Lords and Ladies, the time has come to introduce a brand new feature - Stoneheart Castle.

We have created this guide for players who want to learn all about the feature. Here you’ll be able to find out about all the key mechanics and learn how to implement the new gameplay into your strategy. Don’t forget to share this information with your friends and fellow League members.

In short, Stoneheart Castle is a feature that unlocks a huge range of new content and functionality. You’ll be able to create a brand new Castle, construct new Buildings, get new types of Units, use new Resources, attack exciting new PvE locations, and much more.

Let's take a closer look at how Stoneheart Castle works and how you can access it.

Access to the feature

Firstly, Stoneheart Castle will only be available to players who have met all the requirements to unlock it. To begin playing with the feature you must:

1. Reach Level 60 in the game

2. Win at a Level 40 Battleground

3. Discover the “Dragon’s Egg” Lost Art

4. Discover the “Black Star” Lost Art

5. Discover the “Level 5 Fortifications” Lost Art

After that, you’ll need to tap the button that opens Stoneheart Castle, which is found in the requirements window. This will trigger a range of quests that introduce the feature and some of the more basic mechanics. In the “Quests” window, you’ll also find a range of new tasks that will guide you through some of the more complex features, including:

- Constructing and upgrading Stoneheart Buildings

- Discovering and upgrading Stoneheart Masteries

- Activating Stoneheart Unit Abilities 

We will look at all these features and more in this guide.  

Basic Mechanics 

As soon as all the Requirements are met and Stoneheart Castle has been unlocked, you’ll gain access to your new Castle and receive various other benefits. One of these is an important one: once Stoneheart Castle is unlocked, your Daily Raid Limit will be increased to 1 million Resources per day.

You will also gain access to the following mechanics:

1. Stoneheart Castle. You will be able to switch between your existing Castle and Stoneheart Castle by tapping a new button on your Castle screen.

2. New Buildings. You will be able to construct and upgrade a variety of new Stoneheart Buildings. Some of these relate directly to the new Units and Resources associated with Stoneheart Castle, while others - such as the Defensive Fortifications - will benefit your existing Castle as well. You can boost all Construction processes at Stoneheart Castle using Sapphires or Stoneheart Boosts.

3. Stoneheart Masteries. The Stoneheart Mastery tree can be found in your House of Scrolls, next to the Lost Arts tree. Stoneheart Masteries increase the power of your Stoneheart Units, Stoneheart Castle Economy, and provide other bonuses as well. In order to discover Special Masteries you must first collect the relevant Stoneheart Scrolls.

4. Stoneheart Units. Stoneheart Units are special Units that will be available immediately after you have unlocked Stoneheart Castle. They are special for two reasons: firstly because they are effective in both offensive and defensive battles, and secondly because they have special Abilities that - when activated - provide significant combat bonuses.

5. New locations. Stoneheart Trials and Stoneheart Saga Trials are brand new PvE challenges that can only be completed using Stoneheart Units. Similar to Battlegrounds and Saga Quests, completing Stoneheart Trials can provide you with powerful Rewards, including Units, Resources, and Scrolls.

6. Adamantine. Adamantine is a new Resource that is required for training Stoneheart Units, constructing and upgrading Stoneheart Buildings, and discovering or upgrading Stoneheart Masteries. You can produce Adamantine by building up to 6 Adamantine Forges in Stoneheart Castle, as well as the Adamantine Fountain, which functions in a similar way to the Forge and the Dungeons.

7. New League Achievements. With the release of Stoneheart Castle, your League will have new League Achievements to complete. These will require your League’s members to contribute points by training Stoneheart Units and completing Stoneheart Trials.

Stoneheart Castle

You now have access to Stoneheart Castle and are ready to receive all the benefits this update will bring. So, what now? Well, the first thing to do will be to explore your new surroundings. Here is what you need to know about your new world:

- As your Stoneheart Castle does not have any coordinates, it will not appear on the Map.

- The Defensive Buildings at Stoneheart Castle increase the Defense Bonus of the entire Castle. However, they will be broken if your Castle is raided, and will need to be restored.

- You can switch between your Castle and Stoneheart Castle from the navigation panel or the Map.

The easiest way to visualize this is to imagine that your Castle has a second floor - Stoneheart Castle. These two Castles are a single unit, which means that all the bonuses that work in your Castle will work at Stoneheart Castle, and vice versa. You can view all active bonuses by tapping your Hero avatar, then selecting the “Profile” subtab.

