[Anonymous Player]

Complete RCB FFA Gameplay Guide

Based on =V= RCB Gold 2013 F11.scx version of the map.

NB!

This guide is very long, if you are not interested in reading it all then you have the option to just find a section what would you like to know about.

NB2!

This guide is written from my point of view and mainly describes my understandings of the game, if you do not agree with me there is no need to discard my suggestions or ideas, since everyone can have their own opinion to different things.

Because of that I will try to point out as many parts as possible, where players can decide for themselves and choose how to play in different situations.

NB3!

If you want to contribute to this Guide, simply contact me through this thread, my PM Box or Voobly CS Lobby.

Contents: 1 A Brief Introduction to RCB 2 The very start of the match 3 Choosing the most beneficial Bonus Unit(s) 3.1 The Purpose of the 4 Paladins: 3.2 The Purpose of the Genghis Khan: 3.3 The Purpose of 9 Archers of Eyes: 3.4 The Purpose of 4 Mordreds: 3.5 The Purpose of Powering Up Genghis Khan: 3.6 The Purpose of Powering Up Frankish Paladin: 4 The Order of Research 4.1 The Order of Blacksmith Upgrades: 4.2 The Order of University Upgrades: 4.3 The Order of Castle Upgrades: 4.4 The Order of Archery Range Upgrades: 5 The Bottom Store 6 The Top Super Store 6.1 Archers of Eyes: 6.2 Charlemagne: 6.3 Robin Hood: 6.4 Belisarius: 6.5 Subotai: 6.6 Charles Martel: 6.7 Tamerlane: 6.8 William the Conqueror: 6.9 Theodoric the Goth: 6.10 Middle Power Up: 6.11 Genghis Khan: 6.12 Harald Hardraade: 6.13 Global Power Up: 7 The Right Super Store 7.1 Monk: 7.2 God’s Own Sling: 7.3 Two Villagers: 7.4 Remove Palisade Wall | Back of Bases: 7.5 Boat: 7.6 Scythian Scout: 7.7 One Harald Hardraade: 7.8 Alexander Nevski: 7.9 Semi-Spies + See Enemies Spawn: 7.10 Two Tamerlanes: 7.11 430 Stone: 8 Civilization based playstyles 8.1 Aztecs 8.2 Britons 8.3 Byzantines 8.4 Celts 8.5 Chinese 8.6 Franks 8.7 Goths 8.8 Huns 8.9 Japanese 8.10 Koreans 8.11 Mayans 8.12 Mongols 8.13 Persians 8.14 Saracens 8.15 Spanish 8.16 Teutons 8.17 Turks 8.18 Vikings 9 Additional playstyles 9.1 The Nevski Strategy 9.2 The Mini Harald Strategy 10 Credits

A Brief Introduction to RCB

RCB is a Castle Blood type map, therefore the name Rambit Castle Blood.

That means players need to make units from their castles and get kills or razes with their units.

Kills and razes award the players with Kings that spawn in the Bottom Store.

Kings are used to gain advantage over the other players by buying Super Units from the Right Super Store or Hero Units that constantly start spawning after buying them from the Top Super Store.

To win the game you must outmatch your enemies and kill their Pyramids.

The very start of the match

At the start of every match the players go through a certain phase of repeated actions.

And this determines how good start you will get.

Only your knowledge, descision making and speed can grant you a good start.

Of course, possibly a better civilization than your opponent in your corner of the map.

What to do first at the start of the match?
1.

Go to your Blacksmith and start Bodkin Arrow research.

After it is done keep Blacksmith researching upgrades when there is no more left.

It is better to research Range ones first then Armour ones according to your Unique Unit and then the rest.
2.

Go to your University and start Guard Tower research.

Follow it up shortly with Masonry, Fortified Walls and Ballistics and other Tower Related upgrades.
3.

Go to Bonus Unit Island and pick your Bonus Unit(s) by moving the king at a certain direction.

The descision should be made according to your civilization and your opponent’s who you share a corner with. (NB!

You will be able to pick a new Bonus Unit at 13 minutes into the game)
4.

Move your House Guard inside your base and start patrolling him on Stand Ground in range of enemy towers.
5.

Start creating units from your castles and set a rally point near to the point where your House Guard is patrolling.
6.

During that time your Bonus Unit(s) you chose earlier have already spawned and are ready for battle.

I will talk about what Bonus Unit to choose under a different subheading.
6.1.

If you chose Paladins make them attack the gate of an enemy who is in your corner or less common thing to do is send them to middle area and use them to raze some towers.
6.2.

If you chose a Genghis Khan make him attack a tower of your opponent.
6.3.

If you chose Archers of Eyes put them inside your towers in your base near the enemy.
7.

Queue up 3 Archers from your Archery Range, if they are done put them into a tower that was empty and research Crossbowman upgrade.
8.

Use Middle Towers to take down enemy towers to get more razes.

The following points from 3 to 8 can be done in a different order, but the Bodkin Arrow and Guard Tower upgrades must be clicked to research before any other doing.

Choosing the most beneficial Bonus Unit(s)

For starters we will talk about the 4 Paladins (they respwan), Genghis Khan (respawns also) and 9 Archers of Eyes.

