Basics

Resources

To construct buildings or recruit units you need resources. You receive resources automatically from your resource production buildings (the Timber Camp, Clay Pit and Iron Mine). You also gather those resources when you are not logged into your account.

The amount of resources that you get depends on the level of your resource buildings. It is important to build up your Warehouse to make sure that you don't lose the resources because you don't have enough storage capacity. At the top right of your screen you can see how many resources you currently have. The progress bar shows you when the storage is full.

The numbers show the amount of resources that are stored right now (1068 Wood, 1106 Clay, 1144 Iron).

Hint: Always try to spend all your resources for buildings or units. If you're getting attacked and there's nothing to plunder, it is likely that the enemy will lose interest in your village.

Provisions

Buildings and units also need provisions. Contrary to the other resources, provisions are not produced over time but provided by the farm. The higher its level, the more villagers can be supplied.

The number shows how many additional villagers can be supplied. So for example 127 Spearmen could be recruited in this village. The progress bar shows the ratio between free and used population. In this case a very small amount of population is already used, and there is a lot of free population.

Crowns

In the upper right corner you can see your current amount of Crowns. You can buy additional Crowns if you click on the "+" button.

First steps

In the beginning you will mostly need one thing: Resources. The Timber Camp cuts wood, the Clay Pit collects clay and the Iron Mine produces iron. The more you expand those buildings, the more they produce. When you first join a world it is recommended to build up your resource production by a few levels.

After you have secured a good base production of resources you can start building up your troops. In the barracks you should start to recruit Spear Fighters. Spear Fighters offer some protection against possible aggressors who might want to plunder your resources. They are usually not good for offensive manoevers, but they are useful for raiding very small, undefended villages in order to plunder their resources.

In addition to recruiting troops, there are also other ways to help protect your village and defend your resources in the early stages of the game. One way is to research technologies like the Attic, Cellar or Bunker in the Warehouse to protect your resources from being plundered. Another good deterrent is to build a Wall (Level 4 Headquarters required). The higher your wall level, the stronger your village's basic defense will be. This means your enemies will suffer higher losses when they attack villages where you have raised a high wall.

If you have excess resources, you might want to consider building a market (Level 8 Headquarters needed). In the marketplace, you can see what resources your neighbours offer and trade them for resources you don't need at the moment. You can also place your own offers.

You should also take a look around your area to find a good tribe to join. It is always easier to fight and defend in a group. And it is a good way to meet some nice people!

Late start?

Should you join a world that has already been running for a while it is recommended to change your strategy a bit. It is of course still important to get a good basic resource production so that it is possible to build up your village quickly. But you have also have to make sure to protect your village early on. For that purpose it is best to raise a strong Wall, research the Warehouse technologies and recruit a few defensive units. Getting in contact with your potential attackers can often help as well. It is always recommended to use the units you produced to plunder other villages. Plundered resources are very useful for your growth.

Now we'll show you the biggest difference to the usual start:

Don't make the mistake of concentrating too much on produce your first Nobleman. It might sound logical to try to get a second village as fast as possible, but it does not help you if you cannot defend your villages. If you only focus on a noblemen you are an easy target, and also a high-priority target, as bigger players would love to have a village that is already on the way to produce noblemen. By the time attacks start coming in, it's usually too late.

One method of preparing for this is to use a defensive strategy. This means creating lots of Swordsmen and Spear Fighters. If you recruit enough troops then you are a relatively "expensive" target and your attacker will likely try to find an easier target. Morale also helps you if you are attacked by bigger players. A very big player loses up to 70% of his attack strength due to morale.

The security phase can take some time, but it will usually pay off, as you can always use those defensive troops in the later game. Once you have a good amount of defensive troops - something like 1200 Spears and 1200 Swords - you can start thinking about a Nobleman.

You will probably be able to tell how valuable that tactic was by looking at your neighbors' villages ...

Construct buildings

There are two ways to construct a building. The first one is to open the village Headquarters and then click on "Upgrade to level X" of the building you want.

If you are more experienced and know what building you want to upgrade, you can simply click the "Upgrade" bubble in the ring menu of a building without opening the Headquarter.

You need the specified amount of Wood, Clay and Iron, as well as some free population. The exact amount depends on the kind of building and its level. The higher you want to upgrade the building, the more resources are needed for the next level.

Hint: You can identify unlocked, but not yet constructed buildings, by a construction site in your village. In addition to this, a "+" symbol will be visible. You can already click on those sites to open the ring menu.

Recruit units

You can recruit your first units in the Barracks. To construct Barracks, you need to upgrade your Headquarters to level 2. First you will only be able to have Spearmen, for other units you need to upgrade the Barracks first. In the Unit overview you find a short description about the requirements for a certain unit and what it's characteristics are.

Attacking other villages

It is important, especially in the beginning, to constantly generate resources. An efficient way to do that is by plundering barbarian villages in your neighbourhood.

To attack a village, switch to the map, click on an enemy village and chose the "Send army" button. You will see this window:

In the top you can see the start and the target village of your army. Below that are some important values you should always have a look at before sending the troops.

Number	Icon	Name	Description
1		Travel time	This shows how long the army approximately needs to reach the target village.
2		Arrival time	This is a rough estimation at what time the army will arrive at the target village.
3		Combat strength	The strength with which your units will fight in the target village. This value is influenced by the morale, the Grandmaster General and whether or not the target village lies in a province where your units have faith.
4		Carrying capacity	The amount of resources your units can plunder in the target village. The more units you send, the more you can raid from your victim.
5		Discipline	This value shows the time deviation for the arrival at the target village. See discipline for more details.
6		Support	If you want to support a friend, order your units to walk and stay at his or her village. You can always call them home if you need them yourself.
7		Attack	Your army will march to the target village, start a battle and, if victorious, plunder resources and walk back home.
8		Save as preset	You can save the number of units you have selected as a template and use it for future attack or support operations.

Only your own units that are currently available in your village are shown here.

Click here for an explanation of the Generals.

Hint: You can create as many Presets as you want. For example, small farm armies with 100 Spearmen or a huge, offensive force with thousands of different units. A Preset can also be used to easily recruit an number of set units in a village. You can also assign units to a Preset that are still locked for your village if you create the Preset within the Rally Point. It is very convenient to create a Preset of your desired army in your village and use the Preset for recruiting.

Why join a tribe?

Tribal Wars 2 can be played as a single player game, but the original idea of Tribal Wars is to band together and play in teams. Not only will you have economical and military support, to protect you from more advanced players, but you can also learn tactics and game mechanics from your fellow tribe members. Tribes are a fundamental part of the game that will greatly enhance your gameing experience and increase your success on the leader-boards. Joining a tribe is highly advised.

Read more about tribes on this page.