Stoneheart Buildings

When you first unlock Stoneheart Castle, there will be two pre-constructed Buildings: the Adamantine Vault (Level 1) and the Stoneheart Gate (Level 1).

You can see all the bonuses a Stoneheart Building provides by tapping on it, then opening the Building’s “Info” window (tap the "Details" button to do so). From there, you can see what the Building does at each upgrade Level.

You can earn individual Achievements by constructing and upgrading Stoneheart Buildings. You will also be able to use the “League Help” feature to reduce Construction Time.

All bonuses that influence Construction Speed are valid for Buildings both in your Castle and Stoneheart Castle.

You must upgrade at least one of your Craftsmen to a Master Craftsman in order to construct your first Stoneheart Buildings. Master Craftsmen can work on Buildings both in your Castle and at Stoneheart Castle. You can upgrade the first Craftsman for free, and one further Craftsman using Sapphires. Please note that you can only upgrade Craftsmen who are not working on Construction or Upgrades. 

Here is the list of Stoneheart Buildings in full: 

1. Adamantine Forge. Allows you to produce Adamantine.

2. Adamantine Vault. Allows you to store Adamantine.

3. Adamantine Fountain. Increases your overall Adamantine production with each upgrade Level.

4. Stoneheart Tower. Allows you to train Valkyras, Cavaliers, Sorcerers, and Drakes.

5. Stoneheart Gate. Increases your Castle Defense Bonus.

6. Stoneheart Catapult. Increases your Castle Defense Bonus.

Stoneheart Units

Stoneheart Units are special Units that you can train after unlocking Stoneheart Castle and building the Stoneheart Tower. There are 4 Units in total: Valkyra (Infantry), Cavalier (Cavalry), Sorcerer (Occult), and Drake (Bestiary).

Stoneheart Units are suitable for use in both offensive and defensive engagements, and will gain a 20% stat advantage in battles against non-Stoneheart Units. Their basic Offense and Defense statistics are equal, although the Masteries for each Unit type allow you to tweak their offensive or defensive statistics according to your strategy.

Stoneheart Units can be trained at Stoneheart Tower, but you must discover the Stoneheart Mastery for each Unit before you can train them. Training Stoneheart Units requires both Adamantine and Soulstones. However, you can also win Units as a Reward for completing Stoneheart Trials and Stoneheart Saga Trials.

You can boost your Stoneheart Unit Training Queue using both Regular Boosts and Sapphires.

If your Stoneheart Units are killed in battle, you'll be able to revive a certain percentage of them in the Infirmary or in the “Healer” tab at the Black Market. The percentage of Stoneheart Units that can be revived using Sapphires depends on the “Infirmary Rate” Mastery for each Unit (this is explained later in the guide), and the Level of your Infirmary. You can also revive a percentage of Stoneheart Units (those who fell defending your Castle) for free - these will appear in the “Free Revival” section in the “Stoneheart” tab of the Infirmary.

Stoneheart Unit Abilities

Stoneheart Unit Abilities dramatically improve your chances in both offensive and defensive battles. Each Stoneheart Unit has two Abilities - one for offensive and one for defensive engagements - although each Ability has specified battle types in which it can be activated. Read the Unit Ability description (by tapping on the Unit) to find out more. 

The probability of a Stoneheart Unit Ability affecting the battle depends on its Activation Chance. The higher the Activation Chance, the more likely it is that the Ability will be activated. In general, the higher the number of the Stoneheart Unit type you send, the more likely that the Unit’s Ability will be activated. However, this mechanic is complicated when you send different types of Stoneheart Units to a single location. Simply try some combinations of Units to find the selection that’s best for you. 

You can increase the probability of an Ability being activated by upgrading the relevant “Activation Chance” Stoneheart Mastery at the House of Scrolls. 

The Activation Chance of every Ability will be displayed in the Unit selection window before a battle, or at the Keep (for Abilities that can be activated during battles to defend your Castle). 

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The Activation Chance window looks like this:

“Activation Chance” is the likelihood of the Ability being activated.

“Bonus” is the effect the ability will have on a specified parameter. View the relevant Mastery at the House of Scrolls for more details.

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Here is a summary of the Stoneheart Abilities available to you.

