With the festivities just around the corner, we're ready to show you what's in store for this holiday season! Santa needs your help spreading some Christmas cheer in a brand new quest chain - but keep your wits about you: there seems to be some mischief abound! If you've read the Sneak Peek we released a few weeks back, you'll already be familiar with the new Versed Geologist and Christmas Market. There's plenty more to find in your stockings this year, so read on to get to the bottom of it before you play with all the new toys.
Let the festivities begin!
EVENT SCHEDULE
Event Start: 10th of December, ~10:00 CET Start of removal phase: 31st of December, ~01:00 CET ~10:00 CET* Complete deactivation: 7th of January, ~01:00 CET ~10:00 CET* Event Widget: The small widget icon always shows you the remaining event time Resource conversion: planned for one of the future game updates (January or February) Minimum requirement: Level 16+
CHRISTMAS 2018 CHANGES
A brand new quest chain involving Santa, the new Christmas Market building, and the Winter Wonderland venture
A new achievement for finishing the aforementioned quest chain
Changes and improvements to the Event Calendar
Several new buildings: Christmas Market, Gingerbread Storage, Gift Christmas Tree and Improved Floating Residence
Two new specialists: the Versed Geologist and Candid Explorer
New Xmas themed skins for several residential buildings and your Mayor's House
New recipes in the Rarity Provision House, transmutations at the Provision House, and Xmas decorations
Presents
Presents represent the event resource. They can be used to acquire special items from the event shop.
Your presents are listed in the "Event" tab of your storehouses.
There are many opportunities to get event resources:
Rewards for Christmas Scenarios (Buff Adventures)
Two combat based Christmas Adventures (chance to get presents as an additional reward)
Special Christmas Daily Quests and Event Quest chain rewards; including the new Quest Chain for 2018
Explorer treasure searches (chance to get presents on top)
Conversion of the Christmas collectables in the Mayor's House
Bells, Candy canes and Gingerbread. Did you miss them? These Christmas collectables will spawn on your island until the removal phase of the event. Nine collectables will spawn with every spawn cycle, randomly chosen between bells, candy canes and gingerbread. All of them reward exactly 2 resources when clicked. Please be aware that for the full number of collectables to spawn, the whole (main) island has to be claimed.
The Christmas collectable items can be converted into Presents in your Mayor's house until the removal phase of the event. Trading is possible until the removal phase of the event as well.
What makes Christmas Event so special? Why... the Event Calendar, of course! Isn't it nice to receive a gift each day, just by clicking on a door? To open the Event Calendar interface, simply access the Calendar icon next to your avatar.
You can open a door each day. In total, there are 21 of them.
The calendar will display the time left to open the current day's door.
Type: Regular door Description: Can be opened on the specific date displayed or for gems afterwards Requirement: It doesn't matter if previous doors are still closed or not
Type: Buff Adventure door Description: Can be opened anytime for free, once the respective date was reached Requirement: It doesn't matter if previous doors are still closed or not
Type: Special bonus door Description: Can be opened on the specific date displayed or for gems afterwards Requirement: All previous doors need to be open
Type: Celebration day door Description: Can be opened on the specific date displayed or for gems afterwards Requirement: All previous doors need to be open Rewards: Very special rewards ;)
SPECIAL CALENDAR REWARDS
This year, we've shuffled around the Event Calender Doors to make more sense thematically with Christmas itself. Therefore, the highly-rewarding "Celebration Day" doors will be on the 24th and 25th of December. While these special doors will remain a mystery until you get to open it, we'll give you a sneak peek through their keyholes and see what precious presents await on the other side!
Brand new this year is the Gift Christmas Tree, which you can not only buy from the in-game shop but also find it behind a special door this year; remember - rewards obtained from the Calendar do not contribute to the usual shop limits! Once placed on your island, you will be given a quest that demonstrates how it works: every 7 days you will be able to click on the tree to receive a free gift! This gift is drawn from a pool of prizes, including fill deposits, collectables, resources, buffs, adventures and mini-adventures. What's available to you will depend on your level range. Having additional trees means additional gifts every week!
Click on the spoiler below for a full view of what's in the loot table:
Spoiler:
"Gift Loot Table"
Here's how the prizes are determined: think of the Gift Christmas Tree as giving you a ticket to a tombola. Every individual prize has a certain number of tickets assigned to it, giving it a higher or lower likely hood of being the prize that's picked. As an example, say Prize A has 100 tickets, whereas Prize B has 50 tickets. This would mean there are 150 tickets total in the pool: Prize A would have a 66.6% chance at being picked, whereas Prize B would have a 33.3% chance (2:1 ratio).
