One of the best things about being a writer for the Game of War community is that other players reach out to me with questions about strategy, building their account, the functionality of the game, or how to complete tasks within the game. It has truly been an honor helping each of you, directly and indirectly, as a part of Team RealTips!
For this article, I decided to compile a list of FAQs that I have answered or which were provided to me by the community at large. Some of the questions that I have gotten have opened my eyes to functionality that I was not aware of or styles of play that I had not considered. I hope you enjoy reading the answers to these FAQs as much as I had answering them over the years!
* Now for the obligatory disclaimer – This game changes. It is a simple fact of life. One day a stat or features functions one way and the next, without announcement, it appears to change. The answers provided to the FAQs contained in this article are current as of publication but you should always ensure that the answer has not changed before you go into battle. Remember, testing is your friend, and as my good friend CM Rage likes to say – “Burn and learn!”
Game Functionality
For the first section of our FAQs, we will focus on game functions and features. The answers to these FAQs will help you get the most out of your game.
I am experiencing lag. What can I do to minimize it?
MZ regularly puts out a reminder before big events about lag and steps that you can take to address it during events. The running joke is that the best way to deal with lag is to simply delete the game. In all seriousness, I rarely experience anything more than the typical kingdom to kingdom port lag during KvK events when I port to other kingdoms. In my experience taking the following steps will help reduce the amount of lag that you see while you are on the game:
- Ensure that you are running the most current version of Game of War. You do this by going to the Apple store or Google Play store and upgrading Game of War if an update is available.
- Ensure that you are running a device that is compatible with the current version of Game of War. I use an iPhone 12 running Software Version 15.2.1. I rarely experience the kinds of issues that many players report during events and I strongly believe that my phone is a big part of why that is true.
- Use the Game Optimizations that MZ recommends. You can find the optimizations by following these steps: (1) click the “More” tab at the bottom right of your screen; (2) click the “Options” button; (3) change the following settings:
- In Army March Performance Mode, toggle “All marching armies look the same on the map” to “On;”
- Toggle “Turn on/off to improve the performance of your game” to “On;”
- In No Captured Hero Icon, toggle “Hide captured hero icon and bounty icon on province view” to “On;” and
- In the No Province Title Icon, toggle “Hide province title icon on province view” to “On.”
- All of these settings are shown in the screenshot, below:
Like I said, I have used these optimizations religiously since they were released and I have seen a significant reduction in lag during events.
Which Monster is best to hit for events?
The answer to this FAQ depends on which event in which you are participating. For example, the monster iteration of the Bonus Catchup Extravaganza assigns the same point value, 100 points, to each monster regardless of level and 3,000 points are required to complete the event. Your best approach is to hit any Level 1 Noxious Drake, Behemoth, or Primal Cockatrice 30 times (30 x 100 = 3,000 points).
For the Kill Monster Event, on the other hand, the point value for the different levels vary and 15,000 points are required to complete the event. Here, your best approach is to hit any Level 4 monster. When you do the math, the Hero energy expended for 50 hits is 171,950 against a Level 4 monster. In comparison, Level 1 monsters expend 515,700 energy, Level 2 requires 322,250 energy, Level 3 expends 193,425 energy, Level 5 will cost you 184,857 energy, and Level 6 requires 257,970 Hero energy.
A Hero ingested a hemlock while I wasn’t paying attention. How do I get them out of my graveyard?
Ooh, you have a life outside the game? How dare you! Just kidding, real-life should always come first. Unfortunately, the quickest way to correct this issue is to use a Reincarnation Stone. There are pros and cons to using a Reincarnation stone. The biggest Pro is that doing so removes all of those high-level heroes from your Graveyard.
Now for the Con, and it’s a big one. When you use the Reincarnation Stone ALL of the battle statistics shown on your Profile page, which is visible to anyone who views your Profile, are reset to zero AND a star is placed next to the Combat Stats heading on your profile. This little star acts as a warning to leads that your stats are probably better than they appear since you have reset them. There is another, but more difficult route, you can take. Assuming you have a large supply of instant executions you could execute a low-level farm hero repeatedly until the big hero disappears from your Graveyard.