Offensive Abilities

1. Movement Invisibility (Valkyra, Offense)

This Ability can give you the power of surprise. When it is activated, Units sent to enemies will be hidden for the first part of their journey.

When you upgrade the Mastery for this Ability, you increase the percentage of Travel Time your Units remain invisible. At the maximum Level, Units will be hidden for the first 90% of their journey.

Movement Invisibility can only be activated during Raids sent to other Castles.

2. Rapid Movement (Cavalier, Offense)

This Ability can increase your army’s Speed. When activated, your entire army will move at the Speed indicated by the Ability's Mastery.

The further you upgrade the Mastery for this Ability, the faster your army will become (up to a maximum of 12 km/h).

Rapid Movement can be activated during offensive missions sent to Castles, Hamlets, Beacons, and League Fortresses.

3. Catacomb Raid (Sorcerer, Offense) 

This Ability can improve your yield from Raids. When activated, you will be able to take Resources from enemy Catacombs.

Upgrading the Mastery for this Ability reduces the amount of Resources your enemies can protect in their Catacombs. As such, the “bonus” indicated for this ability does not necessarily translate to how many Resources you can take.

Example 1: Your enemy has 10K of each Resource, and a Catacomb Capacity of 10K. If the bonus from “Catacomb Raid” is 2K, the Catacomb Capacity will be reduced to 8K for each Resource, allowing you to raid 2K Gold, Iron, and Food.

Example 2: Your enemy has 8K of each Resource, and a Catacomb Capacity of 10K. If the bonus from “Catacomb Raid” is 2K, the Catacomb Capacity will be reduced to 8K for each Resource, which is still enough to protect all of the Resources at the Castle from Raids.

At the maximum Level, you will be able to reduce an enemy’s Catacomb Capacity by 40K of each Resource (which happens to be the same capacity of a fully upgraded Catacombs). This means that no enemy will be able to shield Resources from you when you raid them - powerful stuff.

Naturally, this Ability can only be activated during Raids.

4. Enemy Def. Bonus Decrease (Drake, Offense)

This Ability can help you do more damage to your enemies. When activated, their Castle or Beacon Defense Bonus will decrease by a certain percentage.

If you upgrade the Mastery for this Ability to the maximum Level, you will decrease enemy Defense Bonuses by 75% (when the ability is Activated). For example, if your enemy has +1000 Castle Defense, this will be reduced to +250, which in turn will have a noticeable negative effect on their defensive forces.

This ability can be activated during offensive battles at enemy Castles and Beacons.

Defensive Abilities

1. Defense Bonus Increase (Valkyra, Defense) 

This Ability can help you improve the performance of your Defensive Units. It works in exactly the opposite way to the “Enemy Def. Bonus Decrease” Ability, in that it increases your Defense Bonuses at your Castle and your League’s Beacons.

At the maximum Level, this Ability (when activated) will improve your Defense Bonuses by 75%, greatly improving the performance of your Defensive Units.

2. Fireball Shield (Cavalier, Defense)

This Ability will help ease the pain of enemy Fireball Attacks. When activated, you will lose fewer Units when you are attacked with Fireballs. Upgrade the Mastery for this Ability to increase the percentage of Units that will be saved. When this Ability is activated at the maximum Level, you won’t lose any Units at all.

This Ability can be activated both at your own Castle and friendly Castles where you have stationed Reinforcements. However, there are some restrictions with the latter case (see below).

3. Army Cloaking (Sorcerer, Defense)

This Ability works in a similar way to the “Shadow Army” Item. When activated, a percentage of your army will be hidden in enemy Spying Reports. Upgrade the Mastery for this Ability to increase the percentage of hidden Units. At the maximum Level, the result will be that 100% of your Units are hidden.

In the case that an enemy Spying attempt destroys some of your Spy Units, your remaining Spy Units will still be hidden in the Report. At 100%, it will appear that all of your Spy Units were killed, regardless of how many are remaining.

4. Free Infirmary Rate (Drake, Defense)

Under normal circumstances, only Units that were slain defending your Castle are sent to the Free Infirmary. However, this Ability allows you to extend the Free Revival mechanic to other locations too.

Each upgrade Level increases the percentage of fallen Units that can be revived for free, to a maximum of 10%.

The Ability can be activated in defensive battles at the following locations: Castles where you have Reinforcements, Beacons, Hamlets, and League Fortresses. Units that fall defending your Castle will still be sent to the Free Infirmary using the existing mechanics.

