Cocklefighting

Shallowmere is the one place on the Shore you build, and the one place nobody can attack you.

The town you build#

The town runs on three things: gold from fights, materials from drops, and rest, which is time spent in town.

Every building has a rarity, a footprint in plots, a level cap and one boon. Only a standing building pays its boon. A stored one keeps its levels and pays nothing. Storing and placing are free, so the layout is meant to be rearranged.

The town has four doors. The Square is Mayor Cobble’s: the town as it stands, the two crews, rest, and every standing building. The Barnacle Yard is Gantry’s: every plan, found or not, the materials, and the next ring of ground. The Commons is the town’s shared ground, kept by the Mayor: 9 sites for civic buildings, which unlock an action rather than a boon (see below). The Harbour Roll is every other town on the water, and your lodgings.

The ground#

The square starts at 4×4 plots and grows one ring at a time to 9×9. Each charter costs 4x the last and needs a minimum town level. Town level is every level of every building you have raised, standing or stored.

Fully chartered, the town holds 81 plots. The catalogue wants 141, so you can never stand everything at once. A building can be turned a quarter to swap its footprint.

The chart below is the cheapest route to each town level: every build order in the catalogue, taken in ascending price. It is a floor, not a plan.

Both axes are logarithmic. Town level 213 is the whole catalogue at its peak, standing and stored together.

Plans#

A building needs its plan first. Plans drop from rewarded wins on their own roll, about 7% of them, lifted by the Salvage boon.

The rarity ladder steers the draw: common plans arrive early and often, a hall is the tail of the draw. Only plans for buildings your level can raise are ever drawn.

The draw runs over every plan you could raise, not only the ones you lack. A find that lands on a plan you already hold gives nothing that win. Gantry keeps a ledger of those. After 8, the next find is drawn from what you still lack, at the same odds and level gate, and the ledger resets.

Three things keep it fair. The first plan is free to every cockle (The Tide Gate, which lengthens your rest). Every successful roll is a plan you didn’t have. And a plan can never be taken: no raid, defeat or thief touches one.

Buildings only ever accumulate. The Barnacle Yard shows the plans you hold as cards and the rest as grey silhouettes, so you always know how much of the town is still out there.

Materials#

Every build order costs materials as well as gold. Materials can’t be bought: they drop from rewarded wins and from a bare daily dredge (+1 Driftwood Timber, +2 Shore Shingle). The Salvage boon lifts the odds. What an order needs is set by the building’s rarity, the same for the first build and every upgrade.

Materials are thin on purpose. The heaviest single order takes about a fortnight of ordinary fighting to supply. Gold, in the millions, is still the long pole of a finished town.

The last two materials are relics. The Siren Keystone and the Leviathan Rib are prised off the things the Shore’s oldest stories are about. Only mythic and legendary buildings ask for them, they only drop near the levels that need them, and their caps barely hold one order’s worth.

Building materials: rarity, drop odds and hold capacities

Material	Rarity	Drop / rewarded win	Quantity	Inventory cap
Shore Shingle	common	7%	1-3	60
Driftwood Timber	uncommon	5%	1-2	40
Shellstone Block	rare	3.2%	1	20
Tideglass Pane	epic	2.1%	1	8
Siren Keystone	mythic	1.6%	1	4
Leviathan Rib	legendary	1%	1	3

Build orders#

Gantry keeps the plans in the yard, each with what it pays, what it costs and how much rest its next order needs. The yard runs 2 orders at a time, and their clocks only run while you rest with hours left. Turns are for fights; rest is for building.

Leaving town pauses the clock, and so does running out of rest hours. Nothing is lost by stopping. Cancelling an order refunds the gold and materials in full and forfeits the progress.

Building names the plot. You take the plan to the Square, tap the ground you want, and the gold and materials go down with it. The site stands as a hoarding while the yard works and pays nothing until it opens. Moving and placing are free.

A first build takes the building’s base hours. Each upgrade takes 30% longer per level, capped at 16h per order, before the Build time boon cuts it (up to 36% from the catalogue).

