We’ve been covering the strategy conquest marvel that is Rise of Kingdoms for years now, writing about its events, important updates, and other interesting aspects of it. Similarly, we’ve created a habit of discussing its civilizations and how they compare to each other on a yearly basis, just to give our readers an idea of which one to choose. 

With that being said, and considering that we’re already well into 2022, we wanted to take a look once again at the civilizations in Rise of Kingdoms and give our updated thoughts on their strengths, weaknesses, and special traits. In this sense, if you’re just starting out and want to know which civilization to choose (spoiler alert: it’s still probably going to be China), then this guide is for you. Alternatively, if you already know about this game, and simply want an updated overview of all the civilizations in the game, then this article will have the answers you seek.

As usual, this guide is structured in a way in which we will first discuss each individual civilization, listing their basic traits and discussing their strengths and weaknesses, and then we’ll give our personal thoughts on the best civilizations near the bottom. In this sense, if you just want to know which one to choose, but don’t really care about all the extra info, feel free to scroll all the way down to find our recommendations.

Rise of Kingdoms Civilizations List

As of March 2022, there are 12 civilizations available for choosing in Rise of Kingdoms, which is one more than the previous year. This time, the new addition was the Vikings civilizations, which we’ll be discussing down below.

Without further ado, here’s the updated civilizations list in Rise of Kingdoms:

Rome

Commander: Scipio Africanus

Special Unit: Legionary

Perks:

• Infantry Defense +5%
• Troop March Speed +5%
• Food Gathering Speed +10%

Rome is pretty much unchanged since last year, offering the same perks and special units. This means that they have retained their same strengths and weaknesses, being a decent offensive option, especially thanks to their Legionaries, tier 4 units that have slightly more defense than other troops of the same level. Their increased food gathering speed allows players to develop their armies faster than the rest.

Germany

Commander: Hermann

Special Unit: Teutonic Knight

Perks: 

• Cavalry Attack +5%
• Troop Training Speed +5%
• Action Point Recovery +10%

A purely offense-oriented civilization that specializes in cavalry. Germany has the best perks for players who want to focus on mounted combat, particularly thanks to its Teutonic Knights special units, which boast higher defense and health than the other units in their category. Simply put, while Germany is not a beginner-friendly civilization, it could be a strong choice later on when wars and combat are more frequent.

Britain

Commander: Boudica

Special Unit: Longbowman

Perks:

• Archer Attack +5%
• Troop Training Speed +5%
• Ally Garrison Capacity +20%

In contrast with the two civilizations we’ve mentioned thus far, Britain excels for its defensive capabilities, particularly since they can occupy far more units in their garrisons than other civilizations. In this sense, someone who attacks a British base might find that they’re going up against 20% more units than they anticipated, which could significantly complicate matters for the aggressors. And as if that wasn’t enough, this civilization has the strongest tier 4 archers in the entire game.

France

Commander: Joan of Arc

Special Unit: Throwing Axeman

Perks:

• Troop Health +3%
• Wood Gathering Speed +10%
• Hospital Healing Speed +20%

France is one of the weakest civilizations in terms of perks, considering that one of their perks is only effective when they have wounded units, while the other only increases the HP of their troops very slightly. Nevertheless, the wood gathering speed bonus is great for beginners since it means that they will have more resources with which to expand their bases. Still, if you’re aiming for a civilization that could give you a good start, there are far better choices than France, as you’ll soon learn. Nevertheless, their Throwing Axemen units could have some use, at least in defensive settings, since they have far more HP than their counterparts.

Vikings

Commander: Björn Ironside

Special Unit: Berserker

Perks: 

• Infantry Attack +5%
• Counterattack Damage +3%
• Troop Load +10%

The new Vikings civilization is an absolute gem, boasting good and strong bonuses, balanced with a very decent perk for gathering resources. These hardy people are quite dangerous in combat thanks to their infantry attack boost, as well as their increased counterattack damage, which will boost their power both when attacking, as well as when retaliating every time they get hit. Their special units, Berserkers, are also quite powerful, boasting considerably more health and defense than the rest.

China

Commander: Sun Tzu

Special Unit: Chu-Ko-Nu

Perks:

• Troop Defense +3%
• Action Point Recovery +5%
• Building Speed +5%

China is still uncontested as the best civilization for beginners simply because of the perk that increases their building speed. However, this comes with an important caveat; the user needs to know what they are doing in order to make the most out of this bonus since they don’t get additional resources or materials to make up for their increased building speed. In this sense, a good tip would be to play Rise of Kingdoms on PC with BlueStacks to play on multiple accounts at the same time, funnel resources into your Chinese account, and watch as it grows in record time by having basically unlimited building materials.

