Part of the Progression Series (Hub):

Quick Answer

Pick a useful starting civilization, join an active alliance and build a routine around construction, research and gathering. Develop one fighting pair deliberately; keep universal legendary sculptures for a project you can finish. City Hall milestones matter, but so do the Academy, help and the resources needed to use what you unlock.

Overview

Rise of Kingdoms is a slow game that punishes fast decisions. The first 30 days set your ceiling for the next year, because the resources and speedups you burn in week one are the same ones veterans hold for KvK and troop upgrades. This hub is the map of the whole handbook — every section below links to the deep-dive guide that covers it properly.

The single biggest difference between a governor at 10 million power and one at 30 million after the same playtime is not spending. It is sequencing.

Step 1: Choose Your Civilization

There are fifteen civilizations. Each gives a permanent set of bonuses and a free starting commander, and it is not locked forever — a Civilization Change costs around 10,000 gems, or roughly 2,000,000 Individual Credits in the alliance shop, which is the cheap route.

The standard plan is start China, then switch later. China's building speed compounds hardest in the first month, when the game is purely a construction race, and it hands you Sun Tzu. Combat bonuses look exciting and do almost nothing while you are under City Hall 10. Once your account is fighting rather than building, switch to whatever matches your troop type.

Full breakdown with every civ ranked: Best Civilization in Rise of Kingdoms.

Step 2: The Build Order

The rule is embarrassingly simple and most new players still get it wrong:

  1. Plan around useful City Hall milestones. It gates every other building's maximum level, your march queues (levels 5, 11, 17 and 22) and your troop tiers — T2 at 8, T3 at 16, T4 at 21, T5 at 25. Keep its prerequisite chain moving while maintaining useful research and enough resources for normal play.
  2. Then the prerequisite buildings that City Hall demands for its next level. The game tells you exactly which ones in the upgrade panel — see City Hall requirements.
  3. Then Academy, because research is the second gate on troop tiers and it runs in parallel with construction.
  4. Then Hospital capacity, before you take a single fight. Wounded troops that do not fit in the hospital die permanently.
  5. Everything else — farms, lumber mills, quarries, gold mines — last. In-city production is a trickle compared to gathering on the map.

A common trap: filling your city with resource buildings because the numbers look good. Map gathering out-produces in-city farms by an order of magnitude once you have a few gathering commanders running. See the buildings guide and city layout guide for the full order.

Step 3: Join an Alliance in the First Hour

Not "an alliance". A real one. The difference is measurable:

  • Alliance help cuts construction and research timers every time a member taps it. In an active alliance this is worth several hours a day of free speedups.
  • Alliance resource points are safe, high-yield gathering nodes you cannot access solo.
  • Alliance territory protects you from being farmed by whoever is bored in your zone.
  • Alliance credits buy speedups, sculptures and teleports from the alliance shop.

If your alliance has fewer than 40 active members, leave. Loyalty to a dead alliance is the most expensive mistake in the game. Details in the alliance guide.

Step 4: Commanders — Depth Beats Breadth

New governors spread sculptures across eight commanders because every one of them looks useful. This is the single most common way to waste a month.

  • Pick one primary commander for your main troop type and develop a useful partner alongside it; avoid splitting universal legendary sculptures across unrelated projects.
  • Add a gathering commander early — free resources every hour while you sleep. See best gathering commanders.
  • Keep a barbarian-farming pair to convert action points into commander XP and gear materials.

Which commanders are actually worth it depends on what the game has handed you. Start with the commander tier list, then read best commander pairs for pairings and talent trees for builds.

Step 5: Protect What You Have

Three habits that separate accounts that survive their first war from accounts that quit:

  • Never sit above your protected resource cap. Anything over the cap can be looted. Spend it or keep it in items in your bag.
  • Shelter or shield before you log off during any period of open conflict.
  • Keep your hospital big enough for a full march of wounded, or your losses become deaths instead of injuries.

What to Do With Speedups and Gems

Hoard both. Speedups are the currency that turns into troops during KvK, and gems buy the packs and events that matter later. See speedups and how to get gems for what is genuinely worth burning early.

Free rewards are worth collecting too. Gift codes hand out resources and speedups for thirty seconds of work, the Lyceum of Wisdom quiz pays gems for answering trivia, Expedition is a large untouched pile on most accounts, and your free tavern keys should be opened daily.

Every Guide in This Series

Getting started

Growth

Systems

Endgame

Your First Week: Build a Working Account

Use this as an order of priorities, not a promise to reach a particular City Hall by a fixed day. Time online, alliance help and spending change the pace.

Stage Main job Avoid
First session Link the account, explore and join an active alliance Spending rare items before you understand what they buy
First routine Keep builders, Academy and gathering marches working Leaving the account idle while hunting a perfect tier list
First commander plan Develop one primary and one useful partner Dividing universal legendary sculptures across several unlocks
First troop milestone Reach the needed City Hall and complete the Academy research Assuming the City Hall level alone creates the next troop tier
First alliance fighting Bring the troop type and march your leaders request Attacking cities or flags without understanding permanent losses

Choose a pair you can actually build. Bjorn with epic Sun Tzu gives an early infantry account a clear project. Pelagius and Baibars are accessible cavalry options. These are early rosters, not lifetime promises; check your starting commander and available sculptures before choosing.

Use speedups when they unlock something that starts earning value now: a useful march queue, an important research or a blocked prerequisite. Save a reserve for a known event target, but do not keep the Academy idle waiting for an unannounced reward window.

Before logging out, set work that lasts through your absence and send gathering marches to suitable nodes. On the next login, collect help and completed work before starting the same loop again. A simple routine you repeat beats a complicated plan you abandon after two days.

Before your first serious fight, read hospital and healing rules. Knowing when to pull a march back can preserve more progress than squeezing another small power upgrade out of the city.

Reference: Beginner progression and City Hall milestones. Source reviewed 9 September 2026; examples are editorial scenarios, not measured results.

FAQ

How long does it take to get good at Rise of Kingdoms?

Roughly 30 days to stop making costly mistakes, and around 90 days before your account is genuinely useful in kingdom-level fights. This is not a game you catch up in over a weekend.

Should I restart if I made bad early decisions?

Almost never. Bad civilization choice is fixable, bad commander investment is survivable, and a 60-day-old account with mistakes still beats a fresh one. The only case for restarting is if you are stuck in a dead kingdom — and migration solves that without losing progress.

What is the fastest way to gain power?

Research and building levels, not troops. Troop power evaporates the moment you lose a fight; research and buildings never do. Full breakdown in how to increase power fast.

What City Hall level do I need for T4 troops?

City Hall 21, with Academy 21 and the research for that troop type. City Hall 16 gives you T3 — a lot of older guides get this wrong and it is worth planning around correctly.

Do I need to spend money to be competitive?

To be competitive in your alliance, no. To be a top-10 player in a serious kingdom, yes. The F2P guide covers where the realistic ceiling sits.

Key Takeaways

  • City Hall is the whole game. Everything else is a prerequisite for City Hall.
  • Join an active alliance in your first hour — free speedups, safe gathering, real protection.
  • Invest deep in one commander instead of shallow across many.
  • Map gathering beats in-city production. Do not fill your city with farms.
  • Hoard speedups and gems for KvK. The players who burn them in week one are the ones stuck at low power six months later.