Nations are always competing to gain the most Influence, which in turn is used to bolster their diplomatic strength across Athera.

Nations gain Influence by doing all the same activities that grant them Town XP (see Town Leveling). You can view your Nation’s current base Influence at any given time by speaking with an Ambassador in any of your Towns.

So how is Influence actually used?

The Atheran Council

Every 3 months (in real time), a new Atheran Council is formed from the Nations with the highest Influence. Those Nations can then vote on which Policies are implemented on the server for the next 3 months.

Policies

Policies are various worldwide effects that exist for all players for the duration of a Council Period (3 months). There are no Policies that have purely negative effects, however they may debuff something in favor of buffing something else.

Some examples of available Policies include:

Crafting Research:
- Smeltery - All players have a 5% increased chance of smelting a Masterwork Ingot, but a 5% decreased chance of tanning a Masterwork Hide.
- Tannery - All players have a 5% increased chance of tanning a Masterwork Hide, but a 5% decreased chance of smelting a Masterwork Ingot.
Harvesting Optimization:
- Oak Lumber - All players have a 10% increased chance of receiving double drops from Oak & Dark Oak Logs, but a 10% chance of receiving no drops from any other Log type.
- Tropical Lumber - All players have a 10% increased chance of receiving double drops from Jungle & Acacia Logs, but a 10% chance of receiving no drops from any other Log type.
- Mountain Lumber - All players have a 10% increased chance of receiving double drops from Spruce & Birch Logs, but a 10% chance of receiving no drops from any other Log type.
Transportation Funding:
- Purelaker Republic - All fast travel routes to Purelaker Republic towns cost 20% less, but all other fast travel routes cost 20% more.
- Vantian Empire - All fast travel routes to Vantian Empire towns cost 20% less, but all other fast travel routes cost 20% more.
- Shen-Cirilian Alliance - All fast travel routes to Shen-Cirilian Alliance towns cost 20% less, but all other fast travel routes cost 20% more.

Council Periods

Each real-life year consists of 4 Council Periods:

January - March
April - June
July - September
October - December

The final Influence standings are tallied at the very end of each Council Period. For example, the Nations with the most Influence at the end of March will be the Atheran Council for April through June. The Policies they vote on will be in effect over the entire server for the April-June Council Period.

Influence is reset at the end of each Council Period. So while Nations will start a new Council Period with a certain amount of base Influence (based on the number and level of their Towns), the Influence Pools will reset on Day 1.