Then about the Bonus Units that can be unlocked after 13 minutes.

The Bonus Unit Island is located next to the Right Super Store.

The Purpose of the 4 Paladins:

Paladins are really good for early razing and are often picked to raze the gate of the opponent or go to middle early and try to pick razes from there.

I am not fond of Paladins and I don’t really pick them that often.

Picking the Paladins in my mind are only good when you know you are going to be 100% outmatched in corner wars by your opponent.

Only under that circumstance I find Paladins useful.

And if you are outmatched Paladins can help you get extra razes from the middle.

Paladins can be generally used well with the following civilizations:
Aztecs, Celts, Goths, Huns.
Not many of them really, because usually by picking Archers of Eyes is more beneficial.
Paladins do well for other Infantry civilizations expect for Franks.

I don’t recommend Paladins for any Archer civilizations.

Possibly the only option when Paladins can be good for Archer civilization is when you are versus Goths.

The Purpose of the Genghis Khan:

The Khan is good unit that is helpful in corner battles.

He helps you to defend your outer defences of base.

Also can be used to deal that extra damage to the towers of your opponent in your corner.

Works really well against Infantry and Cavalry units.

Khan can be generally used well with the following civilizations:
Britons, Mayans, Turks, Chinese (so-so).
Not many again, since Archers of Eyes are better in most cases.

These civilizations work really well with a Khan, because they spawn their Unique Unit that can be made from a castle is a Foot Archer as the Archers of Eyes are.

Chinese is listed with (so-so), because it isn’t the best and it isn’t the worst with khans.

Elite Chu Ko Nu doesn’t give the full potential of inside a tower. 5 of them only give +1 extra arrow, while 4 Archers of Eyes give +4 extra arrows.
Khan may also be picked while being Mongols, just because of that extra fire rate, which helps to deal with enemy towers better.

The Purpose of 9 Archers of Eyes:

When choosing this Bonus you are fully commited to a corner war.

The idea is that you put your Archers of Eyes inside your towers where you meet up with your opponent.

The maximum amount of them for 1 tower is 4 (it will say 4/5, but you can only get 4 extra arrows from a tower and already 4 Archers of Eyes do that, so there is no point to exceed 4 per tower), but some people can suggest to put them by 3/3/3.

Also, when you won the corner war and you still have your middle towers undestroyed then it is a good idea to move those archers there.

Archers of Eyes can be generally used well with the following civilizations:
Byzantines (one of the best), Teutons (one of the best), Koreans (one of the best), Celts, Chinese, Franks, Japanese, Mongols, Persians, Saracens, Spanish, Vikings, Aztecs, Britons, Goths, Huns, Mayans, Turks.
Well that means, all of them work well.

Now, moving on to the Bonus Units that can be picked after 13 minutes. 4 really beefy Mordreds, a Khan that powers up until 30 minutes of the game and you must have your House entact near your middle towers and finally a Frankish Paladin that powers up with no limits.

The Purpose of 4 Mordreds:

Mordreds are really good for razing buildings.

If you lack 20 razes before 13 minutes and you know it will be really hard for you to get to 20 razes then Mordred is the best Bonus Units for you to pick.

Because once you have 20 razings, you will get extra king every 5 minutes.

Although, after those 20 razes no more kings are rewarded for razings.

Mordred can also work well in general fighting, it can shield your units from archer or tower fire and can do well vs almost every Unique Unit that castle allows players to make.

There is one thing though that makes it a bit bad, if have 20 razes then your Mordreds will be replaced by Paladins that have no extra HP/AP.

So be warned, these 4 beasts won’t stick around for long and can be used for to catch up or to get a small boost from extra kills/razings these give you.
Strong against: Every Unique Unit from Castles expect War Elephants (versus War Elephants they are mediocre).

The Purpose of Powering Up Genghis Khan:

This Hero is really good when you have your House still entact at the back of your Middle Towers.

That same house also powers up the House Guard, which at the start of the game is next to it.

Although, after 30 minutes your Khan will no longer recieve any extra HP/AP even if the House is still okay, it doesn’t matter because the Khan is a really strong unit that counters most things on the game field and can be used to for effective razing/killing.

This unit can actually kill a player’s Pyramid if controlled wisely.

Together with the House Guard it can be a deadly combo to and a quick death to a player.
Strong against: Every Unique Unit form Castles.
Semi-strong against: Small pack of Hero Units.

Can do really well against Hero Units when you have a monk to heal it back up really quick.

The Purpose of Powering Up Frankish Paladin:

This Hero gets stronger and stronger over time and the main idea of picking this Hero is that you will destroy a player’s Pyramid with him.

By sending him to attack the Pyramid after the enemy has been badly damaged and had few units left in his base can end with eliminating the player from the match.

This Hero will work well with various strategies I will talk about further into the Guide.

The Order of Research

The Order of Blacksmith Upgrades:

You will always want to research Bodkin Arrow first.

Everything else depends on the strategy you will follow.

I will cover the strategy part later, but the names should enlighten a bit.
1.

