Stats: what to upgrade and when
Русская версияWhat this is about. The game has a dozen systems that raise your combat stats: gear, runes, totems, holystones, draconic stones, Glory Level, research, heroes, relics and more. Nobody has the resources for all of them, so everyone runs into the same question: where do I put what I have?
The short answer. For the first months — into one troop type and nothing else. The reason has less to do with how strong your march is than with the free materials you will otherwise never unlock.
1. The two kinds of stat
| Kind | What it is | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| General | Troop ATK / DEF / HP | every troop type at once |
| Specific | ATK, DEF and HP separately for Archers, Cavalry and Infantry — nine different stats | only their own type |
Almost every system gives you one or the other, and sometimes offers a choice. What you pick decides how fast you grow — and the gap is measured in multiples, not percent.
2. Where to see the numbers — yours, an ally's, an enemy's
Before planning anything, learn to read the figures — your own and other people's. The route is the same for both.
Open the player's profile — yours, an ally's or an opponent's — and tap the page-sheet icon in the top right corner. That opens the attribute summary.
That panel shows exactly what this guide is about: an archer developed for years runs Archer ATK +540.6% with defence and HP just above 500%, while other types sit at +3% and troop-wide stats at +27.3%. That is what a single-type focus looks like in numbers.
Being able to read other people's figures is also reconnaissance: before attacking in the Arena or in the field, look at the opponent's attributes rather than judging by the power figure alone.
3. The troop triangle
The triangle grants an edge, it does not decide the fight. Development still decides: a well-developed archer will comfortably beat an underdeveloped infantryman, a cavalryman will beat a weak archer, and so on. It is simply that against the type that holds the edge over yours, you need markedly more development — the advantage is working against you and has to be outweighed.
Hence a practical point for the Arena section below: when you can pick your opponent, pick the one you hold the edge over. Then the advantage works for you, and the same investment wins more fights.
4. The main rule: one troop type until Castle 31
Until your castle reaches level 31, invest in one troop type and one only. Running two or three at once is something only heavy spenders can afford.
Scroll research and the three level-8 items
At castle level 31 you unlock scroll research. It hands out free materials every week for upgrading gear, runes and totems — a steady flow of exactly what you otherwise scrape together by hand.
Scroll research has three separate tabs: gear, runes, totems. Each one opens only if you own a level 8 item — three red stars of that type.
No level 8 item, no tab, and no materials at all from it. Have one only in gear, and gear is all you get — runes and totems stay dry.
| If you develop | Level 8 items needed | Realistic? |
|---|---|---|
| one troop type | 3 | yes, an ordinary goal |
| two types | 6 | very slow |
| three types | 9 | essentially no |
That is the real cost of spreading yourself thin: not "a slightly weaker march", but months of delay on a free weekly supply of materials — without which nothing accelerates, including the second and third troop types you split your resources for.
T10 troops are a different threshold
There is a second milestone nearby, and the two get confused: T10 troops unlock at troop camp level 30, not at castle 31. They are markedly stronger than earlier tiers, which is one more reason not to split before then.
So: T10 — camp 30; scrolls — castle 31.
One more argument: before level 30 you cannot control the line anyway
The order in which your marches deploy is set at the Parade Ground, and that only becomes available at castle level 30. The Parade Ground itself is never upgraded — it is the castle level that matters. Until then you cannot dictate the order of troop types in a fight even if you want to: a mixed force lines up however the game decides.
One more reason not to split across troop types until castle 30 at the earliest, and better 31.
And after that?
Past that point progress becomes slow and expensive anyway — and that is when a second troop type starts to make sense. Not before.
This is a recommendation, not a law. It is your castle and your resources; the call is yours.
5. Why specific stats beat general ones
| System | Specific | General |
|---|---|---|
| Draconic stones | 10% to one type | 5% to all types |
| Holystones | 2% (Unit) | 1% (Troop) |
| Glory Level, step 20 | Wall: 30% Cavalry DEF, the step costs 215 Marks | Citadel: 12.5% to all three Troop stats, the step costs 860 Marks |
One march does the fighting. Combined power across three troop types is a number for your profile, not for the battle. If you have 5% on everything and one type fights, you get 5%, not 15%.
6. Troop-wide buffs: when their turn comes
Everything above concerns your own march, where specific stats beat general ones. There is a second layer worth knowing about in advance.
In research, too, develop one troop type. But from a certain point — especially once you fight not alone but as a combined force of several players — troop-wide buffs start to matter most. These are the general stats raised by troop runes, troop draconic stones and other general sources.
Of course it can. It has nothing to do with troop types — only with troop-wide buffs.
A strong cavalryman with strong troop-wide buffs joins a march of strong archers with strong troop-wide buffs. Verified by many experiments.
Rules of thumb like "no cavalry with archers" come precisely from misunderstanding this.
There is one event where marching as a single type genuinely pays — Oblivion War. The holder of a captured building can switch on a super garrison: for 2,000 diamonds out of their own pocket they pass their buffs to the whole garrison — but only to troops of their own type. Hence both rules there: the strongest player holds the building, and everyone joins with the same type.
