ROK Early Mistakes in Rise of Kingdoms

1. Starring Up Commanders Too Early:

Doing this can slow down your progress for a long time with elite and epic commanders.

For legendaries, it can make them unusable. As a rule of thumb, be it legendaries or advances, if you don't know which skill to prioritize, don't upgrade it past 1 star.

2. Dumping EXP/blank sculptures/starlight sculptures into the wrong commander:

Commanders are everything in this game, and you have a limited inflow of resources to use on them. You will regret everything you invest in a commander you don't use.

3. Applying commander's talent points before you know how you want to use them:

Many commanders have multiple viable talent paths depending on what use you have in store for them. Fighting talent paths do not help all that much in the early game anyway. So save them up until you know what you're doing. At 1000 gems a pop, you want to avoid talent resets as much as possible. The free ones come along once in a blue moon.

4. Making a legendary your first primary commander:

This is not always a mistake.

There are several scenarios where it is recommended depending on how much you are spending and which commander it is.

But oftentimes, it's just a mistake. And a big one at that. For most players, the smarter move is to focus on an epic commander or even an elite or advance as their first primary commander. Whatever the case, make sure you know what you are doing before touching your commanders. All of these commander pitfalls can be avoided (or at least postponed) by this simple piece of advice.

If you are still figuring out your plans for your commanders, focus on your two main farmers first: Gaius and Sarka.

Get them to 2 stars and level 20. Once you have maxed their second skill, you can 3 star them and take them to level 21.

Don't go any further for now. Put all of their talent points into the gatherer path. This will give you time to study up on commanders and figure out a plan.

An added benefit is that you will have used many of the free golden keys the game gives you at the start.

So you will have a better idea of your options when planning. These are two commanders everyone should work on in the first week or so of the game. They aren't fighters, but they will be able to do all the fighting you need at the start, such as barbarians and Expeditions. This is particularly true if you are jumping.

5. Buying golden keys with gems:

There is a spending point at which this is worth it, but statistically speaking, you're not there. Be a sensible person and buy VIP 7 and 70% discounted speed ups. If your pokies twitch just won't stop, make sure you buy them for a 70% discount at the Mysterious Merchant.

6. Picking the wrong civilization:

It's an easy boost to get, and an easy boost to lose if you pick poorly.

Make sure your choice lines up with your game plan.

7. Trying to be good at too many things:

Resource management games like this are all about being efficient. If you try to focus on too many aspects, you will spread yourself too thin. For commanders, choose 2 farmers and a primary and secondary fighter. Lohar is also acceptable if you can max his 3rd skill from the event. Don't go looking to train a defender or even more attacking commanders. Specialization is the key to success.

8. Not buying the legendary commander pack:

-Writers of History - 66,375 gems worth $5. If you are spending any money on this game, after 5/1/1/1 Minamoto, you'd better be buying these packs. They are by far the best value packs in the game. Every time you unlock a new legendary commander, this offer will be available for one hour. If you are F2P this isn't a mistake. But if you plan to spend a little, you'll regret missing any of them at the start.

9. Don't upgrade past city hall level 7 before deciding whether you want to be a jumper:

Jumping is not necessary, but it will give you a tremendous lead on those who don't.

It is perfectly acceptable not to jump, but don't take the choice away from yourself before you have decided.

10. Dropping your beginner's shield and trying to attack other players' bases:

In other games of this genre, it's usually best to drop the shield early and start attacking others as the easiest source of resources. In RoK, troops are not nearly as dispensable. The only fights your troops die in are attacking cities and alliance buildings, as well as severely wounding more troops than your hospitals can take. You will have a hard time finding a city early on worth the trade-off. There is a time for attacking other player's cities. But the start of the game is not that time.