Dragon Essence

= Overview =

is a central gameplay element of the clan, playing a role in management, the acquisition of  military units, and unlocking various economic and military bonuses. The amount of Dragon Essence the player has is shown on the essence gauge along with the available essence bonuses. It slowly decreases over time, revealing new bonuses that can be unlocked.



Dragon Essence Bonuses
Only one bonus at a time can be activated. The active bonus is displayed on the left part of the gauge, and its power is affected by the clan's ; each fame bonus improves the available essence bonuses and unlocks one additional segment of the gauge. There are 5 segments in total, each with room for 3 essence and 1 bonus, though only 3 of the segments are unlocked from the start.

The different bonuses that can be unlocked are:

Military Units
The Dragon Clan only has access to one type of military unit, the Dragonkin. Training a Dragonkin at a Dragonkin Altar requires Dragon Essence to be spent in addition to the cost.

Happiness
If the essence gauge runs out of Dragon Essence, not only will the player no longer benefit from any of the bonuses, but there will also be a  penalty to Happiness, which will persist until the player gets more  Dragon Essence.

= Acquisition = Dragon Essence is generally acquired by sacrificing units at the Sacrificial Pyre. The amount of Dragon Essence gained per unit differs depending on the type of unit sacrificed:
 * Sacrificing a regular (non-Thrall) unit gives Dragon Essence.
 * Sacrificing a gives  Dragon Essence.

It can also be generated by having the Veteran Fighters bonus in the Conqueror military path; this lets generate  Dragon Essence when killing units. The amount gained scales linearly based on the slain unit's max health; killing a unit with 50 health grants Dragon Essence.