1. Keep Academy at level 19

2. Build to 24 while keeping Academy at 19

Capitol, Temple and the other main city buildings can reach level 24 without Academy 20. Upgrade one of each required building first; extra copies are optional.

Prioritize Capitol 20, then Mansion 20 → Temple 24. Temple 20 → 24 saves about 21.6% on the same revival. Follow the building requirements below.

After each building reaches 20, levels 21–24 need only its previous level, except Engineer’s Workshop, which follows Forge level. Pay the normal resources and Blueprints; the bonus removes the waiting time.

3. What to research at Academy 19

Reduce training costs before bulk training; improve research and construction speed before the bonus ends. Then choose crypt, gathering and combat upgrades for your plans. Complete earlier prerequisites as needed.

Costs cover level 0 to the target, excluding earlier prerequisites. Choose the upgrades you can afford; you do not need to complete every row.

Leave these until Academy 20: level 10 of the two G4 preparation lines, the G4 troop unlocks, Crypts IV, Captain Carter and Sacred Potion production II. The G4 preparation pair costs 260.2M VP through level 9; keep another 220M VP for both final levels and one G4 unlock.

For combat research, keep strength and health bonuses even across the troop classes you use. Army Modernization uses CP, so budget it separately from VP research.

4. Use opening Armageddon for Hero XP

If Armageddon is active when your season starts, use its Hero-only attacks and increased VP/XP while revivals are cheap. Check your clan’s Altar VP/XP bonus, make a small attack, then compare the points with revival and replacement costs. No kills means no points.

Spend earned VP and talent points before the next large fight. Complete revivals before Total Development ends.

5. Hero 65 first; 105 if affordable

Hero 105 is optional for G4. These talents help your army even when the Hero stays home.

Each listed maximum needs 20 points in that talent, plus points in the talents leading to it. Bonuses affect matching troops and are not equal to the same percentage increase in total damage.

Keep strength and health talent bonuses even across troop classes. If points are limited, raise the classes together instead of maxing just one. Changing one class can change the order your troops attack or take hits. How to keep your troops stacked →

Before the bonus ends

Finish affordable research and building upgrades, train your next army and complete revivals. On an extension, use days 2–3 to finish the same priorities. Keep resources for your next troop unlock; extra time is useful only if you can fund the upgrades.

Do not stay at G3 waiting for Ragnarök. Move on when the bonus ends or you have finished your useful upgrades.

Use the next run you are ready for. Upgrade sooner if a ranking deadline or reward expiry comes first.

Before it starts

• Finish prerequisite research and required building and Hero levels. Leave the next-tier Guardsman locked.
• Save resources for training and revivals.
• Save Triumphal mercenaries until at least G5; aim for G6 before claiming. G5 gives level-VII mercenaries; G6 gives the much stronger level-IX mercenaries. If you can reach G6 before the pass ends, wait. Keep these and Forest Pass rewards unclaimed in the pass, not in Items. Claim before expiry if you cannot reach the next tier in time.
• Keep the Forest Shop unopened until after the upgrade.

When it starts

Check your goals, then unlock one next-tier Guardsman early. Collect the improved mercenaries, open the Forest Shop and train the army you can afford to fight with.

Make each fight count

Check your troop stacking after changing troops or talents. Make one small attack, then compare progress toward the next coin goal with its revival cost. Continue only while that reward is worth the resources you will spend.

• Fenrir: one Captain. Apply available strength bonuses before attacking.
• Jörmungandr: clan raids. Rewards depend on your contribution, not an equal split.

How to earn the coins

Fenrir Fangs advance Fenrir goals; Jörmungandr Scales advance Jörmungandr goals. Collect each event’s coins from its goal rewards. Upgrading helps you reach those goals; it does not increase their coin rewards or refresh the current shop.

Claim goal rewards before the event ends. Unclaimed rewards expire; coins already collected carry over to future Ragnarök events. Save coins for the G7 → G8 push and your equipment upgrades.

Shop priorities each Ragnarök

• Cleopatra fragments — Jörmungandr shop. Buy them whenever available to increase her stars.
• Hero-change cards — Ragnarök shops. Buy whenever available and save for switching between your unlocked Heroes. See the Hero plan →
• Fenrir VP — save until G7. Use it for M7 and the G8 push, as outlined below.

