City Capture & Rare Soil Strategy

Capture Is Different in Season 2

If you played Season 1, you are used to a capture system where territory control at the end determined rankings. Forget that. Season 2 uses a revamped capture system with hard limits on how much you can hold and a ranking system based on cumulative production, not final position.

The cities and dig sites scattered across the map are not just territory to paint your alliance colour. They are Rare Soil production engines. Every hour you hold one, your alliance earns ranking points that can never be taken away. Every hour you do not hold one, you are permanently behind.

The Capture System

Cities and Dig Sites

The map contains two types of capturable locations:

Capture Limits

This is the rule most players miss or forget:

• Maximum 6 towns held at any time per alliance
• Maximum 4 dig sites held at any time per alliance
• Daily capture limit: 2 towns and 2 dig sites per day

These limits force strategic decisions. You cannot just grab everything on the map. You have to choose which locations to capture and which to leave. And the daily limit means you cannot rush all your captures in one day — it takes at minimum 3 days to reach your town cap and 2 days for dig sites.

Why the Daily Limit Matters

The 2-per-day capture limit creates critical strategic consequences:

• Day 1: You can capture at most 2 towns and 2 dig sites
• Day 2: You add 2 more towns and 2 more dig sites (now at 4 towns, 4 dig sites — dig site cap reached)
• Day 3: You add the final 2 towns (now at 6 towns, 4 dig sites — fully capped)

That means it takes 3 full days to reach maximum capacity. Any delay — failed rallies, indecision, contested captures — pushes your cap date back further. And every day you are not at max capacity is permanently lost Rare Soil production.

Rare Soil Production

How Rare Soil Accumulates

Rare Soil is produced passively by captured locations over time:

• Dig sites produce the most Rare Soil per hour — these are your primary targets
• Certain towns also produce Rare Soil, but at a lower rate
• Production is continuous — as long as you hold the location, Rare Soil accumulates for your alliance
• Total accumulated Rare Soil determines your ranking — not how much you hold at any given moment

The Compounding Effect

This is the math that defines Season 2 strategy. Suppose two alliances both capture 4 dig sites, but Alliance A captures theirs on Day 1 and Alliance B captures theirs on Day 5:

• Alliance A has 4 extra days of Rare Soil production
• That gap can never be closed — Alliance B would need to produce more per day (not possible with the same number of dig sites) or hold them for longer (the season has a fixed length)
• Over a 60-day season, 4 days represents nearly 7% of total production — a gap that is nearly impossible to overcome through other means

Choosing What to Capture

Not all locations are equal. Here is how to prioritize:

Dig Site Priority

1. Highest Rare Soil output first — check the production rates. Some dig sites produce more than others
2. Defensible positions — a dig site near your alliance hive is easier to hold than one across the map
3. Proximity to your Alliance Furnace — dig sites within your warm zone are easier to rally from and defend
4. Avoid contested sites if possible — capturing a contested dig site may cost you rallies and troops that delay your other captures

Town Priority

1. Towns that produce Rare Soil — not all towns produce it. Prioritize those that do
2. Towns near your hive — the temperature bonus from captured towns helps keep your alliance warm
3. Strategic positions — towns that block enemy access to your dig sites or provide a buffer zone
4. Temperature impact — some town positions provide better area temperature coverage than others

Defending Your Captures

Capturing a location is only half the job. Holding it for the entire season is what produces ranking points.

Defence Principles

• Keep troops garrisoned in captured locations — empty captures get sniped
• Reinforce during off-hours — most attacks come when your alliance is asleep
• Set rally alerts — know immediately when an enemy rallies against your locations
• Rotate defence duty — the same players should not be garrisoning 24/7. Coordinate shifts with alliance members
• Pre-position counter-rally squads — when an enemy attacks, you want to be able to rally back immediately

When You Lose a Location

It happens. Someone takes one of your towns or dig sites. Respond immediately:

1. Rally to recapture within the same day if possible — every hour without the location is lost Rare Soil
2. Coordinate the counter-attack — do not waste solo marches on a defended capture
3. Assess whether the location is worth fighting over — sometimes swapping to an undefended location is smarter than a prolonged war over a contested one
4. Remember the daily capture limit — if you have already used your 2 captures for the day, you cannot retake the location until tomorrow. This makes losing a location on a day you have already captured twice especially painful

Alliance Coordination

Season 2 has no inter-server wars. All conflict is internal. This makes alliance coordination more important than ever.