Japan

Commander: Kusunoki Masashige

Special Unit: Samurai

Perks: 

• Troop Attack +3%
• Scout March Speed +30%
• Resource Gathering Speed +5%

A decent civilization that specializes in exploration and farming, but with important bonuses to troop attack as well, which will give them an edge in battle. Japan is a balanced civilization that will give you boosts in both city development thanks to their increased resource gathering speed, but that can also go toe to toe against strong opponents on the field. Their Samurai units are also considerably stronger than the rest in the tier, though they have less health.

Korea

Commander: Eulji Mundeok

Special Unit: Hwarang

Perks:

• Archer Defense +5%
• Hospital Capacity +15%
• Research Speed +3%

Another quirky civilization that, just like the French, can get access to one of their perks only by getting their soldiers wounded in combat. And while being able to fit more troops in your hospitals will help to save some costs in the long run, this hardly helps to make Korean civilizations more effective in the field. Furthermore, their other perks only benefit their archers’ defenses, as well as their research speed, which neither makes them stronger in direct combat nor does it help them to develop their cities faster. 

Spain

Commander: Pelagius

Special Unit: Conquistador

Perks:

• Cavalry Defense +5%
• Experienced Gained From Barbarians and Neutral Units +10%
• Resource Production +20%

A strong contender to China’s proficiency at developing and advancing their cities, Spain can not only produce a ton of resources with which to build their towns but can also level up their commanders much faster thanks to their significant boost to experience from defeating neutral enemies on the world map. Their defensive bonus is also a nice touch for the more passive, development-oriented players.

Arabia

Commander: Baibars

Special Unit: Mamluk

Perks: 

• Cavalry Attack +5%
• Damage Dealt to Barbarians and Neutral Units +10%
• Damage Dealt by Rallied Armies +5%

While lacking the developmental perks of the Spaniards, Arabians also incentivize attacking barbarians in order to quickly upgrade their commanders and farm experience. However, instead of farming more resources per skirmish, their damage boost lets them farm faster. On top of that, Arabia offers important bonuses to cavalry damage, as well as boost the damage of their rallied armies, making them threatening raiders ideal for besieging other players.

Ottoman Empire

Commander: Osman I

Special Unit: Janissary

Perks:

• Archer Health +5%
• Troop March Speed +5%
• Active Skill Damage +5%

Just like Arabia, the Ottoman people offer important bonuses for PvP, especially when it comes to battling in the open fields, as they can deal much more damage with active skills, as well as move much faster in the open world than other civilizations. This will be one of your choices later in the game if you want to take a more active role in battling when your city is significantly advanced and you don’t have to worry too much about speeding up its development.

Byzantium

Commander: Belisarius

Special Unit: Cataphract

Perks:

• Cavalry Health +5%
• Stone Gathering Speed +10%
• Hospital Capacity +15%

Last but somewhat least, the Byzantiums are another of these odd civilizations whose bonuses can help them after they take a beating, in the sense that their hospitals have increased capacity. However, in contrast with the Koreans, and just like the French, the Byzantines have some degree of usefulness thanks to their increased stone gathering speed, which will help somewhat to develop their cities. Nevertheless, if you’re looking to grow your town fast, there’s no reason to go with this one over either China or Spain, or even the French.

Rise of Kingdoms Civilizations Tier List

Now that we’ve seen what each of these civilizations can do, let’s go ahead and divide them into our own tiers:

Beginner-Friendly and Development-Focused Civilizations

• China – S Tier

• Spain – S Tier

• France – B Tier

Combat-Oriented Civilizations

• Germany – A Tier

• Britain – B Tier

• Arabia – A Tier

• Ottoman Empire – S Tier

Balanced Civilizations

• Rome – S Tier

• Japan – A Tier

• Vikings – A Tier

Try to Avoid These

• Koreans – C Tier

• Byzantium – C Tier

The categories represent what the civilizations in question excel at, while the letters represent their overall ranking in relation to the others in every other category. 

What do you think of our picks of best civilizations in Rise of Kingdoms? Would you change or modify anything? Let us know in the comments below!