Are reinforcements necessary?
No, actually they are not. Reinforcements are not necessary if you have built a solid account. In fact, reinforcements can be counterproductive in some instances as seeing those marching into your account could make a weaker lead cancel their rally. If your account is weak, however, you will probably need the reinforcements to kill the entire march and to strengthen your Dragon Health. In other words, reinforcements, especially dragon reinforcements, cause you to lose less Dragon HP.
What should I buy from the Black Market?
Man, I get this a LOT. It is a tough question to answer without looking at where you have advanced your account. I do have some tried-and-true selections that I always obtain when it resets:
- Dragon Synergy for all three dragons (1.5 Million tokens)
- Hero I Mastery Points (1.5 Million tokens)
- Gems (my focus is on the Defensive Brawler Gem Set)
- Set Leveling Components for gear
- Power up components for gear
- Research tomes (but only if I am close to completing a critical research and don’t see what I need in a combo pack)
- Loyalty from the Bonus Catch Up Extravaganza market
How can I figure out the max troop count?
The only way you will ever figure this out is by training troops until you can train no more. Why anyone would be concerned with this is beyond me but different strokes for different folks!
What research tree should I focus on?
The short answer, all of them. Kidding / not kidding. Honestly, it is impossible to answer this question without looking at your stats and your current research levels. Every research tree has its advantages and disadvantages and you will get a different answer depending on who you ask. Where does that leave you?
Focus on the research that will advance your style of play. If you are a trap or filler, your go-to stats are going to be Empire Defender, Type stats for the troop type(s) you are running, and Attack Debuffs. If you are a rally lead, you should focus on Empire Assault, Type stats, and Defense and Health Debuffs. Don’t forget about the Troop stats, though, as they now give you a slight edge against traps!
Is this a good pack to buy?
This is another question that I hate to answer since the answer depends on how advanced your particular account is. There are a couple of “rules” that I generally follow that answer this question for myself.
First, does the pack have at least three items critical to my account? By critical, I mean will it advance my account to prevent me from burning or being point negative during a Kill event. Second, is it a Friday pack? Generally speaking, packs are better on Fridays except in the lead-up to Kingdom of Dragons. Finally, is it a combination pack/holiday pack/BOGO offer? These are often the best value across multiple features.
Where can I obtain Iron Scraps to improve the quality of a crafted gear?
I get this question a lot. You can obtain this item from certain packs (rare), by attacking a monster in the Hunter’s Gear Set Dungeon (the energy required can be purchased using Loyalty in the Alliance store), or by hitting Behemoth monsters.
Which blueprints go with the different building levels?
The answer to this question is not as important as it used to be since MZ moved away from special names for blueprints after Stronghold 160. A need for the old blueprint names still arises for people trying to present old Giftables to new or growing players. Here are the levels:
- Royal – Levels 31 to 40
- Exalted – 41 to 50
- Divine – 51 to 60
- Grand – 61 to 70
- Cherished – 71 to 80
- Noble – 81 to 90
- Sovereign – 91 to 100
- Prime – 101 to 110
- Supreme – 111 to 120
- Maximum – 121 to 130
- Elite – 131 to 140
- Vital – 141 to 150
- Essential – 151 to 160
How does Synergy work?
There are two components relative to “making Synergy work” that players need to be aware of. First, your dragon must be at least Level 51 AND you have to have allocated at least 1 skill point in the Dragon skills associated with a Level 51 dragon. The more skill points used, the stronger your dragon.
Second, and only relevant to attackers, your dragon’s health MUST be at or above 20% for the boost to take effect. Assuming these criteria are met then you should receive a 5x boost to attack or health stats for the troops affected by the Synergy boost used.
How do Hero Steadfast or Mastery skills work?
The great thing about these skills is that it does not matter which Hero is active. So long as you have allocated points in the skill it will apply no matter what!
How do I skill my Sawduster?
Simple. You assign all points available to any open node. If you have not noticed it yet, the Sawduster was dumbed down significantly. When you level up your Sawduster you receive sufficient points to fully skill all open nodes. No thought required!
