Choose renewal, expiry, or betrayal
An alliance normally lasts about 3000 ticks, or five minutes, and can be renewed by mutual consent. Letting it expire cleanly allows you to fight without a traitor mark; breaking it early creates the traitor state.
By four minutes, decide whether to renew, allow expiry, or betray. Renew while the neighbor remains the second-strongest player and both of you have a better target; let the pact expire when you want their land without the debuff; break only when you have a deliberate plan for the following 30-second window.
Early betrayal halves defense for about 300 ticks or 30 seconds, applies a community-reported speed multiplier of about 0.8, displays a public broken-shield icon, and pauses trade through an embargo. Hard and Impossible Nations also become much less willing to ally with a marked traitor.
Checks before an early exit
- Which map situations justify breaking early?
- Consider breaking when the ally is about to win the land share, has placed a Silo beside your only City cluster, or—in a team mode—is feeding the wrong front, although team color is separate from an FFA pact. Wait if you cannot survive the 30-second defense cut.
- How should I prepare my borders and attack route?
- Build a troop reserve before clicking, lower the attack slider on your other borders, and attack the former ally across plains when possible. Mountains reinforced with Defense Posts can consume the entire penalty window, while a thin traitor army invites an immediate counterattack.
- Who can react to the public betrayal mark?
- The former ally’s friends and nearby Nations may pile on after the betrayal becomes visible. If two human players are already watching you, avoid taking the mark; let the pact expire and attack on the next tick after its icon disappears.
- How can betrayal affect trade and income?
- Breaking the pact pauses trade between you for roughly five minutes, or until you ally again, according to the documented community timing. That can damage a gold plan built around Port income and may frighten other trade routes. Team lobbies can stop all trade and reopen it only for teammates, but that control is a team tool rather than the FFA default.