If you are going to do a Hero Rush or you are buying a Villager, you will want to get defence armour that would apply for your Unique Unit.

So for Cavalry civilization after Bodkin Arrow you want to research Chain Barding Armour and then Iron Casting.

After those all the rest, because it is always to have all upgrades done early.
For Infantry civilization you want to research Chain Mail Armour and then Iron Casting and followed up with the rest.
For Archer civilization get the Leather Archer Armour and then the rest.
2.

If you are going straight to Imperial Age, you will want to research Bracer as quickly as possible then follow it up with your Unique Unit Armour upgrades and then Damage upgrades and of course, the other ones which after that, since they might be required later during the game.

The Order of University Upgrades:

Firstly, you will want to reseacrh Guard Tower always.

Now, again the paths go separately.
1.

For Hero Rush and Villager play you will want to research Masonry, Fortified Walls, Murder Holes and Ballistics and then the other upgrades aswell.

The order of those upgrades can be different among players, since everyone have different opinions about them, which of them should be more important than the other one.

I use that order to research them.
2.

For Imperial Age play you will want to research Keep, Masonry, Architecture, Chemistry, Fortified Walls, Murder Holes, Ballistics and the other ones.

Again, this is the order I like to research them and I find this way most useful.

You are all welcome to try all the other ways to research them.

The Order of Castle Upgrades:

There are not many upgrades under castle, but still, every little helps.

So, to research anything from the castle you will need to have Imperial Age.

Since the start of the game is really fast paced I recommend to use only 1 Castle to make those upgrades, but again that is just my opinion.

First upgrade should be Conscription, followed with Elite Unit Technology then Unique Technology (only if it is beneficial, otherwise there is no point to waste time on it) and Hoardings.

There is no point at all to research Sappers, it would be just a waste of time.

The Order of Archery Range Upgrades:

First of all, you will still need to make those 3 Archers I talked about (this is not needed if you are playing as Britons, Mayans, Turks).

Then you should research Crossbowman upgrade and if went to Imperial Age Arblast upgrade, followed up with Thumb Ring and other upgrades.

Also some people prefer to make Skrimishers over Archers, I do not recommend it, but Skrimisher does not die easily when you send him to garrison inside a Tower in Middle.

Archers are more likely to die, but they give extra arrows more effectively.
For Britons, Mayans and Turks you actually want to research Thumb Ring first and then the other upgrades in any order you want.
NB!

It is also keep Archery Range producing units after done the upgrades.

Those Units are not a big deal, but can be helpful when you put them in Middle Towers or the ones which defend your base.

For some civilizations you can even use them as additional attacking units.

The Bottom Store

In the Bottom Store you have 5 different buying option.

I will go from left to right.

For new players I want to point out that every Flag counts for 1 King, so if there are 3 Flags you will need to use 3 Kings to buy it.

Only way to get Kings is by killing and razing.

The first one is Send 1 King to the Top Super Store.

This itself costs 2 Kings.

Players would want to this because in the Top Super Store you can buy constantly spawning Hero Units, which are stronger than normal units made from the castle.

The second one is Imperial Age.

This costs 4 Kings, this is a typical buy for most civilizations in early game.

By buying Imperial Age you unlock more technologies and thus, you make your army stronger.

The third one is a Castle.

This costs 1 King, again a typical buy for early game.

Although you buy a Castle, you can do it maximum of 6 times.

That means a player can have 8 Castles total.

This helps players make military units faster.

I will talk about how many castles to buy for a civilization in a different chapter.

The fourth one is a Villager.

The Villager costs 5 Kings and when bought it will spawn from back of your base and it walks to the pyramid.

This buy is not that common for most civilizations, but it can provide you with Imperial Age and 3 extra castles.

So you actually save 2 Kings, but you will lose time by doing so.

The fifth one is Send 1 King to the Right Super Store.

This costs 1 King only.

In the Right Super Store are various buys that help players kill others or just get an edge in battle.

The Top Super Store

NB!

You can have only 2 Hero spawns, that means if you should ever buy a third one, you need to replace a previous Hero.

This Store is all about strong Hero Units, which will help players kill eachother off and determine the winner.

I will go over what civilization is best with which hero in a different chapter.

NB!

When you should buy one of these Heroes then you should know that you won’t get only one of them, but you will get a Spawn of them.

This means that a Hero Unit will spawn every 5 (different amount of time for some Heroes) seconds.

Archers of Eyes:

This Hero is a slightly stronger Archer.

Buying him costs only 2 Kings in the Top Super Store (4 Kings in Bottom Store).

This unit is really good early game and strong against Infantry (expect Goths), it also fights well against other Archers (not against Britons Elite Longbowmen).

Weak against Cavalry.

This Hero stops spawning after a total population of 120.

Mostly bought to fill Middle Towers and to get a lot of early kills.

Charlemagne:

This Hero is a beefed up Axethrower.

He costs 4 Kings, but you get 2 Kings back in Bottom Store.

Also you get free Blast Furnace Technology for buying him.

This unit is really good against Infantry and Cavalry.

Is deadly to Archers, if you can get them close enough.

