Home › Reference index › Last Lords
v1.0 · checked 2026-09-18
Last Lords
Who they are
The Last Lords are the returning Broken Lords, and the studio's own short version is that they may have escaped the death of Auriga but have not overcome their curse: once noble and honourable knights, transformed by an ancient curse into spirits trapped inside their armour, who must drain others to sustain themselves. They arrived at Saiadha expecting a Dust-rich desert and found a hostile ocean world instead, and only a handful of their people could be woken from the deep stasis of the journey. Consul Tyabana and her council now have to restore the rest, and to decide whether to cure the curse or embrace what it made them.
The affinity: Knightly Husks
Everything about playing them follows from two facts.
- There is no Food. You will not see Food on tiles, you cannot build farms or Food-related improvements, and your citizens produce Dust instead of Food. The Dust economy is not a bonus on top of a normal economy; it replaces half of it.
- Population does not grow on its own. You create population by paying Dust for it.
That combination makes region choice and city placement a different calculation than for any other faction, because what you want from a region is Dust income and food-independent value rather than growth potential.
The three faction traits
Official| Trait | What it does |
|---|---|
| Every Last Drop | Tiles that naturally produce Dust produce extra Dust for you |
| Sacrifice for the Realm | You can sacrifice population of other factions to create new Last Lords population |
| Dust Healing | Your units do not heal by themselves, but you can spend Dust to heal them instantly |
The battle affinity
OfficialGifts of the Fallen: whenever a unit falls on the battlefield, adjacent Last Lords units recover some health. Paired with trait-level healing, this makes the faction unusually good at sustaining long campaigns — provided the Dust holds.
The two village buildings
OfficialMinor faction villages inside your territory become one of two things. This is the mechanic that turns the faction's population problem into its solution.
| Building | What it does |
|---|---|
| Lord's Estate | Lets the minor faction's population continue to live and grow in your city while paying a small Dust tax. If you need the workforce in the city itself, you can round them up and add them to your managed population — which may cause a rebellion |
| Soul Repository | Drains the minor faction village to spawn a Primordial Last Lord in your city, a unique population type that increases the yields of ordinary Last Lords working in the same category |
The unit roster
Official| Role | Units | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scouts | Thralls | See through many map obstructions; usable as support in a pinch because they are especially effective against wounded targets |
| Mobile support | Shadow Lords | Improve the mobility of any army they join |
| Flankers | Executioners | Large damage bonus when attacking enemies already engaged |
| Front line | Stalwarts, Merciless Knights, Consul's Guards | Stalwarts recover some health with each attack; Merciless Knights gain extra protection when defending; Consul's Guards deal extra damage to enemies already in combat |
| Ranged support | Palanquin of the Profane, Ancient Palanquin, Soulsapping Palanquin | Sap life with every attack to heal nearby units; the Ancient Palanquin hits a single target hard if it can hold position and prepare; the Soulsapping Palanquin spreads area damage |
| Cavalry | Dust Lords, Blood Tyrants, Dread Dukes | Flying mounts give strong mobility and terrify foes; Blood Tyrants are especially strong on the charge; Dread Dukes are more resilient and leech life like the Stalwarts |
The studio's own summary of the composition is a well-rounded army — solid infantry core, ranged support, powerful cavalry — whose real strength is surviving, because so many of its abilities heal by leeching life.
The studio's positioning, in its own words
The game director's explanation is worth quoting in substance rather than paraphrasing loosely: the Last Lords are the economic faction, powerhouses when rich and limited when poor, designed for players who enjoy building a perfect empire and go lightly on war and diplomacy until it is absolutely needed. When war is needed, they can buy out armies and keep them healed as long as the war chest holds; new cities can fill with population instantly, and minor factions can be sacrificed into new ghostly armies. Nothing comes for free — careful choices about how and when to spend Dust are the whole skill.
Practical notes
Community, Early Access era
The most useful community write-up on this faction is a player's tips post from November 2025, and its advice still describes the shape of the faction even though its numbers are Early Access:
- Do not start by buying population. Spend the early Dust on rushing key districts instead — the player singles out the Merchant's House — because that pays back over the campaign in a way early population does not.
- Use the Lord's Estate. The same player calls it the strongest piece of the faction, and points out a detail people miss: the sacrifice process itself also generates money.
- Rush the Soul Repository and build one in every territory you own. Primordial Last Lords boost the Dust income of all your ordinary Last Lords, and the effect compounds.
- The loop is: recruit minor-faction population with the Estate, sacrifice it into Last Lords population, and boost those with Primordial Last Lords. The reported result is a steep jump in income.
Two counterpoints from other players in the same thread, kept because they are the honest disagreement: one player found the faction fragile in the early game precisely because everything is bought at once and district diversification is forced on you; another found them strong and fast, reaching four cities by turn 55. Both are dated November 2025 and both are Community.
What 1.0 changed for this faction
UnconfirmedNo first-party source read by this stage describes a Last Lords-specific change in 1.0. The faction was not among the factions the publisher named when describing The Gathering's changes. The faction is playable in the demo that ran up to launch, which confirms it as a current faction. Beyond that, this page does not claim a 1.0 change happened.
Sources read for this page
Every source this page was written from, checked 2026-09-18.
- Steam discussion — Last Lords / Lord's Estate recruit-and-sacrifice loop (Early Access era, community)
- Amplitude official blog — Last Lords Spotlight
- PlayStation Store listing
- Xbox Store listing