Shaft Fight

When: cycles of 4 rounds. Each fight lasts 2 hours. Up to 2 Shaft Fights per cycle per alliance. Who registers: Alliance Leader or R4. Why it matters: territory control with a clean, gameable win condition — and holding a shaft auto-registers you for it next time, free of charge.

The short version¶

An R5 or R4 registers and picks 3 time slots out of 5.
Only players who were in the alliance before registration completed can play.
Fights last 2 hours. Rallies are far stronger than single reinforcements.
Win by holding continuous control for 30 minutes.
If nobody manages 30 minutes, the shaft goes to whoever holds it last — so late pushes win.
Holding a shaft auto-registers you next round, without using a registration slot.
Shaft Fight does not run during Kills Day.

Registration¶

Choose 3 time slots out of 5. The scheduling logic then resolves it:

If nobody else picks your shaft, your earliest slot is used.
If several alliances pick the same shaft, the system picks the earliest slot with the most overlap.

What this means tactically: picking three slots that are all convenient for your alliance is not the same as picking three that maximise your chance of a favourable time. If you expect to contest a popular shaft, think about which slots your rivals will pick, because overlap decides it. If you expect to walk into an empty one, only your earliest slot matters.

Auto-registration: holding a shaft in the previous round auto-registers you for it next event, and this does not count against your 2 registrations. So a successfully held shaft is effectively free to keep contesting, and your two manual registrations can go toward expansion elsewhere. This compounds — defending what you have is cheaper than taking new ground.

Cycles are 4 rounds. At the start of a new cycle all shafts reset, occupation history clears, and auto-registration is removed. Every cycle starts from scratch, so do not plan on holding ground indefinitely.

Who can participate¶

Only players who were in the alliance before registration completed. A player who joins after registration cannot fight.

One exception worth knowing: a player who leaves on fight day can still play if they rejoin the same alliance. So an accidental departure is recoverable — rejoin and you are back in.

Winning¶

The win condition: hold continuous control for 30 minutes.

If nobody achieves that, the shaft goes to the last alliance holding control when the 2 hours expire.

These two rules together define the entire tactical shape of the event:

If you can establish early dominance, go for the 30 minute clock. A clean 30 minute hold ends the question and you can stop spending troops.

If the shaft is genuinely contested and nobody will hold 30 minutes, the first 90 minutes are almost irrelevant. What matters is who holds it at the buzzer. Conserve your strength, let rivals grind each other down, and push hard at the end.

That second scenario is where most contested shafts are decided, and it is why alliances that spend everything early routinely lose to ones that wait.

Rallies beat reinforcements¶

Both rallies and single reinforcements work, but rallies are far stronger. Default to rallies. Use single reinforcements only to top up a hold you already have.

For alliance leaders¶

Pick your 3 slots strategically, not conveniently. Overlap decides contested shafts.

Keep what you hold. Auto-registration is free and does not consume your two slots. Your manual registrations are for expansion.

Call the endgame. If the 30 minute hold is clearly out of reach, say so in chat and switch the alliance to a buzzer-beater plan. This is the single most winnable decision in the event and most alliances never make it consciously.

Register members before the deadline. Anyone who joins after registration completes cannot fight.

Remember a new cycle wipes everything — occupation history, auto-registration, the lot.

Common mistakes¶

Spending everything in the first hour of a contested shaft. If nobody holds 30 minutes, only the last moment counts.

Using single reinforcements when a rally was available.

Recruiting a strong player the day before and expecting them to fight. Registration closes the roster.

Assuming a held shaft is permanent. Cycles reset every 4 rounds.

Planning around Shaft Fight on a Saturday. It does not run during Kills Day — see Guardian Altar / Kills Day.