Crews (aka Player Guilds) – Storm Wars

Crews are Storm Wars’ version of guilds or clans. A crew is a group of up to 20 players who have formed a “team” that will fight against other teams of players for pride and special prizes. Crew battles take on a unique form of PvP when compared to the Arena. You access crews from the Crew button on the main page. To join a crew that is open to the public, you can simply click the join button on the main crew listings page. To join an invitation-only crew, you will need the Crew’s Captain to send you an invite by name. The invite will appear in your game messages box and you can join just by clicking the join button contained in the message. If you are currently in a crew when joining, you will instantly leave it to join the new one. Captains can select whether crews are public or invite-only from their settings panel.

Crews are ranked on a standard ELO system that is adjusted based on victories or defeats at the hands of other crews (and depending on the other crews’ rankings of course). The system is traditional in that the scores do not reset every week, unlike in the Arena. A crew’s ELO score can be seen in the crew listings if you are not in one, or in the Rankings tab if you are. You can see your own crew’s ranking at the top-left of the screen (denoted by the trophy symbol). You can also inspect the different members of each crew by clicking the View button in the crew’s listing in the Rankings tab.

Each week all members of each high-ranked crew are given a reward bonus based on the crew’s ELO rankings, just as players are given individual awards in the Arena. The reward can include Gems and Honor Points. The crew itself can also receive Skulls for a high placement.

Crew leaders can declare attacks on other crews. Once declared, the battle wages for 11 hours. Each crew can be involved in one offensive battle and one defensive battle simultaneously; so if another crew is already under attack, your crew will not be able to attack them. You can see the active crew battles from the Battles tab (shown above).

In a crew battle, each player is given 6 attacks that can be used at any time during the battle. Each attack will target the defense deck of a random player from the opposing crew. Once selected, the defending player can only be switched by spending a Rare Coin. However, as an attacker you can see the opponent’s hero before you decide which deck to attack with, giving you the advantage anyway. Players get 6 attacks in both offensive and defensive crew battles.

Players can refresh their attacks back up to 6 by using a special item called a Glowstone. Up to 3 Glowstones can be used per battle, for a total of 24 possible attacks by one player. Glowstones drop in chests like any other item, and can also be purchased from the game Shop for a few Gems each.

Once the battle timer runs out, the number of victories for each side is tallied, and the higher number wins (the tie goes to the defending crew). ELO points are adjusted accordingly. The winning crew also receives a crew chest, which has prizes very similar to the Arena chest.

Players within crews can be one of three ranks. The crew’s Captains are the leaders, and they have access to all crew powers. Captains can invite new players, remove all other players, change the crew messaging, delete messages from the crew message center, declare battles, and more. Players can also be assigned the “Quartermaster” role, which is a secondary officer that can remove lower-ranked players and declare battles. The standard player role with no special powers is the role of “Mate.” All new players start in this role until promoted by a Captain. Most crews will have only one or two Captains, a few Quartermasters, and a lot of Mates. It all depends on how your team feels like organizing itself! Any combination is possible.

PRO TIP:If a crew’s Captains become inactive for more than 5 days, Quartermasters can “Mutiny” and take over the crew (to prevent crews from going dead). If there are no Quartermasters, standard Mates can take over.