Resting#

Resting in town is the only cover on the Shore. While you rest and your rest hours last:

• Nobody can attack you. Your rows on the fight board, the leaderboard and your profile carry a Sheltered badge with a dead Fight button. The attack is refused server-side.
• The rest of the Shore shuts. You are in the town, not visiting it. Every other tab goes dark and the routes turn you away. Town stays open, and leaving it is what opens the rest again. This holds for the whole stay, rest hours or not.
• Your rested bonus fills 3 times as fast. Out on the Shore it refills at 1% of a level an hour.
• Build orders advance. Nothing else moves them, and they stop when your rest hours run out, even if you stay in town. Hours of rest are hours of building.
• The town pays you. A resting cockle draws a stipend from the town’s own takings, at 4g an hour per town level for a level 60 cockle. It scales with your level, grows with everything you raise, and is owed even when the yard is idle. Harbour dues add to it, and the tables below give the whole scale.
• Your gear is careened. With a Careening Beach or a Drydock, wear comes off your equipped gear by the hour. Slower than the Forge, and free.

The day turns twice, every 12 hours at UTC midnight and noon, and each turn brings a fresh watch of rest hours. A bare town holds 2h a watch (4h a day). The two shelter buildings take the day to 17.1h between them. The Tide Gate buys the early hours cheaply; Siren’s Rest turns a night’s sleep into most of a day.

Past a watch’s quota, the orders stop, the stipend stops and rivals can reach you again until the next turn. Leaving shuts the causeway for 0.5h, about 6 turns of regen, so a session is fought out and then rested, not ducked in and out of.

What resting pays#

Two things pay you by the resting hour, and they add into one rate. The stipend is 4g an hour per town level. Rest pay is a boon like any other, so its buildings must be standing.

The stipend needs nothing standing. It is priced on town level, so every level you have ever raised counts, in store or not.

Both are quoted for a level 60 cockle and scale to whoever is resting, on the same curve as gold from fights. Every figure on this page is the level 60 figure. Multiply by your own row below.

The whole rate is capped at 2400g an hour at that level, so the ceiling rises with you as the rate does. Past the quota the payments stop until the day turns, so a day of resting never out-earns a day of fighting. Fractions carry rather than round away, so ten short stays are worth exactly one long one.

“Shelter that day” is the rest hours a town of that level can hold, from the bare 2h up to 17.1h with both shelter buildings at their peak. The last column is the stipend alone across a full day of it. Harbour dues sit on top: at the catalogue’s peak the two together come to 2400g an hour.

Boons and their caps#

Every boon is capped across the whole town, and the catalogue sits under every cap even fully built. Boons that make something cheaper or smaller are written with a minus, so a chip always reads as what the building does.

Every building#

A building is worth its per-level value times its level. Each upgrade costs 1.42x the last. Level caps follow the forge rule: common buildings take many small upgrades (10 levels), legendary ones a few big ones (5).

