Imperial Ducats are a rare currency capped at 2,000
Imperial Ducats are one of the rarest late-game currencies - a multipurpose currency that pays for research in the Hall of Legends, upgrades to relic districts and purchases at the Master Blacksmith. Unlike coins or rubies they have a hard ceiling: you can never hold more than 2,000 ducats. This article covers all four ways to obtain them, everything they are spent on, and how to manage the cap so that no ducat is ever wasted.
What Imperial Ducats are for
Imperial Ducats are a multipurpose currency for players on legendary levels. You spend them on three kinds of things:
1. Research in the Hall of Legends - part of the legendary research tree is paid for in ducats.
2. Building and upgrading relic districts - ducats are required from the higher district levels:
| Building | Ducats required from level |
|---|---|
| Relic Military District | 12 and above |
| Relic Food District | 12 and above |
| Relic Trade District | 14 and above |
| Relic Inner District | 14 and above |
3. Purchases at the Master Blacksmith - soldiers, tools and other goods, with a much richer selection during the Rift Raid event, when event items are sold for ducats.
The key restriction: the maximum stock is 2,000 ducats. Anything above the cap is simply not granted, so ducats cannot be hoarded indefinitely and have to be planned for.
Four sources of ducats
Ducats currently flow from four sources:
| Source | Condition |
|---|---|
| Mystery Box at the Master Blacksmith | purchase for rubies |
| Berimond events | top 1, top 50 and top 100 in the rankings |
| The Battle for Berimond | at least 200,000 points |
| Kingdom's League | 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th promotion - requires a promotion pass or season pass |
Ducats also appear in event rewards - the Rift Raid, for instance, pays 10 to 15 ducats for high point thresholds and for boss defeats on the higher levels.
Note the structure: three of the four sources are performance based (rankings and point thresholds) and the fourth is ruby based. A free-to-play player realistically counts on ducats mainly from the Battle for Berimond (200,000 points is achievable through regular participation) and from Rift Raid thresholds; league ducats are tied to a paid pass.
Managing the 2,000 cap
The 2,000 ceiling changes the strategy from collecting as much as possible to never wasting the cap:
1. Make room before a Berimond event. If you are pushing for 200,000 points or a top 100 finish while sitting on 1,900 ducats, part of the reward will be lost. Spend ducats on a planned district upgrade or research before the rewards arrive.
2. Permanent things come first. Hall of Legends research and relic district levels are permanent - soldiers and tools at the Master Blacksmith are consumable. As long as you still have districts to pour ducats into (military and food from level 12, trade and inner from 14), postpone consumable purchases.
3. The exception: Rift Raid offers. During the Rift Raid the Master Blacksmith stocks goods you cannot buy for ducats at any other time - if you are not building a district right now, the event offer is a legitimate target.
4. Treat Mystery Boxes as a last resort. Buying ducats through ruby Mystery Boxes only pays off when you are a small amount short of a planned upgrade; as a systematic source it is the most expensive route.