Here we go again!

This edition covers 19–27 October 2026, both inclusive. The balance update announced for 22 October is here, alongside clearer war information, tournament improvements, a shorter introduction for new citizens and a collection of everyday fixes.

The 22 October Balance Update

The squad and Scavenger changes previewed in our previous patch notes are now part of this update.

  • Desert squads: energy-cost reductions at levels 1–5 are now 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%. Levels 1 and 2 are unchanged; levels 3–5 previously gave 35%, 45% and 60%. At level 5, an eligible ordinary hit in desert terrain has a base energy cost of 10, previously 8, before combat studies and other applicable modifiers.

  • Forest squads: levels 1–5 now add 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% to the damage bonus. This is an additive bonus; their existing accuracy bonuses remain unchanged. These squad effects require the appropriate terrain and matching military-unit orders for the side you fight on.

Scavenger Gold now accounts for equipment received from other players. Equipment acquired through another player's auction, a contract, or a player-funded tournament prize becomes fully traded and cannot be converted directly into Scavenger Gold. This includes gifts and swaps through contracts.

  • Merging preserves the proportion. A merge averages the traded share of its five inputs. For example, four game-earned pieces and one fully traded piece produce equipment eligible for 80% of its normal Scavenger quote.

  • Classic scrapping preserves that share too. Both lower-quality pieces inherit it. Equipping, merging and trading otherwise eligible equipment remain available.

  • Existing inventory was not retrospectively reclassified. Later transfers follow the new rules. The normal Scavenger valuation bases are unchanged, and the interface explains any reduction before you scrap.

War Objectives and Settlement

  • See what the battle is about. The battle header opens the relevant war's claims, conquest progress and deadline for allies and other signed-in viewers too. Declared wars are marked in the war list, and region screens identify their war goals.

  • Captures count toward the correct war. Taking provisionally occupied land is credited to the capturer's active declaration against its legal owner, where applicable. This fixes missing objective progress in that situation.

  • A battle on a goal no longer automatically blocks a declaration. An otherwise valid declaration can take effect while a third-party battle is running on one of its objectives.

  • Third-party battles no longer routinely hold up a war's deadline. A declaration can settle while an ordinary third-party fight continues on provisionally occupied land; that battlefield can remain occupied until its battle ends. Permanent territorial awards still wait for a battle on the affected region to finish.

  • Permanently lost objectives are handled explicitly. If a mandatory objective becomes permanently owned by a third country, the affected declaration is voided without war-settlement prizes or a post-war non-aggression pact. The game announces what happened. Temporary occupation alone does not trigger this rule.

  • Clearer combat information. Accuracy modifiers use a crosshair icon, and military-unit rankings in battle reports identify units fighting under orders, with clickable unit names.

Tournaments: Rotating Cups and Faster Brackets

Official cup types now rotate weekly between the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday slots. Already-created tournaments keep their published settings, so check each tournament's schedule and prize list when planning your participation.

Newly starting tournaments use a fixed bracket: a match can begin as soon as both of its teams are known, without waiting for every other match in the round. Tournaments already running under the previous system finish round by round. The bracket also has a clearer Fight action for active matches.

A Clearer Start for New Citizens

The opening journey is shorter and more direct: Train, enter the beginner battle, reach level 2, then Work. Attributes, energy and other explanations follow after those first actions.

  • Continue at your own pace. Unfinished tutorial progress resumes in the same browser. Every lesson offers Skip tutorial; skipping does not award XP, change your level or mark the tutorial as completed.

  • Optional next-step guidance. A compact Next-steps bar follows the Economic campaign in groups of up to three objectives, with daily Train and Work actions available separately. Expand it for details, hide it, or choose Automatic, On or Off in Interface settings. Rewards still need to be claimed.

  • A more useful welcome. Where a nationality welcome conversation is available, guidance points recruits toward replying to it. Opening the chat alone does not complete that step.

  • Clearer campaign tasks. Equipment-crafting objectives now explain that they count merges and take you to the Merge tab.

Boxes and the Hephaestus Forge

Configured reward boxes can now be opened from Storage's Other tab. Inspect their possible contents, chances, quantities and reward lifetimes before opening. The reveal shows what you actually received, with options to skip the animation or open another box when available.

Contents depend on the box: rewards can include items, Gold, bound gems, temporary equipment or another unopened box. Temporary equipment displays its expiry and cannot be merged or scrapped. Check the individual box for its rules and rewards.

Forge pieces can now be removed at any level while the event is open, including expired pieces, to free a design slot. The confirmation lists the Gold, gems, items and materials invested. Removing a piece is permanent and refunds nothing.

(These boxes are still not available in game, first appearance "soon")

Storage, Markets and Holdings

  • Know where your stock is. Item details show the total owned alongside stock on sale, with market listings broken down by country.

  • The right public warehouses. The warehouse selector follows the country you are currently in, rather than your nationality.

  • More accurate share-sale limits. Selling into a holding's buy offer accounts for shares already committed to open sell offers.

  • Holding sale notifications. CEOs, vice CEOs and accountants receive notices when their holding's item or currency offers trade, with links to the correct holding ledger.

Interface, Links and Updates

  • Better large-screen scaling. Steam offers automatic or adjustable whole-game scaling, while browser players get zoom guidance. Larger interface sizes have improved spacing, and animated effects no longer make resource bars jump.

  • Shared links keep their destination. Battle links opened in another tab can reuse your existing browser session and retain their target through login. Direct links to public panels also stay on the intended page.

  • More useful Active Wars. The panel follows server eligibility, keeps level-locked battles visible and refreshes after travel.

  • Calmer reconnections. Repeatedly unstable connections now retain their reconnect delay instead of immediately starting the retry cycle over.

Web updates now have a collapsible notice that waits for pending actions and detected unsaved edits before reloading. Save or discard unfinished work first; the updater does not save drafts. Refresh or reopen the game once to load this new update mechanism. Steam continues to receive its updates through Steam.

News and Email Preferences

The public news archive and readable article links make official articles easier to browse and share outside the game.

Unsubscribing now consistently stops optional automatic emails, including newsletters, campaigns, reminders and onboarding messages already queued for delivery. Requested registration, login, password-reset and other essential account emails remain available.

Thank you for the reports and suggestions that help us improve Eclesiar. Keep sharing what works, what feels unclear and where you run into trouble. See you in game!