Bounties

A bounty is a promise made to the sea — and the sea takes its share in advance.

TL;DR: A bounty is a pot of gold on another captain. Whoever places it pays gold from their own pocket; part of it burns at once, the rest waits in the pot. The first solo attack battle won against one of the target's islands takes the pot — the winner may stand at most one league above the target (downwards it is open), and whoever has paid in never collects. If nobody takes it, the rest flows back to those who placed it; the burned share stays burned. None of it is secret: everyone sees whose head a pot sits on and who filled it.

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What a Bounty Is #

A bounty is a public pot of gold on another captain. It is not a contract with a particular hunter but a prize anyone may take who meets the rules. Each target has exactly one open pot — several captains may pay into the same pot, and the pot grows with every stake.

Three things define a bounty. First: it always costs. Part of every stake burns immediately and never returns — whoever puts someone on the board pays for it, even if in the end nobody collects. Second: it is never anonymous. The pot stands on the board with the target's name and the names of everyone who placed it, and the target is told. Third: it comes from your own gold only — never from the alliance treasury, and gold cannot be bought anywhere.

The Bounty Board #

You find the board under "Bounty" in the menu bar (on phones, in the ☰ menu). Two shortcuts lead there as well: the "Place a bounty" button on another captain's profile — it fills that name into the form right away — and, as soon as a pot sits on you, the notice on your island page.

The board has four tabs: “My ocean” shows pots on captains with an island in your ocean, “All” pots from across the world, “My alliance” pots on members and pots they have staked in, and “On me” the pot on you. The lists show a limited selection of the largest open pots. Each row names the target, pot, cap, deadline and placers. Below are the form and “My stakes”, with your stakes and their state — in the pot, refund on its way, refunded, paid to the hunter, not accepted or, if no island remains for a refund, refund impossible.

Placing a Bounty #

To place a bounty you enter the target's player name and your stake in gold. The gold is debited from the island you currently have selected — it has to be there. Before the stake is accepted, the game asks once more, because the burn is immediate and final. A stake once placed cannot be withdrawn; it stays in the pot until the pot is paid out or closes.

When placing a bounty, you can pick a reason from a fixed list; it appears on the board next to your name.

Who Can Be a Target #

You may only place a bounty on a captain

• who is active and stands at least in the Anchor league — a captain with scheduled deletion still counts as active until the account is actually deleted,
• whom you would be allowed to attack — no beginner protection, no excessive gap in strength; the same rules as for an attack apply,
• who stands at most one league below you — upwards there is no limit,
• who does not belong to your own alliance; your alliance’s treaties normally prevent a bounty, but an open revenge claim can allow an exception,
• on whom no pot is currently in its rest period (more on that below).

You cannot place anything on yourself, and you need a ranking placement of your own. While you yourself are in Vacation Mode, you can neither place a bounty nor add to one — end the vacation and the board is open to you again. If something does not fit, the form tells you — some reasons it deliberately states only in general terms, so that the board never gives away what a captain is up to.

Nobody can place or add to a bounty on a captain who stands in a running feud until its truce is over (see the Events chapter).

Stake, Burn and Pot #

Every stake must currently be at least five thousand gold. Part burns immediately. The form names the share and shows a fixed example of what burns and what enters the pot; it does not calculate your entered amount there. The burn returns neither on a payout nor on a refund. You can currently have gold in at most three open pots at once; adding to one of those opens no new pot.

Lifetime and Cap #

The first stake opens the pot and sets its deadline — currently one week. Further stakes can extend it, up to the maximum lifetime. The target’s vacation pauses do not count towards that lifetime and also shift its limit. The board shows the current deadline.

Every pot has a cap that follows the target's league and is fixed when the pot opens — the board shows it next to the pot. A stake that would exceed the cap is refused, and refused in full: none of it burns, nothing is debited.

Who Takes the Pot #

The pot goes to the first solo attack battle won against one of the target's islands while the pot is open. This is checked at the moment of the battle, and everything has to come together:

• The attacker won a solo battle without conquering the island. Winning a sea strike alone is not enough.
• The island still belonged to the target on arrival. What counts is always who owns the island at that moment.
• Both sides genuinely fought. A sham fight against an empty island or with a tiny fleet pays nothing. Comrades keeping watch on the target's island do not count as the target's own stake — if the alliance alone holds the coast, the pot stays open.
• The winner stands at most one league above the target. Downwards there is no limit: whoever bites their way up may collect.
• The winner does not belong to the target's alliance and has paid nothing into this pot.
• Ties to the target’s circle can rule out a payout, such as alliances, non-aggression pacts, deliveries of goods or former alliance membership.
• The protection and participation conditions for a payout are met. The battle report may tell you a reason for exclusion.

