Perks and king levels in 9 Kings

A king earns experience at the end of every run from the years it played, won or lost. Each king level unlocks one random perk, alternating between universal and that king’s own perks. The first time you reach level 3, 6, 9 and so on, you also unlock a Rainbow perk, which every king can equip.

The perk board

• The board has 9 slots. A perk can fill more than one slot up to its maximum rank, shown as x2 or x3 on the board. Most perks have 3 ranks; a few have 2 or 1.
• King perks only exist on that king’s board. Universal and Rainbow perks are shared by all kings.
• Since Patch #28 each king can store three saved loadouts.
• Once you own 18 or more perks the list splits into pages by type; use the arrows on the left.

There is no level cap. After every perk is unlocked, further levels give no new perks.

Rainbow perks change the board

Rainbow perks act on the grid itself, so their position matters:

Perk	Effect
Expander	Adds slots to one row
Leftist	The perk to its left is applied extra times
Verticalist	Vertically adjacent perks are applied extra times
Nationalist	Adjacent king perks are applied +1 time
Authoritarian	The top-left regular perk is fixed at x3 (Patch #30)
Moderate	Universal perks are applied a fixed number of times
Banisher	Pick a king to banish from the next run
Seasoned	Grants experience
Lunatic	If it is your only perk, you start at war with the Jack of Rainbows

Universal perks with fixed values

These values come from the Patch #30 notes and the official wiki perk table and apply per rank.

Perk	Per rank	Max rank
Resilient	Start with +1 life	3
Expansionist	+1 random unlocked plot at the start	3
Politician	+1 royal decree option	2
Ingenious	Base can level up +3 more times	2
Persistent	+2 free re-rolls	3
Lucky	Rainbow cards +20% more likely in shops	3
Wrathful	Troops deal +10% damage	3
Nurturer	Troops start with +10% HP	3
Fortifier	Towers start with +10% damage	3
Elevated	Summons start +10% stronger	3
Thorough	+1 random card of your king in year 33	3

1.0 added three universal perks: Prodigious (cards placed after your opening play level up immediately), Entrepreneur (gold after every battle) and Quick (extra movement speed for plots).

Perks you may have read about

Patch #30 replaced Bellicist (a Precision perk) with Trashy and Berserk with Benevolent. Innovator has started you with a Concabulator since Patch #24. Guides from before September 2026 list the old perks. The full list of 117 perks is on the perks page; each king’s nine perks are also on its king page.

Multiplayer perks

Ranked multiplayer replaces Rainbow perks with its own nine perks, available from the start (Patch #25). They include Vigilant (+2 years of protection) and Hardy (+20% base HP). See multiplayer.