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RoK Commander Tier List
List of Legendary Commanders
List of Elite and Advanced Commanders

While not as strong (or rare) and their Legendary counterparts, Epic commanders still have a place in most armies, and are the ones in which you will be relying for most of your time in Rise of Kingdoms.

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Osman I

The starting Ottoman commander. This hero is tremendously powerful for rallying against enemy cities as well as for world PvP. One of his particularities is that he grows stronger as the battle goes on.

Skills

• The Empire Awakens: Deals a powerful blow to an enemy.
• Radiance of Bursa: Significantly increases troop attack after 30 seconds of battle has passed. This buff lasts for 2 minutes.
• Sword of Osman: Deals additional damage on the turn after using an active skill.
• Sultan’s Glory: Increases troop capacity.
• Rising Empire: Improves the unit’s active skill, increasing its damage.

Recommended for: Osman is a commander that gets stronger as fights go on. For this reason, he’s better suited for rallies and world PvP, particularly against enemies who like to turtle their way to victory.

Scipio Africanus

The starting commander of Rome, he’s an all-around decent commander with a good balance in both offense and defense, and with boosts for attacking other cities.

Skills

• Military Life: Increases counterattack damage of your troops and reduces damage taken for a short period.
• Patient Warrior: Has a slight chance of increasing troop attack for 1 second. When remaining troops are under 40%. Also, it has a slight chance of healing wounded units with every attack.
• Conqueror of Africa: Boosts damage when attacking cities.
• Genuine Aristocracy: Boosts troop capacity.
• Utter Annihilation: Has a 15% chance of increasing allied troops’ attack for 2 seconds every time they are attacked. Boosts the proc chance and healing potency of Patient Warrior.

Recommended for: Scipio is a well-rounded commander and is one of the best starting choices for players who want to engage in combat early on. Even in the mid to late game, he’s a great candidate for secondary commander alongside stronger characters.

Hermann

Germany’s starting commander. An impressive candidate for garrison and fort defense thanks to his many passives that increase archery damage and cripple the enemy.

Skills

• Ambush: Deals significant single-target damage while also decreasing their rage and silencing them for a short period, preventing them from using skills.
• Military Genius: Increases the march speed and attack of archers.
• Legend of Teutoburger: Boosts the attack of watchtowers and garrisons when he serves as garrison commander.
• National Hero: Passively boosts a unit’s normal attack damage, while giving them a slight chance of generating additional rage with every attack.
• Dead End: Boosts the damage of the Ambush skill.

Recommended for: Hermann is a beast when defending against enemy attacks. His passives and ability to silence can help to turn the tide of any battle, especially against commanders that rely on their active skills to deal damage.

Boudica

Britain’s starting hero. While weaker than others in most aspects, she is strong against roaming enemy barbarians. You can use her as a secondary commander when grinding barbarians for experience.

Skills

• Lament of the Insurgent: Similar to Hermann’s Ambush, dealing significant damage and decreasing rage. However, instead of silencing, she decreases the target’s attack for a short period.
• Group Battle: Significantly increases damage dealt to barbarians and other types of neutral units. Furthermore, this skill significantly boosts the experience received when defeating these enemies.
• Celtic Blood: Heals nearby units and generates a bit of rage whenever she uses her active skill.
• Queen of the Iceni: Has a very small chance of increasing damage dealt to the enemy by a large amount. This skill has three tiers: 5% chance to increase damage by 50%; 3% of increasing damage by 100%, and 2% of increasing damage by 150%.
• Roar of the Insurgent: Increases the initial damage dealt by the commander’s first skill.

Recommended for: As we mentioned above, Boudica excels as a secondary commander when grinding against barbarians for experience.

Joan of Arc

France’s starting commander. Combining buffs for gathering, mixed-unit bonuses, and survivability alongside a bit of damage, Joan of Arc is the definition of well-rounded and is an excellent starting choice.

Skills

• Divine Revelation: Grants a powerful buff to all units. The effects vary per unit type: Infantry receives a health bonus; cavalry receives a defense bonus, and archers get an attack bonus. Additionally, restores a bit of rage every second of its duration.
• The Main of Orleans: Boosts troop gathering speed and load capacity.
• Holy Refuge: Every attack has a slight chance of healing wounded units.
• Saint: Passively increases attack damage.
• Descent of the Goddess: Increases the effects of Divine Revelation’s buffs, and further increases rage restored every second.

Recommended for: Joan of Arc is a great commander for many purposes, though she’s particularly stronger when commanding multiple unit types. Additionally, she’s a very good gatherer when paired with Constance.

Pelagius

Spain’s starting commander. Regarded by many as one of the best starting commanders in the game, mostly due to his strength in both PvP and PvE. He has an affinity for cavalry thanks to his passive buffs.

Skills

• Charge: Damages a single target and places a DoT for 2 seconds. Restores some rage.
• Founder of Asturias: Passively boosts the attack and defense of cavalry units.
• Retaking Lost Territory: Boosts the attack of the garrison and watchtower when assigned as a garrison commander.
• The Mutineer: Each regular attack has a slight chance of restoring wounded units.
• Oath of Asseuua: Further increases the attack and defense of cavalry troops.

Recommended for: Frankly, Pelagius is a strong combatant for both PvE and PvP. However, you’ll need to develop his talents specifically for the purpose you want him to fulfill.

Sun Tzu

China’s starting commander. This is going to be the first commander for many players since China is one of the best civilizations for beginners. Nevertheless, Sun Tzu is one of the strongest Epic commanders thanks to his mix of tankiness and nuking capabilities.