The pot lands on the island the victorious fleet set out from — if that has changed hands in the meantime, on your main island. Whatever does not fit into the warehouse is lost; the combat report tells you. The line "Bounty collected" appears only in your own report and in the target's — publicly shared reports and the chronicles do not show it. For your warehouse the pot counts like a delivery from an outside source, with everything that applies to such deliveries.

What Never Pays #

• Combined attack waves and successful conquests. A colonization voyage without a conquest can count if it wins the battle and meets the other conditions. A pure sea strike does not pay.
• Defensive wins: whoever repels the target at home has not beaten it on its island.
• Wins by a placer against their own target — the pot then stays open for others.
• Wins by the target's comrades from the same alliance.
• Wins excluded because of ties to the target’s circle. Your battle report tells you in one sentence, and the pot stays open for other hunters.
• Fights in which one side committed nothing serious.
• Wins by a captain who stands more than one league above the target.

When a win does not pay, nothing is lost: the pot stays open until the next one comes — or the deadline runs out.

If Nobody Collects #

When the deadline expires, the pot closes shortly afterwards and each placer gets their stake back minus the burn — on its source island or, if that is no longer yours, on your main island. The same happens if the target is no longer active, is banned or has been fully deleted. A scheduled deletion alone does not end the pot. Under “My stakes” you see the refund’s status, for example “refund on its way”. If storage space is missing, the refund waits until there is room; it is not lost because of this. The bounty page shows the pending refund. If no island of your own remains, it ends at “refund impossible”.

If the target enters Vacation Mode, the pot does not end — it pauses. The clock stops, the gold stays in the pot and nobody gets anything back; instead of the deadline the board shows that the target is away. You cannot add to it during that time, and a new pot cannot be placed on a target already at anchor anyway. When the target returns, the clock picks up exactly the time it had left when they dropped anchor. The anchorage is therefore no escape route from the board.

After every closed pot — paid out, expired or ended — the target gets a rest period: currently seven days in which nobody can place a new pot on it. So a captain cannot be kept on the board permanently.

What the Target Sees #

Whoever stands on the board is told. The island page shows a notice with the amount and the deadline plus a link to the board, and the harbor's messengers report it — at most once a day per pot, even if several captains add to it; and once more when the pot has been collected. In the "On me" tab the target sees the pot, the deadline and everyone who placed it, by name. If the pot is collected, the target's combat report says so too.

What the target can do is what a captain can always do: bring the fleet to safety, defend the coast, send a distress call to the alliance. Comrades keeping watch do not count as the target's stake — whoever wants the pot has to face the target itself. And whoever does not take the pot does the target no harm either: a bounty takes nothing from anyone, it only tempts.

What Stays Fair #

• No bounty on protected newcomers or your own alliance. Treaties normally protect partners; an open revenge claim can allow an exception.
• No anonymous bounty: those who place it stand on the board by name.
• No gold from the treasury and none that could be bought — your own only.
• A league band applies on both sides: the target stands at most one league below the placer, the winner at most one league above the target. For the winner the band is open downwards: a smaller captain who beats a stronger target may collect.
• A cap per target, at most three pots per placer, a rest period after every pot.
• No reminders and no nagging: the board sends no message to placers when a pot is about to expire. If the pot is collected, you learn it once — with the time and the hunter under "My stakes".

Frequently Asked Questions #

Can I withdraw my bounty? No. Once placed, the stake stays in the pot until it is paid out or closes — then the rest comes back. The burn is lost either way.

Can I take my own pot? No. Whoever has gold in a pot does not collect it — if you beat the target yourself, the pot stays open for others.

Does a battle against one of the target's colonies count? Yes. Every island counts that belongs to the target at the moment of arrival.

The target lost the island before I arrived — what now? Then the island no longer belonged to the target when you arrived, and your win does not take this pot. What counts is always the owner at the moment of the battle.

Does the whole world see the bounty? Yes — “All” publicly lists pots from across the world with their targets and placers; the list shows a limited selection. The payout remains private: it appears in both parties’ battle reports, and placers see it under “My stakes”. Public chronicles show no bounty line.

My warehouse was full — where is the gold? For a won pot, whatever does not fit is lost; the battle report names the amount. A refund of your stake waits for free storage space instead. You can see its status on the bounty page.

Can I place a bounty on someone much stronger than me? Yes. Upwards there is no limit — only downwards: at most one league below you.

Why can't I place a bounty on a target right now, although everything seems to fit? Most likely the target is in its rest period after a closed pot, or it cannot be targeted at the moment. The board deliberately states such reasons only in general terms.