Features/Settings

## Settings

*All information within this section is as of v4.0.2.*

Some of the options in the Settings menu simply affect visuals or audio, and other options can impact gameplay, If you don't understand the options that can impact gameplay, then you can be at a disadvantage against other players. The following options are under the Settings > Options menu (listed in the order that they appear).

### Music and Sound Settings

#### *Music*

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

This setting turns the background music on and off. There can be a slight benefit to having the music on if an enemy launches an attack against you and you aren't currently looking at your device. When you are being attacked (or scouted), the game plays a distinct tune (same tune for the Music and Sound setting, so either setting can be enabled). So if you aren't looking at your device and you hear the distinct tune, you'll at least receive some warning. However, the tune fades in a little softly and may take you a few seconds to recognize it, so it likely won't save you from someone who is attacking you quickly (either teleporting next to you or using multiple march speedups).

#### *Sound*

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

This setting turns the sound effects on and off. You can hear a slight warning when someone is attacking or scouting you when the setting is enabled, but it still may not provide you with sufficient notice. See the *Music* setting for more details.

### Monarch Gear Settings

**Suggested Value:** Disabled

When enabled, this setting allows other players to see what Monarch gear you have equipped. Revealing your equipped staff, grail, and decoration provides other players with insight into what buffs you could potentially use.

### Dalton Mode

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

This setting simply changes the color of an attacking opponent's march line between red (disabled) and blue (enabled). The red- and blue-colored march lines are reserved for representing attacking players, so there isn't really a benefit in choosing one color over the other.

### VIP Level Settings

**Suggested Value:** Disabled

When enabled, and if your VIP level is active, this setting allows other players to see what your VIP level is when you send a message in a Whisper or in any chat (Server, World, Alliance, etc,).\* Revealing your VIP level provides insight into various buffs you have, such as an increased death-to-soul rate and additional march slot.

*\*Changing the setting does NOT make your VIP level invisible on posted messages which already show it. Also, this setting has no effect if your VIP level is not active.*

### Alliance Gifts and Treasure View Settings

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

When enabled, this setting displays your name alongside an Alliance Gift when you purchase packages.\* Although not necessarily negative, this can show others in your Alliance if you're a big spender if your name frequently appears, and some players may want to keep that information private.

*\*Only relevant if you're in an Alliance and making purchases.*

### Animation Quality Settings

**Suggested Value:** High

The settings can be set to High, Medium, or Low. Various objects in the game have different types of special animations that are visible under certain conditions. These special animations are associated with either a high or medium animation quality (low essentially means no special animation). In some cases, the special animation serves minimal benefit, but in other cases it can be a useful notice.

For example, when in the Academy, the research groups (Advancement, Defense, Military, etc.) show a special animation when the group is selected, letting you know what group you're in currently. This animation is a high animation quality, so it will only be visible if your Animation Quality Settings is set to High. Although it may be nice to know what group you're in, the benefit is minimal.

Another example where the animation is more beneficial, though, is when you have wounded troops in your Hospital. The Hospital's special animation shows red crosses floating out of it. The Hospital's special animation is a high animation quality, so you will not see the red crosses if your Animation Quality Settings is set to either Low or Medium (assuming you have wounded troops).

The special animations can provide quick visual cues that may be of interest to you, so that you don't have to click on the building. For example, if you think you may have wounded troops, you can check by clicking on the Hospital and seeing if the Heal option is available, or you can simply look for the floating red crosses. Other examples of special animations include the glowing of the Market when you have free taxes remaining, smoke rising from the Prison when you have an imprisoned general, and yellow gears and crosses that float out of the Trap Factory when you have siege machines needing repaired.

### Alliance War Setting

**Suggested Value:** Situational (usually enabled, though)

When enabled, this setting automatically posts a message in the Alliance Chat when you start an Alliance War with a monster or player.\* If you are initiating many Alliance Wars (i.e., rallies), but you don't want to spam the Alliance Chat (e.g., ghosting with multiple marches), you should disable this option. If you disable the setting, however, remember to reenable it when you are ready to begin initiating normal rallies again.

*\*Although Alliance Wars initiated in Battlefield post to the Battlefield Chat instead, this setting affects the Battlefield Chat in the same manner.*

***Example (Battlefield)***

During a Battlefield battle (e.g., Battle of Constantinople), if your rallies are being used to ghost your troops, you should disable the setting. A large volume of ghost rallies can quickly overload the Battlefield Chat, making it easy to oversee important messages. If a rally leader starts a rally that they want everyone to join, it can also be difficult to see which rally to join if it's listed alongside a dozen rallies used for ghosting.

Conversely, as mentioned above, if you're trying to start a rally that you want others to join and you have the option disabled, your rally won't post to the Battlefield Chat (or Alliance Chat, if outside of Battlefield). Your rally would still post in the Alliance War screen, but if the Alliance has many players simultaneously ghosting their rallies (like during a Battlefield match), your rally can be difficult to pick out through the Alliance War screen (the Alliance War screen will also continuously shuffle the rallies around).

