Reign of Empires is built on the familiar recipe of the typical mobile RTS game, but brings plenty of new features to the table. Aside from Greatmen, a couple of minigames, and new ways to do battle, it also introduces a number of unique buildings and tweaks with the purpose of old ones.

Not all buildings can be unlocked as soon as you start the game, yet new players must know what will go where if they are to plan the development of their base correctly. Below, you’ll find a complete list of buildings in Reign of Empires, together with their primary functions.

The Castle

Also known as the Stronghold or Command Center in other RTS games, the Castle is the central building in Reign of Empires. It determines your maximum troop capacity, as well as how far you can upgrade other buildings.

The University

This is where your Greatmen reside. These characters are different from other RTS heroes, which is why we’ve written a separate guide for them. The University is also the place where you can summon more Greatman fragments and upgrade your existing characters.

The Academy

This is one of the most important buildings in your domain. It allows you to research knowledge from four different trees – Battle, Economy, Technology, and Defense – and is the main engine behind your progression in the game.

The Depot

This construction shelters a part of your resources in case of an attack. The further you upgrade it, the more resources you can protect from plunders, which is no small feat considering that everyone gets attacked on a daily basis in this game.

The Embassy, Hall of War, and Trade Post

All three of these buildings are meant to help you interact with your Alliance. You need the Embassy to be able to request help with building, training, and research timers, whereas the Hall of War allows you to plan raids with other players and the Trade Post gives you the possibility to trade resources with members of your Alliance.

The Wall, Archer Towers, and Battle Workshop

These defensive buildings are designed to minimize your losses when you are attacked by another player. The wall adds DEF to your local troops, while the Archer Towers add ATK. Meanwhile, the Battle Workshop lets you “train” traps that are triggered on defense and that behave similarly to troops when the battle is resolved.

The Watchtower

Another essential building, the Watchtower warns you of any incoming attacks. Depending on its level, it can detect an enemy force sooner, as well as provide you with additional information about the composition of their army. Keep an eye on this building at all times.

The Barracks

There are four different barracks where no less than 8 types of units of various tiers can be recruited. Upgrading the Infantry, Cavalry, Archer, and Siege Barracks allows you to train better warriors at a faster rate.

The Deployment Camp

When it comes to PvP combat, this building can make or break your offensive strikes. Its main purpose is to increase the number of troops you can send out per march, which, in turn, can help you win more battles against both bandits and other players.

The Army Camp and Hospital

These buildings are just as indispensable to your army as the barracks. While the Army Camp helps you increase your maximum troop capacity, the Hospital converts a part of the troops you lose in combat into injured troops. You can then spend food to heal these warriors, which is significantly faster and less costly than training new ones.

The Prison

If you ever capture another player’s Greatman while attacking their base, this building is where you put them so that they can provide a bonus to your own army. The more you level the Prison, the more characters you can keep locked inside.

The Tavern

Inside the Tavern, you’ll find a couple of luck-based minigames, including a Slot Machine and a simple Card Game. You have three free attempts to play each of these every day and you can spend the currency you get from them at the associated shops, also found inside the building.

The Gates of Ordeal

Three times per day, you can enter the Gates of Ordeal with a number of troops in order to look for Silver. Most of the times, you’ll find either Silver or construction speed-ups, yet you should watch your step, because bandits also tend to lurk here.

The Excavation Site and Relic Museum

The Excavation Site is where your lead archeologist looks for relic puzzle pieces, which you can then put together in order to create Relics. This is done at the Relic Museum, where artifacts that your Lord will then use are restored. Upgrading the latter building reduces the cost for restoration.

The Market

This building is a quick way to access different in-game shops, as well as a means to exchange goods like lumber, food, and gold for indispensable items. For example, the Gold Arrows that you use to upgrade your Archer Towers can only be found at the Market.

The Fountain of Goddess

This Fountain allows you to exchange very small amounts of gold for resources. Five times per day, you can use Free Wishes to obtain either Food, Lumber, Stone, or Iron.

The Harbor

This building offers a shortcut to the premium shop where you can spend real currency for a number of attractive packs and bonuses. A few times a day, however, you can also receive gifts here. These are not as impressive as purchased bundles, but they still offer a decent amount of resources.

The Bank and Resource Buildings

There are four resource buildings in Reign of Empires – the Farm, the Lumber Yard, the Quarry, and the Iron Mine. All of these share space with the army camps and hospitals, which is why many players prefer to move their resource production to alternate accounts. This is even easier to do when you’re playing Reign of Empires on BlueStacks. Meanwhile, the Bank is the building where you can deposit an amount of gold to earn interest over a period of time between 1 day and 1 month.

Many of these buildings have their own building slot and can only be built once. Others, however, such as the resource buildings, the army camps, and the hospitals can be constructed in multiple copies and share a limited number of slots between them. As such, it’s important to plan the development of your castle from the get-go. That way, you won’t have to destroy upgraded buildings later down the road and you’ll save hundreds of thousands of resources, not to mention hours of building time.