Rise of Kingdoms beginner guide (what to do first and what the game never explains)

The game does not explain this very well. Most of what matters in Rise of Kingdoms is tucked behind menus, buried in alliance mechanics, or gated behind systems the tutorial acknowledges but never actually teaches. Here is what to actually prioritize from day one.

Your first decision: civilization choice

The civilization you pick at the start is not cosmetic. It affects your military unit types, your early growth speed, and your starting legendary commander. The game lets you change civilizations once for free, so you are not permanently locked in, but your first choice still shapes your first several weeks.

For new players, China is the most-recommended starting civilization. It gives you a construction speed bonus that matters immediately, a food gathering bonus for early resource generation, and Sun Tzu as your starting free commander. Sun Tzu is the strongest free epic commander in the game and remains useful well into the mid-game.

If you want to specialize early, Germany gives cavalry bonuses and Baibars as a starting commander built for peacekeeping and barbarian farming. Arabia gives hospital capacity and Saladin, which helps in early PvP scenarios. Rome gives infantry bonuses and Scipio Africanus, a solid early open-field commander.

Joining an alliance immediately

This is the single highest-impact action you can take in the first hour of the game. Not upgrading your city hall. Not training more troops. Joining an alliance.

The help system alone justifies this. Every time an alliance member clicks your building or research queue, the timer reduces. With an active alliance of thirty or more members clicking your timers, building times that would take eight hours become one or two hours. Over your first week, this compresses months of equivalent solo progress into days.

Beyond timers, the alliance gives you territory protection. Cities inside alliance territory take additional steps to attack. It gives you access to the alliance shop and alliance technology bonuses. And it gives you players who can answer questions about what to do next, which is worth more than any single resource in the early game.

1. 1
   Join an alliance in the first hour Open the Alliance menu and apply to any active alliance in your region. Even a mid-tier alliance is better than playing solo for your first week
2. 2
   Pick China as your starting civilization Construction speed, food bonus, and Sun Tzu as your free legendary. The strongest new player starting position by a clear margin
3. 3
   Set your city inside alliance territory Once you join, use a teleport scroll to move your city near your alliance's flag. This gives you protection bonuses immediately
4. 4
   Start building your City Hall immediately City Hall level gates everything else. Every other upgrade waits for City Hall. Prioritize it above all other buildings
5. 5
   Accept all daily objectives every session The daily objective system front-loads significant resources for minimal effort. Check it every time you log in. Missing daily objectives is the most common early-game mistake

How to build your first commanders

Most new players waste their early commander experience by spreading it across every commander they get. The game does not explain this well, but spreading experience is the wrong approach. Pick one primary commander and level them as fast as possible.

Sun Tzu is your starting recommendation if you chose China. He is the strongest free epic commander for open-field battles in the early game. Level him to thirty first. Unlock his first four skills before spending resources on anything else. Once he is at level thirty with four skills unlocked, you have a viable combat commander for everything the early and mid-game throws at you.

The second commander you should develop depends on your playstyle. If you want to farm barbarians efficiently, Boudica is a strong free peacekeeping commander whose skill tree provides action point recovery and barbarian damage bonuses. If you want to participate in fort rallies with your alliance, Aethelflaed is a secondary commander that works well in rally compositions even at lower levels.

The barbarian farming loop

Barbarians are the most consistent source of commander experience in the early and mid-game. They appear across the world map at different levels, from level one to level six. Your action points determine how many you can farm per session. Each attack costs action points and returns experience for your active commander, plus resources and occasionally items.

The most efficient barbarian farming approach: use a commander with peacekeeping talent bonuses as your primary (Boudica or Lohar work well). Chain your attacks so multiple barbarians at the same level are targeted in sequence. Action points recover over time, so farming across two or three sessions daily keeps your commanders leveling consistently without burning resources on speed-up items.

• Never let your City Hall upgrade finish without queuing the next one immediately
• Never leave your Academy idle. Always have something researching, even low-priority techs
• Never spread commander experience across more than two commanders in your first month
• Never attack other players in your first two weeks unless your alliance explicitly coordinates it
• Never teleport out of alliance territory once you are settled unless you have a shield active
• Never ignore daily objectives. They reset every day and the resources compound significantly over a week

Building your research path

The technology research tree splits into economic and military branches. The game does not tell you clearly which to prioritize. In the first month, the answer is military first: troop training speed, troop tier unlocks, and march capacity upgrades. These pay off faster than economic bonuses at the city-building stage because they directly affect how much you can do per session.

Economy research becomes the priority once you are building toward T3 troops. The resource production, gathering speed, and load bonuses start mattering more as your troops leave on longer gathering marches and you need consistent resource income to feed the training queue. Most new players flip their research priority around City Hall level 14 to 16.

Put simply: the first week sets the direction. Getting it right is free.

Common questions from new players

Here is what new players ask most often, answered directly.

The questions below cover what most new players ask in their first few days.