Can destroy buildings effectively and with him it is even possible to kill a player’s Pyramid.

Mostly bought to get early game kills and razes.

Robin Hood:

This Hero is a beefed up Longbowman, although lacks 1 range, but has more Attack Points and Hit Points.

Costs 5 Kings to buy him.

Really good early game unit to have.

Can be used to fill Middle Towers, if still have them entact.

Average razing unit, good unit for getting kills.

Belisarius:

This Hero is Cavalry unit that looks like a cataphract, costs 6 Kings.

This one has a special feature, these units gain +1 Hit Point/ +2 Attack Points every 20 seconds.

So in time, this should become a really strong unit, which could kill units easily.

Also, for Belisarius players can buy extra Health, by that I mean, 1 King in the Top Super Store can buy +100 Hit Points to every Belisarius you own on the battlefield.

This unit is really good at destroying player’s Pyramid, probably being the first Hero from the Top Super Store that can win you the game.

Suicide said: People should time their favourite TV Shows to the same time while they play RCB and want to pick Belisarius, I know that nhoobish does it.

In response to that I must say that Belisarius is a Hero that causes a lot of camping.

And, yes, this is my favourite Hero to choose from all of Top Super Store ones.

And, yes, I continously have watched TV while I bought Belisarius.

I have lost only 1 game during all my RCB games to watching TV and I don’t really regret it.

Subotai:

This Hero is a Cavalry Archer, costs 7 Kings Really good in getting kills early and mid game.

Average with razing.

Mostly bought as a milestone Hero, which helps players get enough Kings for a better and stronger Hero.

Works best for a player who likes to Hit and Run, since this Hero is ideal for that.

Charles Martel:

This Hero is also a beefed up Axethrower, costs 8 Kings.

Really good Infantry Hero, because has more additional Range, Hit Points, Attack Points and the most imporant of all is the Attack Speed.

This Unit rips through all the previous Heroes and is quite good against the others more expensive than him.

Mostly bought as a milestone Hero, which helps players get enough Kings for a better and stronger Hero, but can be used as Pyramid destroyer, because this unit is really strong against buildings.

Tamerlane:

This hero is a Cavalry Archer, has less Attack Points than a Subotai, but more Hit Points than Subotai.

Costs 9 Kings and therfore has a speacial feature.

When a Tamerlane stands at the top of the Middle Hill he will gain 1 Attack Point and 6 Hit Points every 6 seconds.

So, this is Cavalry Archer Hero that can be really good or really bad.

By taking the risk of buying this, you might lose them or win.

When Powered Up kills everything, but doesn’t do well with normal stats.

William the Conqueror:

A Hero similar to the Belisarius, but costs 9 Kings and recieves more Attack (3) and Hit Points (5) every 20 second.

Therefore a much stronger Hero unit in long run, although many players prefer Belisarius to William, because William has slower Attack Speed.

Theodoric the Goth:

Slightly stronger Hero than William the Conqueror, but costs 11 Kings and gains 4 Attack Points and 5 Hit Points every 20 seconds.

Rarely picked, because slow Infantry unit and costs 2 Kings more than William the Conqueror.

Middle Power Up:

This is not an Unit, but it is a Buy that makes players gain +1 Attack Point and +1 Hit Point per every second on top of the Middle Hill.

Buying this is really risky, infact you can just make all the rest of the players kill you flat out, because Middle Power Up is a real threat for everyone.

This works best with Ranged Units that have Total of 8 Range.

Genghis Khan:

This is a stronger version of Subotai and costs 12 Kings.

Limit of 200 Units, doesn’t get affected by other units on the map (e.g.

Subotai stops spawning when you have over 200 population, while Khan stops spawning when there are 200 Khans on the map).

Again, ideal for Hit and Run attacks.

Really good against previous Heroes, but loses it’s strength against too powerful Belisarius, William or Theodoric units.

Can be used to kill players with additional help from the House Guard or something else.

Harald Hardraade:

Fast moving Infantry with fast Attack Speed, costs only 15 Kings, gains 5 Attack Points and 10 Hit Points every 20 seconds.

Harald is the best Hero unit a player can have spawning, but there is always a risk to get the best unit.

You would need to save up 15 Kings (30 in the Bottom Store) and other players may kill you before you can buy Haralds.

Has seperate spawning system alike to Khan, you can have 200 maximum of them regardless what your population is.

Global Power Up:

Costs 19 Kings.

Again, this is not an Unit, but a way stronger Middle Power Up, because this gives +1 Attack Point and +1 Hit Point per every second to every unit on the map.

Buying this is insanely risky, but some games can end up with one player buying this.

Of course, there is an option to send 2 Kings back to the Right Super Store, if you made a mistake and sent too many Kings to the Top Super Store.

The Right Super Store

This store is about gaining advantages over other players.

Some of the buys are really good in battle and makes your opponent rethink his plan how to fight you.

Other ones are helpful with killing off the player.

If you should have Subotai and your opponent Robin Hood, but you can’t kill him because Subotai doesn’t damage the Pyramid almost at all then this Store offers a lot of units, which can be used to destroy Pyramids.

NB!

These Buys from this store are one time only.

