Shield rules

Quick answer: A shield stops other players from attacking, scouting or rallying against your castle while it lasts. You raise one by using a Shield item from My Bag. It ends early if you attack or scout someone yourself, and a second shield does not add its time to the first.

Raise a shield

1. Open My Bag and go to the Combat tab.
2. Tap a Shield item. The notice reads “Would you like to use now?”
3. Tap Use.

Each tap uses one item. If the game refuses the shield, the item stays in your Bag and you see a message that says why (see If something goes wrong).

Raising a shield also:

• sends home any ally troops that are stationed in your castle;
• frees every hero you are holding in prison (see Prison and shelter).

How long each shield lasts

Item in your Bag	Lasts
Shield (4 hours)	4 hours
Shield (8 hours)	8 hours
Shield (12 hours)	12 hours
Shield (1 day)	24 hours
Shield (3 days)	3 days
Shield (7 days)	7 days
Shield (14 days)	14 days

The clock starts the moment you tap Use. Which shields the Shop sells changes over time, so check Shop and packs for what is on sale now.

Using a second shield

A castle has one shield timer. A new shield replaces the current one. It does not add on top.

• The new shield runs for its full length counted from now, so you only gain the time that has passed since the first shield started.
  • Example: you use an 8-hour shield at 00:00, it ends at 08:00. At 04:00 you use another 8-hour shield. It now ends at 12:00, not 16:00. That is the “I used an 8h shield twice and it only counted once” case.
• If the new shield would end at the same time or earlier than your current one, the game refuses it and keeps your item. Example: a 4-hour shield while your current shield still has 4 hours or more left. You see “A Shield with at least this much time is already active. Use a longer Shield or wait for it to end.”
• To get the most from your items, use the next shield when the current one is about to end, not early.

What a shield blocks, and what it does not

Blocked while your shield is up:

• Attacks on your castle. An army that is already marching reaches your castle, turns around and goes home. The attacker sees “Target is under shield protection.”
• Scouting your castle. The scouting player sees “Target’s Shield blocked your scout.” You see “Your Shield blocked it — they got no information.”
• Rallies against your castle.

Not covered:

• Armies you have out on the map. The shield protects your castle. A gathering army on a resource tile can still be attacked by another player.
• Fortress and Stronghold fights. Shields cannot be raised near them (see below).

What ends your shield

Battle Fury. Battle Fury is a short combat timer that starts when you act against someone else. Starting it ends your shield at once, and you cannot raise a new shield until it runs out. These actions start Battle Fury:

• sending an attack or a scout at another player’s castle, a fortress, a Stronghold or a resource tile another player holds;
• starting or joining a rally attack;
• sending reinforcements to an ally. The game warns you first: “Sending reinforcements will deactivate your Shield and activate Battle Fury. Are you sure you want to proceed?”;
• sending a gather army to a mine that another player already holds. The warning says: “This mine is occupied by another player. Attacking it will remove your Shield and activate Battle Fury.”

Hunting monsters does not start Battle Fury. A rally against a Darknest does not either.

How long Battle Fury lasts depends on your castle level, and each new action restarts it:

Castle level	Battle Fury
1 to 8	1 minute
9 to 12	2 minutes
13 to 24	level minus 10 minutes (3 to 14)
25 to 30	15 minutes, plus 2 minutes per level above 25 (level 30 = 25 minutes)

Other things that end it:

• Moving your castle to a spot inside a fortress outer ring. The game asks you to confirm first: “Moving there ends your active Shield. Confirm to move anyway, or pick a spot outside the fortress ring.”
• Turning on War Chest at T1 or higher. War Chest breaks any active shield and blocks new ones while it stays on.
• Its timer running out.

Where and when you cannot raise a shield

• Near a fortress. Every fortress has two rings. You cannot raise a shield anywhere inside them. The rings are about 300 m (inner) and 600 m (outer) by default, and the exact size can differ by kingdom. See Fortress.
• Inside a Stronghold. See Stronghold.
• During Battle Fury. Wait for it to end.
• While War Chest is on, or while it is turning off.
• While your troops are out reinforcing someone. Reinforcements you sent to another player’s castle (marching or stationed), and ally reinforcements still marching to you, both block a new shield. Bring your troops home first.

You also cannot move your castle into a Stronghold while your shield is active. See Relocation and migration for moving rules.

New players

A new castle starts with a free shield that lasts 7 days. It follows the same rules as any shield, so scouting or attacking someone ends it early.

During maintenance

While the game is down for maintenance, attacks, rallies and scouts are paused and armies that arrive during that time go home. The game tells you your castle is shielded.

The team can also give castles a temporary maintenance shield around an update or a server problem. It only adds time: it never shortens or replaces a longer shield you already have. It is not guaranteed for any given update. If your own shield looks shorter after maintenance than before, open a ticket with the time and the shield you used (see If something goes wrong).

If something goes wrong

Messages when you raise a shield

You see	What it means	What to do
“Fury status cannot open shield”	Battle Fury is still running.	Wait a few minutes and try again.
“You can’t raise a shield this close to a fortress. Move your castle further out first.”	Your castle is inside a fortress ring.	Move outside the outer ring.
“You can’t raise a shield inside a Stronghold.”	Your castle is in a Stronghold area.	Move outside it.
“War Chest active cannot open shield”	War Chest is on or turning off.	Turn it off and wait until it is fully off.
“Relocation requires all armies at home.”	You have reinforcements out, or coming in.	Bring them home, then try again.
“A Shield with at least this much time is already active…”	Your current shield ends later than the new one would.	Keep the item for later, or use a longer one.
“We need a quick check before this shield can be used.”	A quick human check.	Finish the check and use the shield again.

I had a shield and I was attacked or scouted

Check in this order:

1. Did your shield run out? Check the timer. A shield ends exactly when its timer ends.
2. Did you send an attack, scout, rally, reinforcement or a gather army to an occupied mine? That starts Battle Fury and ends your shield right away.
3. Was it your army out on the map (for example gathering) and not your castle? The shield does not cover armies on the map.
4. Did the shield get refused? Then you saw a message and the item is still in your Bag.

The game says the target has a shield, but I see none

Your map view may be out of date, or the player’s shield started a moment ago. Reopen the map and try again. Some accounts also cannot be attacked at that time, and the game shows the same message for them.

When to open a ticket

Open a ticket from Setting → More → Support if your shield item was used and no shield appears, if your shield ended with no timer and no action of yours, or if you were attacked while the shield was clearly showing. Tell us the time, the item you used, and the message you saw. See Contact support. We cannot promise compensation or a result.