How do Dragons work?
This is a fairly broad question. Part of the answer can be found above in reference to Synergy since these two features are tied together. BadSanta and I recently had a lengthy discussion about dragons that I thought people would appreciate since his explanation is very succinct but does a good job of capturing the essence of how dragons work.
First, a little background. When dragons were first introduced they worked differently than they do now. Those who were around back then will probably remember that dragons actually caused strong trap accounts to burn. Thus, smart traps declined to hatch their dragons for the longest time. As this feature progressed within the game, dragons (particularly the overall HP of the dragon) became critical components of a successful trap build.
Conventional wisdom used to be that a rally lead only received the stat benefit from their personal dragon in the rally and received no benefit from the dragons left in his or her stronghold. We now know that is not correct. Conceptually, if the attacker only received the benefit of the stats of the dragon in the rally then they would never win a rally as the stat gain from four dragons versus one dragon is simply too high for an attacker to surmount.
We now believe, as BadSanta puts it, that dragons operate similar to Mastery and Steadfast skills. In other words, you get the benefit of all four dragon’s stats even if you only use one in a rally. The critical difference for a rally lead is that if the lead does not include their dragon in a rally then they do not receive the benefit of the Synergy attack boost in their march. The way dragons work, then, is that you always receive the stat benefit from all dragons but when attacking you must include your dragon in the march to obtain the synergy boost.
Which building should I focus more on in my build – hospitals, barracks, or villas?
The answer to this question depends on your style of play. Remember, you have 12 internal plots open that can be used to build either hospitals, barracks, or villas. If you are a trap, you should build as many hospitals as possible because (1) it will save your troops, and (2) it lessens the number of points you give up during events. I have sufficient beds for 11.1 Million troops in my 13 hospitals so it takes a lot for me to lose on points. The healing costs are quite atrocious, though!
If you are a rally lead, you should probably focus on building more barracks, so you can train massive quantities of troops at one time unless you get hit a lot and need the hospitals to offset those losses. In that situation, build a more even split between hospitals and barracks.
I think Villas are a non-issue for the simple reason that the Troop Defense Bonus available from the Villas is too low to factor into your overall stats. Consider this, if you build 12 additional Villas then you will only see a total Troop Defense Bonus of 510,000%, which is not a game-changer at all.
Do I need to / should I use potions?
I wrote an entire article about potions that you can find here. I have never found potions to be a critical component of my success. Ideally, your stats should be sufficiently high from research, Hero skilling, the Lifetime Boost Hall, and Dragons to make your account as strong as possible for your style of play. Potions are there to give you an edge if one is needed.
My Hero is locked at a certain level. How do I complete events which require me to gain Hero XP to complete the event?
Hit monsters, another stronghold, or complete quests to gain Hero XP for events.
How do I increase the Set Gear Leveling of my gear without Set Gear XP?
You can increase the Set Gear Leveling of any Set Gear by hitting strongholds or monsters while wearing the gear that you are trying to level up. Let’s face it, the amount of Set Gear XP provided in packs is insufficient to level up all of the gear you have in your account. This is a much easier way to do it. Remember, you will still need the appropriate Set Leveling Material for the gear to unlock higher levels. This method simply allows you to fill in the Set Gear XP needed to get you to the next lock point for the gear.
Strategy
Now for the FUN stuff! The strategy questions I get are always the best. Also, they are ever-changing and depend on so many factors that it is hard to keep up at times!
Should I / how do I use a meat shield?
The question of “should I use” is entirely dependent on your goal. If you want to try to entice multiple hits, a meat shield that causes you to burn can be an effective strategy to use. If you are using a meat shield of one lower type of troop to protect your even build of higher troops, a meat shield works for that.
Similarly, if you have a high number of one type of troops but limited Synergy to protect them, then you would want to use a lower tier meat shield that correlates to whichever Synergy you have in abundance.
The “how to use” question is not as easily answered since every account is different. If you are using a meat shield to generate fire every time you are hit, simply train large quantities of T1 or T2 troops. If, on the other hand, you are trying to use lower tiers to protect higher-tier troops, you will probably want to train troops that are one tier lower than the troops you are trying to protect.
