Season 3 Spice Wars & Faction Duel: Complete Guide

Last War Season 3 Spice Wars & Faction Duel: Complete Guide

Spice Wars is the primary cross-warzone PvP event of Season 3: The Golden Kingdom. It runs twice per week (Wednesday and Saturday) from Week 4 through Week 8. Two factions — Scarlet Legion and Golden Tribe — are formed in Week 3 and compete to steal Spice from each other by destroying Alliance Center buildings during each war round. Week 7 concludes with the Faction Duel and Capitol War, the season's final high-stakes battle. Spice stolen in these wars is one of the most significant ranking levers in the season — an alliance that wins wars consistently and maximises Spice stolen per round compounds a decisive advantage across Weeks 4–8.

Overview

Season 3 divides the eight warzones in a season group into two factions. Every warzone belongs to either Scarlet Legion or Golden Tribe from Week 3 onward. Starting Week 4, alliances from opposing factions fight twice per week in structured war rounds. Each round has a defined sequence: declaration, invitation, preparation, combat, and settlement.

Spice plunder during the War stage is the central outcome of each round. Building destruction directly transfers a percentage of the defending alliance's Spice to the attacker. War outcomes (win/loss overall) affect prestige and Invasion Rights for Week 7 but do not determine whether Spice is stolen — that is determined solely by which buildings were destroyed.

Faction Formation — Week 3

Faction formation takes place across the seven days of Week 3.

• Days 1–2: The two warzones with the highest combined strength within the season group are designated as Faction Leaders. One becomes the Scarlet Legion leader; the other becomes the Golden Tribe leader.
• Days 3–4: The remaining six warzones choose which faction to join. Warzone R4/R5 leaders coordinate this decision. The choice is strategic — consider both the strength of potential faction allies and the difficulty of expected opponents across the Spice War schedule.
• Days 5–7: Final faction compositions are announced and become public.

Cross-warzone travel unlocks during Week 3. Players can begin visiting allied warzones and positioning assets before Spice Wars begin.

War Stages

Each Spice War round moves through five stages in fixed sequence.

Note on the Waiting stage: Spice is recorded at the start of this stage. Continuing to accumulate Spice during the event (through city ownership, Alliance Center production, and other sources) still benefits your ranking — but the baseline for that specific war round is set at Stage 0. Defensive Spice accumulation continues to matter right up to the moment Stage 0 begins.

Spice Plunder Mechanics

During the War stage (Stage 4), attacking alliance members destroy buildings at the defending alliance's Alliance Center complex. Each building destroyed transfers a percentage of the defending alliance's current Spice to the attacking alliance.

Critical sequencing rule: destroy secondary buildings before the Alliance Center. This is the most commonly misunderstood rule in Spice Wars.

The four secondary buildings (Mithril Plant, Exploratory Well, Sacred Water Hut, Obelisk) are independent targets, each worth 5%. The Alliance Center is a separate target worth 10%. Both categories must be destroyed to reach the 30% maximum. If you destroy the Alliance Center first, the secondary buildings continue to stand — but destroying them afterward still yields their 5% each. The sequencing issue is not about whether secondaries still give Spice if the Alliance Center is already gone — it is about tactical efficiency: the Alliance Center is the hardest and most defended structure. Destroying secondaries first maximises return if you run out of combat time before destroying every building.

Spice stealing is not contingent on winning the war. Building destruction rewards apply to the attacking alliance regardless of whether their faction wins the overall war outcome. An attacking alliance that destroys all four secondary buildings steals 20% of the defender's Spice even if it loses the war.

Warlord Missile

The Warlord (the R5 of the attacking alliance) can launch the Warlord Missile during Stage 3 (Preparation) or Stage 4 (War).

Launch process:

1. The Warlord initiates the launch from within the game interface.
2. A 3-minute countdown begins.
3. During the countdown, the Warlord's current base location is revealed on the map to all players.
4. The Warlord's base becomes attackable during the countdown.

• Success condition: If the Warlord's base is not breached during the 3-minute window, the missile launches and impacts the declared target area. Effect: a 35×35 tile blast radius is converted to Contaminated Land.
• Failure condition: If the defending alliance breaches the Warlord's base during the 3-minute countdown, the launch fails. A 72-hour cooldown is applied — the Warlord cannot launch again for the next Spice War round.

Defensive counter:

The defending alliance's goal during a missile launch is to locate the revealed Warlord position quickly, assemble an attacking force, and breach the base before the countdown completes. Speed and preparation are decisive.

Attacking alliance protection:

The attacking alliance should protect the Warlord during the countdown window. Position alliance members around the Warlord's base in advance of the launch, have shields ready, and coordinate to delay or repel any defensive breaching attempt.

Optimal launch timing:

Launching during Stage 4 (War) rather than Stage 3 (Preparation) is generally lower-risk. During Preparation, the defending alliance has the full 30-minute Preparation window plus however long into the countdown to locate and breach. During active War, defensive attention is divided between protecting their own buildings and hunting the Warlord.