Outside such events the mechanic does not exist. On Monster Den rallies and other joint activities there is no point in keeping to one type — only your own buffs apply, troop-wide ones included.
The order still stands: your own type first
To raise troop-wide buffs you first have to become a strong cavalryman, archer or infantryman. While you are nobody in your own type, general percentages have nothing to multiply.
So the order is: develop your own troop type first, and once that becomes hard going — not before castle level 26 — start paying attention to troop-wide buffs.
7. The Arena: a mixed march does not save you
A common belief is that developing two troop types scores better in the Arena — whatever you face, you have an answer. It does not work out that way.
What you choose in the Commander Arena
- the march you attack with;
- the opponent you attack;
- the march you leave on defence, which others will attack.
Since you pick your target, a second troop type is not needed as insurance: you simply do not walk into the type that holds the edge over yours. An archer does not attack infantry — he picks cavalry.
Five slots is where it falls apart
That leaves the defensive march, and stacking it evenly looks sensible. It is not, and the reason is the number of hero slots — there are five.
A mixed defensive march forces a choice between two bad options:
- use all-round heroes, who buff every type — but their buffs are several times weaker than those of specialists;
- or mix specialists across types — in which case five slots are split two or three ways and no type gets a full set.
Either way, instead of five heroes pushing one type to its maximum you get a march where every type is weaker and the march as a whole is weaker. You become easier to beat, not harder.
And a sober note: whoever picked you as a target is fairly sure they can win, and usually they can. It will not cost you much in rewards — but splitting your investment will noticeably weaken the march you attack with.
8. Where stats come from
| System | What it gives | Unlocks at |
|---|---|---|
| Gear | six pieces; each carries three specific stats, together covering all nine | from the start |
| Runes and totems | percentages to attack, defence and HP at once | from the start |
| Holystones | two kinds of stat; the type of stone decides which | Weapon Forge 25 |
| Draconic stones | six elemental ones give specific pairs; two more give all three troop stats at once | Dragon 30, then 40 and 50 |
| Glory Level | Marks of Glory upgrade buildings: Citadel and Vehicle Workshop give all three troop stats, War Hall attack, Lookout defence, Wishing Pool HP; Wall, Warehouse, Institute, Weapon Forge, Posthouse, Embassy and the camps give type-specific stats | building 15 |
| Research | Combat, Defense, Formations and other branches | Institute, various levels |
| Formations | change which type stands at the front of the line; researched in the Institute, while the order in which marches deploy is set at the Parade Ground | Institute 28; Parade Ground setup from castle level 30 |
| Heroes | more than thirty heroes carry troop stats | as you get them |
| Avatar frames | event and arena rewards give up to +20% attack to each type, or +10% to all three troop stats | rewards |
| Relics | forged in the Weapon Forge and equipped on heroes; different relics give different buffs | Weapon Forge |
| Soul weapons | another source of buffs | castle 31 |
| Treasures | obtained from mystery chests after processing them in the Museum | Museum |
Civil heroes — “гражданские” in the Russian client — give their bonus simply for being owned. You do not need them in your march — just obtain the hero and level them up. Free stats that are easy to overlook.
The same Crests are spent on refining gear, runes, totems, draconic stones and Glory. Strengthening one means not strengthening the other four.
They come from events — Alliance Showdown, Tundra Ruins and others — and from the Diamond Shop at 100 diamonds each.
9. A note on terminology
Gear, runes, totems and holystones are not artifacts. Artifacts are a separate class of item with their own mechanics and have nothing to do with this guide.
10. In short
- Stats are general (all types) or specific (one type). Specific ones are roughly twice as large for the same price, and one march does the fighting — which is why they win.
- Infantry beats archers, cavalry beats infantry, archers beat cavalry.
- One troop type until castle 31. Castle 31 unlocks scroll research — free weekly materials, but only on tabs where you own a level 8 item. You need three: gear, rune, totem.
- One type means three level-8 items; three types mean nine. The second is not happening without spending.
- T10 unlocks at camp 30, scrolls at castle 31. Two different thresholds.
- Troop-wide buffs are the second layer, not the first. They decide combined-force fights, but take them on no earlier than castle level 26, once your own type is carried. And there is no rule against cavalry joining archers — it comes down to troop-wide buffs.
- In the Arena you choose your opponent and both of your marches. A mixed defensive march makes you weaker: five slots get split, and all-round heroes buff far less than specialists.
- Development decides the fight; the triangle only grants an edge. Still, pick opponents so the edge is yours: an archer goes for cavalry, not infantry.
- After castle 31 a second troop type becomes reasonable. This is advice, not law — your call.
Get in touch
Found a mistake? Got a question about the mechanics? Want a guide on a topic that is not here yet?
Write to pnc.wiki.101@gmail.com — I will fix it, answer it, or write it.
One request in particular: if something in the game does not match what is written here, send a screenshot from the client. A screenshot settles the question faster than any argument, and in these guides it outranks any outside source.