Great Buildings Update – What We Know So Far

The Forge of Empires community is preparing for one of the most significant system updates in years: the Great Buildings overhaul.

While the official announcement outlines the technical changes, guild chats and community channels are already buzzing with speculation, strategy discussions, and a fair amount of cautious optimism.

The update is currently scheduled to arrive first on the Beta server, with no confirmed date yet for live servers. Many players expect the rollout roughly three weeks later, likely landing between the end of the St. Patrick’s event and the start of the Anniversary event — though this remains speculation.

What follows is a breakdown of what the update introduces, and how the community is reacting.

The Core Change: Prestige Tiers

The headline feature of the update is the introduction of Prestige Tiers for Great Buildings.

Instead of simply levelling a building indefinitely, Great Buildings will now progress through three overlapping tiers:

Tier	Level Range
Copper	Levels 1–200
Silver	Levels 101–300
Gold	Levels 201–400

This means that between levels 101 and 200, buildings can benefit from both Copper and Silver bonuses simultaneously, while levels 201–300 combine Silver and Gold effects.

Each tier will require its own blueprint progression, meaning players must unlock new prestige levels beyond the traditional system.

The intention appears to be expanding long-term progression while adding new incentives for advanced players.

Unlocking Levels Will Change

One major mechanical shift concerns how levels are unlocked.

Under the new system:

• Forge Points will still be used for levelling

• Resources, goods, and blueprints will be required to unlock new level ranges

Several players believe this design may discourage a common strategy in the current system — deleting and rebuilding Great Buildings repeatedly to optimise bonuses.

One veteran player commented:

“If you go through the effort of collecting silver and gold blueprints, you won’t delete a GB so easily again. That’s probably exactly what the developers want.”

In other words, the update may aim to make Great Buildings feel more permanent and long-term investments.

Possible Changes to Ranking Points

Another major adjustment will affect ranking points.

According to the official notes, the current ranking system will be replaced with a new calculation that reflects the updated costs and mechanics of Great Buildings.

Players may notice their ranking points change after the update.

However, the community is still debating one unresolved question:

What happens to ranking points from goods already invested beyond certain levels?

Some players expect these points to be recalculated or partially removed if goods are refunded during the transition.

Others suspect that only the GB tier adjustments themselves will affect rankings.

Until the feature hits Beta servers, the exact outcome remains unclear.

Strategy Questions Already Emerging

With the update approaching, players are already asking strategic questions:

• Should Great Buildings be rushed to level 100 now?

• Is there an advantage to unlocking higher levels early?

• Will certain buildings become stronger or weaker after the change?

  
  

Moderators and experienced players have largely advised patience.

Based on current information, there appears to be no immediate advantage to rushing early levels, though high-level players capable of pushing buildings far beyond 100 may benefit depending on how the prestige tiers scale.

The final answer will depend heavily on the exact stat bonuses assigned to the new tiers.

Concerns From Long-Time Players

While many players welcome new progression systems, some veterans are approaching the update with mixed feelings.

After years of optimisation, many cities are already heavily built around event buildings, which often outperform Great Buildings in efficiency.

One player with more than a decade of gameplay experience remarked:

“For newer players it’s exciting — something new to aim for. But after ten years… it’s harder to stay motivated to rebuild everything again.”

Others believe the update could force broader gameplay adjustments.

If Great Buildings start offering significantly stronger bonuses, developers may need to rebalance Guild Expedition and Guild Battlegrounds difficulty levels.

As one player joked:

“I’m tired of clicking six thousand fights on level one just because I can.”

The Unknown Factor: Actual Bonus Numbers

Perhaps the biggest unanswered question is simple:

How strong will the new bonuses be?

Players note that the success of the system will depend entirely on the numbers.

If bonuses remain small, event buildings may continue to dominate city design. But if prestige tiers provide major combat boosts, Great Buildings could regain their role as core strategic structures.

For now, many players are waiting for the Beta release to begin calculations.

Or, as one moderator put it:

“See you all in spreadsheet-land.”

What Happens Next

The upcoming Beta release will provide the first opportunity to test the system in practice.

Players will finally see:

• The exact blueprint requirements

• The strength of prestige bonuses

• How rankings and refunds are handled

• Whether the new system truly reshapes late-game strategy

  
  

Until then, the Forge of Empires community continues to do what it does best:

Analyse, speculate, prepare spreadsheets and saw panic and fake news!