To do this effectively, you really need to know where your burn point is using these lower troops. You can only determine that point via trial and error. However, I will say that you can achieve all three of the goals identified here by training troops one tier lower than your highest troops but adjusting the number to where you either burn or win against a rally. Again, trial and error is your friend!
What Gear / Gems / Runes / Banners are best?
The answer to this trio of questions depends on your play style and how advanced your account is. I covered all three of these questions in my max stats series. You can find my assessment of the best attack and defense gear here. The best attack gear remains the Cerulean Knight Gear Set for most players. The best defense gear remains the Mythical Hero Gear Set for all players.
My assessment of the best gems can be found here. Simply put, the best gems for both attack and defense, from an Empire stat perspective, would be the Elite Gem Set. Attackers using missile attacks consisting of one troop type should probably use the Prime Aggression Gem Set. Defenders running a single troop build should probably use the Defensive Brawler Gem Set.
My assessment of the best runes and banners for attack and defense can be found at the same link provided for the gems.
What is the strongest defensive setup?
Hands down the strongest defensive build at this time remains the single troop type build. Either go with Infantry, Ranged, or Cavalry troops and make your decision as to which type to use based on (1) the amount of Synergy you have in your inventory for each type of troop and (2) the order of strength you see for each when looking at your boost page.
Remember to factor in the extra strength that attackers receive from the Sawduster, which increases the overall stats of Regular troops, and adjust your build to focus more heavily on Regular and Strategic troops. You still want to include a smaller number of Wild troops, as doing so will help reduce your Regular losses to some extent.
How do I skill my Dragon or Hero?
Generally speaking, you always skill from the bottom of the tree and go up as the stats released with each new level are higher. Keep in mind that later releases for our Heroes have bifurcated the stats into two levels within that one release. Thus, if you do not have sufficient points or a high enough Hero to increase both levels, you may be better served in dropping back to the immediately lower level and focusing your points there.
What is the priority of stats for Defending?
For me, the following stat priority is followed: (1) Hospital Capacity; (2) Empire Defender: (a) Empire Defender Health, (b) Empire Defender Defense, and (c) Empire Defender Attack (I only adjust this stat priority to place Attack first if I am not killing the march AND I am unwilling to increase my troop count to kill more troops); (3) Type: (a) Type Health, (b) Type Defense, and (c) Type Attack (again, adjust the stat priority to make attack your first priority if you are not killing the entire march and do not want to increase your troop count); (4) Enemy Troop Attack Debuff; (5) March Debuffs; and (6) Troop: (a) Troop Health Bonus, (b) Troop Defense Bonus, and (c) Troop Attack Bonus (adjust to kill the march but probably less critical for this stat).
What is the stat priority for Attacking?
No one ever asks for my input here but I am going to give it to you anyway. Although I am not a rally lead, I think that there are six core skills that you must maximize to be effective – Empire Assault, Type, Troop, Debuff, Rally Attack, and Rally Cap. Here is the stat priority that I would follow: (1) Empire Assault: (a) Empire Assault Attack, (b) Empire Assault Health, and (c) Empire Assault Defense; (2) Type: (a) Type Attack, (b) Type Health, and (c) Type Defense; (3) Troop: (a) Troop Attack Bonus; (b) Troop Health Bonus, and (c) Troop Defense Bonus; (4) Debuffs: (a) Health Debuff and (b) Defense Debuff; (5) Rally Attack; and (6) Rally Cap. You will want to set up alternative presets for Rallies and Solos as there are skills specific to each.
What is the single most important aspect of the game that will determine whether I win or lose?
Frankly put, the answer to this question is Synergy. If you have two accounts built exactly the same, the player who activates Synergy has drastically increased the likelihood that they will win the battle. Even if you have an otherwise strong account, you are likely to lose against a strong lead if you fail to activate Synergy.
We can debate whether it is fair or unfair, or whether it has made the game dumb until we are blue in the face. Unfortunately, Synergy appears to be here to stay so we should all just accept that fact and govern ourselves accordingly!
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