Chronoglyph and Helen: train faster and support your army

What the Chronoglyph is for

The Chronoglyph is an Artifact associated with Dark Omens rewards. It supports troop training and food production, making it useful when preparing or rebuilding an army.

Check the bonuses shown on your own Artifact: its level, stars and unlocked random bonuses determine the benefits you receive. Do not assume another player’s percentages will match yours.

Why pair it with Helen

Helen already provides food-production and troop-training-speed bonuses. Our recommended setup is to equip the Chronoglyph on Helen and keep her in an active Captain slot when preparing troops.

Use a well-developed Helen if you have one, and continue improving her as your City grows. Her own bonuses and the Artifact’s bonuses are separate: raising Helen’s level does not level up the Chronoglyph. The Artifact’s main bonus improves through its own levels and stars.

If you have not unlocked Helen, you can still equip the Chronoglyph on another hired Captain in an active slot. Artifacts are not restricted to a single named Captain, and each Captain can equip one at a time.

How to equip and use it

• Unlock level 4 Guardsmen to access Captain Artifact slots.
• Open Helen’s Captain management screen and select her Artifact slot.
• Equip your unlocked Chronoglyph and put Helen in an active Captain slot.
• Before starting a training batch, check your City’s food balance and the displayed training time and cost.
• Keep the same troop type and quantity selected when comparing the effect of your setup.

Equipping an Artifact on an inactive Captain does not activate its bonuses.

Food production and training costs

A food deficit occurs when your army’s upkeep exceeds your City’s food production. It raises troop-training costs; a larger deficit means a larger increase. Having food stored does not by itself mean production covers upkeep.

Helen’s food bonus helps support a larger army. Check whether your food counter is red before a large training session, and review production again as you add troops.

Training speed and training cost are different. A speed bonus shortens training time; it is not a direct discount on the base Silver price. Improving your food balance can help avoid the extra cost caused by a deficit.

Getting and improving the Artifact

Look for Chronoglyph rewards and fragments during Dark Omens. Check the current event reward screen for availability and requirements. Clan officers can distribute Chronoglyph Clan Fragments held by the Clan.

Upgrade the Artifact itself to improve its main bonus. Fully unlocking stars also adds random bonuses, so review the result on your own Artifact screen before planning around a particular bonus.

Before a large training session

• Activate Helen with the Chronoglyph equipped.
• Check food production against upkeep.
• Review your training equipment, talents and available Clan or Kingdom bonuses.
• Confirm the final time and resource cost for the batch you actually intend to train.
• Start training only after your setup is ready.

Test your setup without changing the batch

Take a note of one troop type, tier, quantity, displayed time and cost. Activate your intended Helen setup, reopen the same batch, and compare again. Keeping those inputs fixed makes the effect easier to see.

If the price changes, review Food balance as well as training bonuses. If only the timer changes, do not describe that as a resource discount.

When your army grows

Revisit the setup after a large training or revival session. A configuration that supported yesterday’s army may need more production for today’s upkeep. Plan your next batch around the army you intend to maintain, rather than the maximum the queue accepts.

For a fuller explanation, read food deficit and training costs and training speed versus queue size.