Ready for G7? Unlock it now; do not wait for another Ragnarök.

Save Fenrir coins for the G8 push

Avoid buying VP from the Fenrir shop before G7. Save as many coins as you can through the earlier tiers. From G7, use VP purchases to accelerate G8 research. Get M7 promptly after G7 if you have not already: use some VP for those unlocks so your G7 + M7 + mercenary army can earn more VP along the way.

Keep early Ragnarök equipment affordable. Make useful pieces at the quality you can afford without exhausting your coin reserve. After G8, focus on Legendary (orange) and Ascendant (red) sets.

Do not delay G4 just to wait for Ragnarök. Use the G3 → G4 run if the timing fits; plan around G4 → G5 and G5 → G6 for the bigger mercenary upgrades.

Turn tokens into strength

Open the yellow + bonus menu → Personal bonuses. Activate Seasonal bonus (25 tokens), Big seasonal bonus (45) and Great seasonal bonus (70). All three cost 140 Honor Tokens and last 7 days.

The three bonuses add together. At G6, 25% + 35% + 45% adds 105 percentage points to your army-strength bonus. It does not double an army that already has other strength bonuses. Reusing the same bonus extends its time rather than doubling its percentage.

A practical KvK plan

1. Collect and hold enemy banners. Holding them earns goal points. In SK, banners can be taken from shielded enemy cities without a battle.
2. Reach the three Honor-token rewards: 25, then 45, then 70 tokens. Activate each bonus as you earn enough; do not wait until G8 or G9 to start benefiting.
3. Continue for CP if worthwhile. Spend it on Specialists and CP research, comparing the next reward with your losses.

Holding enemy banners prevents you from using a Shield of Peace. Coordinate with your clan and plan how to protect your city. Alrick is useful here; his enemy-march delay can still be shortened with Speedups.

SK KvK lowers revival costs tenfold for qualifying battles against players from other kingdoms and reduces irrecoverable losses to 5%. Check that the revival bonus applies before fighting. Claim personal rewards before the event ends.

Goals by troop tier

Use the bracket matching your highest relevant Guardsmen or Specialists unlock. G8 and G9 share the top bracket. These are banner goal points, not CP you must spend.

Total CP means completing every CP reward goal, including those after the Honor Tokens. It excludes CP earned directly from fighting.

Honor Tokens also come from Conquerors’ Revival. Check your current event goals before committing troops.

Find the next KvK → · Back to your progression plan →

Early focus: Echo of Corruption

Make Echo an early priority for VP progress. Fight Spawns for Unstable Shards of Power, then use the shards against Grove Elders to advance personal goals. Fatigue increases as you progress; reassess the next reward before spending more troops or revival resources.

Doomtree: prepare for clan raids

Coordinate with your clan to fight epic Doomtree squads and earn Carved Sigils toward personal goals. Save Grove Wardens and Epic Monster Hunters for Doomtree instead of using them up in other events, so you can reach its goals faster. Look for Grove Wardens in the Forest Shop; check availability and the troops offered before spending your Forest Coins. Keep Sacred Potions ready: Doomtree revival uses Potions or Gold.

Bloomfang: one Captain

Use one Captain to fight epic Bloomfang squads for VP, Carved Sigils and other rewards. Start with an affordable attack and compare the progress with the revival bill before repeating. Revival uses Sacred Potions or Gold.

Collect personal-goal rewards before their event ends. The Forest pass and store reset weekly.

Before fighting: upgrade the Temple

Prioritize Temple 24; you can reach it while Academy stays at 19. Compared with Temple 20, it saves about 21.6% on the same revival, with other bonuses unchanged. Higher Temple levels reduce the Silver, Gold or Sacred Potions needed to revive troops.

Before training replacements, improve training-cost research for the troop classes you use. In the Academy, start with Guardsmen’s training cost to save Silver on your main army. Check Guardsmen research →

These savings apply to revival costs. They do not reduce permanent troop losses.

Need potions? Prepare for Verdant Rebirth →

Choose the right revival event

What to aim for at your tier

Before you attack

• Equip Immortal Warrior gear. Its bonuses against players work against Exiles’ Groves. Keep your G4–G8 equipment rewards on SK to help with these fights. See equipment rewards →
• Bring catapults for fortifications.