That means, if you should buy a Monk or something else then you will get only one of them or as many as the Buy states.

Do not confuse these Buys with the Top Super Store ones, which repeatedly spawn after a certain amount of time.

Monk:

This dear fellow is really useful against the Invincible Skrimisher, which can’t be killed, but can be converted.

The monk costs only 1 King, therefore gains 1000 Hit Points and has Bonus Healing , which means he will heal units faster than a normal monk.

Mostly used while attacking or defending.

God’s Own Sling:

Trebuchet with 4 extra Range, costs 4 Kings.

Is useful against players who are next to you and have either Melee Heros or worse Ranged Heroes than you have.

I don’t recommend using this against players who aren’t next to your base, because the Sling is too easy to lose and it is really weak, but deals a lot of Damage to Pyramid and helps finish off players.

Two Villagers:

These is pretty much same Buy as the one in Bottom Store, but costs 4 Kings and you get two Villagers instead of one.

This can be bought only when you already are in Imperial Age.

Remove Palisade Wall | Back of Bases:

This Buy costs 2 Kings and removes Palisade Wall from the Back of Base for every player.

This means you can do a sneak attack on a player that walled the Back of his Base.

Boat:

This unit is used to make sneak attacks on players.

Costs 5 Kings and has 4250 Hit Points with a health regeneration of 32 Hit Points every second.

Commonly used as a Transport for Super Heroes that can destroy a player’s Pyramid.

Scythian Scout:

This unit is a version of the Invincible Skrimisher, but costs 3 Kings.

Has +12 500 Hit Points, +50 Attack Points and moves really fast.

Can’t get converted by Monks.

Commonly used against Ranged Units.

Useless against Haralds, average against Khans, does rather well against any other Ranged Unit.

One Harald Hardraade:

Often called Super Harald or Mini Harald, costs 5 Kings and has the same Power Up as the Top Super Store Harald (+10 Hit Points and +5 Attack Points every 20 seconds).

Commonly bought before to destroy enemy Pyramids or to defend yourself from strong Belisarius, William or Theodoric Units.

Do not get obsessed with these, people have started to buy this too often, because they think they can win the game with only those, but that isn’t really true.

Alexander Nevski:

This a Cavalry Unit that recieves +2 Attack Points and +4 Hit Points every 20 seconds.

Costs 2 Kings and has a special feature that allows you to buy +650 Hit Points or +60 Attack Points for every Nevski you own.

Commonly used as a Pyramid destroyer.

Semi-Spies + See Enemies Spawn:

This is an intel Buy that helps player know what their enemies have bought and how does their base look like.

Players get a small vision of every base.

This is Buy is a must for every match that carries over than 45 minutes.

Best time to buy it is usually after your first Hero from the Top Super Store.

Two Tamerlanes:

You will get two Tamerlanes that Power Up on the Middle Hill as the ones from the Top Super Store.

Costs 1 King.

Is useful in a match, where everyone are camping or if there are only one or two players left and you have the better Heroes.

430 Stone:

This Buy costs 1 King.

Mostly used to make a stronger defence against Belisarius, William and Theodoric.

Can be bought for agressive plays too.

Such as making more Castles for more Population, if should lack from maximum.

As for agressive play, this can be really useful when you can make Bombard Towers, it would allow you expand your base.

Of course, there is an option to send Kings to the Bottom Store or to the Top Super Store, if that is needed.

Civilization based playstyles

NB!

These are the playstyles that can win you the game.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try out new things.

If you feel like doing something new and crazy then just do it.

I once chose to buy a Villager with Byzantines.

I kept making Cataphracts and Heavy Cavalry Archers.

And I won the game because I had so many Kings that I bought Global Power Up and killed everyone in matter of seceonds.

Although, the chances are that you would get such a match, where every player bought a Villager at start and no one had a hero before I got Global, is close to 0%.

That is one of the main reasons I didn’t add the Villager play under that Byzantines Civilization, because it isn’t really reliable option.

Aztecs

5 Kings at start
With Aztecs you pretty much have two options how to play your game.
1.

At the start of the game you buy Imperial Age and 2 (more common) or 3 Castles.

Then you either fight in your corner with the enemy or try to raze from the Middle.

Of course, you can try to do both at the same time, possible when you have civilization advantage overt the other player.

So your main goal is to get as much Kings as possible and then buy a hero.

When you play like this then you would want to buy Robin Hood or Charles Martel.

Buying a worse Hero would ruin your game and trying to get a better one would make you fall behind from the other players.

There are execptions, when you are getting fed by someone then you can try to get a better Hero, but usually getting Charles Martel can be pretty hard journey.

After Charles Martel buy Imperial Age or a Villager.
2.

And now the safer play, which can be more effective in most cases.

You would want to buy Charlemagne straight off from the start of the game.

Since you already have 5 Kings at the Bottom Store, you would only need 3 more.

Charlemagne is a really power unit to have early game and it pretty much kills everything in his way.

After getting Charlemagne, 3 options come out.

You buy Imperial Age, a Villager or save up for Charles Martel.

