🏰 Alliance-vs-alliance building control
Sanctuary Battle guide
Your registration window is closing and the event screen names phases without explaining the rule underneath. Here's what the Help Center actually says: who can sign up, the one-Sanctuary-one-Fortress cap, how control of a building is actually won, and what rewards you get.
Last updated: October 16, 2026
Sanctuary Battle in one breath: an alliance-vs-alliance event where alliances sign up for a Sanctuary and a Fortress, one each per phase, and fight to occupy them. Hold a building uncontested and you keep it automatically; get attacked and whichever alliance continuously occupies it for 30 minutes during the battle phase wins control. There's a Defense Phase afterward where the building is shielded, then NPCs re-garrison it for the next fight. Rewards come in two separate tracks — Participation (per phase, for helping clear the garrison) and Season (cumulative points, paid out at season end).
Who can sign up, and the one-Sanctuary-one-Fortress cap
- The Help Center's eligibility rule, verbatim: "Only members above R4 from an alliance with 20 or more members are eligible to sign up." That wording leaves it ambiguous whether R4 itself counts — check your own sign-up screen if you're on the edge.
- Each alliance can sign up for one Sanctuary and one Fortress, per phase — not more, even if other alliances appear to hold multiple.
- Holding a Sanctuary carries forward automatically. If your alliance occupies a Sanctuary in the current phase, it's auto-signed-up for that same Sanctuary next phase.
- That carryover breaks at a season boundary. The Help Center specifically calls out that going from the final phase of a season into the first phase of the next, the automatic sign-up does not carry over.
R4/R5 also set the battle time slot: R4/R5 members choose among 3 time-slot options during the Sign-Up Phase, but the actual battle time is decided by votes from every signed-up alliance in the Kingdom — highest vote count wins. Don't assume your alliance's own pick is the final time.
How control of a building is actually won
- Uncontested = automatic control. If no other alliance attacks the building your alliance has occupied, you gain full control the moment the countdown ends.
- Contested = a battle phase, decided by a 30-minute clock. Whichever alliance continuously occupies the building for 30 minutes during the battle phase gains full control of it.
- Nobody hits 30 minutes? Control goes to whichever alliance was occupying the building last when the battle phase ends.
- Adjacency isn't required to re-sign-up. An alliance that already held a building in the previous phase can automatically sign up for it again this phase even if its territory isn't adjacent — and keeps it if nobody attacks.
The Defense Phase — what happens after you take a building
Once your alliance controls a Sanctuary or Fortress, a Defense Phase follows: a Shield activates and the building can't be attacked. When the next battle begins, NPCs re-garrison the building, and your alliance has to defeat that garrison again to hold control. Whoever lands kills on the garrison earns a reward for it.
Players commonly describe roughly a 2-day gap before the Defense Phase begins, but that number comes from how players have phrased the question to Century Games support, not from a duration the Help Center itself states — treat it as a rough community estimate, not a confirmed figure.
Buffs: Outpost persists, Alliance Territory does not
- Outpost buffs persist across Kingdoms. Once you occupy an Outpost, its buff stays active even if you move into another Kingdom during Kingdom of Power.
- Alliance Territory buffs do not extend to garrisoned squads. Squads stationed at a Sanctuary or Fortress do not get the Alliance Territory battle bonus — that bonus only applies when the battle is physically happening inside your alliance's own territory.
The Help Center treats "Outpost" as its own structure, separate from Sanctuary and Fortress, but doesn't spell out the structural relationship between the three beyond this buff behavior.
Rewards: two separate tracks
- Participation Reward (per phase): tallied separately for each Sanctuary/Fortress. Only players who help defeat that building's NPC garrison — named Cesares Rebels — after the phase begins qualify. Sitting out the garrison fight means no Participation Reward for that building, even if your alliance holds it.
- Season Reward (cumulative): you earn points by occupying Sanctuaries/Fortresses over the season, and get a reward based on your total points once the season ends. The Help Center doesn't publish the point value of any specific building.
Running it as an officer: the Task List
After the sign-up phase ends, Alliance Officers can set a Sanctuary/Fortress Task List reminder from the event screen. Once set, the event shows up in the Task List of every eligible alliance member, and they each get a registration notification mail — the fastest way to make sure R4+ members actually show up to sign up in time.
What this page doesn't cover
We checked for existing Sanctuary Battle guides before writing this one. Two community sites publish more detailed tactical material: heaven-guardian.com's guide names specific reward-chest tiers (Warrior's, Ally's, Ruler's and Controller's Chest) and rally/garrison tactics, and kingshothandbook.com's guide covers alliance PvP strategy for the event. Neither sources its specific figures from the publisher's own Help Center, and none of those chest names or tactical numbers appear in the 11 Help Center articles read for this page — so we don't repeat them here.
That means the Help Center is silent on, and this page does not claim: exact NPC garrison troop counts, season point values per building, the precise Fortress-vs-Sanctuary structural difference beyond the buff behavior above, and named reward-chest tiers. Check your in-game event screen and Rewards page for those.
Sanctuary Battle FAQ
Why can't I sign up for Sanctuary Battle?
Only members above R4 in an alliance of 20 or more members are eligible, per the Help Center's own wording — check your sign-up screen if it's unclear whether R4 itself qualifies.
Why can my alliance only sign up for one Sanctuary, while others sign up for multiple?
One Sanctuary and one Fortress per alliance, per phase. Holding a Sanctuary auto-renews your sign-up next phase, except across a season boundary.
What decides who controls a building?
Uncontested, you get it automatically. Contested, whoever occupies it continuously for 30 minutes during the battle phase wins; otherwise control goes to the last occupant.
Why can some alliances occupy buildings that aren't adjacent to their territory?
An alliance that held a building last phase can auto-resign-up for it this phase regardless of adjacency, and keep it if unchallenged.
What is the Defense Phase?
A Shield window where the building can't be attacked. When battle resumes, NPCs re-garrison it and you must defeat them again to hold control.
Why didn't I get a Participation Reward?
Only players who help defeat that specific building's NPC garrison (Cesares Rebels) after the phase begins qualify — sitting it out means no reward for that building.
How do I get Season Rewards?
Earn points by occupying Sanctuaries/Fortresses; get a points-based reward at season end. Per-building point values aren't published.
How do I add this to the alliance Task List?
After sign-up ends, Alliance Officers can set a reminder from the event screen; eligible members see it in their Task List and get a notification mail.
Do garrisoned squads get the Alliance Territory buff?
No — that buff only applies when the battle happens inside your alliance's own territory.
How does the Outpost buff work?
It stays active even after you move into another Kingdom during Kingdom of Power.
Why did my battle start at a different time than I voted for?
R4/R5 pick among 3 slots, but the Kingdom-wide vote across all signed-up alliances decides the final time.