The Snow Elves faction was added to the Hota for the holidays on December 31, 2025. No one knows whether Bulwark is the last faction added to the addon, since there are now exactly 12 castles, which is enough to completely fill all available slots when choosing who to play as.
There are armies that are strong due to their offense and ability to attack/capture quickly and effectively. Bulwark is also strong, but it uses its defense to win, crushing enemy armies. The unique feature of the Snow Elves is that they have no offensive ability at all, but they have a vast and almost infinite ability to defend.
Bulwark units have increased hit points and various abilities, such as freezing the opponent’s army or shooting from guard while in close proximity, or even doubling their defense during combat. All of this is further boosted by the castle’s unique ability:
Runes
They work on the snowball principle: the longer the Bulwark attacks/defends, the harder it is for you to fight them. After a dozen turns, the Bulwark army under the runes becomes practically impenetrable. Runes can be acquired either in the castle or, with a small chance, by random getting to a hero.
Of course, I could also write about rams with a high acceleration and protection from frost magic, and shamans who have a chance to freeze their target when they fire. Or Jotunns who teleport allied armies across the battlefield. But the Bulwark has so many abilities, it’s easier to play and try them out yourself!
Feautures:
- Runes are a unique skill of the Bulwark, which can be built in castle.
- Fair is a unique structure that increases profits during trading.
- Defense – the entire faction, heroes and units are completely focused on defense.
- Guild level 4 – maximum control magic available is a Town Portal.
Heroes
Due to the zero attack, there are no obvious damage dealers, but if you choose from what you have, you can note:
Dhuin
Comes with two stacks of ranged units – elves, if you upgrade them to tier 2, you will have up to 8 shots per battle.
Kynr
The warrior himself is practically useless, but he comes with three stacks of kobolds, who are nasty and difficult to hit due to their hit points. Oh well, they also provide a small amount of gold each day.
Dalton
An unremarkable hero, except for his specialization in casting a shield, can be very helpful in the early stages of the game in dealing with strong guards.
Bulwark Build
It’s quite variable, but I think 70% of the time, Elves, Runes, and Mammoths will be a very strong build for 2026. But for the sake of clarity, other castle building methods are worth mentioning:
Day 1
- Runes – defense/attack boost
- Elfs are a shooting unit in the army.
- Mages Guild – in rare cases very.
Day 3
- Tawn Hall – increase in gold income by 1000.
- Mammon is a solid choice if you’re lucky with the wood at spawn.
- Monkey – hey have runes, even when hero does not.
- Shaman – when the Mages Guild is built.
Day 5
- Citadel – for greater army growth in the second week.
- Hay Bins – when you’re lucky with gold at respawn, you get an extra mammoth boost.
Second week
In the second week, the most you can do is either improve the economy by building a City Hall and then move on to Castle, or build Fair – the unique Bulwark building for better trade – and upgrade/buy troops. There’s no point in building Jotunns, and few people do it, but if you really want to:
Jotunns
- Mages Guild – was set up on the first day.
- Shaman – was built on the third day, can freeze units.
- Jotunns – a unique ability to teleport a friendly army across the battlefield.
Bulwark Units
