Part of the Tier List Series:

Tier Lists Hub: Every ranking in the handbook.

Commanders Guide: How skills, pairings and talents work.

Best Commander Pairs: Turning this list into an actual march.

Quick Answer

There is no single best commander in Rise of Kingdoms — there are five jobs and a best commander for each. In the current meta the Prime commanders (Scipio Prime, Sun Tzu Prime, Hermann Prime and the rest) sit at the top of open-field rankings, Ashurbanipal, Justinian, Xiang Yu and Alexander Nevsky lead rallies, Gorgo anchors garrison, and Cao Cao plus Lohar still own barbarian farming exactly as they did five years ago. Build the job you need next, with whatever you can actually finish.

How to Read This List — and Why the Date Matters

This is a snapshot, not a law. Commander rankings in Rise of Kingdoms move every few months, and they moved harder than usual with the Prime commander system. Any tier list without a date on it is a museum piece — including this one, eventually.

Three filters before you spend a single sculpture:

Filter by what you own. A ranking of commanders you have no sculptures for is entertainment, not planning.
Filter by your season. The KvK 1 meta and the Season of Conquest meta are different games. Early-season accounts should ignore most of the S+ tier below — those commanders assume investment you do not have yet.
Weight by achievable skill level. Ask "can I get this to 5/1/1/1 this season?" before "is this S tier?" A maxed A-tier beats an unfinished S-tier every time.

Prime Commanders: What Changed

Some commanders now have upgraded Prime versions — confirmed ones include Scipio Africanus, Sun Tzu, Hermann, Boudica, Joan of Arc, Belisarius and Ragnar Lodbrok.

Two things to understand:

A Prime is a separate commander, unlocked and levelled from scratch with its own sculptures, not an upgrade applied to the one you already built.
They reset the top of the rankings. Sun Tzu Prime, Scipio Prime and Hermann Prime sit at the top of current open-field lists. Any tier list that does not mention Primes is describing a meta that no longer exists.

If you are in your first year, this is not your decision yet. Build the base commander well first — the common free-to-play ladder is Yi Seong-Gye, then Boudica Prime, then Scipio Prime, and that ladder takes seasons.

Rally Leads

Rally leads want maximum damage and troop capacity. The most sculpture-hungry role in the game and the one where legendaries genuinely matter.

Tier	Commanders
S+	Ashurbanipal, Justinian, Xiang Yu
S	Alexander Nevsky, Scipio Aemilianus, Guan Yu
A	Qin Shi Huang, Liu Che, Arthur Pendragon
Legacy	Richard I, Charles Martel, Charlemagne — early-game bench now

Richard I is not a rally lead. He is a garrison and field tank, and in the current meta he is a bench commander overall. If a guide has him anchoring your rallies, it was written years ago.

Rally leading is a whole-alliance investment. If your alliance already has three good rally leads, your sculptures are better spent on field or garrison — talk to your alliance before committing.

Open Field

Field fighting rewards mobility, rage generation and burst. This is where good play beats raw power most visibly, and where the Prime commanders have had the biggest impact.

Tier	Commanders
S+	Alexander Nevsky, Scipio Prime, Zhuge Liang, Sun Tzu Prime, Hermann Prime, Liu Che, Qin Shi Huang
S	Yi Seong-Gye (YSG), Xiang Yu, Arthur Pendragon, Bai Qi, Huo Qubing, Gang Gamchan, Joan Prime, Boudica Prime, Belisarius Prime
A	Ramesses II, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Mulan, Pyrrhus
B	Cao Cao, Aethelflaed, Tomoe Gozen

Yi Seong-Gye is still the answer for most accounts. He holds S tier, he is obtainable, and he is the standard first serious field commander for a free player. Chasing an S+ commander you cannot finish is how accounts stall.

Minamoto is the clearest example of a two-life commander: peacekeeping talents early to farm barbarians, rebuilt for cavalry later. He is A-tier now rather than the S-tier staple he once was, but he is still one of the most efficient commanders a mid-game account can own. See talent trees.

