Altar

The Altar is a royal-category building that is activated from its building details by paying an offering of 500 Pia. Once activated, it grants an active skill until it is switched off or replaced by another altar.

Only one altar can be active at a time. Activating a different altar immediately deactivates the one currently in use, so the system is meant for swapping between effects as needed rather than keeping multiple bonuses running at once. Even while an altar is inactive, its active skill cooldown continues to advance, which makes it practical to change altars opportunistically instead of waiting for one effect to finish before switching.

The first altar that can be researched, Shrine of Rat, is already useful, but most altars unlocked later are stronger overall, with a few exceptions. In terms of raw skill strength, the general order is roughly:

• Ox at the top
• Horse, Tiger, Rabbit, and Chicken in the next tier
• Dragon, Monkey, Boar, and Snake after that
• Rat and Dog below those
• Sheep at the bottom

Because only one altar can function at a time, the main value of the building comes from choosing the right effect for the current situation. A weaker altar can still be worth keeping active if its skill matches the task at hand, while stronger altars are better used when their effect directly supports combat, progression, or other immediate goals.