A guide for the use of Cardinals by terMas
A guide for the use of cardinals
by terMas
1. Necessary conditions for the use of Cardinals
In order to use any cardinal, the Conclave of Cardinals building must first be constructed, required that players have reached a level 21 Palace. Each level increase of the Conclave of Cardinals allows to further increase the number (up to 9) and level of cardinals (from 1 to 10). The bonuses that cardinals give are of several types : permanent, temporary and bonuses in the Conflict of Cardinals.
More info about the types of cardinals, their bonuses and promotion requirements is here:
and https://plarium.com/forum/en/throne-kingdom-at-war/599_fan-guides/122194_cardinal-info-and-stats/
There are 3 ways to promote cardinals :
- with resources - also takes time to promote
- with gold - instantly
- with Trophy of Arms - instantly
The Trophy of Arms is a resource type gained only from the troops destroyed in battle (with players from other kingdoms than your own), the higher the number and tier of troops destroyed, the higher the number of trophies gained. You will be rewarded with some trophies - just enough to promote one cardinal to level 1 - once the Conclave of Cardinals is built. So, the easiest way to promote cardinals is with resources or gold.
To make a good decision on what cardinals to use and promote, you should first evaluate the resources you hold and could obtain, the playstyle you mostly use and the priorities you currently have in advancing your active events and overall growth. All of the cardinals give military bonuses (permanent and temporary), but only 3 of them can give other type of bonuses (study, building, training), meaning cardinals are mostly useful for a combat focused playstyle. If you are in a developing stage, cardinals should not be a concern or priority, they can be costly to promote and the benefits they offer can be reached much cheaper in other ways - military studies, hero skills and equipment, inquisitor doctrines and equipment.
If you reached a fair level of military power and you already focused training, hero equipment and skills, inquisitor equipment and doctrines to benefit one troop type, maybe 2 or more, choose to promote and summon the cardinal(s) that benefits your troops the most. For example, if cavalry is your main troop type, Helene of Midnight can give the extra boost you may need for a decisive attack or defence. Try to promote the chosen cardinal to level 10 first, before promoting a secondary one, although it is arguable to have all cardinals promoted to levels 1-2 to benefit from their permanent bonuses.
The conflict of cardinals - grouped in 3 chambers - can also be very important. The different offense bonus some cardinals have against each other can be used to claim victory in the most balanced confrontations. Carefully consider what cardinal to summon or not, if you have any info about the enemys active cardinal.
2. Strategies and course of action
Here is where all elements of combat can work in synergy. Before summoning your best cardinal, get all information you can about your targets. View their profile, hero and inquisitor setup, use spies if you have time, see what cardinal the enemy has summoned. Make sure you have your hero skills and equipment set for combat, same for your inquisitor, use obscuration to hide your information and decide, based on the situation, if offense or defence is the way you could win.
Town defence - Using your town or a friends town to invite attacks can be very rewarding. You can pretend to be looting towns or sending attacks on tiles, while keeping your hero and inquisitor in town or using a hero double. If you see a lot of active enemies and you are most certain they will attack, summon the cardinal that matches your troops and for the next hour make the most of your boosted troops, don't forget to activate shield if there are very strong enemies coming your way, or your cardinal and other boosts soon expire. Similar strategy can be done with your friends town. Send reinforcements to your friends town, unnoticed if possible, summon your cardinal, activate other boosts and watch your enemies movements. Or, if enemies don't reshield fast enough, send an attack on their town, if you are most certain their hero and inquisitor are out of town. In this case, even if the attack fails, it can do serious damage.
Tile defence and counterattack - There are enemies constantly harrasing your tiles or your order mates tiles, maybe sending attacks without using spies first. Set your hero and inquisitor for combat, send them with a matching, well balanced group of troops (combination of troop tiers) to a tile, depending on circumstances, maybe only the best tier of troops you have upgrades for. Activate combat boosts, summon the cardinal that benefits your troops and hope the enemy will not use spies this time :) If your defence is successful, the surprise factor is gone, and you can now follow your enemies movements and maybe send the same combination of troops on the offense, trying to catch their troops on the tiles they attack. This tactic can sometimes work, if your opponents are a bit slow to retreat.
Eternal stronghold offense and defence - In this type of situations, cardinals can have the most powerful impact. There are a lot of possible scenarios to consider, so I will try to describe one of them. You and your order mates want to reset the enemy Eternal Stronghold (Esh). You know there are many reinforcements, maybe you have a spy report of the numbers involved and know what players are defending. There a 2-3 hours left until their Esh gains a shield. First, look at the defending players profiles, if there are any not using obscuration to get any info about their setup. You and your mates should send a few test attacks using small groups of troops with hero and inquisitor, to make it look like you will soon make a raid. You can even go for a weaker raid, just to make your enemies think you will go all in. This move can trigger the defenders to activate all boosts and maybe even summon their best cardinals. Next, wait until there is just 1 hour or less left until the Esh gets a shield. Now, together, you can go all in, start or join a raid with your best combination available, summon your best cardinal, same for your mates and send the raid. A failed raid can still do serious damage, repeat the raid if the outcome indicates weakness in the opponents defence. Your enemies will either be forced out of the Esh or they will retreat from it, to avoid an unwanted massacre.
3. Key points to pay attention when using Cardinals
When summoned, the temporary bonuses of each cardinal last for only 1 hour and after each use the cardinals need a restoration time that will decrease with every level your cardinals gain. Note that the restore time (up to 48 hours) can not be boosted in any way, making the use of cardinals important for the most critical situations, when victory or defeat can be decided, so good planning of their use should be a concern.
The cardinals you use the most can be added to favorites in the Boosts menu (hotkey B) for quick access. Cardinals can be summoned only one at a time, but it is possible to replace the summoned cardinal, if the situation calls for it. To quickly access the full list of cardinals from the Conclave, press the letter V on your keyboard and click on any cardinal for a detailed view of their bonuses, promotion requirements and benefits gained from promoting them. The power gained from promoting cardinals does not score points in any type of event, make no plans about that.
Thank you for reading, have fun and good luck playing the game!
