Dynasties
Defensive line
The Defensive line raises the defense power of every city you own, mends your cities faster once a siege lifts, and has you build a Citadel in place of the Walls. It is chosen at match setup and stands for the whole match (Getting started).
Its effect
- City defense +2
- City repair +1 per turn
City defense
A city's base defense is 3; with the Defensive line it is 5. The contribution is summed into the same item as the buildings' contribution: the dynasty does not replace a building, it stacks on top of it. A city with Walls or a Citadel takes both.
The contribution applies to every city you own, not just the ones you founded: a city you conquered carries the same bonus, and so does a Neutral village you take — the moment a village is yours it is an ordinary city.
City repair
A damaged city repairs 2 HP at the start of the turn (Cities and population). This dynasty adds 1 HP to every city, so a city with no building repairs 3 HP; a city with a Citadel repairs 6.
The rules of repair do not change. A city under siege does not repair (it is enough for a rival unit to stand on one of the city's neighbours), and a city in revolt does not repair either. The dynasty does not open that gate; once the gate is open it changes the rate. So the effect works not while the siege lasts but after it is broken.
The dynasty does not change a city's HP or vision (15 + 2 × population HP, 2 steps of vision). HP comes from population and buildings, vision from buildings.
Citadel: in place of the Walls
When a seat of the Defensive line goes to build Walls, the Citadel enters the queue. The Citadel's defense contribution to the city is 3, the Walls' is 3; the difference comes from HP and repair: the Citadel adds 16 HP to the city (Walls 10) and adds 3 HP to the turn-start repair (Walls 2). Its cost is 10, the Walls' cost is 8. Details: Citadel.
Defense power is not the same thing as HP
In the combat formula, defense power sits only in the denominator of the damage dealt to the defender (Combat):
Attack power = attack × (HP ÷ max HP) × shore multiplier × morale multiplier
Defense power = defense × (HP ÷ max HP) × terrain multiplier × foothill multiplier × type multiplier × fortify multiplier × morale multiplier
Type multiplier = the pairing's multiplier when the defender has the edge over the attacking type (Spearman against Raider ×2, Spearman against Sipahi ×2, Raider against Archer ×2, Janissary against Archer ×2, Archer against Spearman ×2, Sipahi against Pioneer ×2, Sipahi against Siege ×2, Sipahi against Archer ×2); 1 for every other pairing. The edge only applies on defense.
Fortify multiplier = 1.5 for a dug-in unit, 1 otherwise.
Morale multiplier = 0.75 for a unit at morale 2 or below (shaken), 0.5 for a unit at morale 0 (routed), 1 otherwise. It reads the morale before the fight.
Foothill multiplier = 1.25 for a unit defending on a tile next to a mountain, 1 otherwise. Shore multiplier = 0.85 on the attacker's power against a unit on a tile next to water, 1 otherwise. Both read the tile the defender stands on, not the direction of the attack, and neither applies to a city.
Damage to the target = attack power × 4 × attack power ÷ (attack power + defense power)
Counter damage = defense power × 2 × defense power ÷ (attack power + defense power) × counter share — only if the defender survives. In an adjacent attack a unit always strikes back in full (share 1) and a city never does. In a ranged attack a unit strikes back in full if the attacker is within its own reach and it can fight; a city strikes back with a share of 0.5.
Results round to the nearest whole number, halves up. There are no hidden variables: the preview is the real calculation.
So incoming damage grows with the square of attack power and shrinks as defense power rises. The squared term on the counter-damage side applies to a city only against a ranged attack, scaled by its share; a city does not strike back at an adjacent melee attack. A city's defense power's main job is lowering incoming damage, and that is exactly what this line does — the counter it returns to a ranged besieger grows from the same defense power. Adding HP does not do the same job; it only lengthens how many turns the siege takes.
What it does not change
- Terrain and type multipliers do not apply to cities; the one multiplier on the city side is revolt (Victory conditions). The Defensive line does not touch it: a revolting city still defends at ×0.5 under this dynasty.
- A friendly unit in the region is not a garrison. You still defend with units; the dynasty buys the turns those units need to arrive.
- The Walls in a city that comes with a conquest stay as they are and keep their effect. A Citadel cannot be built in the same city, because the two are two faces of the same building (Citadel).
The combat preview shows it
The preview is the real calculation: the dynasty contribution included, the defense power you see on screen is the very number the engine works with. It is also the number the rival sees when it weighs an attack on your city — the AI decides with your dynasty accounted for.
The numbers on this page are read from the game’s balance tables.