The barbarians are a constant threat to Catan. Fortunately, the cities are not defenseless. Scouts and spies observe the savage peoples and inform the City Council in case the barbarians go on a raid. At the Town Hall, the citizens can find out about the degree of threat. It is the responsibility of your Mayor and City Council members to warn the population and organize resistance. In this context, each citizen is called upon to improve city defense by making donations to the City Guard and thus fend off the barbarians. Should the latter fail, the price can be very high. If the City Guard fends the barbarians off, the city receives a Victory Statue.

There are three barbarian attacks per game period: the first one after 2 months (60 days), the second one after 3.5 months (105 days), and the third one after 5 months (150 days).

Large, rich cities are more at risk than small, poor cities. This is expressed by the city's danger value. The higher the danger value, the more likely it is overrun by the barbarians.

• Protection value:
  The protection value of a city has to be renewed after every barbarian attack.

• Culture value buildings :
  Sum of the culture points of all common buildings of the city.

• Culture value Active Citizens :

  Sum of the personal culture values of all Active Citizens of the city. To calculate an Active Citizen's culture value, the sum of culture points for house, garden, and pet is divided by the "Active Citizens factor."

The city's culture value (culture value buildings + culture value Active Citizens) is frozen at 12:00 a.m. CET on the day of the attack, to avoid last-minute fluctuations. These frozen values can be viewed with the menu option "Barbarian Threat".

For each barbarian attack, a safe zone is defined. If the city is able to lower its danger value until reaching the safe zone, it will fend off the barbarians for sure. If not, its safety depends on the position it occupies in the danger value ranking list of the cities.

Example: If the danger value at the moment of the 1st barbarian attack is below or equal to 18, then the city is safe.

Personal Protection

Each citizen has the possibility to individually protect himself against the barbarians. If the city fails to fend off the barbarians, the personal possessions of citizens who donated enough to the City Guard to lower their personal danger value until reaching the safe zone are protected. The values for the safte zone correspond to the values for the city (see above) .The city wall bonus counts only towards the city, not towards personal protection.

Example: A citizen with house level 5, clothing level 4, and 3 trees in the garden (total culture value: 73) needs to make 5 donations to the City Guard to be safe.

The safety status of a player and the number of donations still needed to reach the safe zone can be viewed in one's own house / in the Hostel.

Effects of an Attack:

1st Barbarian Attack

2nd Barbarian Attack

3rd Barbarian Attack

Example: When the 1st barbarian attack occurs, 4 cities managed to reach the safe zone below the danger value of 18. The rest of the cities with higher danger values are distributed among the remaining 22 places. As before, the cities on place 14-24 are also safe. The cities on place 1-13 are downgraded by one level. The house level and clothing level of each citizen in these cities is also downgraded by 1 - unless he/she makes sufficient donations to the City so that his/her personal danger value drops below 18.

Example: On the occasion of the 2nd barbarian attack, 16 cities make it into the safe zone below the danger value of 20. All other cities are distributed among the remaining 10 places. The cities on place 9-10 are downgraded by 1 level, and the cities on place 1-8 are downgraded by 2 levels.

Important: You cannot lose your house. The house always remains; in the worst case, it is downgraded to level 1.

If the city fails to reach the safe zone, the buildings to lose one level are determined randomly. If the lost level is rebuilt, the corresponding costs cannot fall below the original building costs; at the most, they may rise (see Continuing the Expansion).

The number of days left until the next barbarian attack is displayed in the Town Hall ("Barbarian Threat"). The barbarian attack takes place around 1 p.m. CET, after the donations generated by the Arsenal / City Wall for this day are distributed. As long as a city isn't already in the safe zone, even in the last moment there may be changes regarding the magnitude of threat the city is exposed to.

City of Defenders

For the title "City of Defenders" (see Town Hall) the success of the city in defending the barbarians and the success of its hero is crucial.

The hero is the player of the city who, until the end of the 3rd barbarian attack, made the most donations to the City Guard (hero value in the chart "Citizen Titles" in the Town Hall or in your own house). All donations count, no matter in which city this player made them. The place of residence in the Catan Online World at the time scoring takes place is crucial for the awarding of the title. The title is only symbolic and doesn't have any benefits. If, afterwards, the hero moves to another city or cancels his/her account, the hero strength remains unchanged, and the name of the hero remains too.