Deep stacking: protect more troops, lose fewer

Use a small higher-tier stack to take the hit while larger lower-tier stacks survive and keep attacking.

1. Bring several tiers. Use your G/S/M troops and lower tiers you already own.
2. Keep the stacks taking losses small. Higher-tier troops need fewer soldiers to match a lower-tier stack’s total health.
3. Protect your Monsters. Size the army so the Silver troop stacks take losses before the Monsters. Keep Monsters out of the sacrificial stacks.
4. Test level 37 and read the report. Look for losses in the small Silver troop stacks. If Monsters are dying, adjust the setup or drop a level before repeating.

Simple example: start with 1,000 G7 melee

Use roughly 1.6 times as many troops for each lower tier. For each row, use roughly the same number of ranged troops, half as many mounted, and one twentieth as many flying troops. Round to easy numbers.

More troops does not mean a stronger stack. Here, 1,000 G7 melee have 5.1M base health, while 6,400 G3 melee have about 3.07M. The smaller higher-tier stacks can cover the larger lower-tier stacks.

These are simple proportions without bonuses. G5/G6 mounted and flying ratios are approximate. The table shows sizes, not a fixed attack or death order.

• Keep the intended losses in small G/S stacks. Add Specialists you have, then check that those small stacks take the losses before your Monsters.
• Short on troops or march capacity? Use fewer lower tiers; you can stop at G5 or G4 rather than filling every row down to G3.
• Test before repeating. If larger stacks or Monsters die, adjust the counts or choose an easier Grove.

Revive or retrain the lost Silver troops?

• Revive: check the actual price in the Temple, including your Temple reduction and any event discount. During Ruthless Slaughter, check for Silver revival.
• Retrain: compare the Silver and Food cost after training-cost research, plus the time or speedups needed.

When both options cost Silver, compare them directly. If revival costs Gold or Potions, decide which resource you can spare. Replace permanent losses separately.

Keep Dragon Coins for Monster upgrades and training. The farming plan should preserve your Monsters, not budget for repeatedly replacing them.

Compare stack sizes in the calculator → Enter your actual bonuses, then test the setup in battle.

← Other events

Watch your trees while gathering. Springs of Life—often called trees—can be attacked even while your city is shielded. Recall before a losing fight to bring home the Potions already gathered.

Set up your gathering Captains

• Start with the Captains you have. Include Stror if available. A fully equipped three-march setup uses nine pieces; start gathering before all nine are ready.
• Fill each Captain’s three equipment slots. Any Swift Wayfarer pieces work, including duplicates. Choose what you can craft with your materials.
• Start gathering with the gear you have. Mix qualities and improve pieces as materials allow. Blue is an affordable option; you can start gathering with lower qualities too.

Improve gathering speed

In addition to equipment, research gathering speed. In Logistics, look for “Resource Gathering on the World Map” and “Resource Gathering Speed.” Add gathering-speed talents and an available gathering bonus. See Logistics research costs →

While springs are available

1. Send one Captain to each empty spring. Choose nearby springs and enough troops to carry the Potions you plan to gather.
2. Keep the marches collecting. Check returning marches and send them out again while you are playing. Use the gathering time shown in the march preview to plan your next check.
3. Use Potions without spending your upgrade reserve. Upgrade your Temple before major fighting so the Potions last longer.

Gathering bonuses add together; +180% speed does not mean 180% less time. March speed only reduces travel time.

If someone attacks your tree

1. Check your occupied springs and incoming marches. Look at which tree is targeted and how soon the attack arrives. Keep an eye on all your gathering marches, not just your city.
2. If there is time, follow the incoming march line. Trace it back to the attacker’s city and check who is sending the attack. If they look too strong, recall your gathering march.
3. No time to check? Vacate the tree. Recall before the attack lands instead of risking your troops and gathered Potions. Do not wait until the last second.
4. Gather elsewhere after returning. Choose another empty spring. You can decide whether to retaliate later with a combat march. If someone keeps targeting you, move away from that area.

Stepping away? Bring your gathering marches home first if you do not want to risk the Potions they carry. A partly gathered load brought home is better than losing it while trying to fill the march.

