Rival Kingdoms - a beginners guide to combat

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Rival Kingdoms is a lot more accessible than most other strategy management titles, but breaking down a well-designed fortress or building your own can still prove a challenge to even the hardened specialist.

While we don't claim to be experts ourselves, we do have a few tips for beginners that we've picked up while playing the game that should help you get off to a winning start.

How to play

Taking on an opponent in Rival Kingdoms is very similar to Clash of Clans.

You have a set number of squads you can send into combat (usually about 3-4 at the start) and you can place them anywhere on the map, at which point they'll automatically attack the nearest building.

There are only a handful of unit types available at the beginning so let's have a quick look at each one and what they specialise in.



Units

Soldier

These are melee-focused warriors who can take a punch or two but also deliver decent damage themselves. The problem is, they're weak to magic so placing them near magic-based defences can be a huge mistake.

Warden

Wardens are your ranged specialists which have much lower health, armour, and damage ratings than Soldiers but can fight from range - and that includes from behind walls - and move a lot faster. Keep them away from AoE-based defences because they're weak to splash damage.

Mana Hunter

Mana Hunters can fly over walls and will prioritise buildings that provide mana - mana allows you to use your ancient's special attacks but we'll go over that. Their damage is very low but they can move fast and will gain more mana from buildings than any other troops. Keep them away from air-based defences.

Mauler

What Maulers lack in speed, they more than make up for in damage. These huge, 2-handed hammer-wielding warriors will destroy buildings faster than any other unit but you'll want to keep them away from long-distance defences as they may not close the distance in time before they die.



Defences

It's also important to know what you're up against so let's take a look at what deadly contraptions will be firing at you or halting your progress.

Walls

As simple and effective as it gets, walls can slow you down just long enough for the defences to take you out. They're not very tough at the beginning but they can quickly ramp up into expert opponent-stoppers.

Watch Tower

Watch Towers aren't a huge threat on their own but placed together in a group they can wreak havoc to your units. They fire physical weapons so Soldiers won't feel their blows. Much.

Spell Tower

These house an ancient which will use a special ability to effectively defend against foes. This could slow them down or cause an AoE attack that will decimate Wardens. Soldiers are weak to magic.

Catapult

Catapults fire flaming rocks at attacking opponents, causing AoE damage to all in radius. Their attacks aren't too powerful on their own but the ability to hurt more than one opponent at once can decimate entire squads over time. Prioritise them.



Skywatcher

Unless you regularly use a dragon ancient or Mana Hunters, Skywatchers are harmless. If those are your favourite units though, you might want to prioritise taking these down before sending them into battle.

Primus Conduit

The Primus Condit will 'charge' all adjacent defences, increasing their firing speed drastically. It isn't a defence item in itself. Bear in mind that defences must be touching the Primus Conduit and it has to be charged or it won't work.

Battling 101

Each city you raid will be designed differently so there's no sure-fire method to success. Instead, you have to adapt your approach to suit each opponent.

Do you target their mana-depositing buildings first and use your ancient's powers to succeed, do you go straight for the fortress and hope that you destroy it before your units are wiped out, or do you aim for the defences first and wipe them out before safely tackling the rest of the buildings?

That all depends on the set-up. If the fortress is heavily guarded but the mana buildings are safely within reach, it might be best to take them down first and use your mana to weaken the defences or bolster your troops so they're ready for the fight ahead.



If the defences are scattered, target them first and use the best units for the job. Don't send Wardens against Spell Towers or Catapults but do send them to take out Watch Towers, or to weaken the Stronghold from a safe distance.

If walls are causing a problem, try using Maulers to take them down quickly or use an ancient's spell.

Finally, if you want mana quickly, send in a group of Mana Hunters who will prioritise building up mana while the rest of your troops do the dirty work.