At the end of the game period, the trophies and titles are distributed as follows:

The Old Barbarian Attack (in the 2nd Game Period)

The barbarians are a constant threat to Catan. Fortunately, the cities are not defenseless. Scouts and spies observe the savage peoples and inform the City Council in case the barbarians go on a raid. At the Town Hall, the citizens can find out about the degree of threat. It is the responsibility of your Mayor and City Council members to warn the population and organize resistance. In this context, each citizen is called upon to improve city defense by making donations to the City Guard and thus fend off the barbarians. Should the latter fail, the price can be very high. If the City Guard fends the barbarians off, the city receives a Victory Statue.

There are three barbarian attacks per game period: the first one after 2 months (60 days), the second one after 3.5 months (105 days), and the third one after 5 months (150 days).

Large, rich cities are more at risk than small, poor cities. This is expressed by the city's danger value. The higher the danger value, the more likely it is overrun by the barbarians.

• Protection value:
  Sum of all donations to the City Guard made by the citizens (incl. City Wall). The protection value of a city has to be renewed after every barbarian attack.

• Culture value Buildings:
  Sum of the culture points of all common buildings of the city.

• Culture value Active Citizens:

  Sum of the personal culture values of all Active Citizens of the city. To calculate an Active Citizen's culture value, the sum of culture points for house, garden, and pet is divided by the "Active Citizens factor".

Effects of an Attack:

1st Barbarian Attack

(danger value in descending order)

2nd Barbarian Attack

(danger value in descending order)

3rd Barbarian Attack

(danger value in descending order)

Example: If, during the 1st barbarian attack, a city is among the 50% of cities with the lowest danger value, it is spared. Cities belonging to the other 50% each lose 1 randomly determined expansion level, and each of their citizens loses one house level and one clothing level.

Important: You cannot lose your house. The house always remains; in the worst case, it is downgraded to level 1.

There is no individual protection against the barbarians. Only the city as a whole can succeed against the barbarians - or fail. If the city fails, the buildings to lose one level are determined randomly. If the lost level is rebuilt, the corresponding costs cannot fall below the original building costs; at the most, they may rise (see Continuing the Expansion).

The number of days left until the next barbarian attack is displayed in the Town Hall ("Barbarian Threat"). The barbarian attack takes place around 12 noon CET, after the donations generated by the Arsenal / City Wall for this day are distributed. That way, even in the last moment there may be changes regarding the magnitude of threat the city is exposed to.

City of Defenders

In the list "City Titles" (see Town Hall), each city receives twice as many minus points as the number of expansion levels it has lost. At the end of the game period, the heroes of the 5 most successful cities contribute plus points. After the 3rd barbarian attack of the game period, the citizens of Catan prepare for the capture of a barbarian stronghold. For this purpose, by the end of the game period each city sends out a hero.

Hero

The hero is the player of the city who, until the end of the 3rd barbarian attack, made the most donations to the City Guard (hero value in the chart "Citizen Titles" in the Town Hall or in your own house). All donations count, no matter in which city the hero made them. The place of residence in the Catan Online World at the time scoring takes place is crucial for the awarding of the title. The number of donations made by the hero is the starting value of the hero strength. If, afterwards, the hero moves to another city or cancels his/her account, the hero strength remains unchanged, and the name of the hero remains too.

After the 3rd barbarian attack and until the end of the game period, each donation to the City Guard counts towards the hero strength, as follows:

If a city can successfully use its hero strength to secure one of the top positions as compared to the other cities, its defender value increases as a function of the position and, therefore, its possibility to receive the title "City of Defenders" also increases. In case of a tie, the city with fewer "Active Citizens" wins (as with the title "Capital of Catan").

• Best hero: 7 points
• Second best hero: 5 points
• Third best hero: 3 points
• Fourth best hero: 2 points
• Fifth best hero: 1 point

The result can make quite a difference in the struggle for this title, and the City Guard continues to have an important function, even after the last barbarian attack.

Example: A city emerged unharmed from the first two barbarian attacks but lost two levels during the last attack. At the final count, it has the third best hero. Therefore, the column "City of Defenders" shows a value of -1 for this city.