Commanders Guide for Rise of Kingdoms on PC: Combat and Pairing Up Strategies

Note- This is an old guide. Some info and strats talked about in this article might not be applicable with the current meta. Please read our Updated Commanders Guide for better results in-game.

8 civilizations, 28 commanders, and a world you need to conquer: that pretty much sums up Rise of Kingdoms. Commanders are one of the most important elements of the game, and the efficient use of them can lead to a much easier and faster victory. So, which commanders should you choose? Which commander is better for which job? Can you assign more than one commander to an army? In this guide, we will answer all these questions and more. But before we do that, let’s get your game set up on BlueStacks first.

Downloading and Installing RoK on BlueStacks

1. Download and install BlueStacks on your PC.
2. Complete Google Sign-in to access the Play Store, or do it later.
3. Look for Rise of Kingdoms in the search bar at the top right corner.
4. Click to install Rise of Kingdoms from the search results.
5. Complete Google Sign-in(if you skipped step 2) to install Rise of Kingdoms.
6. Click the Rise of Kingdoms on the home screen to start playing.

Your First Commander

When you start the game for the first time, you will be asked to choose a nation. The nation you choose will determine which commander you will start with. There are 8 nations in total and you can choose the one you want. You can find detailed information about the various nations in the Nations Guide for Rise of Kingdoms.

But for beginners, we think that Rome is the best choice: For this reason, if you are new to the world of Rise of Kingdoms, choose “Scipio Africanus”.

Scipio is a commander at epic level and has everything you need to make a quick start: 5% infantry defense buff, 5% march speed, and 10% food gathering speed. At the beginning of the game, focusing on military tactics will allow you to expand and grow quickly, without having to worry about the barbarians.

You will continue to find new commanders for your nation: You have just begun. There are 27 other commanders you can find and an RNG-based system is used for these. For now, let’s just say this depends entirely on luck. So the only thing you can do to get certain commanders is to continue to open chests and collect sculptures.

So, what do these commanders do? Why is it important to add them to your nation? Let’s start with basic information.

• Each commander has his own specialty. These specialties provide an advantage on the battlefield or in city management. In the table below, you can see all the specialties and their effects. A commander can have more than one specialty (maximum three).

• Each commander has four skills. How many of these can be used is determined by the number of stars it has. You can upgrade all of these skills.

• Each commander has a rareness level. The rarer a commander is, the more powerful and effective it is.

When determining which commanders to add to your nation, you should consider all of these issues. You can give each commander a different task: You will send some to the battlefield and some of them will stay in the city. You have to do this task distribution according to their level of specialty, skill, and rarity. Let’s take a look at the list of commanders first.

Types and Specialties of Commanders

COMMANDER RARITY LEVELS
LEGENDARY	Julius Caesar, El Cid, Richard I, Cao Cao, Frederick I, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Yi Seong-Gye, Cleopatra VII, Charles Martel, Hannibal Barca
EPIC	Eulji Mundeok, Lohar, Joan of Arc, Hermann, Pelaguis, Sun Tzu, Scipio Africanus, Kusunoki Masashige, Boudica
ELITE	Šárka, Lancelot, Tomoe Gozen, Gaius Marius, Constance
ADVANCED	Markswoman, Dragon Lancer, City Keeper, Centurion

COMMANDER SPECIALTIES
ARCHER	Can give special buffs to archer units.
DEFENDER	Good at garrisoning cities.
DISABLER	Can limit the enemy’s fighting capability.
GATHERER	Good at gathering resources.
INFANTRY	Can give special buffs to infantry units.
JUNGLER	Good at dealing with Barbarians.
LEADER	Can lead larger troops and grant powerful buffs.
NUKER	The active skill of the commander is very powerful.
SUPPORT	Can heal nearby units during battle.
CAVALRY	Can give special buffs to cavalry units.
SIEGE	Good at attacking cities.

Play Rise of Kingdoms on PC

As a matter of fact, it is possible to classify all these specialties in three main groups:

• Attackers: Damage dealers – archer, infantry, leader, nuker, cavalry, disabler, and siege.
• Defenders: Tanks.
• Support: Healers and gatherers.

In other words, the classic tank-healer-damage dealer setup can be used in here too. You must determine which task you will give a commander according to its specialty. For example, you must keep a commander with a “gatherer” specialty in the city instead of sending them to war. And when choosing which commanders will go to battle, you must take a look at your army. For example, if your army consists of archer troops mostly, it would be unreasonable to assign a commander with the “infantry” specialty. So, what are the best commanders for all these tasks?

ROLE	BEST COMMANDERS (*)
ATTACKER	Cao Cao (PvE), Hannibal Barca (PvP)
DEFENDER	Sun Tzu, Yi Seong-Gye
SUPPORT	Joan of Arc (healer), Cleopatra VII (gatherer)

(*) Remember that this is a personal choice. The best commander is the commander you can use in the most efficient way. The recommendations here reflect our personal ideas and the general views of the player community. You can choose to play with completely different commanders. We recommend that you create your own “best of” lists using the information and tables in this guide, which will be more enjoyable.

Pairing The Commanders

Let’s share a hint that will make you more productive in the battlefield: You can send more than one commander to a battle at the same time. In this way, you can benefit from each commander’s personal skills. To do so, the army’s primary commander must be at least 3 stars.

The secondary commander can have any number of stars. You can do this for both PvE and PvP battles. If you prefer commanders with complementary specialties and skills, you can be quite effective on the battlefield.  Here are a few good combinations:

• Cao Cao – Tomoe Gozen (damage dealer – healer)
• Joan of Arc – El Cid (healer – disabler – damage dealer)
• Boudica – Joan of Arc (perfect combo for barbarians)
• Hannibal Barca – Cleopatra VII (perfect combo for PvP matches)

You now know more about the commanders of Rise of Kingdoms Now it’s time to add them to your nation. By choosing the right commanders and using the right combination, you can expand your nation much faster. Don’t forget to check out our other guides to learn more and good luck at the battlefield!

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