Every Shallowmere building: footprint, boon, costs, materials and level ceiling

Building	Plots	Boon	At its peak	Found	To the peak	Materials / order	Sheltered rest to peak	Unlocks at
The Tide Gate	2×1	+0.4h Rest a level	+3.5h Rest (L10)	400g	6,822g	3 Shore Shingle	23.5h	Lv 1
The Counting-Post	2×1	+20g an hour Rest pay a level	+200g an hour Rest pay (L10)	500g	8,526g	3 Shore Shingle	23.5h	Lv 1
The Cockle Rows	1×3	+9% Rested bonus a level	+90% Rested bonus (L10)	600g	10,233g	3 Shore Shingle	23.5h	Lv 1
The Net Loft	2×2	+0 Kits a level	+3 Kits (L10)	600g	10,233g	3 Shore Shingle	23.5h	Lv 1
The Kelp Granary	2×2	+4% Salvage a level	+40% Salvage (L10)	700g	11,937g	3 Shore Shingle	23.5h	Lv 1
The Barnacle Yard	2×2	-4% Build time a level	-36% Build time (L9)	2,200g	26,607g	4 Shore Shingle and 3 Driftwood Timber	39.6h	Lv 10 / town 3
The Careening Beach	3×1	+0.02 wear an hour Rest repair a level	+0.22 wear an hour Rest repair (L9)	2,400g	29,025g	4 Shore Shingle and 3 Driftwood Timber	39.6h	Lv 10 / town 3
The Cooperage	2×2	+5% Hold space a level	+45% Hold space (L9)	2,600g	31,444g	4 Shore Shingle and 3 Driftwood Timber	39.6h	Lv 10 / town 3
The Whistlestone Ring	3×1	+0.8% Battle XP a level	+7.2% Battle XP (L9)	2,600g	31,444g	4 Shore Shingle and 3 Driftwood Timber	39.6h	Lv 10 / town 3
The Saltworks	2×3	-5% Gear wear a level	-45% Gear wear (L9)	3,000g	36,282g	4 Shore Shingle and 3 Driftwood Timber	39.6h	Lv 10 / town 3
The Coin Cellar	2×2	+1.4% Plunder a level	+11.2% Plunder (L8)	9,000g	77,412g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
The Silt Ledger	2×2	+6% Dredge luck a level	+48% Dredge luck (L8)	9,500g	81,712g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
The Tollhouse	3×1	+56g an hour Rest pay a level	+448g an hour Rest pay (L8)	10,000g	86,013g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
Bellows Walk	3×2	-3% Forge prices a level	-24% Forge prices (L8)	11,000g	94,614g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
Lanternwrights' Row	3×2	-3% Grotto prices a level	-24% Grotto prices (L8)	11,000g	94,614g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
The Gull Post	2×1	+1.1% Turn refill a level	+8.8% Turn refill (L8)	12,000g	103,215g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
The Commission Board	2×1	+0 Quests a level	+2 Quests (L8)	12,500g	107,516g	5 Shore Shingle, 4 Driftwood Timber and 1 Shellstone Block	49.2h	Lv 20 / town 8
The Hollowkeep	2×2	-5% Charm theft a level	-35% Charm theft (L7)	30,000g	184,253g	6 Shore Shingle, 5 Driftwood Timber and 2 Shellstone Block	66.5h	Lv 35 / town 16
The Drydock	3×2	+0.06 wear an hour Rest repair a level	+0.45 wear an hour Rest repair (L7)	31,000g	190,395g	6 Shore Shingle, 5 Driftwood Timber and 2 Shellstone Block	66.5h	Lv 35 / town 16
The Silt Sifters' Guild	3×2	+4.5% Charm find a level	+31.5% Charm find (L7)	32,000g	196,535g	6 Shore Shingle, 5 Driftwood Timber and 2 Shellstone Block	66.5h	Lv 35 / town 16
The Dreaming Beds	3×3	+7% Rested cap a level	+49% Rested cap (L7)	34,000g	208,819g	6 Shore Shingle, 5 Driftwood Timber and 2 Shellstone Block	66.5h	Lv 35 / town 16
Siren's Rest	4×2	+1.6h Rest a level	+9.6h Rest (L6)	100,000g	440,967g	8 Shore Shingle, 6 Driftwood Timber, 3 Shellstone Block, 1 Tideglass Pane and 1 Siren Keystone	72h	Lv 50 / town 26
The Countinghouse	3×2	+4.2% Plunder a level	+25.2% Plunder (L6)	105,000g	463,016g	8 Shore Shingle, 6 Driftwood Timber, 3 Shellstone Block, 1 Tideglass Pane and 1 Siren Keystone	72h	Lv 50 / town 26
The Deepwater Exchange	3×2	+150g an hour Rest pay a level	+900g an hour Rest pay (L6)	108,000g	476,244g	8 Shore Shingle, 6 Driftwood Timber, 3 Shellstone Block, 1 Tideglass Pane and 1 Siren Keystone	72h	Lv 50 / town 26
The Deepwater Beacon	3×3	+10% Charm find a level	+60% Charm find (L6)	110,000g	485,064g	8 Shore Shingle, 6 Driftwood Timber, 3 Shellstone Block, 1 Tideglass Pane and 1 Siren Keystone	72h	Lv 50 / town 26
Hall of the Tideborn	4×4	+5% Battle XP a level	+25% Battle XP (L5)	380,000g	1,212,165g	10 Shore Shingle, 8 Driftwood Timber, 4 Shellstone Block, 2 Tideglass Pane, 2 Siren Keystone and 1 Leviathan Rib	67.1h	Lv 70 / town 42
The Mere Eternal	3×3	+4.2% Turn refill a level	+21% Turn refill (L5)	420,000g	1,339,760g	10 Shore Shingle, 8 Driftwood Timber, 4 Shellstone Block, 2 Tideglass Pane, 2 Siren Keystone and 1 Leviathan Rib	67.1h	Lv 70 / town 42

“Sheltered rest to peak” is the whole climb with no Build time boon; the Barnacle Yard at its own peak cuts every order by 36%. The yard only works while you rest with hours left, so a bare town spends 2h a day on them and a fully sheltered one 17.1h. Raise the Tide Gate early and Siren’s Rest late.

The Commons#

The Commons is the town’s shared ground. 9 sites are charted on the Mayor’s plan from the first day, each for a civic building: built on its site and nowhere else, never stored or moved, and paying an action rather than a percentage. A civic building levels on the same ladder as a building of its rarity, its order takes one of Gantry’s two crews and advances only while you rest, and its levels count toward town level. An unbuilt site is charted and no more.

