Rise of Kingdoms KvK guide: seasons, Lost Kingdom and preparation

This guide covers the structure and the preparation. For who to field, see the tier list and pairings; for the alliance side, the alliance guide; for the game overall, the Rise of Kingdoms hub.

How KvK seasons are structured

A new kingdom usually enters its first KvK when it is roughly 85 to 100 days old, and the next season's pre-KvK starts around 70 days after the first one began. Season of Conquest stories named by current guides include Strife of the Eight, Heroic Anthem, March of Ages, Desert Conquest, King of the Nile, Siege of Orleans, Tides of War, Song of Troy, Warriors Unbound and the pioneer Mighty Assembly. We could not find a complete official list, so expect other names too.

Each season has its own story, map and rules, so read the event pages in game when a new one starts. The basics on this page apply to all of them, but pass schedules, special buildings and rewards change from story to story.

Matchmaking: who you fight

Kingdoms of a similar age are matched by the power of their top 1,000 governors, so a kingdom with a few huge spenders and many inactive accounts can get a harder draw than it looks. In Season of Conquest a camp can hold more than one kingdom, and a kingdom can skip matchmaking three times before it is matched by force. Update 1.1.12 (official App Store notes) also changed domain matchmaking so different domains of the same kingdom can now be placed in the same Lost Kingdom.

Your alliance decides most of how a season feels. A good alliance plans pass fights, assigns roles and calls retreats in time. If yours does not, read the alliance guide before the next season.

The Lost Kingdom map: passes, holy sites and the Ziggurat

You start in your own kingdom's zone. Passes open on the Chronicle schedule, so the map grows in steps and each opening is a fight. Holy sites in the Lost Kingdom include the Crusader Fortress, Crusader Camp, Hieron, Sanctuary, Circle and, in the centre, the Great Ziggurat. Holding them gives buffs and points; the kingdom or camp that takes the Ziggurat at the end wins the season.

Points matter for your own rewards too. You earn honor from barbarians, barbarian forts, Ancient Ruins and Dark Ruins and building occupation, and there are individual, alliance and kingdom rankings. Update 1.1.12 added individual season rank rewards with limited time titles. Before the Lost Kingdom opens, the Eve of the Crusade and Past Glory events give each kingdom a warm up; Past Glory is a three stage event (resources, barbarian and fort kills, sculptures), and since 1.1.12 stage 2 also requires using speedups.

What changed in 2026

Radiant Rivalry, Camp Treaty, KvK Changes, Halloween Events

• Camp Treaty (1.1.12, pioneer). A coalition leader holding a Crusader Fortress can set how rewards are split when the Ziggurat finally falls.
• Season 3 starting provinces (1.1.12, official notes). The Eve of the Crusade starting province selection for King of All Britain was removed. Camps are assigned during matchmaking and get buffs from Eve of the Crusade point rankings.
• Five new Season of Conquest tavern commanders (1.1.12, official notes): Choe Yeong, Shajar al-Durr, John Hunyadi, Philip II and Stephen III.
• Pass timing (1.1.11). Several passes in Warriors Unbound and Siege of Orleans moved to a Friday to Saturday window, so big openings land on the weekend.
• Update 1.1.13 (3 November 2026). The official highlights cover Yi Do, Selim I and Delta Formation. Third party patch summaries add Friday to Saturday openings for more passes and a Heroic Anthem map rework in pioneer kingdoms; check the in-game notes for the final details.

The pattern behind these changes is clear: Lilith keeps moving big fights to fixed weekend windows and giving coalitions more control over rewards. If your alliance plays across time zones, agree early who covers which pass openings, because the openings will not move for you.

Kill points, deads and honor

Kill points measure the troops you defeat. Higher tiers are worth far more: in the Mightiest Governor kill stage, for example, a tier 5 kill gives 20 points against 4 for tier 3. Many kingdoms run their own DKP (kill and death points) rules that set requirements for each player per season. These are kingdom rules, not game rules, so ask your leaders before the season starts.

Your troops die only if your hospitals are full. Hospital capacity is doubled in KvK, but in a long fight it still fills up. Healing is cheaper than training, which is why healing speedups and resources are the real currency of KvK.

Common KvK mistakes

• Fighting with no healing speedups. Your troops stay in hospital while the fight moves on.
• Ignoring hospital capacity. When the hospital is full, every new loss is a dead troop.
• Leaving marches outside overnight. Gathering marches outside your territory are free kills for the night shift of the enemy.
• Skipping the pre-KvK events. Eve of the Crusade and Past Glory points give your kingdom or camp a better start.
• Teleporting alone. Move with your alliance, never ahead of it.

Preparation checklist

Qixi Events, KvK Storyline, Commander and More

1. Healing speedups. Save them from events. They keep you fighting when everyone else waits.
2. Resources, especially gold at higher tiers. Tier 5 players in particular should gather gold before the season.
3. Hospital upgrades. More capacity means fewer deads.
4. One or two finished pairs with full skills, plus epic equipment on all of them before chasing legendary pieces.
5. Action points saved for barbarians and forts, which pay honor and points.
6. Teleports and shields ready for city moves with your alliance and for the moments you go offline.
7. Micro-heals. Healing 1,000 to 2,000 troops at a time lets you use alliance help on each batch.

Events between seasons are the best time to stock up. The events calendar explains which events pay speedups and which ones reward spending them.

Radiant Rivalry: a smaller kingdom fight

Update 1.1.12 announced Radiant Rivalry in the official App Store notes, after a pioneer test that started in 1.1.10. It is a contest between two kingdoms rather than a full Lost Kingdom season. According to guide summaries of the patch, there is a preparation phase, then the winning kingdom teleports in to attack the losing kingdom's Radiant Spire, and rewards are Radiant Emblems spent in a Radiance Shop. Treat it as a short war: the same preparation applies, on a smaller scale.

Your role as a smaller account

Not everyone in KvK leads rallies or fights the biggest accounts. A small or free account still matters a lot:

• Fill rallies and garrisons with the troop type the leaders ask for.
• Gather and donate so the alliance can build flags and fortresses on the new map.
• Farm honor on barbarians and ruins, which counts for kingdom rankings.
• Do not feed. Sending a weak march into a big enemy fills your hospital and gives the enemy kill points. Follow the alliance's calls.
• Stay online at pass openings. Most pass fights now fall in the Friday to Saturday window, so plan your weekend.

A small account that follows calls and keeps its troops alive is worth more to a kingdom than a big account that charges alone.

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