Upkeep is the you need to pay each hour for your military and naval staff. When all units and ships are stationed in your cities, you can sum up these value yourself by multiplying the number of each unit that has upkeep you have by the upkeep per hour that is indicated in your barracks, and the upkeep bonuses you have researched for that unit type.
Ikariam provides two ways of paying for the people used to keep your town running. One type is deducted straight away from your income (all resource gathering, scientists), the other is upkeep.
- Upkeep is calculated and deducted from your account once every hour.
Using Researches to reduce your upkeep costs[]
There are several researches in which you can learn via the Academy that will reduce your upkeep costs:
For your units[]
In the Military -branch:
- Maps ( 2% reduction )
- Code of Honor(Honour) ( 4% reduction, 6% total )
- Logistics ( 8% reduction, 14% total )
- Militaristic Futures ( 2% reduction per level )
For your ships[]
In the Seafaring -branch:
- Ship Maintenance ( 2% reduction )
- Pitch ( 4% reduction, 6% total )
- Sea Charts ( 8% reduction, 14% total )
- Seafaring Futures ( 2% reduction per level )
For your Scientists[]
In the Science -branch:
- Letter Chute ( 3 gold reduction per scientist )
Additional information[]
Units and ships on missions or generally outside your towns (even scattered ones) cost twice (2×) the upkeep.
If you have several colonies, the amount of upkeep shown in the income overview is divided between your towns dependent on the percentages of the total amount of citizens per town you have, not on the amount of stationed troops and ships. As cities don't have their own gold reserves and all costs are paid out of your gold coffer, this of course only makes your bookkeeping harder to read, rather than offering any insights into your real costs per city.