Garrison and Defence

Defending your city, alliance flags and fortresses is a different job from attacking, and it turned over almost completely in recent years.

Tier	Commanders
S	Gorgo
A	Choe Yeong, Heraclius, Dido, Yi Sun-sin, Theodora, Zenobia, Hector
B	Yi Seong-Gye, Charles Martel, Richard I

Damage reduction and healing beat raw attack here. A rally lead in garrison is usually a wasted commander.

Barbarian Farming

The cheapest and most-used pair on your account, and the one that funds your commander XP economy. This is the one category the meta has barely touched.

Tier	Commanders
S	Cao Cao, Lohar
A	Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Boudica, Aethelflaed
B	Sun Tzu, any epic with peacekeeping talents

The Peacekeeping tree's action-point cost reduction is what makes this work — it is not about damage, it is about clearing more barbarians per day. Full method: how to level up commanders fast.

Gathering

Low investment, enormous return. Every account should have these running.

Tier	Commanders	Resource
S	Cleopatra VII	Stone primary, strong across all types, big load bonus
A	Joan of Arc, Šárka	Šárka gathers all resource types
B	Gaius Marius, Seondeok, Constance, Matilda of Flanders, Ishida Mitsunari	Food, gold, wood, stone, food respectively

Details and talent setup: best gathering commanders.

The Best Secondaries

Secondary commanders contribute skills only, so the best of them are cheap commanders with a strong first skill:

Sun Tzu — the benchmark. Direct skill damage, minimal investment, works in almost any pair. Still on veteran accounts years later.
Joan of Arc — sustain in garrison, and a strong gatherer besides.
Lohar — healing on a barbarian-farming pair. PvE only; never bring him to a real fight.

One correction worth making explicitly: Zhuge Liang is not a secondary any more. He is an S+ open-field primary in the current meta, commonly led alongside Qin Shi Huang. Building him as a support piece wastes him.

If You Are Building From Scratch

Ignore everything above except this paragraph. Get a cheap peacekeeping pair farming barbarians — Cao Cao and Lohar. Get Yi Seong-Gye or a maxed epic pair for your troop type. Get one gathering commander per march queue. That plan is correct in every meta this game has had, and it will still be correct after the next tier list is published.

See best epic commanders for the free-to-play roster.

FAQ

Who is the best commander in Rise of Kingdoms?

By role. Ashurbanipal, Justinian and Xiang Yu lead the rally rankings; Alexander Nevsky and the Prime commanders dominate the open field; Gorgo anchors garrison; Cao Cao and Lohar own barbarian farming.

What is the best commander for beginners?

Whichever cheap peacekeeping commander you have, paired with Lohar, to farm barbarians. Then Yi Seong-Gye or an epic pair for your troop type.

Are Prime commanders worth it?

Eventually, and not early. A Prime is a separate commander built from scratch, so it is a multi-season project. The usual free-to-play order is YSG, then Boudica Prime, then Scipio Prime.

Is Richard I still good?

Not as a rally lead — he never really was one. He is a defensive commander who has fallen down the garrison rankings as newer commanders arrived. Fine early, bench later.

Which commander should I upgrade first?

The primary of the pair you use most — usually your field pair. Take its first skill to max before anything else.

Does this tier list change?

Yes, with every commander release and Prime rollout. The role structure does not change, which is why this list is organised that way. Check the date at the top before trusting any ranking, here or anywhere else.

Key Takeaways

Rank by role, not by ceiling — and check the date on any tier list.
Prime commanders reset the top of the open-field rankings.
Richard I and Charles Martel are legacy picks, not S-tier anchors.
Zhuge Liang is a primary now, not a secondary.
Barbarian farming is the one category that never changes: Cao Cao and Lohar.
A maxed A-tier beats an unfinished S-tier. Every time.

Rise of Kingdoms Best Commanders: Commander Tier List for 2026