Erebor Fortress

* Default
* Raven Banners
* Horn of the Gate
* Moat
* Erebor Braziers
* Armouries of Thrór
* Fortifications
* Arkenstone

### Upgrades

Raven Banners, Horns of the Gate, Moat, Erebor Braziers, Armouries of Thrór (Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies only) Fortifications, Arkenstone

### Bonus

n/a

"Built deep within the mountain itself, the beauty of this fortress city was legend...Ever they delved deep, down into the dark and that is where they found it, the Heart of the Mountain! The Arkenstone. Thrór named it the King's Jewel. He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine."
—Bilbo Baggins

Erebor was the home of many of Durin's Folk after they were forced to leave Moria. The Dwarves of Erebor became very powerful from the wealth they could find under the Mountain, as well as from trade with nearby Dale and the Woodland Realm. While they were cast away when Smaug attacked, they reclaimed the Mountain during the Quest of Erebor and were able to hold it until the War of the Ring and beyond.

The Erebor Fortress is the central building of the Erebor faction as well as its Adventure subfactions. It allows heroes and builders to be recruited, provides multiple defensive bonuses and allows the spellbook powers to be used.

In the Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies subfaction specifically, it also enables the upgrading of units' weapons and armor through the **Armouries of Thrór** upgrade.

## Upgrades

The Fortress can be improved with the following upgrades:

**Raven Banners (W)** - Allies near the fortress gain +33% damage, +33% armour and earn experience twice as fast. Reduces hero cost by 10%. Reduces hero recruit time by 10%. Reduces builder cost by 20%. (cost: 500)

**Horn of the Gate (E)** - When activated, causes nearby enemies to cower in fear. Cost: 1000

**Moat** **(R)** - Heals allies nearby the Fortress. Adds additional hit points to the Fortress. (Cost: 1000)

**Erebor Braziers (T)** - Adds Mithril Arrowheads to all attached towers and fire damage to all attached catapults. (Cost: 1500)

**Armouries of Thrór (S)** - Allows the Fortress to summon armour and weapon racks to upgrade friendly units. (Cost: 1200) *(Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies only)*

**Fortifications** **(S)** - Provides additional armor to the Fortress and walls. Allows the Fortress to launch explosive oil casks. Prerequisite to the Arkenstone upgrade (Cost: 1800)

**Arkenstone** **(D)** - Requires the Fortifications upgrade. Decreases recruitment time for all Dwarven units by 20%. Increases movement for all Dwarven units by 10%. Decreases cost of unit upgrades by 20%. Stacks with Steel Bonus discount. (Cost: 1200)

## Expansions

The Fortress can also have the following expansions on the surrounding build plots:

**Catapult** **(W)** - long range defensive weapon. Benefits from Erebor Braziers. (Cost: 600)

**Guard Tower (E)** - Short range defensive weapon. Benefits from Erebor Braziers. (Cost: 400)

**Hall (R)** - Garrisonable defensive structure. Increases decommission value of units. Heals garrisoned units. Garrisoned units gain +20% experience. Increases command point limit by 25. (Cost: 400)

**Wall Hub (T)** - Allows wall building. (Cost: 120)

## Function

The fortress shoots at nearby enemies and periodically produces +25 resources.

### Recruitment

All of Erebor's heroes can be recruited from the Fortress as well.

### Abilities

**Launch Oil Casks (I)** - Attack enemies with oil casks. Requires the Solemn Guardians upgrade. Left click to activate.

**Horns of the Gate (G)** - Causes fear in nearby enemies. Requires Horn of the Gate upgrade. Left click to activate.

**Armouries of Thrór (D)** - Spawns racks of Erebor weapons and armour to upgrade friendly units. Requires the Armouries of Thrór upgrade**.** Left click icon then left click on target area. *(Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies only)*

## Strategy

As with all fortresses, the Erebor Fortress is vital to the Erebor player's gameplay. Without it, builders and heroes are unable to be recruited, spells are unable to be used and the player would lose a vital defensive structure. The building is therefore an important target for any enemy forces, making the defensive upgrades and expansions very useful.

The Erebor Fortress has multiple ways of defending itself through upgrades. The Oil Casks can damage nearby enemies while the **Horns of the Gate** can be used to delay the enemy until allies can arrive. **Dwarven Reinforcements** can provide some of the faction's only cavalry. The main focus of the fortress is the **Arkenstone** upgrade. While this can't be used to turn the tide of battle in an instant, it is a powerful long-term upgrade that can be used to heavily improve the production of dwarven units while making it cheaper to buy upgrades. This can allow the player to more easily recover from a battle when rebuilding their army. The increased speed towards dwarven units can allow them to escape from battle easier, chase down foes and harass across the map easier.

In the Adventure: Battle of the Five Armies subfaction, the Fortress has an additional and vital function as the primary means through which units can get weapon and armour upgrades through the **Armouries of Thrór** upgrade, which spawns weapon and armour racks near the Fortress for the player's units to pick up. This upgrade is essential to get for a Battle of the Five Armies player as soon as their economy is stable, so that they can upgrade their units to match enemy armies' elite and upgraded units towards the mid-late game.