes can also be equipped with a variety of different weapons, armor, and perks that can provide positive influential effects on themselves as well as the rest of the player's army. Heroes help to maintain not only a stronger army but a more resistant one as well. A lack of heroes can lead to a larger number of injuries in a battle that can also cause unit deaths. They are also extremely important in player versus player battles.

Currency

There is only one form of currency used in The Last Knights and that is Gold. Its primary use is to hire and heal units as well as purchase items and equipment for heroes. Gold can be acquired a few different ways.

The first way to gain this currency is through training. Though it may not always reward you in every single battle, you can obtain small amounts of gold in successful training runs. As you and your units go through promotions the amount and consistency of the gold you are rewarded will gradually increases.

The second way to earn gold is in main, city-focused, and player versus player battles. Since these types of battles are typically larger and provide greater risk than basic training battles, they often offer a substantially higher amount of gold if you are victorious.

The last method of gold retrieval is through a unique skill that can be leveled up by a player's heroes. This skill is known as Merchant and can, ultimately, give you the necessary boost in income you may need to continue your training runs or force heal your injured units.

Health (Importance of)

A player's commanders health as well as the health of their heroes and military units are detrimental in ensuring their army does not incur unexpected or unnecessary deaths. Although the health, also called hitpoints, is never reduced in a battle, they are still able to be killed. This is, most often, caused by a weak army, an injured army, or an abnormally small army.

Weak Army

A weak army is categorized as a military force with an average rank that is too low to effectively attack or defend. This is, oftentimes, due to having a commander who has not exceeded past blue rank. The commander, hero, and units are still far too fragile to deal any real damage in city and main battles which can result in a larger number of injuries. This is especially true for PvP armies which are more at risk of sustaining deaths in these types of combat situations.

Another reason for a weak army can come from what is called a Rebuild. This method of unit swapping can leave a commanders army vulnerable to higher than usual injuries, including deaths. This is due to the fact that during a rebuild any new units hired in place of old units are forced to start at the lowest level of that tier group. Thus, this heavily weakens a commanders forces until they are able to train the new units up to an appropriate level.

The final reason for an army being weak can come from improperly built heroes. A commanders heroes provide a strong initial defense and offense to their army. However, if heroes are not built correctly it can weaken the integrity of their overall strength. This is doubly true in the case of player versus player battles.

Injured Army

An injured army is the result of having been previously involved in a main or strike force that placed some of your units out of commission or because you were attacked in PvP. In these instances, you army has been crippled and are no longer operating at full strength. If not taken care of in a timely manner any further attacks could lead to unit deaths and commander injuries. This is made worse by the fact that a player's army can be attacked in PvP more than once if they participate in strike force activities without healing first. The similar note can be made when a main army drops on a city that that specific player is occupying at the time.

Small Army

A small army can often be caused by the use of the rebuild method but that is not always the case. In some situations, a small army can be due to prior deaths in which a player is unable to hire replacements due to insufficient funds. A small army can be equally as vulnerable as an injured one and can, assuredly, cause unit deaths and even a commander injury.

Regardless of what the situation may be, maintaining the health of one's army is pivotal to survival and avoiding unit and commander deaths.

Experience Points (XP)

The sole purpose of experience points is to allow a player's commander to increase their officer rank over the course of a single in-game age with the rank of Private being their starting title and Marquess being their last. Each promotion toward a commanders rank increases the amount of experience required to reach the next promotion. Therefore, a player must, eventually, transition from training to joining country battles in order to maintain a productively continuous flow of experience points.