Skills

• Art of War: Damages up to three enemies in a cone in front of him, and deals extra damage to affected targets on the next attack. It also generates a bit of rage for every enemy hit.
• Philosophy of War: Decreases the damage received by the garrison whenever this unit is set as garrison commander.
• Master Strategist: Boosts the HP of allied infantry troops, while reducing the damage taken by all troops.
• Ever-changing Tactics: Boosts skill damage.
• Book of Aeons: Improves the Art of War skill, increasing the number of targets, and damage dealt.

Recommended for: Sun Tzu is an absolute powerhouse in PvP thanks to his rapid rage generation and powerful active skill. He’s also a good secondary commander.

Kusunoki Masashige

Japan’s starting commander. As far as performance goes, you can’t get more middle of the road than Kusunoki. However, he’s somewhat better at defending cities.

Skills

• Shichisei Hōkoku: Deals damage in a cone in front of the commander and dispels all control effects from allied troops. This ability continues to deal damage over 2 seconds.
• The Worthy Men: Boosts counterattack damage when assigned as garrison commander.
• Bravery and Wisdom: Increases the attack and defense of archer troops.
• Tragedy’s End: Regular attacks from the commander’s troops have a slight chance to place a DoT that deals additional damage over 2 seconds.
• Soul of the Samurai: Further increases the attack and defense of archers.

Recommended for: Kusunoki is a solid defender with strong buffs that increase the survivability of his troops. However, he’s also a great asset for longer battles, such as against other tanky commanders, thanks to his DoT damage that slowly whittles down his enemies.

Eulji Mundeok

Korea’s starting commander. He’s a deceptively strong defender that starts out slow but can melt attacking armies after weakening them with his main skill. He has an affinity for infantry troops.

Skills

• Water Attack: Nukes the enemy for massive damage while also decreasing their defense for a period.
• Cold Welcome: Boosts garrison defense when serving as commander.
• Battle of Salsu: Boosts infantry’s attack and defense.
• Strike Back: Has a small chance of boosting troop damage whenever the hero takes damage.
• War and Peace: Further increases infantry’s attack and defense.

Recommended for: Eulji is quite a strong infantry commander, particularly thanks to his powerful nuke from his active skill. His passive buffs also make him into a force to be feared on the field.

Baibars

Arabia’s starting commander. He’s a strong commander against barbarians and in world PvP, mostly due to the fact that he favors cavalry and can decrease enemy’s march speed, allowing him to dominate the field, engaging and disengaging at will.

Skills

• Sandstorm: Attacks up to three enemies in a cone and reduces their march speed for a short period.
• Arabian Knights: Passive boosts cavalry attack.
• No Escape: Every normal attack reduces the attack and defense of the enemy garrison for 1 second.
• Great Panther: Slightly heals wounded units when disengaging from battle, while also increasing march speed for 10 seconds.
• Blot Out the Sun: Upgrades the Sandstorm skill, further decreasing the march speed of affected enemies.

Recommended for: Baibars is a strong choice for dealing with barbarians on the world map, a proficiency that further extends to world PvP, mostly thanks to his ability to reduce march speed and preference for cavalry units. He’s especially good at dominating the field with his superior speed.

Belisarius

Byzantium’s starting commander. This character combines swift movements thanks to his preference for cavalry troops, with passive buffs that amplify damage and deals extra damage to barbarians. While not as good as Baibars in PvP, he can hold his own, especially against the aforementioned barbarians.

Skills

• Deception: Reduces enemy attack and defense for 2 turns, and deals significant damage on the next turn.
• Irresistible: Boosts damage to barbarians and other neutral units.
• Bucellarii: When disengaging from the enemy, increases cavalry defense and march speed.
• Oblique Tactics: Increase troop damage when remaining troops falls below 50%.
• Bloodthirsty Bucellarii: Further increases the march speed and defense of cavalry troops.

Recommended for: His superior speed and increased damage against barbarians make him ideal for world PvP, as long as he has plenty of cavalry troops under his command.

Lohar

One of the weaker Epic heroes, with plenty of utility and lots of survivability. He’s quite lacking in damage, which makes him a better candidate for secondary hero whenever you’re grinding barbarians for experience.

Skills

• Overwhelming Force: Causes moderate single-target damage while healing wounded units.
• Sanction: Boosts damage against barbarians and neutral units.
• Lohar’s Trial: Gives a massive boost in experience for all the commanders in the army.
• Unruly Blood: Upon exiting combat, moderately restores wounded troops’ HP.
• Unyielding Spirit: Improves the Unruly Blood skill, doubling its potency.

Recommended for: Lohar shines brightest against barbarians. In fact, his experience boost makes him an ideal secondary commander when grinding hero levels. His survivability also makes him a good defensive choice for world PvP.

Keira

This is a very situational commander as her boosts are better suited for certain scenarios such as Ceroli Crisis or Ian’s Ballad. She can be quite strong in these modes, though she’s a bit mediocre everywhere else.

Skills

• Dance of the Flametongue: Causes significant damage to up to three enemies in a cone. The damage is reduced for every subsequent target after the first.
• Allies or Enemies?: Passively boosts damages against barbarians and neutral units. In scenario battles, further increases damage by an additional percentage.
• Ceroli Sharpshooter: Passively boosts archer attack and defense.
• The Mutineer: Every regular attack has a small chance of increasing damage dealt for a short period. The damage bonus is increased even further in scenario battles.
• Undying Flames: Improves the commander’s active skill by increasing its base damage and adding a DoT on top of the initial damage.

Recommended for: Keira is very situational. Outside scenario battles, she’s mediocre, at best. Meanwhile, in scenario battles, her passive boosts might be a bit too strong to pass up.