Crypts are map sites explored by captains rather than fought by armies, and they pay in the only currency that never gets outgrown: gear materials and gems. Buildings get superseded. Troop tiers get replaced. Research eventually caps. Equipment is the power you keep, and crypts are where it comes from.
The entry requirement is unusual and worth stating first: only a captain carrying no troops can enter a crypt. Crypting is not a march in the ordinary sense. With archaeology research maxed, all three captains plus your hero can be exploring simultaneously, which is the real reason crypting scales.
The three types, and what each one needs
| Type | Starts at | Needs | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | Level 5 | Common Tar | Equipment materials, resources, silver, experience |
| Rare | Level 10 | Rare Tar and a key | Gems, plus better materials |
| Epic | Level 15 | Epic Tar | Materials for the best unique equipment |
Each type runs on its own tar and they do not substitute. Common Tar is produced continuously by your Tar Workshop up to a capacity — which is why the Workshop belongs in your build order if you crypt daily. Rare and Epic Tar are not produced at home at all; they come from tournaments, sales, gold purchases and the Triumphal Challenge.
Access is also gated by Academy research: rare crypts need Crypts II, epic need Crypts III. And the rare-crypt key must match the crypt's level exactly. Keys come from capturing a citadel of that level, from the Fenrir Invasion event shop, or from a clanmate opening it for you.
Common and epic crypts carry a chance of yielding two specific materials instead of one, decided by which crypt you explored. Rare crypts have no such doubling. Different common crypts also concentrate different materials, so you can aim your daily runs at whichever equipment set you are actually building.
The three bonuses, two of which get confused constantly
Crypting is governed by three separate numbers, and two of them sound alike:
- Exploration cost lowers the tar a march spends.
- Exploration efficiency raises how much the progress bar fills per strike.
- Exploration strength is the 10% option in the march window, which multiplies the efficiency result by 1.1.
The distinction matters because of how the arithmetic rounds. Efficiency only saves tar when the extra damage removes a whole strike, since required hits round up to whole numbers. Doubling your efficiency halves your hits; raising it by 15% often saves nothing at all. Cost reduction, by contrast, pays out continuously.
Efficiency comes from archaeology research, hero talents, titles from the Hammer and Anvil and Crypt Raiders tournaments, premium titles, and clan capital technology. Amber is the gem that carries it, and per socket it is the most effective tar saving available.
For scale: about 30% efficiency is enough to one-shot a level 5 common crypt. A level 10 common crypt costs around 336 tar on a well-built account; a level 25 one costs about 20,000.
Why one big march beats several small ones
This is the rule that costs careless players their whole day's tar.
A partly explored crypt can be finished and claimed by any other player on the map. The progress you paid for goes to them, entirely. Sending the cheapest possible march looks like the careful choice and is the one that leaves your work sitting out in the open.
One large hit is better on its own terms too. It returns more materials, more silver and more experience than several small hits totalling the same tar, and it is the only option that carries the ten percent exploration strength bonus.
A crypt taken to a hundred percent also drops a clan chest for everybody. A crypt left at sixty percent is a gift to whoever rides past next.
What the materials become
Gear is crafted at the Forge across eight quality tiers, and crafting quality follows your materials — use materials all of the same tier for the best odds. Sets stack across your hero's six slots and each captain's three, and every piece can carry a gem and an enchantment once socketing is researched.
Crypt runs also quietly drop silver packs of 15,000 or 45,000 into inventory, which is not the point of crypting but adds up to real money over months.
The reason the Atlas calls skipping crypts a permanent disadvantage is arithmetic, not drama. The player who crypted daily for six months is wearing the difference, and there is no purchase that closes it.
Knowledge check
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Who can enter a crypt?
CorrectNot quiteCrypting is captain work, not army work. With archaeology maxed, three captains plus the hero can explore at once.
Why send one large crypt march instead of several cheap ones?
CorrectNot quiteThe progress you paid tar for goes to whoever finishes it. One-shot clears also return more and carry the 10% strength bonus.
Exploration efficiency only saves tar when…
CorrectNot quiteRequired hits round up to whole numbers. A small efficiency gain often saves nothing; doubling it halves the hits.
Which crypt type needs a key as well as tar?
CorrectNot quiteRare crypts need a key matching the crypt's level, from a citadel capture, the Fenrir Invasion shop, or a clanmate.
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