Rise of Kingdoms - Tips for Progressing as a Free-to-Play Player
We’ve all been there: Working hard, toiling the hours away trying to build our army, upgrade our buildings, and secure our empire when, all of a sudden, you get absolutely demolished by a stronger alliance. However, upon further inspection, you notice that they’re not only stronger than you by a lot, but they also have access to stuff that you wouldn’t be able to come by easily if you don’t pay real money. For obvious reasons, this can be very infuriating; not only do you get destroyed by someone who preys on the weak, but also by people who pay money in exchange for benefits in the game.
The benefits that you can get from playing Rise of Kingdoms are, for many players, considered purely pay-to-win as you can purchase all sorts of advantages. From resources to build everything that your empire might need, to speedups to develop your base in record time, and keys to unlock some of the strongest commanders in the game. In a nutshell, there are plenty of advantages to be had when it comes to paying for stuff in Rise of Kingdoms; things that, for some players, might seem a bit unfair, and rightly so.
However, the fact that these boons exist doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to thrive as a free-to-play user. In fact, the vast majority of the players in these games don’t pay a single dime and do just fine. Nevertheless, it takes a bit of know-how and cunning to survive in these games without relying on breaking open the ol’ wallet and paying for benefits.
In this guide, we’re going to share a few tips and tricks for progressing in Rise of Kingdoms as a free-to-play player.
Starting Out Strong
Like we’ve mentioned on countless occasions, the first few days in any war game are the most important, given that you’ll be performing the brunt of your construction, development, research, and troop training at this moment. Furthermore, most war games like Rise of Kingdoms start you off with a peace shield that can last anywhere from 24 hours to a few days, and which protects you from spy and attack attempts. While this shield lasts, you’ll be completely free to perform all your initial setup.
However, aside from these starting benefits, you can also enjoy many different boons, as long as you’re in the correct server.
You see, in Rise of Kingdoms, whenever you’re in one of the newest servers (or Kingdoms, as they’re called here), you can enjoy many benefits, including a headstart in power, increased building and resource-gathering speed, more time to catch up on events, and many other useful boons. The action of actively seeking some of these new Kingdoms, and teleporting to them to reap all these benefits, is called “Jumping,” and it’s a process done by veterans in order to expedite the development of their empires.
While we won’t go into the details of how to jump effectively—as that’s a topic for an entire article in itself—all you need to know is that this method is quite effective. You will not only reap all the benefits from starting on a brand new server but, since you came from a Kingdom where you already had an established base, you will likely get a headstart in terms of power, in relation to the players that are just starting out in the game.
Jumping to brand new Kingdoms is a way for the weaker alliances to establish a foothold in an area that will mostly be populated by newbies, so that they can build their power and establish dominance with relative ease. However, keep in mind that you can only jump to other Kingdoms by using the Beginner’s Teleport item, which is available for the first 10 days of your base, and which is also automatically removed once you reach City Hall level 8.
Best Starting Civilizations
Your choice of civilization in Rise of Kingdoms is quite important for many reasons, not least of which including the passive bonuses you get from choosing certain civilizations. However, one of the most important aspects of choosing the right civ, at least from the beginning, is the starting hero.
While the civilization bonuses are quite important, they won’t really come into play until you’re quite further into the game. However, your starting Commander will be much more impactful as their skills will allow you to progress much faster in some cases. For instance, Britain’s Boudica is a great choice for beginners since she has an advantage over Barbarians, which will make it much easier to deal with these pesky foes on the world map. Meanwhile, Rome’s Scipio Africanus is a great tank that thrives in armies with mixed unit compositions and is a tremendous aid for players who like to engage in PvP.
In other words, while each civilization has its own passive bonuses, you should actually pay more attention to the starting Commanders that they offer since these will be much more useful in the beginning.
Building, Tech, and Upgrading Tips
As we mentioned above, whales in Rise of Kingdoms have access to many benefits that would allow them to dramatically accelerate the development of their empires. However, us f2p users are quite limited both in resources and gems and must use them wisely if we’re to stand a chance against the whales.
When it comes to building your empire in Rise of Kingdoms, your priority will always be your City Hall. Upgrading this structure not only unlocks further research trees in the Academy, but also unlocks higher tiers of troops, which are significantly stronger than the lesser tiers. For this reason, all your speedups and resources should go into improving your City Hall. Similarly, when it comes to researching technology in the Academy, you should first focus on developing techs that reduce building and research times, as these will pay off in the long run.
In essence, ignore everything else, and focus only on building and upgrading the prerequisites for upgrading your City Hall. This means ignoring your resource buildings, and your watchtower, among others. You should be getting the necessary resources for these upgrades from the world map, anyway.
When it comes to investing your gems, you should focus on increasing your VIP level. Specifically, once you finally reach VIP level 7, you’ll have permanent access to the second set of builders, which will allow you to work on two buildings and upgrades simultaneously. For obvious reasons, this upgrade will contribute greatly to the development of your town.
All in all, starting out and progressing as a free-to-play user in Rise of Kingdoms is just the same as in any other game. However, armed with the right knowledge of the specifics in this title, you can make the best decisions that will allow you both to quickly progress in the game, and keep safe from enemy attacks while you develop your town.