Please note: Prizes (Item Amount) coloured in "grey" will be halfed before level 26.
Here's how the prizes are determined: think of the Gift Christmas Tree as giving you a ticket to a tombola. Every individual prize has a certain number of tickets assigned to it, giving it a higher or lower likely hood of being the prize that's picked. As an example, say Prize A has 100 tickets, whereas Prize B has 50 tickets. This would mean there are 150 tickets total in the pool: Prize A would have a 66.6% chance at being picked, whereas Prize B would have a 33.3% chance (2:1 ratio).
Please note: Prizes (Item Amount) coloured in "grey" will be halfed before level 26.
But that's not all: the Gingerbread Storage is also part of the Calendar - this is a 3x3 size building, but don't let its small stature fool you: it has a capacity of 18,000! While it can't be upgraded, it does make it a perfect candidate for a storehouse you can move around very easily!
Gift Christmass Tree
Description: Provides a free gift every 7 days.
Upgrades: Cannot be upgraded.
Recurring: Tearing it down will return it to your Star Menu.
2 x Gingerbread Storage
Description: A small but highly efficient storehouse for resources.
Upgrades: Cannot be upgraded.
Recurring: Tearing it down will return it to your Star Menu.
This year's Merchant brings along two new specialists to our islands: the Versed Geologist and Candid Explorer! The Versed Geologist is a "jack of all trades" geologist when it comes to finding bigger deposits of any kind, while doing it in half the normal time. He also has a chance at finding an additional deposit to boot! Meanwhile, the Candid Explorer brings back four times as many rewards when sent on any treasure search. Jackpot!
Name: Versed Geologist (Limit: 1) Description: A versatile geologist on all different types of deposits
He finds 50% bigger deposits in half the normal time, and has a 50% chance at finding an additional deposit. Works on all deposits! Price: 945 Presents
Name: Candid Explorer (Limit: 1) Description: Experienced in finding big stashes of treasure
He doesn't have any bonus to speed, but finds 4x as many rewards from any kind of treasure search! Price: 1195 Presents
Name: Mary Christmas (Limit: 1 per Event) Description: Santa's wife as a general
Her special trait increases the XP gained from enemy units defeated by her army by 100%. Price: 995 Presents
Type: Transporter General - cannot fight, but transports up to 1000 units Travel time: Reaches adventures in 2 minutes. Takes 90 minutes to return home. Price: 695 Presents Limit: 1*
The Event category at the merchant offers a broad variety of special items: the buildings available for presents are listed here, and the recipes are posted here. All event shop offers are available until the final event deactivation.
Name: Paper Recycling Type: Recipe for the Rarity Provision house Cost: 180 Presents Effect: Converts 250 Intermediate Paper into 50 Advanced Paper.
Name: Smelter Calendar Type: Recipe for the Rarity Provision house Cost: 180 Presents Effect: Buff area Effect: +100% output on Smelters and Epic Smelters for 8 hours on a 2 squares radius
Name: Platinum Horseshoes Recipe Type: Recipe for the Rarity Provision house Cost: 325 Presents Effect: Increases movement speed of generals in the zone by 20%.
Name: Efficient traps Type: Recipe for the Rarity Provision house Cost: 225 Presents Description: Buff area Effect: +200% output on the Hunter, Deerstalker Hut, Improved Deerstalker Hut
for 12 hours on a 2 squares radius
Name: Krampus Effect: Use on a workyard producing coal (not epic one) to increase the output to 400% Duration: 12 hours Price: 40 Presents
Name: Grout (200) Effect: Resource that is needed to upgrade buildings to level 6 Characteristics: Acquisition is not limited, item is not tradable, but the resource is tradable as usual Price: 200 Presents
Name: Christmas feast Effect: Speeds up the process of getting new settlers into your village to 600% Duration: 2 hours Price: 50 Presents
Name: Cookies Effect: Boosts the production of a workyard up to 300% Duration: 32 hours Price: 80 Presents
Name: The fermentation accelerator Effect: Boosts the production of a brewery up to 400% Duration:24 hours Price: 60 Presents
Name: Hot Lemon Tea Effect: Boosts the speed of a village school up to 300% Duration: 24 hours Price: 60 Presents
This year features a new quest chain that will see you helping Santa build something truly special for your settlers and their holiday cheer!
2 CHRISTMAS QUEST CHAINS
Name: Xmas Market Minimum requirement: Level 26 Description: Help Santa bring some festive fun to your settlers and be rewarded with your very own Christmas Market building, once you have also completed its companion chain "Winter Wonderland".
