Ruins - Overview

Ruins are abandoned haunted places that only heroes can search for treasure.

Ruin Information

When a game is started each ruin is assigned a treasure and undead guardian(s). The treasure and guardians may be specifically set by the creator of the map (this is not the player who started the game) in which case they will always be the same for every game on that map. If the treasure and guardians are not specifically set the game assigns random treasure and guardians to the ruin.

Clicking on a ruin in the game will pop up an information screen for that ruin. If the ruin treasure and guardians have been specifically set then the pop up will list the exact contents of the ruin. If the ruin treasure and guardians have been randomly set then the pop up will only show possible guardian encounters for that level of ruin. The pop up will also display the current state of the ruin (unexplored/explored) and whether or not the ruin can respawn. The ruin state (unexplored/explored) is only accurate for ruins that are not hidden by the Fog of War.

Tip: Always bring up the information screen for nearby ruins to see if they have specific guardians and treasure.

Ruin Levels

There are 3 levels of ruins in the game:

Ruin Levels
Ruin Type	Min Hero Level	Treasure Types	Guardians	Base XP
Building - Level 1	1	Magic Item[1] (55%) Gold (30%) Sage (10%) Allies (5%)	Ruin Combat	50-150
Ziggurat - Level 2	2	Magic Item[1] (45%) Allies (25%) Gold (20%) Sage (10%)	Ruin Combat	150-350
Shipwreck - Level 2	2	Magic Item[1] (45%) Allies (25%) Gold (20%) Sage (10%)	Ruin Combat	150-350
Tower - Level 3	3	Magic Item[1] (40%) Allies (30%) Gold (20%) Sage (10%)	Ruin Combat	200-500

[1] If there are no unused items to place in a ruin then the gold treasure type will be substituted.

Treasure Types

Below are tables showing the 4 different types of treasure that can be found in a ruin:

Here are the possible amounts of gold that can be found in each type of ruin.

Gold
Ruin Type	Gold
Building	250-700
Ziggurat Shipwreck	500-1400
Tower	950-2500

All Magic Items come with an amount of gold in inverse proportion to their value (better items come with less gold).

Magic Item
Ruin Type	Magic Item Type	Gold Formula
Building	Level 1 Item	(550-item value)/2 - (550-item value)
Ziggurat Shipwreck	Level 2 Item	(1050-item value)/2 - (1050-item value)
Tower	Level 3 Item	(1550-item value)/2 - (1550-item value)

A sage rewards the rescuing hero with training and wisdom and a small amount of gold.

Sage
Ruin Type	Hero Skill Points	Ability Points	Gold
Building	5	1	50-250
Ziggurat Shipwreck	10	1	150-350
Tower	20	2	250-550

Here are the possible allies that can be found in each ruin type.

Allies
Ruin Type	Ally	Ally	Ally	Ally	Ally	Ally	Ally
Building	Yeti 1 - 33%	Minotaur 1 - 33%	Battering Ram 1 - 33%	-	-	-	-
Ziggurat	Ghosts 2 - 14.29%	Wizards 2 - 14.29%	Medusa 1 - 7.14% 2 - 7.14%	Elementals 1 - 4.76% 2 - 9.51%	Demons 1 - 7.14% 2 - 7.15%	Archon 1 - 7.14% 2 - 7.15%	Unicorn 1 - 14.29%
Shipwreck	Ghosts 2 - 20%	Krakens 1 - 10% 2 - 10%	Sea Serpents 2 - 10% 4 - 10%	Demons 1 - 10% 2 - 10%	Archons 1 - 10% 2 - 10%	-	-
Tower	Ghosts 3 - 4.76% 4 - 9.51%	Medusa 2 - 3.57% 3 - 10.72%	Demons 2 - 4.76% 3 - 9.51%	Devils 1 - 3.57% 2 - 7.14% 3 - 3.57%	Red Dragons 1 - 7.14% 2 - 7.14%	Green Dragons 1 - 2.86% 2 - 5.71% 3 - 5.71%	Grand Archon 1 - 7.14% 2 - 7.14%

Searching a Ruin

To search a ruin, move a stack containing at least one hero of the appropriate level onto the ruin. Then click the multi purpose button in the upper left menu (it will have a Ziggurat icon on it). A menu is displayed showing the hero that will enter the ruin and his undead lore skill. Confirm whether or not you want that hero to enter the ruin.

When the hero enters the ruin one of two things happens:
1) If the ruin does not have guardians then the hero is awarded the treasure and the ruin icon changes to indicate the ruin is explored.
2) If the ruin has guardians a battle will take place (See Ruin - Battles). If the hero wins the battle then the hero is awarded the treasure and the ruin icon changes to indicate the ruin is explored. If the hero does not win the battle then the hero is slain and any guardians that the hero killed in the battle are removed so that the next hero who searches the ruin will face fewer guardians.

Unless one of your hero's posesses the Eye of KGB item or the ruin has set guardians the hero must enter the ruin totally blind to whatever guardians might be waiting inside. Maximizing the hero's undead lore skill with items and undead lore from other units is the best way to ensure the hero survives.

Tip: When a stack contains multiple heroes, the hero with the highest Undead Lore skill will be chosen to enter the ruin. This may not always be the hero you want to search the ruin. To select a different hero you must unselect the default hero from the stack.

Experience

The experience awarded for searching a ruin consists of the base ruin XP plus XP for each guardian defeated. This value then multiplied by the hero's learning level to give the final XP value for searching the ruin.

Only the hero who entered the ruin gets the experience.

Example: A stack consisting of a Ranger and a Barbarian searches a L2 ruin. The Ranger is chosen to enter the ruin and she successfully defeats 3 Ghouls. The XP value is 150-350 (ruin XP) + 3*150 (3 Ghoul guardians) = 600-800. The Rangers learning level is 110% so the value is multlied by 1.1 to give a final value of 660-880 and all of it is awarded to the Ranger.

Respawn

At the begining of a new turn there is a small chance that 1 explored ruin is reinhabitated by guardians and a new treasure is placed in it. When a respawn takes place the News menu that is shown at the start of the turn will indicate which ruin respawned.