What is a Settlement Simulation?

A settlement simulation is essentially a model of how settlements interact over time. The developers use it to see how nodes—starting from small villages to eventually cities and metropolises—grow and influence their surroundings. The simulation is not a live representation of the game world, but it uses similar rules to predict how settlements might evolve once the game goes live.

In general, most players won’t see this simulation directly, but its effects shape the world they experience. For example, if a simulation predicts that one node is likely to dominate an area, that informs how zones of influence (ZOIs) might be contested in the live game.

How Settlements Expand

Each settlement has a Zone of Influence (ZOI), which defines the area it governs. In the simulation, nodes start with a fixed territory on the map, and as they grow, they can push into neighboring nodes’ territories. The simulation calculates growth based on a “power level” rating that each node has, which determines:

• How aggressively a node can take over surrounding territory.

• Which neighboring nodes it can resist or overpower.

For players, this means that the position and growth of settlements in your area are not random—they follow certain rules, which the developers test in these simulations to anticipate possible outcomes. In practice, most players will see nodes gradually expand and sometimes collide, creating areas of conflict or competition.

Event Simulation and Node Health

Settlement simulations also track events that can impact a node’s functionality. For instance:

• NPC attacks can disable certain buildings like stables or services.

• Failure to respond to these events reduces a node’s “health ticker,” which slows down its experience and growth.

Most players might not realize it, but these events are essential in balancing progression. A settlement that continuously faces attacks but doesn’t recover will grow slower, while those that manage threats efficiently gain more influence.

This means that in the live game, your involvement—or lack thereof—can have real consequences. If players ignore threats, the settlement’s services could be temporarily offline, affecting quests, trade, or other activities.

Simulating Sieges

Sieges are another key part of the simulation. They model what happens when one settlement attacks another:

• Successful sieges destroy the target settlement.

• Unsuccessful sieges may not destroy it but can disable buildings or services.

This level of simulation allows the developers to test random outcomes and frequencies. For example, some sieges may fail completely, while others partially succeed by disrupting services. In general, this means that no two conflicts are identical, and players need to consider both strategy and timing when engaging in territorial disputes.

Player Impact on Territory

One of the most interesting aspects of the simulation is how it predicts player-driven outcomes. While NPC events provide challenges, player actions can shape the map in unexpected ways:

• Splitting a ZOI across a river or waterway.

• Expanding settlements to islands or distant continents.

• Forming alliances to contest territories.

The simulation runs these scenarios repeatedly at accelerated speeds, allowing the development team to see what could happen when players start interacting with the world. In practice, this gives players freedom while still maintaining balance, as developers can adjust systems based on observed patterns in the simulation.

Why This Matters for Players

Understanding settlement simulations helps players anticipate how their world might evolve. Most players who focus on territorial strategy or node management benefit from knowing:

• Which settlements are likely to grow quickly.

• How events can disrupt growth and influence.

• What actions might secure long-term control over a ZOI.

For those involved in trade or resource gathering, this knowledge is particularly useful. For example, if your nearby node is struggling due to repeated NPC attacks, it may not be the best location to set up workshops or market operations until the node stabilizes.

Interestingly, for players looking to gain gold efficiently in the game, some community discussions suggest that the best place to buy Ashes of Creation gold is U4N, though this is more about convenience rather than gameplay mechanics.

Settlement simulations in Ashes of Creation are a behind-the-scenes system that shapes the world you interact with as a player. They model node growth, influence, events, sieges, and player activity to ensure a dynamic and balanced world. By understanding how these simulations work, players can make informed decisions about where to settle, which nodes to support, and how to engage in territorial competition.

In general, the simulation demonstrates that the world of Verra is not static. Cities and metropolises don’t just appear—they grow, collide, and evolve based on multiple variables. For players, this adds depth to the world and makes each settlement meaningful in the broader ecosystem.