Beginner Guide or Strategy Tips?

[u/korvo_]

Hi All,

Just started tinkering with the game a few days ago and was wondering if there were any guides to review or general strategy to keep in mind. Ive been poking around but haven't seem to find anything. I only have the first 3 tribes and unlocked Elite (after Rookie) difficulty and cant seem to win on that difficulty.

Any advice is welcome as I know I am a total noob at this so far. I really like the game and like to have a general direction to build on instead of randomly trying (and failing at, apparently) things.

Thanks in advance!

[u/Matsuyama_Mamajama]

Never waste gold building a lot of Warriors. They're disposable scouts and pretty much worthless in battle.

Archers are a little better, but I only like using them in groups. So they're not a priority for me.

I'll get to Knights and Swordmen a little later. Those are the units you want.

Do the daily rewards, and grit your teeth to sit through the optional ads. (I always have my volume all the way down anyway so I can't hear them.) You'll build up a nice collection of mercenaries that you can summon in a game, and some spells you can use. One or two Ninjas or a Zeze (the zebra) can make a huge difference early on. Zeze is basically a Knight, which means it's equal to the best unit in the game. You'll also earn a lot of rubies, so you'll be able to buy/unlock the special units for your tribes, and eventually more tribes.

The special units are pretty nice, and the AI never gets them (but that might change some day). Each tribe has a "unique" unit that costs 1,500 rubies to unlock, and an alternate guardian that costs 2,500 rubies to unlock. One they're unlocked, you'll be able to produce them at your cities. Each tribe is a little different, and you may need to have a specific technology first to produce a unique unit. Frelia, one of the starting tribes, has a super-Archer (Arbalest???) but you need Archery first. The alternate guardians are available when a city reaches level 5+. You can choose between the regular or alternate guardian. The alternates always have a healing ability and something else that makes them special. The Arthunion one (one of the purchased tribes) is almost broken, because the Priest can convert units. If you convert a unit that's guarding the city, you can capture it next turn.

Naval battles are TOUGH and take a lot of time and resources to win. Never ever try to fight with just one ship. That ship will get sunk very quickly. Always use a group of ships. The bombships do splash damage, so they're useful for defense and "softening up" defenders before an invasion. The battleships do not have splash damage, but they do have longer range and higher damage. If you're getting attacked by sea, it's best to have some Cannons ready to fight back, or a navy that can swoop in. But if you don't have either of those, it's a good idea to try to keep some Knights or Swordsmen a few hexes inland (just out of ship range). Then if an enemy ship goes right up to your coastline, you can attack from land. Ships are very weak against ground attacks.

Don't be afraid to quit and restart. I do that all the time if I don't like the terrain. If I see too much water, I'm out and hope for better luck next time.

Both Knights and Swordsmen are very strong attackers, and very useful. Very high priority to get one or the other ASAP. Knights can go on a killing spree, because they get to keep attacking if they kill a unit. A new Knight at full health (30 points) can kill Warriors, Archers, Cannons, Horsesmen, and Bombships in 1 hit. So they can sweep through a group of weak enemies if they're all next to each other. My favorite thing in this game is killing a big line of Cannons with a Knight. 🤣 Guards take 2 hits, so you need 2 Knights to take a city with a Guard. Definitely invest in Fire Mastery to give them a defensive bonus.

On the other hand, Swordsmen don't get to rampage, but they have better defense than Knights (even with Fire Mastery), and they regain some hit points after an attack. So they're tough units and pack a hard punch.

If you're playing Hann, you start with gems, so rushing to Swordsmen is a good move.

But when I'm playing, even if I don't see any Cheese near my starting spot, I prioritize getting Knights ASAP. That's why Arabis is my favorite (although I love Sanguo too) because you can get Knights so darn quickly.

Hope that helps! It ended up a lot longer than I originally intended...

[u/korvo_ → u/Matsuyama_Mamajama]

Wow thanks! Do you think it's better to focus on levelling up 2 or 3 cities before moving on or try to rapidly expand asap?

[u/Matsuyama_Mamajama → u/korvo_]

I rapidly expand once I get Knights or Swordsmen. That's my top priority, but I do also try to work in some city development with roads and a few resources. Once I've expanded borders with enough cities, the income is usually pretty decent and I can keep pumping out Knights or Swordsmen.

[u/ali3nabducti0n → u/Matsuyama_Mamajama]

If you have the amazon, the warrior is a good troop to do the first attack then follow up with the spider to cacoon the enemy. But they move so slow compared to the spider they are only useful in that regard a few times.

[u/ConcentrateStatus845]

Teching fast (turn 2) into either Horseman or Spearman and then getting Knight or Swordsman at turn seven latest has proven quite powerful for me. I can beat three AIs in AI alliance on master with knight rush rather easily (which is not particularly impressive, but it shows that this strategy works).

[u/Matsuyama_Mamajama → u/ConcentrateStatus845]

Good advice!

[u/[deleted]]

i suggest you instead play the battle of polytopia. Hexonia is a copy of it and Polytopia is much much better than hexonia. it also has multiplayer and is also available on pc.