Name: Winter Wonderland Minimum requirement: Level 26 Description: Santa wants your aid in building up his new "Winter Wonderland" island, but not everything is as it seems...
So what is this Christmas Market, and how does it work? It can be placed anywhere on your island, where it can buff the output of all workyards in an area around it. The bonus it provides, as well as the area to which it covers, can be increased by upgrading & unlocking further buffs for the building. If placed correctly, the potential benefits are extremely lucrative! You also don't need to fret about fully upgrading it this year, as you'll be able to continue doing so in every future Christmas Event. Here's how much each upgrade costs:
We purposefully removed the move-cost of the Christmas Market while it's at level one. We know many of you will want to maximise its efficiency, so this lets players try out and test different placements for the building before they beginning to commit to upgrading it. It should be noted that the Christmas Market will lose any upgrades it possesses if it's demolished and returned back to the Star Menu; we've added an additional confirmation box to prevent any unfortunate mishaps!
What's also noteworthy is the cost of the buffs themselves: they're quite cheap for the powerful output bonuses they provide:
We're also going to be adding a new skin to the game sometime after the event has ended, which transforms your Christmas Market into a more traditional market look. This gives you the option to keep the theme of your island to your liking: festive or not!
Presents: While the buff adventures will provide you with Presents during the event until deactivation, the two Combat Christmas Specific Adventures will only have a chance of providing you with Presents.
If you play them after the final event deactivation (see deactivation steps) they won't provide Presents anymore.
2 CHRISTMAS ADVENTURES (COMBAT)
Name: Save the Christmas feast Minimum requirement: Level 26 Description: The Croaker has stolen all the presents. Defeat the Croaker and retrieve the missing presents. Price: 95 Gems
Name: The stolen Sleigh Minimum requirement: Level 36 Description: The Christmas Feast is in danger. The Croaker has stolen Santa’s sleigh. It is up to you to get it back. Price: 95 Gems
It's now custom for Christmas buff adventures to be hidden behind certain Event Calendar doors. Before you redeem them, make sure you're in good holiday spirits; you'll be helping Santa out by delivering gifts to houses on multiple islands!
The buff adventures are balanced for the following level groups which are checked once you open a door: 16-25, 26-35, 36+. There are 6 special adventure doors in the calendar and you needn't use a General, for this Christmas buff adventures require certain types of buffs instead of troops.
Recipes unlock new permanent production options for your Rarity Provision House. Each recipe can only be acquired once.
During the event, all Recipes can be obtained with Presents. You simply need to apply a Recipe on your Rarity Provision House to unlock the new permanent production option.
Description: Buffs surrounding buildings in a certain area - upgradable to increase both area of effect and buff output Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 1 per player** Price: 1995 presents Tradable: No Giftable: No
Description: Provides a free gift every 7 days Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 1 per player** Price: 1695 presents Tradable: No Giftable: No
Description: A small 3x3 storage building with a mighty 18,000 capacity - cannot be upgraded Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 3 per player** Price: 895 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: No
Description: An improved version of the Floating Residence - grants space for 140 population Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 3 per player** Price: 1495 presents Tradable:Yes No* Giftable: No
Description: Produces an endless amount of coal as fast as the Epic Woodyard. Also has the production capacity of an Industrial Coal Mine when it's fully upgraded (Level 6). Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 3 per player Price: 12,500 gems Tradable: No Giftable: No
Description: Residence for 40 settlers. Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished and loses upgraded levels. Limit: 3 per player* Price: 1195 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: No
Description: Generates water three times as fast as a normal watermill Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 3 per player* Price: 595 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: No
Description: A very nice Christmas tree that can be used to decorate your island! Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: Unlimited Price: 40 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: Yes
Description: If you would like to decorate your city a little bit more, you can use this animated Christmas tree! Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: Unlimited Price: 60 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: Yes
Description: Produces unlimited meat without consuming any resources or deposits. Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 2 per player (new limit)* Price: 495 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: No
Description: Produces unlimited coal without consuming any resources or deposits. Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 2 per player (new limit)* Price: 295 presents Tradable: No Giftable: No
Description: Output like a level 5 level Iron Mine, doesn't use a building license. It needs to be placed on a free iron deposit. Star Menu: The building does not go back to the Star menu when demolished/depleted. Limit: Unlimited Price: 295 presents Tradable: Yes Giftable: Yes
Description: A second Provision House that allows you to produce special re-fillers and more. Star Menu: Goes back to your Star Menu when demolished Limit: 1 per player in total (if you already own one, you cannot buy another one) Price: 995 presents Tradable: No Giftable: No
*New limit 2018: if you gathered this item last year, you can grab another one this year. **Buildings obtained from the Event Calendar or Quests do not count towards normal limits.
