What they are for
Military Strongholds are not just intermediate rewards. They are the territory links that make city captures possible.
Check these territory limits before planning captures:
- territory expansion begins with a Lv1 Military Stronghold;
- future Strongholds must connect to currently controlled territory;
- a City requires a direct territorial connection through a controlled Military Stronghold.
Daily capture limit
For Strongholds, prioritize the rules visible in your active event:
- Check how many Military Strongholds your alliance can capture today.
The Military Stronghold capture limit and later City declaration limit are separate planning checks. Confirm both on the active event screens.
Player-facing rule:
The Military Stronghold capture limit and later City declaration limit are separate planning checks. Confirm both on the active event screens.
Holding limit
Current map guidance:
- Check how many Strongholds your alliance can hold before declaring another target.
- Check how many Stronghold slots your controlled Cities add.
- Leave enough capacity for the next capture on your route.
This is strategically important because a City is not only a destination — it can expand the number of Strongholds the alliance is allowed to maintain.
Before attacking: confirm the current daily limit in the City List or event rules.
Neutral capture flow
Current structure:
- Identify the Stronghold required for the intended route.
- Clear the surrounding zombies/guards needed to begin the siege.
- Defeat the Polluter/defender.
- Complete the capture.
- Protection begins.
- Use the new Stronghold as the next link in the territory chain.
Virus Resistance matters heavily during this process. Stronghold defenders can punish low-Resistance squads even when displayed squad power looks sufficient.
Rally Resistance rule
For difficult Season 1 rallies:
Use the highest useful Virus Resistance player as rally leader.
Lower-Resistance participants can benefit from the leader's Resistance floor under the current mechanic; a participant with higher Resistance keeps their higher value.
Protection
Protection duration can vary between Season 1 versions.
- Past examples of protection durations are not a substitute for the current Stronghold countdown;
- Protection duration can differ between events; check the active timer before planning an attack.
Planning rule: use the live Stronghold protection countdown rather than assuming a fixed duration.
Abandoning a Stronghold
Current map guidance:
- only R4/R5 can abandon controlled Stronghold territory;
- Check the abandonment countdown before assigning troops to the next target.
R4/R5 warning: abandoning a Stronghold may break the territory connection needed for a City or later cross-warzone expansion.
Stronghold common mistakes
- Capturing the easiest target rather than the target needed for the route.
- Using both daily captures before checking the next City unlock.
- Abandoning a Stronghold that is still the connection to a City.
- Sending the highest-power player as rally leader instead of the highest useful Resistance leader.
- Treating the Stronghold holding cap as fixed when Cities can expand it.
- Failing to track the live Stronghold protection window.
