King Experience and Perk Progression

9 Kings PC Early Access — November 9, 2026.

Your opening army looked promising. Then the upgrades stopped showing up, and the royal master plan became a very small funeral. Before you launch the same setup again, check your king's experience and equipped perks. A failed run can still move that ruler forward, and a better opening setup can give your next card engine time to grow.

What carries forward after a run?

Completed runs award experience, or XP, to the king you played. Unsuccessful runs count too. XP depends on the years played, so a loss does not erase all progress. King level is permanent progress across runs; the year counter tracks time inside one run. Reaching year 20 does not make your king level 20.

Leveling a king unlocks perks while eligible rewards remain. A perk is a lasting bonus you can equip before future runs. Unlocking it adds it to your available choices; it does not mean every unlocked bonus is active at once.

For standard single-player, keep these checkpoints separate:

Checkpoint	What it means
Win the year-33 final battle	You have won the standard run. You may continue into endless play.
Continue toward year 99	You are pushing beyond standard victory. Year 33 is not the experience cutoff.
Beat year 99	A final victory and results screen shows your performance. You can still choose to continue.
Play beyond year 99	No further XP is earned. Continue to stretch the kingdom, rather than to gain more king levels.

If more perks are your goal, start another run after the year-99 results instead of keeping that kingdom going for XP. If your goal is watching a tiny kingdom become an absurd machine, continued play is still there.

Understand the three perk roles

Universal perks: Shared options usable by every king. These provide general benefits you can carry into different rulers' setups.
King-specific perks: Options restricted to their ruler. These support that king's cards or mechanics, so read which card or effect each one needs.
Rainbow perks: Shared options earned through first-time king-level milestones. Reaching a milestone already cleared by another king does not earn another rainbow perk. These perks can change how your perk layout works, including adding slots or changing how other perks apply. Expander, for example, adds perk slots.

Regular perk unlocks alternate between universal and king-specific rewards while both pools remain available. The particular reward is random. Plan around what your save has unlocked, rather than expecting one named perk at your next level.

Inspect, equip and save your setup

Select your king before starting a run, then open Perks. Read the descriptions of your available choices and identify the cards or mechanics they affect.
Check the perk pages. Once you have at least 18 perks, the pool splits by type. Use the arrows on the left to browse. If a universal perk seems to have vanished, check the other pages first.
Choose one of your king's three saved perk configurations. A configuration, or loadout, is your equipped perk arrangement.
Place unlocked perks into the layout. The starting layout has nine slots. If you own rainbow perks, read their target and position rules before arranging the perks they affect. Reread the affected perk descriptions after moving them.
Keep alternatives in separate saved configurations. Preserve your reliable opening in one and adjust another between runs. Before starting, confirm that the intended configuration and arrangement are selected.

Earning, equipping and unlocking a ruler are separate steps. XP earns perk choices. Placing perks equips bonuses for your next run. Other kings have their own unlock requirements; check the locked ruler on the king-selection screen. Receiving a rival king's card during a run does not permanently unlock that ruler.

Change the perk that addresses the loss

For standard single-player, keep the same king and difficulty while comparing setups. Choose a change based on where the last kingdom broke:

Early damage was too low: Favor an available perk that strengthens your actual opening attacker or supplies a useful starting card. A bonus for a troop you never fielded cannot rescue that opening.
Your troops fell before dealing damage: Consider an available health or defensive bonus. Check battlefield positioning too; a perk change alone may leave the same route open to enemies.
You survived early, then stalled: Look for support for your scaling plan. Scaling means gaining strength as the run continues. Pick perks that help the cards or repeated effects you intend to build around.
An advanced layout needs perks you lack: Use direct bonuses that help immediately. Leave out the missing multiplier chain and build a useful arrangement from your unlocked pool.

After a rough loss, change one relevant perk and try again. That gives you a clearer read on whether the opening improved. Once the kingdom survives long enough for its combos to compound, you can spend more slots on royal excess.

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