Part of the Progression Series (Hub):

Best Civilization in Rise of Kingdoms: Pick before you tap anything else.

Commanders Guide: How pairings, skills and talents actually work.

F2P Guide: Competing without a card on file.

Quick Answer

Pick a civilization for its early-game bonus, rush City Hall as your single highest priority, join a real alliance within the first hour, dump every commander sculpture into one primary commander instead of spreading them, and never let resources sit uncollected in your city. Almost every "I'm stuck at 3 million power" post traces back to breaking one of those five rules.

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:

City Hall first, always. 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. If City Hall can be upgraded, upgrade it.
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.
Then Academy, because research is the second gate on troop tiers and it runs in parallel with construction.
Then Hospital capacity, before you take a single fight. Wounded troops that do not fit in the hospital die permanently.
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 take that commander's skills to a usable level before touching anyone else.
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

Civilizations · Commanders · Buildings · Troops
Resources · Mechanics · Alliance

Endgame

Event calendar · KvK guide · Tier lists

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.

Rise of Kingdoms Guide: The Beginner Roadmap That Actually Works