Table of Contents
The Governor’s Residence is one of the most critical buildings in Ikariam, directly enabling your empire’s expansion. This guide covers its function, upgrade strategy, and the planning required to push to higher city counts.
Core Function: Managing Corruption
The Governor’s Residence exists to combat corruption in your colonies . Corruption negatively impacts resource production, research speed, and citizen happiness . It is absent only in your capital city, which uses a Palace instead.
For a colony to have zero corruption, its Governor’s Residence must be upgraded to a level one below the total number of towns you possess . For example, with 10 towns total, you must upgrade all colonies’ Governor’s Residences to at least level 9 to eliminate corruption. The corruption level and its effect are displayed in the Town Hall .
Level Requirements for Zero Corruption
The table below shows the Governor’s Residence level required in each colony to reach 0% corruption .
| Total Towns | Palace Level | Governor’s Residence Level Needed |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 10 | 9 | 9 |
| 11 | 10 | 10 |
To eliminate corruption in a colony, the Governor’s Residence level must be equal to the Palace level in your capital .
Upgrade Strategy and Storage Planning
Upgrading the Governor’s Residence is one of the most expensive and storage-intensive projects in the game. Proper planning is essential.
Early to Mid-Game (9th and 10th Cities)
For an intermediate player with 8 cities, the next major goal is upgrading the Governor’s Residence to level 8 or 9 to unlock the 9th and 10th cities .
- Storage Need for Level 8 (9th City): Requires roughly 350,000 storage capacity . This can be achieved with four level 27 warehouses or by replacing one with a dump .
- Storage Need for Level 9 (10th City): Requires four level 40 warehouses or four level 35 warehouses with the Spirit Level research .
Late-Game (11th and 12th Cities)
The difficulty escalates significantly for higher-level upgrades.
- Storage Need for Level 10 (11th City): The 11th city requires approximately 1.4 million storage capacity, a phase often called “Warehouse Upgrade Hell” .
- Storage Need for Level 11 (12th City): The resources for a level 11 Palace or Governor’s Residence are immense. With maxed research and a level 50 Carpenter (a 64% total reduction), the needed capacity drops to about 365.7 million . This can be achieved with a single Level 80 Warehouse and a Level 49 Dump .
Choosing a Colony for the Upgrade
For expensive Governor’s Residence upgrades, dedicate a safe city, ideally one least likely to be attacked . Move your defensive forces there and ship resources overnight to avoid leaving them exposed in unprotected warehouses . Do not announce your upgrade plans in-game to avoid becoming a target .
Long-Term Expansion Strategy
Choosing what type of city to found next is also a strategic decision.
- Recommendations for the 9th City: If you have little online time, build a Wine city, as it can sustain itself. If you want to grow fastest, build a Marble city .
- Avoid Second Sulphur City: Sulphur is a cheap resource and can be easily traded for Marble, so a second sulphur city is generally not recommended .
Converting a Colony to Your Capital
You can declare a colony your new capital via the Governor’s Residence . This action instantly upgrades the Governor’s Residence to a Palace of the same level, but the old Palace is destroyed and must be rebuilt as a Governor’s Residence .
Advanced Strategy: Handling Government Corruption
Certain governments, like Oligarchy, add +3% corruption that does not reduce over time, or can be removed by upgrading the Governor’s Residence one level higher than normally required . This makes planning around your chosen government form an advanced part of the Governor strategy.
Strategic Recommendations
- Always eliminate corruption: Prioritize Governor’s Residence upgrades to reach zero corruption in each colony.
- Plan storage ahead: The 350,000 to 1.4 million storage requirements for higher levels require years of planning. Warehouses are more resource-efficient than dumps in the long run .
- Use a dedicated upgrade city: Choose one safe city to focus on Governor’s Residence upgrades and ship resources there.
- Communicate privately: Do not announce your high-level upgrade plans publicly to avoid becoming a target .
- Use resource reducers: Maxed Carpenters and Architects are essential for reducing the enormous costs of these upgrades .
- Consider your playstyle: Marble for expansion speed, Wine for low-maintenance growth, Crystal for research, Sulphur only for war.