***Example (Mass Monster Rallies Away from Alliance)***

There may be times when you are far from your hive, and you plan on rallying a large number of boss monsters, such as when an event requires you to complete a certain number of rallies. It may not necessarily overwhelm the Alliance Chat in the same manner as the Battlefield example, but it can annoy your alliance teammates.

### March Settings

#### *Do you want to hide the March Route?*

**Suggested Value:** Disabled (nearly always)

When enabled, this setting will hide the march routes of non-alliance players from your view. This will nearly always put you at a disadvantage, because you will no longer be able to see the march routes of other players, unless those players are in your alliance. However, other players will still be able to see your march lines (which can be traced to find your location, your monster targets, etc.). There is no option you can enable to hide your march routes from other players.

The exception for disabling this setting is when having multiple opponents' march routes visible becomes detrimental, such as during a Temple drop after winning a server war. Because of the large volume of valuable chests that drop, there will often be many players attempting to claim chests shortly after the chests appear, which can involve dozens of march routes in a small area. Having everyone's march routes visible may make it difficult for you to spot an item you want before it's fully claimed, so you'll want to enable the setting to hide them all. Just remember to disable the setting again once you're finished.

#### *Allows the world map art resources...to cover the March Route*

**Suggested Value:** Situational

This setting's description is somewhat misleading, because it sounds as though the setting simply has a visual impact. Although it does change the layering of the march route, it does so at the selection level. When this setting is disabled, the march route is the top selection layer on the World map. This means, if the march and another object (Keep, subordinate city, etc.) overlap, you will select the march above everything else\*. When the setting is enabled, though, you will not be able to select the march (it seems as though the march's selection layer is below the map itself). Whether to have the setting enabled or disabled depends on what's more important to you at the moment: the march (disabled) or everything else (enabled).

*\*When attacking (Keeps, subordinate cities, monsters, etc.), march routes on the World Map will switch from "marching" to "attacking" when they get close to their targets. Once the march switches to "attacking," it can no longer be directly selected, regardless of whether this setting is enabled or disabled.*

***Example (Preference for March Route)***

If you want to ensure you're always selecting the march route, then you'd want the setting disabled. For instance, if you're attempting to quickly track where a march came from or where it's going, you'll need to be able to select that player's march. You may also want to click on a march simply to see whose it is.

***Example (Preference for Targets Other Than the March Route)***

If you want to select everything **except for** the march, then you'd want the setting enabled. For example, in a PvP scenario, if you're attempting to time your attack to land right when the opponent's troops are returning to their Keep, you'd want the setting enabled. This is particularly true if you're trying to teleport right next to the opponent when attacking. The reason is because you want to be able to select their Keep, not their marches. If the setting were disabled and their march were close to their Keep, the user interface would keep selecting their march until it has returned to the Keep, and that may be just enough time for the opponent to send their troops out before you can attack. Similarly, having the setting disabled could cause the selection to pick up your return marches (or their attacking marches) instead of your Keep, which can cost you precious seconds in trying to activate a Truce Agreement.

### Auto-Lock

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

This setting is tied to your device's Screen Timeout (or similar) setting.\* If your Auto-Lock setting is disabled, the game ignores your device's Screen Timeout setting (similar to how a video player can play a video without your device's screen automatically turning off). If your Auto-Lock setting is enabled, your device's screen will turn off based on your device's settings. This setting does not affect emulators, such as BlueStacks, as the emulators don't mimic a device's Screen Timeout setting.

*\*This setting does not affect other apps that may also trigger a screen timeout or screen lock.*

### Undead Invasion March Route

**Suggested Value:** Disabled (nearly always)

This setting affects all Undead Invasion march routes the same, whether the march is to your Keep, an alliance member's Keep, or a non-alliance member's Keep. When enabled, this setting will hide the Undead Invasion march routes. If you are participating in the Undead Invasion event, hiding the march routes can sometimes be helpful, such as when you're trying to find a specific teammate requesting reinforcements, or if you're trying to identify Keeps that don't belong in your hive.

Aside from the reasons above, you normally want to leave the setting disabled. Undead Invasion march routes can quickly show you useful information, such as which alliance members haven't yet finished the Undead Invasion (helps you avoid reinforcing Keeps that don't have marches against them), and how close undead marches are to their targets (can give you an idea of how soon a teammate needs reinforcements). Seeing Undead Invasion march routes can alert you of other alliances that are currently doing the Undead Invasion event, which can be an opportune time to blend in and attack before the alliance realizes you're attacking.

### Building Name Display Settings

**Suggested Value:** Your Preference

This setting will display the names of the buildings if you drag the screen while in your city. If you don't remember where or what the various buildings in you city are, this can be a quick, helpful reminder.

## Features

In this part, I will be pointing out the different interfaces and how to find things and what they do.