The main purpose of the game is to develop your Stronghold, to join a strong Clan, to defeat enemies, and to fight for Resources and dominance.

Quests. You receive a lot of quests.

First of all, we suggest that you complete the Tutorial ones. 

These quests will teach you how to play: who to raid, how to build and upgrade your Units, etc. Moreover, they will unlock more game features and give you good rewards that you can use to progress in the game. After completing the Tutorial, you can choose the quests with bigger rewards.

Units. They protect your Stronghold, siege other Strongholds, and help your Friends when they need it. Upgrade Blood Pacts and construct new Buildings to unlock new, more powerful Units.

There are two kinds of Units: Offensive and Defensive (with the exception of Meercenaries that have the same value for both). Click on the Unit when purchasing it to see detailed stats.

Defensive Units are essentially useless when attacking but highly effective at protecting a Stronghold or a Settlement. Conversely, Offensive Units are designed to be used for attacks but have a low defense value. If your Stronghold has tons of Offense and no Defense - don't be surprised when you get sieged.

There are 4 types of Units: Northmen, Orcs, Elves, Dragons. Units of each type can be trained in a designated queue. 

Note that each Unit has its own statistics against other types of Units. 

Upgrade Blood Pacts to improve your Units and to enhance their statistics by up to 40%. 

You can choose either an Offensive or a Defensive strategy in the game. That, in turn, will determine the order in which you upgrade your Units.

Clan. Clan and its members play an important role in every player’s life: your Clan mates can give you useful tips and help you in difficult situations. You may request Resources, and Reinforcements, as well simply chat with them and have fun.

Don't forget to help other members of your Clan. Moreover, always remember to follow orders of your Clan Leader.

Do not join a random Clan. It can be weak and/or inactive. Open the list of the Top Clans and choose the ones ranked 200 through 300. Send requests and messages to those recruiting new members. Indicate why you think you are a good candidate for this particular Clan and wait for the response. Starting out in a big Clan will help you learn more about the game features and get the protection every new player needs.

Bear in mind that Top Clans are unlikely to accept you since you do not have enough experience and Units to be able to keep up with their activities in the game. Once you gain more experience, you can try your luck with the Top Clans.

Buildings. There are several types of Buildings in the game, and each is associated with a different sphere of your Stronghold's life. They fall under the following categories: Military, Command, Resources, Improvements, Fortifications, and Black Market.

Constructing and upgrading Buildings will unlock new game features, give you more Resources, etc. Building are necessary for you to be able to perform basic actions such as declare wars, etc.  

Resource Buildings. The more  Resource Buildings you have and the higher their level, the more Resources you can produce. You need Resources to develop your Stronghold and to train Units.

Remember that you do not need to upgrade all Buildings at the same time. Some of them are more important than others when you first start playing. For example, the Catacombs is a place where you can secure Units and Resources to protect them from other players, so make sure to upgrade it. Also, it would make sense to upgrade your Mushroom Patch and Fisherman's Hut before upgrading Alehouse and Storehouse so that you actually have something to store. You can see how much you are currectly producing here: 

To erect a Building, you need to access the Construction menu: 

Military Buildings. Here you can house, manage, and develop all of your Units. Each Unit or a set of Units has its own Building, and you will find that you are required to construct certain Buildings before you can Upgrade certain military Blood Pacts or erect more advanced military Buildings.

Fortifications Buildings. There are two types of Fortifications Buildings: Defenses and Decor.

Fortifications improve the defensive capability of all Units within your Stronghold. Decor enhance the grounds of your Stronghold and add to your overall Stronghold Defense.

Altar of Life. Here you can restore the Units you lost while defending your Stronghold. Additionally, you can revive a certain percentage of the fallen Units for free, while the rest of them will require Emeralds to revive. 

The Level 1 Altar of Life will let you revive 5% of your Units for FREE. Upgrading your Altar of Life will increase the number of Units you can recover with each Level.

Remember: reviving Units is cheaper and quicker than training a new army!

Infirmary. It is a tab in your Black Market where you can recover a certain percentage of any Units you’ve lost in combat within the last 7 days. You will need Emeralds to recover them.

Please note that there is sometimes an additional discount (e.g. 75%) in the game that allows you to revive your Units at a much lower cost.  

Blood Pacts. You are required to open new Blood Pacts in order to access new types of Buildings and Units. Construct the Hall of Records to start new Blood Pacts.The more you upgrade the Hall of Records, the faster you complete learning of new Blood Pacts.

Upgrading each Blood Pact costs Resources. The more advanced the Blood Pact, the more expensive it is to Upgrade. The cost of upgrading a given Blood Pact also becomes progressively higher with each new level.

Blood Pacts can be found here: 

Missions. Missions are locations that have been occupied by Ice Queen's forces or temporarily held by friendly forces. Raid them wisely. Send defensive Units to Defensive Missions and vise versa. Don’t spend all your Units on them, or you will have none to fight with your rivals.

You can check the forum for some useful tips on how to clear Missions successfully.

Stashes. Each Stash is dedicated to producing one of the three main types of Resources.  

The amount of Resources you can gather from a Stash depends on the overall carrying capacity of the Defensive Units you have stationed there.

You will need BOTH Offensive and Defensive Units to Capture a Stash, but Defensive Units will NOT engage in the battle. All surviving Offensive Units will be automatically returned to your Catacombs. If you successfully Capture a Stash, Defensive Units will start gathering Resources. The number of Resources that they can gather depends on your Units’ carrying capacity. The more Defensive Units you send, and the bigger their carrying capacity, the more Resources you can collect!

Stashes can be found in your Battle Menu: 

Using Resources. Don’t log out of the game when you have more Resources than your Catacombs can store - other players may be tempted to raid you. 

Always use up your Resources to upgrade Buildings, train Units, or Upgrade Blood Pacts.

Spending Emeralds. Don’t spend them at low levels since you don’t actually need them. Keep playing and you will find the best way to spend them: to revive Units, to hire new Thralls, to acquire Items, etc.

Raid. Go to the Map 

choose a Stronghold 

and send off Units 

To get Resources from Strongholds you raid, send Units with higher carrying capacity 

Try to attack abandoned Strongholds if you don’t want to be hit back. Abandoned Strongholds are good since they do not have a Clan to protect them, and they have weak defenses which means your Raids are more likely to be successful.

Always Scout the Strongholds you wish to raid before sending Units. If your Raid was successful and you were not hit back, save the coordinates of that Stronghold in the Bookmarks and come back to it later.

Scouting. It is better to use 1 scout at a time. If you send them all and the attempt is unsuccessful, you will have to train new ones and will have to wait until you can start raiding again.  

Global events (Missions). When you developed your Stronghold a little, you may start fighting for rewards in the Global Missions (Events). Bear in mind that you can earn points in some Global Missions by simply performing your usual actions such as upgrading Buildings, Blood Pacts, raiding Strongholds, etc. Remember that this is a good opportunity to develop your Stronghold and receive additional rewards. 

You can always decide whether you want to participate in Global Missions or not. But you should remember that there are also Clan Global Missions and your reputation in the Clan may depend on your performance in Clan Global Missions.

Resources and Items you receive for completing game quests will be stored in the appropriate tabs at the Black Market. Activate your Resources only when you are sure that you need them that very moment.

There are Special Missions that may also help you receive rewards for usual gameplay. You may be asked to raid Strongholds, clear Missions, collect Resources from other Strongholds, etc. Don't forget to check this tab as these rewards will help you in developing your Stronghold.

Happy hunting, Lord Marshalls! We hope these tips will help you dominate!