When buying Imperial AGe or a Villager, eventually you would want to buy that Charles Martel aswell, because that is the better unit and can help you kill players.

For both cases, Charles Martel can be very effective in destroying a player’s pyramid.

So, if you can’t win a game with just having a Charles Martel then the next step would be either to buy another Charles Martel or a Genghis Khan, those are more common options and safer.

Although, you can take a risk and buy Middle Hill Power Up or Haralds.

Britons

2 Kings at start
With Britons you have three options how to play the game.
1.

Most common way would be to buy Imperial Age and then Castles according how much you need but standard amount of Castles what you want to have is between 4 and 6.

Some players may buy 2 Castles at start and then Imperial Age, that is more for the players who want to fill Middle Towers as fast as possible, of course, they will fill the Base Outer Defence Towers too.

The only Hero you would want to have is a Robin Hood and after that Khans or Haralds, Middle Hill Power Up is possible too, but not recommended because of the risk.
2.

You save up Kings (this means that you don’t buy Imperial nor Castles at start of the match), you will want to fill only the Middle Towers and give up the corner war, because Middle Towers are really good for getting razes.

The Hero you want to get is Robin Hood.

After that either buy Imperial Age or a Villager.

Follow Robin Hood with Khans or Haralds, Middle Hill Power Up is possible too, but not recommended because of the risk.
3.

This a less common strategy.

Save up 5 Kings at the Bottom Store and buy a Villager, you may want to buy extra Stone for some additional Castles, but that is optional.

By doing this you will fall behind, so you don’t want to buy a Robin Hood, but something stronger like a William the Conqueror, also possible to buy Theodoric, Genghis Khan and Middle Power Up.

Generally people pick William or Theodoric.

Byzantines

3 Kings at start
You have only one viable playstyle with Byzantines.
1.

You will want to get Imperial Age as fast as possible, since you lack 1 King to do so at the start of the match.

Then buy 1 or 2 Castles, can buy more if you know you will get a lot of kills.

Then save up Kings to buy a Hero.

Either Robin Hood, Belisarius, Subotai, Charles Martel or William Wallace.

All of them are good picks and 2 of them can be used as Pyramid destroyers and others just carve a way for the stronger and better Heros, such as Khans and Haralds.

Celts

5 Kings at start
For Celts you have 3 good playstyles.
1.

Similar to Aztecs, you want to go Imperial Age and buy 2 or 3 Castles.

Then save up for a Charles Martel and try to get a better Hero or start killing players.
2.

From the very start of the game start saving up Kings and try to get Charles Martel atleast, if you should get more then buy William the Conqueror.

After that buy Imperial Age and try to save up Kings for a better Hero or start killing players.
3.

Since you have 5 Kings you can buy a villager at start, this means that you will fall behind but you will catch up quickly if you mass pump out Paladins and start gaining Kings.

You will want to save Kings and the main goal is to try and get enough for Haralds.

Players will try to stop you, so you may need to buy Khans if you are going to get teamed on.

Khans with 5+2 Range is a bit awkward and not most effective, so some players prefer to buy Theodoric.

Chinese

4 Kings at start
There is only one good strategy with Chinese.
1.

Because you have 4 Kings at start, buy Imperial Age and after that minimum 4 castles.

I don’t recommend a Villager because Chinese don’t have a great Unique Unit or anything else that could be more useful and you will fall behind so it will be harder to catch up.

The first Hero that Chinese could pick is a Subotai, but only buy it when you are in trouble, same for Charles Martel.

You really want to get something better than those.

Everything above Charles Martel is possible to get and, most common pick is either Khans or Haralds.

Franks

5 Kings at start
There are two good playstyles with Franks.
1.

Buy the Villager at the very start of the game.

You may want to buy an extra Castle or some Stone so you could make your maximum Population a bit bigger, that would help you make more Paladins and Elite Throwing Axemen, also some people like to make Hand Cannoneers for that extra Damage.

The Heroes that you would want to buy are everything above Theodoric, so Khan or Harald.

Khan again is a bit awkward with the 5+2 Range, but still really powerful Hero regardless of the Range.

Harald is the main Hero that you would want to get with this strategy, but when you are about to get teamed on you should buy Khans just because to keep yourself in the match.
2.

Buy Imperial Age and 2 or 3 Castles.

Save up Kings what you get and best Heros what you can get with this play are Charles Martel and William the Conqueror.

If you should buy Martel then be prepared to save up Kings again for a better and stronger Hero like the Haralds, because Martel isn’t the best win condition, but William can be used to kill everybody.

I like this strategy more, because you don’t fall behind, but you do when you buy a Villager.

Goths

5 Kings at start
There are two main strategies for Goths.
1.

Go Imperial Age, buy 2 or 3 Castles.

Get kills and razings, save up Kings.

You will want to get Subotai, but if you are lacking Kings then buy Robin Hood.

Those both Heroes will help you survive and get more Kings, so you could buy better Heroes like Khan, also possible to buy Middle Power Up.
2.

Save your 5 Kings and do not buy anything.

Try to get razes from Middle or somewhere else.

The Hero you want is Subotai, but Robin Hood will do just fine, if you can’t get Subotai.

