Unlocked at Keep 11 (first in-city subcity + you can occupy outer NPC subcities; up to 9 total, raised via Rank buffs e.g. Archduke +6). The REAL benefits are Buff (culture), Debuff (mayor) and General-EXP; troop/gold/material production are minor extras (subcity troops are low-tier and, when killed, DIE rather than wound unless survival research is up). COMBAT SETTINGS per subcity: 'Automatic fight for other Cities' (this subcity auto-joins defense of your main/other subcities) and 'Accept Reinforcements' (others auto-join to defend this subcity) - turn ON only if confident of winning the defense; if you are losing or GHOSTING, turn them OFF (else subcity troops die for nothing). Culture buffs apply regardless of these settings. Recommended policy = 'war-oriented' (fast troop training so the mayor survives). To bring a subcity INTO an attack, select it on the pre-march troop screen (linkage settings are irrelevant for that). You CANNOT bring a subcity in when: no mayor, subcity troops = 0, a rally, a temple attack, a battlefield-building attack, or an NPC-subcity attack. RARITY (Common/Uncommon/Excellent/Legendary/Epic): higher = stronger buffs (most important), faster training, higher troop cap, faster gold. Upgrade only the in-city subcity (map subcities can't upgrade): Uncommon=subcity Keep10+5,000 gems, Excellent=Keep15+50,000, Legendary=Keep20+500,000, Epic=Keep25+2,500,000 gems. HOW TO GET: (A) beat an NPC subcity once - solo only, no rally, can't bring an owned subcity; NPC power ranges White ~21.6K to Gold ~9.1M and your kills there are DEATHS; (B) rob a player's subcity - drop wall HP to 0 and attack 10 times, solo only; scouting won't reveal if their main city reinforces, so probe with a small weak force first; (C) 'Historic City Search' event - bet Subordinate City Clues, and on winning, USING the key announces you server-wide and you CANNOT bubble for 10 minutes after occupying (use a name-change trick to dodge interception). MAYOR = a historic general WITH a debuff (skill/equipment/specialty); the mayor's buffs do NOT help main-city troops (only subcity troops), but the mayor's DEBUFF applies whenever the subcity joins a battle and all mayors' debuffs STACK. At Keep 33+ the mayor's Achaemenidae debuff makes even one subcity matter, so keep the 'Death into Survival Rate in this Subordinate City' buff active (mayor Leadership & Politics >=900) so subcity troops survive to keep debuffing. Add subcity-category skills in priority Rebirth > Training Speed > Training Capacity. Abandoning a subcity reverts it to a Lv1 NPC subcity; re-occupying restores its pre-abandon level. Subcities cannot be moved (fixed map locations).
Original research source: Evony Guide Wiki
