With the new patch from this week the relocation mechanic changed. In this tutorial with background information and tips as well as a Step-by-Step guide you will find what is new, which rules there are (and have been) and what other things to consider when you relocate in order to optimize your strategy.
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| Relocation Token |
Why relocate?
You start off in your server with a random spawn spot in the starter region(s) for your faction. Usually that keeps you occupied with the resources available around your location for quite a few days - depending on the overall server/faction population.
After a while you either run out of resources because there is competition or you simply used it all already, or you want to be closer to war etc.
Reinforcement Time & Distance on the Map
Imagine you play in Lindon, spawned in Harlindon and have to fight war against Gundabad. If you want to fight, you need to have your base reasonably close or you will not be able to sustain the battles as reinforcing times will just take way too long. Especially in the beginning when your commanders are still growing and your ring tree is not progressed too much your marches are typically significantly slower than in late game. Moreover, if the enemy destroys your fort, your marches will walk home for hours potentially.
So, let's look into the basics first.
Game Relocation Rules
The rules for relocation as such did not change:
1. Foundation
- You need a square of 9 tiles, 1x1 each.
- The tiles have to be arranged in a 3x3 square.
- The tiles have to be resource tiles (level 1/h up to 150/h)
- Any tiles surrounding those 9 tiles cannot be: water, mountain, other settlements, control points or similar, crossings or tunnels
Allowed are: Fellowship/Warband Fortresses, 2x2 resource tiles, etc. - None of the 9 tiles can be in conflict (you will see a timer if a tile is in conflict) or haunted by a grudge (in Path of the Death)
Two examples to show the requirement of one tile (or more) distance to water and a neighbour. The same rule applies to control points, crossings, tunnels and mountains.
2. Target region restrictions
- The foundation meets the target region restrictions
- The region you want to move to is controlled by your own faction
- It cannot be in Amon Lanc (Dol Guldur region), even if it is owned by your faction
3. Neighbouring Settlements
- You need to have at least 1 tile distance to other settlements
- This means: you cannot touch others.
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| Base with Buffer Zone |
Also a 2x2 resource tile has no impact on your relocation.
What is new?
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| Temporary Camp |
- 10,000 Wood
- 10,000 Ore
- 20,000 Stone
- 1 relocation token
- 2 hours time
Limitation: you can only have one Temporary Camp at a time.
What do those new rules mean?
It is pretty simple: you cannot just build a foundation as you're used to and directly relocate. You can build the Temporary Camp only in owned regions. This means, you cannot immediately relocate into a region that you just took over from another faction. You have to build your camp first, which will take 2 hours time and in those two hours the faction that was just evicted from the keep might be able to "get in the way" of your plans.
At the end of the day this means you have to strategize a bit more, regardless on which side of things you are. Make your plans accordingly.
Relocation Tokens
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| Warband/Fellowship Store S1 |
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| Relocation Token |
Many do not wish to spend gems for relocation. While it is more economic to get them from the store (make sure you keep always 500 Contribution Coins on stock for when a token appears), it might be necessary to spend gems on it regardless. Luckily the game offers free gems frequently (weekly maintenance 200 gems, weekend boss events 400 gems, game progression, red book challenge, other events). If you play in a fairly active group, you might have to prioritize the relocation in order to help your team. However, I recommend to check daily in your team's store to make sure you don't miss the "free" tokens.
Step-by-Step Guide
- You start by laying out your foundation. Take 9 resource tiles that are in a 3x3 pattern. The tiles that work are resource tiles producing power of 1/h up to 150/h.
- Click on the center tile to display the menu - you want the option "Build"
Tile Menu - In the build menu you have several options. Depending which server/campaign you play there might be more or less options to choose from. You need the option "Temporary Camp".
Make sure you have enough resources. This might be an issue in the early game or when you are at war and do not have many resource tiles.
Build Menu - Confirm building the camp and then it's time to occupy yourself with other things. Either take more tiles, go sweep mobs or do the dishes. You have 2 hours to kill.
Temporary Camp Building - Once the Temporary Camp is finished, you can come back and click on it again. Now you see the option "Relocate" in the menu.
Temporary Camp Finished - Oh, look, I can't relocate because not all my armies are at home. Let's quickly amend this.
Armies are out of the base - Summoning the Commanders to come home - Now that all my armies are at home, I can go back and finally do the relocation.
All Requirements Fulfilled - I get another confirmation window. Please take into account that you cannot relocate for another 3 days. You will have a cooldown on it.
Confirmation to Relocate Furthermore you might want to consider that any protection you might have will disappear (unless they changed that with the new patch).
Relocation Successful - And we're done. Now I can go fight, sweep better mobs, take fresh tiles, enjoy the new view.
Other Tips and Tricks
When you want to fight in battles, typically you want to be as close as possible to the battle field. However, there are quite a few things to consider in order to have best possible position.
- When you relocate to the front, you might want to choose a spot that is not too exposed. If your enemy uproots you, you will be "out of commission" for up to 3 days until you can relocate again.
- e.g. good spots for keep defense would be on the other side of the keep. If it is attacked from an enemy from the West, you relocate to the East side to have a buffer between your base and the enemy.
- Sometimes the map structure offers awesome spots to relocate somewhere safe due to it being on an isle or separated otherwise by geographical structures. If the enemy cannot reach your position, you can keep defending without any worry. - Sometimes the region is rather small, but you want to fit in as many active players as possible to get a good handle.
In this situation everyone is asked to be very mindful with choosing the position of their landing pads (foundations). Be strategic about where to "park" your base so that you can fit as many as possible into the limited space.
Here I have an example which is not ideal. The base blocks out two spots instead of one. Just one row to the South-West (closer to the warband fortress) and one more player's base would have fit between that player and the mountain range.
The markings show where the base should have gone to make sure to use the space efficiently. The player in the top right corner made sure to have enough space between him and the other base. There is place for one more place. Especially in new season 1 or 2 servers it might be helpful if an experienced player guides the players with choosing the perfect positions. Once you are relocated there is no option to "quickly" fix it. - Timing - Since you will be on cooldown for 72 hours (= 3 days), you want to make sure that you know your team's plan and don't waste a relocation token just to find yourself unable to fight in a meaningful way.
In order to help your team you want to be as close to the action lines as possible. Sometimes it pays off to hold out rather than just relocating for relocation's sake.