Defending Your Alliance Center

Alliance Center defense determines how much Spice an attacking alliance can steal from you each war.

Before each war:

• Repair the Alliance Center to full durability (max 200,000 durability; verify current values in-game as this figure has been adjusted by developers previously).
• Station squads on all four secondary buildings, not only the Alliance Center itself. Each secondary building defended is a potential 5% of Spice protected.
• Assign your strongest squads — including Desert Protectors — to defense.

During the war:

• Prioritise destroying attacking squads before they reach buildings. Every attacker eliminated before they can destroy a building prevents Spice loss.
• Coordinate multiple defenders on each building. A single squad defending against a Protector Rally will lose. Stacked defenses are more resilient.
• Monitor for the Warlord Missile launch indicator. If the Warlord's location is revealed, redirect fast squads to the Warlord's position immediately.

Faction Duel — Week 7

Week 7 is the Faction Duel — a six-day campaign to earn Invasion Rights followed by the Capitol War on Day 7.

Days 1–6: Invasion Right Contest

Both factions compete for Invasion Rights through performance across multiple in-game events. The faction with more total Invasion Right points at the end of Day 6 gains the attack initiative in Capitol War.

Points accumulate across all alliances within the faction. Individual alliance performance in Storm Arenas and Desert Storm adds to the faction total — this is a faction-wide competition, not an individual one. Coordinate across warzones within your faction during Week 7 to maximise points from each event category.

Day 7: Capitol War — Sunday at 12:00 server time.

Capitol War

Capitol War is the climatic final battle of Season 3. It is fought between all alliances of the Scarlet Legion and Golden Tribe simultaneously.

Capturing and holding the Capitol awards 10M Spice to the capturing alliance. Each Cannon awards 5M Spice. Alliances that focus solely on the Capitol while ignoring Cannons leave significant Spice unclaimed.

Scale of coordination required:

Capitol War cannot be won through individual alliance action. It requires cross-alliance, cross-warzone faction coordination: agreed attack timing, designated targets (which alliance attacks Capitol, which attacks Cannons), communication channels across all participating warzones, and reserved Desert Protector forces.

Desert Protector deployment:

Reserve your maximum available Desert Protectors specifically for Capitol War. The Protector Rally mechanic (1,250 stationed Protectors) — with its 1-minute countdown, 3× march speed, and leader buff inheritance — is the designed format for Capitol War engagements. Enter Capitol War with Protectors at threshold levels or the difference in combat power relative to opponents who have managed theirs correctly will be significant.

Strategy

Weeks 1–3: Build toward wars

• Build Desert Protector reserves to the 500 threshold as soon as possible (Power of Adaptation's +250 Curse Resistance is useful for Stronghold captures). Build toward 1,250 progressively so Protector Rally is available for Week 4.
• Maximise Spice accumulation before wars begin — the more Spice you hold, the more the enemy can steal and the more you can take from them. Aggressively capture cities and hold them through Week 3.
• Designate War Coordinators in alliance leadership: players responsible for managing declarations, invitations, and Warlord Missile decisions. Have a communication protocol established before Week 4 Day 1.

During wars (Weeks 4–8): attack

• Declaration stage: choose targets deliberately. Consider the enemy alliance's current Spice holdings, the accessibility of their Alliance Center, and which alliance in the enemy faction offers the weakest defense.
• Preparation stage: position squads near the target Alliance Center ahead of War start. Decide whether to launch the Warlord Missile based on the tactical situation and the availability of Warlord protection.
• War stage: destroy secondary buildings first (5% each × 4 = 20%), then the Alliance Center (10%). Do not deviate from this sequence. Coordinate attack timing so multiple squads converge on buildings simultaneously rather than sequentially.
• Deploy Desert Protectors for war engagements. Use Protector Rally when the threshold is met.

During wars (Weeks 4–8): defense

• Repair the Alliance Center to full durability before each war round.
• Station squads on all four secondary buildings and the Alliance Center.
• Prioritise eliminating attackers before buildings are reached.
• If the Warlord Missile is launched, redirect the fastest available squads to breach the Warlord's base within the 3-minute window.

Week 7: Faction Duel

• Coordinate faction-wide participation in Storm Arenas and Desert Storm from Day 1 of Week 7.
• Reserve Desert Protectors through Days 1–6 — do not spend them on Invasion Right contest events. Their value in Capitol War on Day 7 exceeds any benefit from using them earlier.
• Establish cross-alliance communication with your faction before Week 7 begins. Capitol War coordination requires a shared channel with leadership from all participating warzones.

Common Mistakes

FAQ

When do Spice Wars start?

Week 4. Two rounds per week: Wednesday and Saturday.

Can my alliance participate in Spice Wars without being in a faction?

No. All warzones are assigned to either the Scarlet Legion or Golden Tribe factions by Week 3.