The Settlers: Heritage of Kings (), released as Heritage of Kings: The Settlers in North America, is a 2004 real-time strategy video game for Windows. Developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, it was released in Germany in November 2004, and in the United Kingdom, North America, and Australia in February 2005. It is the fifth game in The Settlers series. In 2005, Blue Byte released two expansions, The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Expansion Disc () and The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Legends Expansion Disc (), in March and September respectively, featuring new single-player campaign missions, new maps for both single-player and multiplayer modes, a map editor, and a random map generator. In November, The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - Gold Edition was released, containing the original game and the first expansion. In 2009, the original game was also released on GOG.com. In 2018, the game was re-released as The Settlers: Heritage of Kings - History Edition.
In the game's single-player campaign, the player controls Dario, a young man who is shocked to learn he is the rightful heir to the throne of a once prosperous, but now war-torn and divided country. Joined by a group of loyal supporters, Dario sets out to depose the current king by uniting the princedoms into which the country has split. The Expansion Disc takes place several years later; when building work on a major new bridge stops under mysterious circumstances, Dario and his companions are called upon to investigate.
Originally intended as a cross-platform title that would also include PlayStation 2 and GameCube releases, Heritage of Kings was specifically designed as a new type of Settlers game, one intended to appeal to North American gamers. After seeking feedback, Blue Byte decided to move the game away from its pseudo-city building origins, and more in the direction of a traditional real-time strategy. As a result, although still built upon supply and demand-based gameplay, the game mechanics are fundamentally different from previous titles. The game was also the first in the series to feature 3D graphics.
Heritage of Kings received mixed reviews, with many critics arguing the graphical changes, streamlining of micromanagement, and foregrounding of combat stripped the game of the unique Settlers identity. The graphics, animations and sound effects were generally praised, but the AI, mission design, combat strategy, and slow pace were criticised. The game was a commercial success, selling over 200,000 units in Germany within the first two months of its release. By 2006, worldwide sales had reached 500,000 units, of which 350,000 were sold in the German market.
Gameplay The Settlers: Heritage of Kings is a real-time strategy game, controlled via a point and click interface, in which the primary goal on most maps is to build a settlement with a functioning economy, producing sufficient military units so as to defeat the opponent. To achieve this end, the player must engage in economic micromanagement, construct buildings, research new technologies, manage taxation and workers' motivation, and gather resources. Although the game is loosely built around the same supply and demand-based gameplay as seen in previous Settlers titles, the game mechanics are substantially different, with less focus on micromanagement and daisy-chain economic processes, and more on gathering resources, technology trees, and combat.
Game modes The game can be played in one of two modes; single-player or multiplayer. In single-player mode, the player can play either campaign missions or individual non-campaign games. In campaign mode, the player must complete a series of missions, the goal of most of which is to defeat the computer controlled opponent or opponents by destroying their keep. In the original release of the game, there were fifteen campaign missions. The Expansion Disc add-on added a new campaign of nine missions. The Legends Expansion Disc added three campaigns of four missions each, and one of five missions, with each campaign built around a different gameplay principal; defense, offence, defeating larger armies, and construction and resource management.
In multiplayer mode, which can be played via a LAN or online, the player picks a map on which to play, assigns starting positions, then selects the type of game to be played, choosing from "Conquest" (each player/team competes against one another, with the winner being the last player or team whose keep remains standing), "Technology Race" (the winner is the first player/team to research all technologies in the university), or "Point Game" (a one-hour game in which the player/team with the most points at the end wins, with points awarded for researching new technologies and successfully destroying buildings belonging to opposing players).
Serfs and workers
Whether playing in single-player or multiplayer mode, each game begins roughly the same way; the player is positioned at a set location on the map, with a prebuilt keep, usually in the vicinity of a site on which they can construct a village centre so as to begin their settlement. The basic gameplay revolves around serfs, the only units capable of constructing new buildings, repairing damage to pre-existing buildings, gathering wood, and extracting resources without the need to construct a mine or quarry. Each mission begins with a predetermined number of serfs already available, but thereafter, any additional serfs must be purchased from the keep. Serfs do not require lodgings, nor do they consume produce, but they also do not pay taxes. Aside from the keep, the settlement's main building is the village centre. Unlike most buildings, which the player has relative freedom to place, village centres can only be built on specific sites. The village centre determines the upper limit of the village's population size, and once this limit has been reached, the player must either upgrade the centre or find another site on which to build an additional centre.