Civic plans are their own drop, the rarest short of a relic. Every site has its own chance on a rewarded win, 4x that on a beaten boss, and the draw runs only over the sites you lack and have the level for, in rarity order. Gantry counts the dry wins too: at 300, the next site is handed over.

The civic works of the Commons

Site	Band	Level	What it lets you do	Odds a win	Founding
The Lodging House	uncommon	10	Rent rooms to other players. They pay you gold for a share of your boons.	0.8%	4,000g, 3h
The Sluice	uncommon	10	Rake once a day for materials, and sometimes a charm.	0.8%	3,600g, 3h
The Strongroom	rare	20	Store spare gear rolls, so you can swap loadouts.	0.4%	16,000g, 4h
The Sparring Strand	rare	20	Spar any rival for free: no turns, no stakes, full fight log.	0.4%	14,000g, 4h
The Sunken Vault	epic	35	Deposit gold where raids can't reach it, for a 5% fee.	0.2%	48,000g, 6h
The Harbour Watch	epic	35	Logs raids, lost charms and lodgers while you're away.	0.2%	44,000g, 6h
The Whorlwright’s	epic	60	Unlocks whorl work and legendary-and-up recasts at the Forge and Grotto.	0.2%	48,000g, 6h
The Shell Market	mythic	50	Opens the market. Buy and sell plans and materials.	0.1%	160,000g, 8h
The Moot Hall	legendary	70	Start a company: shared projects, shared materials, a company ladder.	0.1%	500,000g, 10h

Lodgings and the Harbour#

Every town is on one harbour. You can visit any of them, and the Harbour Roll ranks them by what stands in them, the one ladder on the Shore that isn’t about combat. A town with a Lodging House can take lodgers. Another cockle asks by message, the rent for the whole stay (1 to 7 days) leaves their gold at once and is held by the Mayor, and the host takes them in or sends the rent back. If nobody answers within 2 days, it comes back on its own.

A lodger draws a share of what the host’s town pays: 35% at the house’s first level and 50% at its peak, of every boon except the harbour family and the quest slots, as quoted on the day they asked. Both sides are clamped by the same caps, so a town already at the cap gains nothing by lodging and a young one gains the whole share.

The rent is the Mayor’s to set: 15% of a full day’s winnings at the lower of the two levels, times how good the town is. The Mayor keeps 25% of every letting. A house lets 1 lodging at its first level and 4 at its peak.

The Shell Market#

The market opens only to a town that has built the Shell Market, to sell and to bid alike. A stall lists a lot: plans it holds and hasn’t built, or materials, up to 20 a lot. Civic plans never trade. A lot opens at 10 gold or more and runs 1 to 3 days.

A bid leaves the bidder’s gold at once and comes back the moment they are outbid. A bid in the last 10 minutes pushes the close back 10 minutes. When the sale closes, the seller collects the price less the house’s 10%, the buyer the goods, or the seller the goods back unsold. A stall holds 2 lots at its first level and 7 at its peak.

The Moot Hall and companies#

The Moot opens to a town that has built a Moot Hall, and to any cockle seated in a company by its founder. A hall charters a company: a name on the water, with 4 seats at the hall’s first level and 12 at its peak, filled by message.

A company works on one undertaking at a time. Every member pours a watch of rest into it once a day (only while resting in their own town) and gives it materials. When both are met, any member raises the company’s standing, which the Moot’s ladder ranks. Each standing raised pays every member a dividend of materials, a little more than each put in, collected at the Moot. The founder holds the hall while members remain; a member leaves by choice.

Trophies#

The town has its own row of 15 at Quests: Ground Broken (build your first building in Shallowmere), Harbour Rest (rest 12 hours in town), Founding Stones (own 5 different buildings), Rising Rooftops (reach town level 25), Keystone (upgrade any building to its max level), Charter of the Mere (claim every plot in town), Lord Mayor (reach town level 80), The Town's Own Ground (build a civic building on the Commons), What the Tide Left (rake the Sluice 10 times), A Roof on the Harbour (rent a lodging in another player's town), Rooms to Let (rent out 10 lodgings at your Lodging House), In Company (join a company at a Moot Hall), Sold on the Board (sell 5 lots on the Shell Market), Below the Tideline (deposit 50,000 gold in the Sunken Vault in total) and Every Stone Standing (build every building and reach town level 200). The rarest carry the titles Charterbearer, Lord Mayor and Warden of the Mere.