Then buy Imperial Age.

Start getting kills and save Kings for Khans or Middle Power Up.

Huns

4 Kings at start
Huns have 3 good playstyles.
1.

Go Imperial Age, buy 2 or 3 Castles.

Get kills and razings, save up Kings.

You will want to get Subotai, but if you are lacking Kings then buy Robin Hood.

Those both Heroes will help you survive and get more Kings, so you could buy better Heroes like Khan, also possible to buy Middle Power Up.
2.

Save your 4 Kings and do not buy anything.

Try to get razes from Middle (very easy for Tarkans to raze Middle Towers) or somewhere else.

The Hero you want is Subotai, but Robin Hood will do just fine, if you can’t get Subotai.

Then buy Imperial Age.

Start getting kills and save Kings for Khans or Middle Power Up.
3.

Get one extra King and buy a Villager.

Start making Heavy Cavalry Archers, Paladins and Elite Tarkans.

These units are really power when combined.

You will easily get new Kings.

The Hero you want to achieve with this playstyle is Khan.

If you can’t get that far or you are forced to buy something earlier then Theodoric is a good pick.

Japanese

4 Kings at start
Two good strategies for Japanese.
1.You want to go Imperial Age and buy 2 or 3 Castles.

Then save up for a Charles Martel.

The next Hero can most likely should be again Charles Martel or a Genghis Khan, this depends how many Kings you can get.

Middle Power Up is also possible but risky.
2.

From the very start of the game start saving up Kings and try to get Charles Martel atleast, if you should get more then buy William the Conqueror.

After that buy Imperial Age and try to save up Kings for a better Hero or start killing players.

Koreans

1 King at start
Only one reliable playstyle for Koreans.
1.

Only the start of the game can go two ways.

This only depends on your choice how you want to play Koreans.

But the main idea is that you will have Imperial Age and 8 Castles.

The Hero you want is Khan or Harald, there is no point to buy anything weaker for Koreans.
1.1 One way to start: Buy 2 Castles, save up 4 Kings and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with all the other Castles as fast as possible.
1.2 The other way at start: Save 4 Kings and Buy Imperial Age, followed up with buying 6 Castles.

Some players buy a Villager, but I think that is just too slow for Koreans, because you only have 1 King at start.

Therefore you will waste a lot of time getting 4 extra Kings and I think it is just not worth it.

Mayans

3 Kings at start
Only one reliable playstyle for Mayans.
1.

Only the start of the game can go two ways.

This only depends on your choice how you want to play Mayans.

But the main idea is that you will have Imperial Age and 6 to 8 Castles.

The Hero you want is Khan or Harald, there is no point to buy anything weaker for Mayans, but you can try get Middle Power Up.

For some reason people like to buy Middle for just Plumed Archers.

I have done it also and won some games.
1.1 One way to start: Buy 2-3 Castles, save up 4 Kings and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with the amount of Castles you think you should need.
1.2 The other way at start: Get that one extra King and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with as many Castles you think you should need.

Mongols

3 Kings at start
Only one reliable playstyle for Mongols.
1.

Only the start of the game can go two ways.

This only depends on your choice how you want to play Mongols.

But the main idea is that you will have Imperial Age and 8 Castles.

The Hero you want is Tamerlane or Khan, there is no point to buy anything weaker for Mongols.
1.1 One way to start: Buy 2-3 Castles, save up 4 Kings and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with the maximum amount of Castles.
1.2 The other way at start: Get that one extra King and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with the maximum amount of Castles.

Some players buy a Villager for Mongols, but I think getting Mongols quick Imperial Age and a lot of Castles makes this Civilization really powerful against other ones.

In other words, I don’t agree with buying a Villager for Mongols.

Persians

– 2 Kings at start
Two good tacits for Persians.
1.

Buy 2 Castles, follow it up with Imperial Age.

This already makes you strong enough and you can easily get enough Kings to buy Charles Martel.

Mostly people buy Martel with this playstyle, but you can try to get a better Hero, it would just depend on the kills.

After Charles Martel buy Khan or Harald.
2.

Buy 2 Castles, then save up 5 Kings and buy a Villager.

You will fall behind a bit, but you will be able to make a lot Elephants.

This playstyle works best, if you want to try to get Khan or Harald.

Although, you may die before, because Persians is considered as the biggest threat to everyone.

Saracens

3 Kings at start
Only one reliable playstyle for Saracens.
1.

Only the start of the game can go two ways.

This only depends on your choice how you want to play Saracens.

But the main idea is that you will have Imperial Age and 8 Castles.

The Hero you want is Khan or Harald, there is no point to buy anything weaker for Saracens.
1.1 One way to start: Buy 2-3 Castles, save up 4 Kings and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with the maximum amount of Castles.
1.2 The other way at start: Get that one extra King and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with the maximum amount of Castles.

Some players buy a Villager for Saracens, but I think getting Saracens quick Imperial Age and a lot of Castles makes this Civilization really powerful against other ones.

In other words, I don’t agree with buying a Villager for Saracens.

Spanish

3 Kings at start
Two good strategies for Spanish.
1.

Buy Imperial then buy 2 to 6 Castles, this play is good for any Hero.