A stack is one troop type at one tier. G8 and G9 melee troops are separate stacks. The aim is to put replaceable troops ahead of the groups you want to protect.

1. Keep your SK setup simple

• Match bonuses for the troops you actually stack. Start with Guardsmen. When you add Specialists, bring their strength and health talents in line with Guardsmen. When you later add Monsters, align their talents too. You do not need to spend talent points on a family you are not sending.
• Keep the classes in your march even. In Expert Battle Tactics, balance strength across the melee, ranged, mounted, flying or siege troops you use; do the same for health. When adding a new class, bring its bonuses in line before reusing your old stack counts. Match bonus percentages, not just points spent.
• Keep research consistent with your stack. When using Guardsmen and Specialists together, balance their combat bonuses, including special flying-unit bonuses. For this simple SK approach, leave Monsters Boost research alone so it does not create a Monster-only advantage when you add them later.
• Use army-wide combat equipment. Our recommendation is Ragnarök equipment or Immortal armor, with army-strength gems and enchantments where available. Avoid Guardsmen-only, Specialist-only or troop-class bonuses in this setup. Check the bonuses on the actual pieces you equip.

Our recommended path: push to G6 mainly with Guardsmen, then get M6 before moving toward G7. Continue G7 → M7 → G8 → M8 → G9 → M9. Add Specialists when you use them; align talents for each family as it joins your march. Unlocking Monsters is separate from Monsters Boost research.

Recalculate when you add a troop family. If existing research or other bonuses make them different, enter those bonuses in the calculator.

Open the TB Stacking Calculator ↗

2. When can I leave calculator bonuses at 0%?

When all selected troops have the same strength bonus and the same health bonus. For example, if every group has +500% strength and +300% health, zero inputs preserve their relative order and stacking counts. Strength and health do not need to equal each other.

Select your troop tiers and enter your real Leadership and Dominance. Leave bonus inputs at zero and extra research-bonus switches off only for this equal-bonus setup. The zeroes are a sizing shortcut, not your actual combat stats.

Check once with your intended Captain and equipment. In a battle report, open Battle Info → your troop → Bonuses. Compare the Strength and Health percentages for the different families and special troops you send. Captain, artifact, research and class bonuses can create differences even with matching gear. If they differ, copy the bonuses into the calculator; do not calculate group strength by hand.

3. Manual shortcut: small gaps, then ×0.55

Start with a round number for one tier. At G3–G4, use a little more melee, half as many mounted, and a little less ranged. With 1,000 as your starting number:

That is 1,000 + 10, 1,000 ÷ 2, and 1,000 − 10. With equal bonuses, the hit order is melee → mounted → ranged. The offsets are small spacing, not extra protection against different bonuses.

Add the next tier behind the last stack

Take the lower tier’s ranged count ×0.55 and round down. Use that as the next tier’s melee count. For this example, 990 ×0.55 = 544.5 → 544 G4 Spearmen.

Full example: 4,602 Leadership. This keeps all three G3 groups ahead of the G4 groups. Use the last stack as your starting point, not the largest. Multiplying every G3 count by 0.55 separately can put the first G4 group ahead of the last G3 group.

This method assumes equal bonuses. ×0.55 is an approximate next-tier multiplier with a narrow gap; round down and check the battle report. For a smaller or larger march, scale all counts together, then recheck rounding.

4. Adding other troops?

• Specialists or Monsters: align their talents, then recalculate the new mix. Use the calculator rather than the Guardsmen multipliers.
• Adding mercenaries: do not use the Guardsmen multipliers or fill Authority automatically. Test the actual mercenary group you intend to send. If it takes the first hit, reduce it or increase the intended protective group.
• PvP or defending a tree: use a PvP setup, not this epic-monster recipe.

5. Check the result, not the arithmetic

Make an affordable attack that can earn rewards. In the report, look for which group took the first hit and whether the protected groups got to attack. Change one count at a time, and compare event progress or VP with the revival bill.

Save counts that work. Recheck after changing tiers, Captains, equipment, research or talents. Enemy abilities can change the result; a bigger march is worthwhile only if the return improves.