Ability Activation - Notes

Please take the following points into consideration when analyzing your Stoneheart Unit Abilities:

1. If an Ability is activated, it will apply to all Units in the battle, not just the Stoneheart Units.

2. The exception to the above rule is when there are Stoneheart Unit Reinforcements stationed at a Castle, and the Fireball Shield Ability is activated. In this Case, only the Units at the Castle belonging to the Lord or Lady whose Ability was activated will be protected.

3. Abilities cannot be activated in Stoneheart Trials and Stoneheart Saga Trials.

Other exceptions

Some bonuses from the Buildings and Items active in your Castle will not affect Stoneheart Units. However, bonuses from the Dragon Stone and Offense/Defense Boost Items will benefit your Stoneheart Units as well.

Stoneheart Masteries

To allow you the opportunity to improve your Stoneheart Units and Stoneheart Castle economy, we have created a brand new tree for Stoneheart Masteries. You can access this tree from the House of Scrolls, “Masteries” tab.

Masteries are divided into eight groups:

1. Stoneheart Unit (e.g. Valkyra, Cavalier)

This type of Mastery allows you to train Stoneheart Units. There are 4 Masteries of this type, one for each Unit.

2. Unit Offense/Defense (e.g. Valkyra Offense, Drake Defense)

Masteries of this type increase the offensive or defensive statistics of the Units they relate to. When upgraded to the maximum Level, they make a massive difference to your Stoneheart Units’ power - increasing their combat statistics by 170%. This means that a Unit with a base Offense statistic of 1000 will increase to 2700. In short, they are well worth investing your Resources and time into.

3. Unit Revival Cost (e.g. Valkyra Revival Cost, Cavalier Revival Cost)

Stoneheart Units are valuable, and training them from scratch can be slow and Resource intensive. Reviving your Stoneheart Units is essential to maintaining the strength of your army, and is faster than training new ones.

Each Upgrade Level of this type of Mastery reduces the cost of reviving a Stoneheart Unit by the indicated percentage. At the maximum Level, it could save you 30% of the Unit’s full value in Sapphires. This is then multiplied by the discount already provided by the Infirmary.

Example: The Sapphire value of a Stoneheart Unit is 100. Your Infirmary provides a 50% discount, and your “Revival Cost” Stoneheart Ability provides a 30% discount. The calculation is as follows:

100 Sapphires - 30% (Mastery Bonus) = 70 Sapphires

70 Sapphires - 50% (Infirmary Bonus) = 35 Sapphires

Total Discount = 65% - Not bad!

4. Infirmary Rate (e.g. Sorcerer Infirmary Rate, Cavalier Infirmary Rate)

This type of Mastery increases the number of Stoneheart Units that will be sent to the Infirmary after they are killed in battle.

Upgrading this type of Mastery to the maximum Level will increase its bonus to 100%. For example, if you upgrade Valkyra Infirmary Rate to Level 20 (the highest Level), 100% of your fallen Valkyras will be sent to the Infirmary and can be revived for Sapphires.

5. Offensive/Defensive Abilities (e.g. Movement Invisibility Chance, Defense Bonus Increase)

As mentioned above, each Stoneheart Unit has two abilities - one offensive, and one defensive (view the Unit Information window to find out more). The power from the bonuses of these Abilities depends on the level of the relevant Mastery.

Once you have unlocked a Unit type on the Stoneheart Mastery tree, you will be able to begin increasing the power of their Ability bonuses. In basic terms, the higher the level of the Ability Mastery, the more powerful the bonus from the Ability, when activated.

In addition to this, you will receive a permanent 5% and 15% Unit Offense/Defense Bonus at Mastery Levels 15 and 20 respectively. Please note that this bonus will only affect the Stoneheart Unit to which the Ability belongs.

6. Ability Activation Chance

Even the most powerful Stoneheart Unit Abilities are useless if they are not activated. You can improve the Activation Chance of each Ability in the Unit Selection window, usually by choosing a higher quantity of the specified Unit.

However, there is a different way to improve Ability Activation Chance. By upgrading the Activation Chance Mastery for each Ability, you will be able to significantly increase the probability that an Ability will be activated.

In addition to this, you will receive a permanent 5% and 15% Unit Offense/Defense Bonus at Mastery Levels 15 and 20 respectively. Please note that this bonus will only affect the Stoneheart Unit to which the Ability belongs.

