What it is

A cross-alliance battle on a special map full of capturable buildings. Your alliance's performance determines your bracket (Winner's/Loser's), and your personal performance determines your reward tier within that bracket.

The most important mindset shift

Winning isn't the only thing that matters. It's often better to be a top scorer in the Loser's Bracket than a low scorer in the Winner's Bracket. Always maximize your own Personal Relic Points regardless of how the overall match is going.

No permanent troop losses

  • All troop losses go to an infirmary with unlimited capacity and heal for free once you leave the battlefield.
  • You must enter with a clean infirmary — heal any pre-existing wounded troops before the event starts.

Scoring — two point types

  • Alliance Relic Points → determines Winner's Bracket vs Loser's Bracket
  • Personal Relic Points → determines your individual reward tier

Ways to earn Relic Points

  1. First Control of a building — big one-time bonus (both alliance + personal points)
  2. Ongoing Occupation — steady point stream over time; Swordshrine and Sanctums are the most valuable buildings to hold
  3. Loot crates — spawn when you capture a building from an enemy; boosts both point types
  4. Random resource caches (Phase 3+) — check the minimap magnifying glass icon for exact locations
  5. Defeating enemy troops — personal points only

Phases & Key Buildings

  • Royal Stables — 50% reduction in teleport cooldown (lets you reposition faster)
  • Bell Tower — 50% reduction in time needed to capture buildings
  • Abbey / Sanctums — high point value
  • At the 15-minute mark: Mercenary Camp, Hall of Reformation, and Swordland Shrine open.
  • Swordland Shrine — the single highest point-value building
  • Hall of Reformation — gives a 15% damage boost + damage reduction; very strong, worth holding
  • Mercenary Camp — usable to attack enemy-occupied buildings

Suggested Alliance Roles

Role Who Job
Tank / Holder Strong defensive-hero players Hold key outposts (Swordshrine, Sanctums), send reinforcements, lead defensive rallies
Hunter Your alliance's strongest attackers Actively hunt and wipe the enemy's strongest players to disrupt their point generation; use teleports for surprise attacks
Support/Gatherer Everyone else Capture lower-value buildings, gather from resource caches, keep pressure up

Prep checklist

  • Heal your infirmary completely before the event starts
  • Know your assigned role (Tank/Hunter/Support) ahead of time
  • Prioritize Swordshrine and Sanctums over lower-value buildings
  • Save teleports for surprise Hunter-role attacks late game

Common mistakes

  • Entering with wounded troops already in the infirmary (blocks entry)
  • Chasing "winning" the bracket instead of maximizing personal score
  • Ignoring the Hall of Reformation's buff — it's one of the strongest map bonuses

Teaching point for new members

Swordland Showdown = capture and hold buildings, don't worry about "losing" the match — just rack up your own points. No troop losses are permanent here, so play aggressively. Hold Swordshrine/Sanctums if you're a tank, hunt weak enemies if you're strong, or just capture whatever's open and gather from caches if you're newer.