Start at G5

1. Start with one Hut and one Workshop. The two starting slots are enough to begin. Huts make materials; Workshops convert them. Each level-1 building costs 20 Camp Supplies.
2. Unlock the first three Hut recipes early. Cinderthorn, Spore Pulp and Spring Shards can then come directly from Huts. Each recipe costs 25 of all three materials; all three recipes cost 75 of each. This avoids the first 2-for-1 conversion and frees your Workshop for the next materials.
3. Choose your next chest before expanding. Save its materials separately from your upgrade budget. If that chest is your stopping point, avoid buying another recipe just before you can collect it.

Keep production running

Collect Huts before 48 hours pass so full storage does not stop production. Refill Workshop queues when they finish.

What should you improve?

Check chest materials separately from Forest Mystery points. An event score does not tell you whether a chest is ready.

Budget for Blueprints first

For a Top 100 push, buy the Elite Pass and reserve its Gold for Blueprints. Keep your building upgrades funded instead of spending that Gold on revivals.

If your budget allows, take the Triumph bundle. Its +30% VP and XP bonus helps the push; it also includes 360K extra Gold and eight instant Triumphal levels. The bonus lasts for that Triumphal season.

What the packs give you

The three paid offers on the Hercules route total $249.97, plus the Golden Pass. The separate Quick start pack is optional. Check the pack contents and price before buying.

Your first three Ragnarök runs

All three fit before the Triumphal reset on 21 November 2026. Starts below are at reset; each Ragnarök lasts 24 hours.

Complete your planned Hercules purchases before 21 November at reset. Check the offer timer before spending. Do not plan around carrying an unfinished offer chain into the next Triumphal season.

Save Triumphal mercenary rewards for G6 if you can reach it before the pass ends. G5 rewards give level-VII mercenaries; G6 gives level IX. Leave them in the pass until you unlock, then claim before expiry.

How to make the push

1. Use the first run to reach G4 or G5. Spend earned VP on your next unlock; use potions and available mercenaries to keep progressing toward G5.
2. At G5, take the improved mercenary offer before Hercules. Reach Triumphal level 20, then use those troops to earn the VP needed for G6. Finish the required buildings and Hero levels too.
3. Unlock G6 during Ragnarök. Aim for the second run if you are ready. Check your event goals before unlocking one G6 Guardsman, then collect your improved unclaimed mercenary rewards. Keep Forest Pass rewards in the pass and the Forest Shop unopened until the unlock.
4. Get Hercules as soon as the offer opens. Work toward Triumphal level 30 during the push. After G6, check the next mercenary offer for improved troops before buying, then use them with Hercules to score more Ragnarök points and coins.
5. Unlock G7 as soon as you are ready. Do not wait for another Ragnarök. Then get M7 promptly and use G7, M7 and mercenaries for your next fights.

Already purchased mercenaries keep their tier. Time new purchases and unclaimed rewards around your upgrade. Follow the Ragnarök preparation checklist →

Check your next-tier requirements →

• Choose the Pinnacle destination before distribution. Once sent, the rewards cannot be redirected.
• Path of Legend personal-goal rewards stay seasonal. Top-100 ranking rewards can go to your main progress; choose their destination before distribution.
• Finish Camp targets before the season ends. Check the destination of eligible Camp chests.
• Collect expiring event rewards. Do not lose them while waiting for a troop upgrade.

After the season: Season’s Legacy

Earn Hero and Captain XP toward personal goals over roughly 30 days. G5 or higher can participate, even without playing SK. Reaching G5 after the event starts still lets you join.

For a Mythic Reward Chest, first unlock a Mythic Reward on that same progress. Main and seasonal progress qualify separately; unlocking one on your main does not qualify your seasonal city.

G9 or full T9: plan for a much bigger XP target

Full T9 means tier-9 development across Guardsmen, Specialists and Monsters. Your division also considers research between troop unlocks, including strength and health.

T = trillion · P = quadrillion (1,000T). Goals are cumulative: do not add the three columns together.

Prepare before SK ends

• Budget for your goal. The full T9 final goal in the table needs 3.7× the G9 XP.
• Buy XP packs from the Jörmungandr shop during Ragnarök. Save them unopened in Items, then use them after Season’s Legacy begins to add to your event score. Keep enough XP for the Hero levels you need during SK.
• Choose a reachable goal before spending. Check your Legacy goals, chest contents and eligibility, then budget saved XP and combat for the remaining points. Claim rewards before the event ends.