You can get a fast Martel or a fast Khan.

Both are good carrying you through the game.

Some people may buy Castles first but I consider this a stronger play, because you can research Keep faster and therefore have stronger Towers.
2.

Get 2 extra Kings and buy a Villager.

Spanish is really good with Paladins and Conquistadors.

You will have easy time getting kills and razes.

The Heroes you would want to buy are Khan and Harald.

Buying Middle Power Up can pay off too, but not recommened, because Conquistadors have only 6 Range, you can make Cavalry Archers for the Middle Hill Power Up.

Teutons

4 Kings at start
Two good strategies for Teutons.
1.

Buy Imperial Age then buy no more than 2 Castles.

For Teutons you always want to fill Middle Towers as fast as possible.

This will enable you to get easy razes and kills.

The Heros what you would want to buy are Belisarius, Charles Martel or William the Conqueror.

I think that Belisarius is the strongest Hero for Teutons, but if you get a lot of kills (which is really unlikely) then you can also try to get better Heroes with one go.
2.

Send your Kings to the Top Super Store and buy Archers of Eyes.

I suggest that you buy Imperial Age instead of a Villager, but both are good picks, just you will lose your Middle Towers faster if you buy a Villager.

With this play you can get atleast Charles Martel or William the Conqueror, you can also go for Haralds, Khans not recommended because of the 5+2 Range.

Turks

3 Kings at start
Only one reliable playstyle for Turks
1.

Only the start of the game can go two ways.

This only depends on your choice how you want to play Turks.

But the main idea is that you will have Imperial Age and 6 to 8 Castles.

The Hero you want is William, Khan or Harald, there is no point to buy anything weaker for Turks.
1.1 One way to start: Buy 2-3 Castles, save up 4 Kings and buy Imperial Age.

Then buy extra Castles, you think you should need more.
1.2 The other way at start: Get that one extra King and buy Imperial Age.

Follow it up with buying 4 to 6 Castles.

Some players buy a Villager for Turks, but I think getting Turks quick Imperial Age and a lot of Castles makes this Civilization really powerful against other ones.

In other words, I don’t agree with buying a Villager for Turks.

Vikings

5 Kings at start
Two good strategies for Vikings.
1.

Buy Imperial Age and then 2 or 3 Castles.

This play means that you will want to buy anything above Robin Hood (including Robin Hood).

If you can’t get many kills then you should settle down with a weaker Hero.

After you would want to have either Khan or Harald.
2.

Save your Kings and try to buy Robin Hood, Belisarius, Subotai or Charles Martel, if you can get a William the Conqueror then that is fine too.

After that buy Imperial Age and save Kings for a better Hero.

I have tried to make the Villager buy work with Vikings, but it doesn’t seem to go that well.

If you want to try it out aswell then go ahead.

Vikings with Arblast can be a really good combo, but in most cases not good enough.

Additional playstyles

These playstyles work for every Civilization, but are better for the ones that give those Heroes maximum Armour.

The Nevski Strategy

1.

Nevski is an elite Hero that gets Hit Points and Attack Points over time.

Furthermore, you can buy more Hit Points or Attack Points for him.

This means you can have Super Units that are unkillable.

Mostly used for destroying your opponent’s Pyramid.

You can possibly kill all players with this play, if combod well with Scythian Scout or Invincible Skrimisher.

Nevskis can be used effectively with a Boat, if you unload them at the back of enemy base and start attacking the Pyramid.
1.1 Nevskis from the start of the game: Go Imperial Age, buy some Castles (Villager play is an option also).

Start getting kills and buy 5 to 7 Nevskis.

After that start investing in Nevski AP and HP (the other Buy options next to Nevski).

By doing this you are ready to kill some players.
1.2 Nevskis from some point later into the game: Buy 3 or 4 and invest all Kings to HP and AP.

If you want to kill someone, you would have to atleast have something as good Robin Hood to distract/kill the units in enemy’s base.

The Mini Harald Strategy

1.

Same with Nevskis, can be bought early game or late game.

Used to kill Pyramids, although, I have seen some players, who bought early Haralds, use them to kill units.

Combos well with Scythian Scout or Invincible Skrimisher.

Effective also with Boat.
1.1 Haralds for the start of the game: Go Imperial Age, buy some Castles (Villager play is an option also).

Get kills and razes.

Use your all Kings to invest in Mini Haralds.

You will want to have more than 3 (there is no limit, but you need to save or get new Kings for to buy a Boat or Scythian Scout/Skrimisher when you are going to kill someone).
1.2 Haralds from some point later into the game: This requires you to have a Hero that can be used to kill enemy units.

You will want to have 3 to 4 Haralds, not more, not less.

These will help you finish off players or defend against Belisarius, William or Theodoric.

I buy Mini Haralds for late game, if I know that someone else has done the same, so I put mine to guard the back of my base (they will kill a Boat easily).

Credits

Big thanks to Barry for making the Table of Contents.
Also, I want to thank Steven and Thorn for keeping my mood up with those Polandball Comics, while I was writing this really long Guide.

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