7. Stoneheart Perimeter

These Masteries allow you to build Stoneheart Gates and Catapults at Stoneheart Castle. The Level of the Fortifications you can construct is equal to the Level of the Mastery. While you will need to discover this Mastery to build Level 1 Catapults, the Stoneheart Gate is pre-constructed at Level 1 for you.

8. Adamantine Production

This Mastery allows you to construct the Adamantine Fountain. This Building increases your Adamantine production by a certain percentage with each Upgrade Level.

About Masteries

You can discover only one Lost Art or one Mastery at any one time, unless you hire an Extra Scribe, which will allow you to discover two simultaneously.

If you want to discover Masteries faster, you can reduce Mastery Discovery Time using Stoneheart Boosts, or complete the process instantly with Sapphires.

Other important points:

- All bonuses that currently affect the speed of Lost Art Discovery will also apply to Masteries.

- Points for discovering and upgrading Masteries will contribute to Achievements.

- Masteries do not affect the 7% Resource Production Bonus. This is still unlocked by discovering all the Lost Arts that do not require Soulstones.

- You can use League Help to discover Masteries faster. Each League Member that responds to your Request will reduce the Discovery/Upgrade Time.

To discover Masteries you will need to collect the relevant Stoneheart Scrolls. You can get these in several ways:

- Log into the game. You’ll get one Stoneheart Scroll per day

- Purchase them from the Masteries Window (tap on the Mastery you require Scrolls for to do this). There is no daily limit for purchasing Stoneheart Scrolls

- Win them at Stoneheart Trials

Stoneheart Trials

It’s been a long time coming for some of our players, but we’re pleased to announce a brand new type of PvE Location - Stoneheart Trials. 

Stoneheart Trials are special locations that pit your Stoneheart Units against Balur across the Map of Darkshine. The Units you will face are different to those found at regular Battlegrounds, so be sure to check their statistics to find the most effective way of destroying them.

Only Stoneheart Units can fight at Stoneheart Trials, which means that you’ll have to plan your strategy carefully. The way you get through Stoneheart Trials is almost exactly the same as regular Battlegrounds. First you must complete the highest available Level of Stoneheart Trial, then after a certain number of Levels you must clear a Stoneheart Saga Trial. The latter will be the greatest challenge your Stoneheart Units will face. 

In another similarity to regular Battlegrounds, Stoneheart Trials can offer you a wide range of Rewards. While the highest Level Trials will yield the greatest Rewards, there is also value in sending weaker Stoneheart Infantry Units to lower-Level Trials - you may just end up with a more powerful army containing Stoneheart Cavalry, Occult, and even Bestiary Units.

This is particularly important in the early stages of your interaction with the feature, as there will be a fair amount of upgrading to do before you can train the more powerful Units by yourself. 

As well as Stoneheart Units, you'll receive Adamantine as a Reward for completing Stoneheart Trials. This resource is essential for training Units, constructing and upgrading Stoneheart Buildings, and discovering Stoneheart Masteries. 

Stoneheart Saga Trials

Your first Saga Trial will be available to you as soon as you get access to Stoneheart Castle. After this, new Stoneheart Saga Trials appear after every 10 Levels of Offensive and Defensive Stoneheart Trial you complete. This means the second Stoneheart Saga Trial will be available after you complete a Level 10 Stoneheart Trial. 

Similar to Saga Quests, you’ll be able to see the Reward for completing this type of location before you attack it. 

Adamantine

Adamantine is a brand new Resource in the game, unique to Stoneheart Castle. You will need a reliable supply of Adamantine to make improvements to your Stoneheart Buildings and Masteries, as well as to train new Stoneheart Units.

You can obtain Adamantine in several ways:

- From your Adamantine Forges

- As a Reward for completing Stoneheart Trials

- By purchasing Adamantine Packs at the Black Market

Stoneheart League Achievements

We have added two new League Achievements to reward those Leagues that perform well with this new feature:

- Legends of Stoneheart. This Reward is for training Stoneheart Units

- Stoneheart Trial Masters. This Reward is for completing Stoneheart Trials

Lords and Ladies, we hope this guide was useful for you. Remember, this is just the beginning of our journey with Stoneheart Castle, and we’ll be adding exciting new improvements in the coming weeks and months.

We really appreciate any feedback and suggestions that come from our game community, so if you have comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Good luck!