Gear and trophy bonuses - why they do not apply, Quick Swap, forging and merging

Quick answer: Workshop gear gives its bonuses through your leader hero. All gear bonuses switch off while your leader is captured or dead. Battle, march and trap bonuses also need your leader to be in that army. Trophies are different: they are hero items that add to that hero’s own stats and are needed to raise its Rank.

When your gear bonuses count

Gear is the equipment you put on in the Workshop (Locker). Each piece shows the bonus it gives.

Always off while your leader is captured or dead. The gear stays equipped, but none of its bonuses count until the leader is free again or has recovered. See Hero status and Prison and Shelter.

Anywhere. These count while your leader is not captured or dead:

• Construction Speed, Building Resource Reduction
• Research Speed, Research Capacity
• Training Speed, Troop Training Resource Reduction
• Troop Healing Speed, Troop Healing Resource Reduction
• Forge Speed, Ethereon Discount, Ethereon Duration Reduced
• Wall Defense, HP of Wall
• Food / Gold / Ore / Stone / Wood Production, Resource Consumption Rate Reduction

Only in an army with your leader. Your leader must be in that army and Ready or Guarding the Wall when the army is sent:

• In battle: Attack, Defense and HP boosts for All Army, Infantry, Cavalry, Ranged and Siege, Max Army HP, Army carrying capacity.
• On a march: Army Travel Speed, Movement Speed per troop type, Movement Speed When Gathering, Resource Gathering Speed, Food / Gold / Stone / Wood Mine Gathering Speed.
• On defense (traps): Trap Attack, Defense and HP. Your leader must be at home.

A stat that shows Reduction with a + is normal: the + is the size of your bonus, not a penalty. For Forge Speed, Construction Speed and Research Speed, the time is divided by (1 + bonus), so +100% halves it.

Why is my gear bonus not applying?

Usually one of these:

• Your leader is not in the army. Send the leader with the march or rally.
• Your leader is wounded, sheltered or marching elsewhere when you send the army. Only a Ready leader or one on the Wall counts.
• Your leader is captured or dead. Everything from gear is off, even the “anywhere” bonuses.
• You have no leader. Pick one in Hero status.

And these:

• The action already started. A bonus is worked out when you start the action: a research, training, forging or march. Changing gear later does not change what is already running.
• It only helps your own troops. See Heroes in battle.

Trophies are not gear

Trophies are hero items, not Workshop gear. You craft them in the Hero Chest and wear them on a hero. Each trophy adds a boost to that hero’s own stats (you see the boost when you pick it), and a full set is needed to raise the hero’s Rank. They do not depend on your leader’s gear rules above. How to craft and equip them: Trophies.

• “My trophy disappeared.” Open Hero Chest > Equipment. A trophy is listed there as OWNED, or WORN while a hero wears it. Equipped trophies cannot be taken off again. A craft uses up the two lower trophies you pick. Burning a hero gives back its equipped trophies.
• “My hero’s trophy slots are empty after Up Rank.” That is expected. When your Up Rank goes through, the six worn trophies are used up. The hero keeps their boosts. To raise the next Rank you need a new set of the next tier.

Quick Swap (equipment sets)

In the Workshop, Quick Swap keeps three equipment sets (Equipment Set 1 to 3). A set holds up to 9 pieces, one per slot.

Slot	Where it unlocks
Helmet, Armor, Boots, Weapon, Secondary Weapon, Accessory	Available
second Accessory	Workshop Lv 17
second Main Weapon, third Accessory	Workshop Lv 25

1. Open a set, pick the pieces, tap Save. A set you have never saved cannot be applied.
2. Tap Apply. Your current gear is replaced with the set. The set then shows Applied.

Apply is refused when you or the set is not ready:

• The set has never been saved.
• You are below the player level a piece needs (“You need to be level N to apply this equipment set”).

Apply is also refused when:

• A piece sits in a slot that your Workshop level has not unlocked (“Workshop level too low to use this slot”).
• Two pieces of the set use the same slot, or the set has more than 9 pieces.
• Another gear change is still running. Wait a moment and try again.

Piece rules:

• If you equip or unequip a single piece while a set is applied, that set stops showing Applied.
• A dismantled or detached piece is removed from every set.

Leader and upgrades:

• To equip or unequip a single piece, your leader must be at home. If not, the game says “Hero Leader Is Deployed”, “Hero Leader Is Dead” or “Hero Leader Is Sheltered”, for example.
• A piece that is still being upgraded cannot be equipped (“Gear is upgrading”).

Forging, upgrading and merging

• Forge makes a new piece at the lowest grade, Common. Upgrade raises one piece one grade at a time: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic for the newest gear. You do not choose a grade when you forge, so a new forge is always Common.
• “I only get green gear.” Green is Common, the grade every new forge starts at. Higher grades come from upgrading a piece. The forge does not check your hero’s Rank. It checks your materials and resources, and for the newest gear also your Workshop level and player level.
• The Forging Requirements list shows the materials and resources you need. The game checks everything first. If you are short, it says so and takes nothing.
• Only one forge or upgrade at a time. While any piece is upgrading, you cannot start another.
• Newest gear also needs a Workshop level: Common 1, Uncommon 5, Rare 10, Epic 15, Legendary 20, Mythic 25 (“Upgrade Workshop to Lv N to forge X gear”), and a minimum player level (“Required level”). This list applies to the newest gear only.
• Forge Speed from gear and the Workshop level shorten the wait. See Buildings reference.
• If a forge or upgrade fails after you paid, the materials and resources are given back automatically.
• You must unequip a piece before you upgrade it.

Merge Materials (Locker): tap Combine Material (or Merge / Merge All) to turn 5 materials of the same kind and one grade lower into 1 material of the next grade. A Common material cannot be a merge target. Detach Material does the reverse: 1 material becomes 5 of the grade below.

If something goes wrong

• A bonus is missing. Go through “When your gear bonuses count” above. The first thing to check is your leader.
• “Insufficient resources” when forging. Open Forging Requirements and compare each line with your own stock of that exact material or resource. If every line is enough and it still refuses, close and reopen the game, then try again. Nothing is taken when the check fails.
• A gear upgrade seems stuck. An upgrade has a timer. Check the time left in the Workshop. A failed upgrade is cancelled and its materials and resources are returned by the game. If the timer ended long ago and the piece still says Upgrading, contact support.
• The Workshop screen closes. Close the game fully and reopen it. If it keeps closing, contact support with a screenshot.
• Combine Material does nothing. You need 5 of the same material at the grade below (the game says “Not enough crafting materials” otherwise).
• Still wrong. Open a ticket from Setting > More > Support (see Contact support). Send the gear name, what the screen said, and a screenshot. Support cannot promise a result before checking your account.