After you reach 35 and max main knowledge and valkyrie's citadel, there are many things that take players to the next level such as VIP, skins, aesir, achievements, and stronghold knowledge. These things can give big benefits but they are not reflected in influence, which creates a balance problem in the game which most heavily affects new kingdoms because all of these things take a lot of time to get. New kingdoms get their influence level similar to older kingdoms, but this isn't reflected in their actual strength. When a new kingdom gets big enough, usually around the time it opens up, virtually every new kingdom faces a long period of defeat in fighting events because of this, as they get put in unfair matchups against older kingdoms with these things unlocked.

My suggestion is that things such as VIP, town skin, stronghold knowledge, and achievements give influence proportionate to their benefit, and aesir from soul shards give more influence than they currently do. That way players influence is more accurately reflected and results in fairer matchups. A lot of clans and kingdoms actively avoid having too much influence because they game the system in order to get weaker foes because they are afraid of real competition.