The Christmas Achievements are here once more to offer you an extra source of presents. You can unlock them during this event only.
Presents are rewarded for successfully completing achievements; the amount depends on the achievement's difficulty.
The Achievements deal with many aspects of the event:
Finding presents during Explorer searches
Succeeding in Christmas quests
Crafting in your Mayorhouse
Helping friends with buffs
Opening Calendar doors
Completing the "Xmas Market" & "Winter Wonderland" Quest Chain
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE START OF THE REMOVAL PHASE?
(31st of December ~01:00 CET ~10:00 CET*)
The core mechanisms of the Event are turned off at the start of the removal phase.
Info Widget/Countdown
The event countdown gets replaced by a new countdown.
The new one indicates the remaining time of the removal phase until the event gets completely deactivated.
Christmas adventures
Event scenarios from the calendar are cancelled and cannot be started.
Event scenario buffs cannot be produced anymore and can be reimbursed on the Mayor house.
You can still play the two shop Christmas adventures.
If you finish an adventure before the event gets completely deactivated,
special event related items like Presents are still rewarded.
Quests & Achievements
The event Quest chains and Achievements will be deactivated.
New Christmas event-related tasks will no longer be triggered.
Only completed Christmas event achievements remain visible.
Collectibles
All event related collectibles stop spawning.
Christmas collectibles spawned before the start of the removal phase can be collected.
The respective resources (Bells, Candy and Gingerbread) will be hidden from the storage and trade
The resources get converted to gold coins later (see event resource conversion).
The related Mayor house collection (Basket of Presents) will also be removed
Treasure Search (Explorers)
All treasure searches started before the start of the removal phase and returning before the deactivation have the chance to reward event currency. All treasure searches started during or after the start of the removal phase will not reward event currency anymore.
Misc
The option to convert Marble and Presents to Granite inside the Mayor's house is no longer available.
The event shop remains active and Presents can be used to get special items until complete event deactivation.
The event calendar will no longer be accessible.
Event-related loading screen, Reindeer, UI skins, the giant Christmas tree and music will be removed/set to default.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE DEACTIVATION?
(7th of January, ~01:00 CET ~10:00 CET*)
Trade
New trade offers containing event currency can't be set up anymore.
Active trade offers containing event currency are set to invisible.
Shop/Event currency
The Event shop category is not available anymore.
Event currency is not visible in the Mayor's house anymore and will be converted into Coins later.
Christmas Adventures & event buffs
Event currency rewards from adventures are deactivated.
This applies to Christmas adventures from the shop. During the event, these adventures drop either buffs or Presents (on top of other loot). With complete deactivation, the chance to get Presents is removed from loot tables. As a result, buffs will always be chosen.
Christmas buff adventures from the Event Calendar are changed, too. They reward gold coins instead of Presents. With event resource conversion, the Christmas buff adventures will be deleted, because you cannot finish them anymore.
Buffs needed for Christmas buff adventures can no longer be produced.
Remaining buffs can be applied on your Mayor's house for a full refund of production resources.
EVENT RESOURCE CONVERSION
(planned for one of the future game updates: January or February)
As usual, all event-related resources will be converted into gold coins.
No event resources are supposed to remain in the game.
A script will run during the game update downtime to replace all event resources (especially Presents) with gold coins.
The conversion applies to all items of that type, such as
items in your warehouses and in your Star Menu
items included in public trades and friend trades
items attached to in-game mails like loot from adventures or explorer searches
Conversion rates: The final amount will be rounded up.
1 Present = 0.4 gold coins
1 event collectible = 0.04 gold coins
There is no action needed from your side, you will receive an in-game message with the corresponding amount of gold coins.
The Christmas Scenarios from the calendar will be deleted during the conversion.
We have an update in regards to the Dev Diary for the Christmas Event 2018.
The "Improved Floating Residence" was mistakenly marked as being tradable. This has since been corrected. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused.
The Gingerbread Storage size was not changed from the Test Server. Internally, we measure it as a 3x3 building, but we understand players perceive it different e.g. 2x2 (the size of a standard storehouse).
Happy Settling,
BB_Sious
13.12.18 14:49
BB_Sious
Removal Phase and Deactivation times
Dear settlers,
We have an update in regards to the Dev Diary for the Christmas Event 2018
The Removal Phase and Deactivation times stated previously was incorrect. Here are the correct times: