Veterancy

Kingdoms measures veterancy in experience points, not in a count of kills. A unit that destroys a strong enemy can jump several levels at once.

Experience

Each unit has an experience value in its data. When a unit destroys a finished enemy unit, it gains the enemy's experience value. Damage alone gives nothing: only the killing blow counts.

A unit's level is its experience divided by its own experience value, rounded down, up to a maximum of 10. Each unit levels against its own value, so a cheap unit levels quickly and an expensive one slowly.

What a Level Does

Every level adds 0.1 to a multiplier that starts at 1, so level 10 doubles it. The multiplier applies to:

• the damage the unit deals, which is multiplied by it;
• the damage the unit takes, which is divided by it;
• the personal mana its spells cost, which is divided by it (see personal mana).

Veterancy does not change a unit's hit points, its healing or its reload time. It does make a unit more likely to be turned to stone, frozen or taken over by enemy magic (see damage).

Some weapons look different at a high level. The Mage Builder's hammer and the Assassin's dagger, among others, change their model at level 10.

Units That Never Level

34 units never gain levels: the monarchs, the gods, and the creatures and characters of the campaigns. A monarch therefore gains nothing from its kills. A unit taken over by enemy magic loses all its experience.

Worked Example

A Swordsman needs 9 experience points for each level and does 360 damage with each swing.

The kill that finishes a Gold Dragon is worth 300 points, enough to take a Swordsman from nothing straight to the top level.

The +vet commands on the cheats page change veteran levels.