Unlike all previous Settlers titles, in Heritage of Kings, the player can directly control serfs, such as ordering them to chop down trees in a particular location, or scout unexplored territory. If a serf is attacked, he will attempt to flee, but the player can order him to defend himself, which he will do with his fists. Players also have the option of ordering serfs to take up arms and form a militia. The player can order militia members to return to regular serf duties at any time.
Whereas in previous Settlers titles, serfs populated and performed the requisite task of each building, in Heritage of Kings, serfs are differentiated from workers. Once the serfs have constructed a building which requires workers, those workers will automatically emerge from the village centre and occupy the building. Once employed, workers will begin to pay taxes, but in return, they require lodgings and room at a farm. The closer the lodgings and farm are to their workplace, the more productive they will be. Proximity of workplace, lodgings and farm will also increase their stamina (allowing them to work more hours a day). Their motivation, which determines their productivity, can be further increased by building decorative monuments and places of worship. In each building, the player also has the option to order overtime. However, this will diminish workers' motivation. Introduced in the Expansion Disc were scouts and thieves. Scouts can see for great distances, thus illuminating new territory. They are also able to indicate the direction of the nearest resource site, even if it is not currently visible on-screen, and they can drop torches anywhere on the map, allowing the player to monitor that location for a period of time even after the scout has left the area. Thieves can steal resources, sabotage enemy buildings, and are the only units capable of destroying bridges and diffusing enemy bombs.
Economy Stone, iron, clay and sulfur can be found in small piles, which can be excavated by serfs, or mined in much larger quantities once the player has located a shaft or quarry. Wood must be chopped down by serfs. The player can also build refineries to increase the processing of each of the available five resources, and the game's currency, thalers. A major change to the mechanics in Heritage of Kings is that serfs do not transport resources to refineries and construction sites. Instead, resources are automatically deposited into the player's keep and storehouse (once one has been built), and the various refinery workers collect the materials themselves. In the case of construction, the necessary resources are automatically transferred to the build site without having to be physically transported.
Another new feature in the game's economic system is the ability to upgrade buildings. Depending on the building, upgrades can increase efficiency or capacity, grant access to new military units and abilities, or allow access to new technologies. Different types of technological research is carried out in different buildings, and can increase productivity, enhance combat abilities, or grant access to new buildings, upgrades and further technologies. Also new to Heritage of Kings is taxation, which is the only way for the player to acquire thalers, which, in turn, are the only way of hiring new serfs and recruiting an army. On payday, every worker in the city pays taxes at a rate set by the player.
Military In the original release of the game, there were seven classes of military unit; swordsmen, spearmen, archers, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, light cannons, and heavy cannons. The Expansion Disc added two additional units; light sharpshooters and heavy sharpshooters. Within each class, there are various ranks, each of which requires a certain amount of technological research before becoming available.
When the player recruits any unit except a cannon, that unit is automatically a captain, and, provided there are sufficient thalers and resources, a set number of soldiers are simultaneously recruited and assigned to that captain, with the upper size of a captain's group determined by his rank. Once a captain has units assigned, and at least one of those units remains alive, he is invulnerable in battle. When units within his group have been killed, a captain can return to the vicinity of the barracks, where the player can recruit replacement units without the need to recruit another captain.
New to Heritage of Kings is the ability to use heroes. In the original game, there were six playable heroes available in the single-player campaign, and three additional heroes available in multiplayer. The Expansion Disc added two heroes to the single-player game and one to multiplayer, and Legends allowed players to use the three multiplayer-only heroes from the original game in single-player missions. Each hero has his or her own attributes and abilities, and once used, an ability cannot be used again until a certain amount of time has passed. If a hero is defeated in battle, he/she becomes unresponsive, but if the player can keep enemy units away from the fallen hero, they will eventually revive. Which heroes the player can use is predetermined by the map on which they are playing, whether in single-player campaign mode, single-player non-campaign mode, or multiplayer mode.