Forge of Empires: How to Get Blueprints and Build Great Buildings

To build a Great Building in Forge of Empires, you must collect all nine unique blueprint fragments in its 3x3 grid and deposit the required era goods. You can acquire blueprints by manually aiding buildings from the target structure's historical era, contributing Forge Points to claim top-five reward spots on existing Great Buildings, or trading duplicate fragments within the blueprint menu.

Methods for Getting Blueprints

Every Great Building requires a specific set of nine distinct blueprint tiles. You cannot start construction if you have duplicate copies of some tiles while missing others; all nine slots must be filled.

1. Manual and Automated Aiding

Whenever you aid, polish, or motivate a neighbor's, friend's, or guildmate's building, you have a random chance to receive a blueprint.

• Age Matching: The historical era of the specific building you motivate or polish determines the era of the blueprint dropped. Aiding an Iron Age building can only yield Iron Age Great Building blueprints, regardless of your current technological age.
• Manual Visits vs. Mass Aid: The automated "Aid All" button distributes your aid randomly across whatever buildings are available in target cities. If you need a specific Great Building, visit player cities manually, locate structures from that Great Building's era, and motivate or polish them directly.

2. Contributing to Other Great Buildings

Contributing Forge Points to another player's Great Building is the most reliable way to target an exact structure. When a Great Building gains enough Forge Points to complete its current level, the top five contributors receive rewards.

Before depositing Forge Points, inspect the building's contribution list. Calculate the points needed to secure a position in the top five that other players cannot easily overtake. Guild contribution threads provide safer, cooperative leveling environments compared to competing with random neighbors.

3. Trading Duplicate Blueprints (2:1 Trade)

If you accumulate duplicate blueprint tiles for a Great Building, the blueprint screen allows you to select two duplicate fragments and trade them for one random fragment of that same building.

• Random Outcome: The replacement tile is chosen at random and can result in another duplicate tile you already own.
• Preserving Spares: Do not trade duplicates aggressively if you only have one spare copy per tile. Unlocking Great Building levels beyond level 10 requires a full duplicate set of all nine blueprint tiles for every single level cap increase. Only trade duplicates when you hold multiple spares and need the final tile to lay the initial foundation.

Placement and Construction Requirements

Once all nine blueprint pieces are assembled, you must meet three conditions to place the construction site:

1. Era Goods: Pay the required bundle of five specific goods from the Great Building's era. If you are building an advanced Great Building while in an earlier era, acquire these goods beforehand through market trading or guild exchanges.
2. Space and Street Access: Clear a continuous plot matching the building's footprint and connect it to your Town Hall with a road.
3. Permanent Commitment: Great Buildings cannot be stored back into your inventory using the Store Building item. Deleting a Great Building permanently deletes all invested goods, blueprints, and Forge Points.

Activating and Leveling the Building

Placing the foundation creates a Level 0 construction site that provides no passive or active bonuses.

1. Deposit the initial Forge Point requirement to raise the site from Level 0 to Level 1, which activates its stats. You can fund this yourself or invite guildmates to contribute.
2. Levels 1 through 10 require only Forge Points to advance.
3. Levels 11 and above require both a complete new set of all nine blueprint fragments and Forge Points for each individual level unlocked. Keep aiding and participating in contribution pools even after your building is constructed to prepare for higher-level caps.