Pre-Season Planning

Before the season starts, your alliance should agree on:

• Target locations — which 4 dig sites and 6 towns you will capture first
• Rally leaders — who leads each capture rally
• Capture order — which Day 1 targets, which Day 2 targets
• Defence rotation — who garrisons what and when
• Diplomacy — which alliances you have non-aggression pacts with, if any

During the Season

• Daily check-ins on capture status — are all locations still held?
• Immediate response protocol for lost locations — who rallies, who reinforces
• Adjustments based on competition — if an enemy alliance is targeting your dig sites, you may need to redirect resources to defence
• Communication discipline — keep alliance chat focused on capture status, not drama

Tips for Smaller Alliances

If your alliance is not the biggest on the server, you are not out of the race. But you need to be smarter.

Pick Your Battles

• Do not contest the strongest alliance head-on — they have more rally power and more garrisoned troops
• Target uncontested or lightly defended locations — a dig site nobody fights over produces the same Rare Soil as one that cost 50 rallies
• Capture during off-hours — if the dominant alliance is mostly in one timezone, capture when they are asleep
• Focus on holding, not expanding — 4 well-defended dig sites beat 4 dig sites you keep losing and recapturing

Diplomacy Is Your Best Weapon

• Form non-aggression pacts (NAPs) with other mid-tier alliances — mutual defence agreements let you focus your troops on production, not war
• Negotiate territory splits — "you take the north dig sites, we take the south" avoids pointless conflict
• Coordinate against the top alliance if needed — two mid-tier alliances working together can match or exceed a single dominant alliance
• Do not betray NAPs lightly — there are no inter-server wars. You are stuck with these neighbours all season. A broken pact creates a permanent enemy

Maximize What You Hold

• Upgrade your furnace aggressively — smaller alliances with high furnace levels fight better per member than large alliances with low furnace levels
• Never waste a daily capture — if you have a capture available, use it. Unused daily captures are permanently lost opportunity
• Garrison efficiently — smaller alliances cannot afford to spread troops across poorly defended locations. Concentrate your garrisons on high-value dig sites

Common Capture Mistakes

1. Starting captures late — every day without dig sites is permanently lost Rare Soil. Capture on Day 1
2. Not having a capture plan — alliance members arguing over targets on Day 1 while opponents are already producing
3. Capturing towns before dig sites — dig sites produce more Rare Soil. Fill your dig site cap first
4. Leaving captures ungarrisoned — an empty capture is a free capture for your enemy
5. Wasting daily captures on low-value targets — you only get 2 town and 2 dig site captures per day. Make them count
6. Fighting over contested locations when undefended ones exist — Rare Soil from an uncontested dig site is worth the same as Rare Soil from a contested one
7. Forgetting the daily capture limit after losing a location — if you have already used your captures for the day, you cannot retake a lost location until tomorrow
8. Neglecting diplomacy — burning bridges with potential allies creates permanent enemies on a server with no external threats
9. Ignoring the temperature connection — captured cities provide heat. Losing cities in a Cold Wave creates a double problem: lost Rare Soil AND lost temperature

Capture Priority Checklist

1. Day 1: Capture 2 highest-value dig sites and 2 strategic towns
2. Day 2: Capture remaining 2 dig sites and 2 more towns
3. Day 3: Capture final 2 towns. You are now at full capacity
4. Day 4+: Focus entirely on defence, garrison rotation, and furnace upgrades
5. Ongoing: Respond immediately to any lost locations. Recapture within the daily limit
6. Mid-season: Evaluate whether any of your current captures should be swapped for higher-value locations
7. Late-season: Focus on holding what you have. The ranking gap from early captures is usually decisive by now

Related Guides

• Season 2 Overview — the full Season 2 primer including key events and resources
• Temperature & Furnace Guide — furnace upgrades and heat stacking to support your capture strategy
• Alliance Guide — alliance management fundamentals