The Thrones of Ascension are powerful and special magic sites of which only a fixed number will exist in any particular game of Dominions. When playing in the default "Thrones of Ascension" game mode, each Throne grants the player a number of Ascension Points equivalent to the level of that Throne, and a particular number of Ascension Points will be required to win the game.

Every throne is guarded by a independent troops and mages. The strength of these indies vary a lot, and it can thus be worthwhile to ping (send in a commander scripted to retreat) a throne before conquering it. A few things to keep in mind when attacking throne independents:

• Mages will replenish their gems after each fight.
• Generic mages will cast spells from a hardcoded list of spells.
• Non-generic mages, like titans, will cast spells from all schools of magic but each one will have a research level cap. The exact research cap can be found using the Mod Inspector.

In order to 'activate' the Ascension Points of a throne you control it has to be 'claimed'. Claiming a throne is an action any pretender god, disciple, or 3 priest can do (notably prophets are all holy 3, though afflictions may cause them to lose paths and be unable to claim thrones thereafter). In general thrones also have effects which only become active once the throne is claimed. Some thrones also have some effects that are always active without the throne being claimed. These can be identified by the effects being listed above the "Effects from claimed throne"-line. A throne whose province (and fort if present) is conquered by another nation becomes unclaimed.

There are also 3 good events that require at least 6/8/10 friendly dominion in the province that claim the throne without the need for player action. As events, they are unreliable and shouldn't be counted on.

Most nations do not have 3 priests to recruit, but some have national rituals for them. There are also 2 generic summon spells with 3:

• Summon Bishop Fish (requires an Underwater Laboratory, and Shambler Skin Armor or Amulet of the Fish to come on land)
• Juggernaut Construction (requires Divine Name to claim)

Construction 8 items like Sword of Justice can also boost 2 priests to 3 in a pinch.

The below tables assign 'clusters' to some of the thrones. Thrones in the same cluster are more likely to appear in the same game together. For example, if you find a Throne of Summer, you are more likely to see the Thrones of Winter, Spring, and Autumn, since they are all in cluster #1.

All thrones are spread +1 dominion unless otherwise specified. See dominion spreading.

1: There is a small (2%) chance of the throne's owner receiving a Circle Master along with 1d6 Bone Fiend troops.

2: If story events are enabled, claiming the Throne of Beasts triggers a global 'Time of Beasts', causing nations to experience various random events including attacks and assassinations from wild animals, stealthy werewolf packs, and sometimes free troops such as wolves. This will wane after an undetermined period of time.

3: The owner of the Throne of Bones has a small chance to receive a free Necromancer, some death gems, or a Champion's Skull. If a Necromancer is present in the throne's province, they have a chance to raise an army of Longdead. If story events are present, an undead army might instead be raised in a distant province, attacking its owner, before the remainder arrive at the throne next turn.

4: If the pretender who claimed the throne has at least Order 1 in the throne site, the world will experience a worldwide turmoil and unrest increase for a turn.

5: Once claimed, there is a 70% chance for an 8-month countdown to begin (announced via event). After this countdown the world will experience global darkness for 2 turns.

6: Once claimed, for three turns all units worldwide have a chance to become diseased. This can also trigger other disease-related events such as plagues and plague cults.

7: Heat will increase worldwide once claimed.

8: If a Tiwaz of War is present in the same province as a Throne of War they have claimed, they will have their Air and Fire paths boosted by a special event. Once claimed, the Throne will trigger a global 'Time of Strife', causing all nations to experience unrest and a variety of events such as random attacks or further unrest.

9: Even unclaimed, the Throne of Winter will cause random events which dramatically decrease temperature in the surrounding provinces, which can be helpful for identifying it. If surrounding provinces have free site slots (including capitals), a further event can generate a Frozen Lands magic site which continues to increase cold as well as offering 1.

10: The owner of the Throne of the Deeps can receive a free Deep Seer, who then causes global popkill and unrest in coastal provinces next turn. After turn 30 they may also receive free Krakens.

All thrones spread +2 dominion unless otherwise specified. See dominion spreading.

1: +5 dominion spread; +1 dominion conflict bonus. The -100 gold penalty is not as bad as it first appears; it only applies to the local province, and if the income is already lower than 100 (e.g. in a wasteland) it will not go into the negatives.

2: When initially claimed, the Throne of Death will cause all units in the world to age. Claiming the throne starts an event chain involving the use of a Necromancer to unleash the throne's power. There is a small chance for a Necromancer to appear randomly, otherwise you will need to recruit one elsewhere, bring them to the throne, and build them a lab. A couple of turns later, the Throne's power will be invoked. This can cause various effects including free undead troops and commanders, afflictions or path boosts for the Necromancer, an 85% popkill in the local province in exchange for a host of Dispossessed Spirits, and more. These effects will only continue as long as you have a Necromancer in the province.

3: Causes a global increase in Luck scales.

4: The owner of the Throne of Gaia can experience various random events, such as free path boosts for nature mages in the province, free Dryad and Animist commanders, or attacks from a band of Satyrs.

5: Causes all units in the world to de-age by 5% when claimed.

6: Causes a global increase in Misfortune scales.

All thrones spread +3 dominion unless otherwise specified. There are no recruitables in level 3 thrones. See dominion spreading.

1: Once captured, the owner of the province containing the Throne of Elements will be warned with an event that the throne is warded. If the owner claims the throne anyway, they will suffer hurricanes and attacks in the springtime from armies of birds and air mages. If story events are enabled, they will also be attacked in the summer, fall, and winter by the respective elemental troops and accompanying natural disasters. To avoid this, the owner can bring an air, fire, earth, and water mage to unlock each season's wards respectively. Dispelling the wards this way will reward the owner with various gems and four powerful elemental mages. Alternatively, a sufficiently powerful astral mage can simply break the wards, although they will not receive the rewards.

2: Once claimed, the Throne of Eternal Suffering will cause a global increase in both dominion and order.

3: Once claimed, the Throne of the Pantokrator can cause global events as dormant decrees are activated. This always decreases dominion for all nations, and can cause increased productivity or turmoil.

• What happens if I claim a +scale throne when I've already maxed that scale, e.g. Throne of Life when I'm at Growth-3?
  • Nothing. But if you're at Growth-3 and you claim both the Throne of Life (+Growth) and Throne of Death (+Death), you'll still be at Growth-3.