As a complete newcomer to RoE, I was not prepared for Rise of Empires: Ice and Fire to turn into Reign of Chaos War. Thankfully, under the guidance of a superb R5, and as a part of a team dedicated to teaching each other, I made it through my first season practically unscathed—and was even excited for the next season to arrive. Looking forward to Season Two of RoC, I figured it would be good to jot down some notes to remind myself how Reign of Chaos war works.
Reign of Chaos Weekly Format
Reign of Chaos wars occur three times a week* starting at the beginning of Clash of Provinces Day One: Gathering Day. Based on my previous season’s experience, wars took place at the start (at reset) of build day, at the start of hero development day, and at the beginning of Clash of Provinces Day Seven, the free development day.
*at time of publication
Depending on what time your R5 has chosen to battle, war begins either at reset, reset plus eight hours, or reset plus sixteen hours. It is a good idea to gather your team and begin mobilizing first at twelve, eight, and then at one hour prior to your war time.
At your set war time, the declaration phase begins. At this time R4s and R5s will be able to declare on enemy states within five power ranks of their alliance (above and below in the RoC rankings).
Be quick! Often another team will have a plan and will have chosen you a as a juicy target! Just remember, when in doubt, clicking ‘find opponent’ during the declaration phase will automatically match you with an opponent below your rank, but this method does cost stone (called bunch of rocks in your alliance store).
After your team has declared on an opponent (or once you are ‘at war’—opponents may declare on you), there is a 30-minute war prep phase. Use this time wisely, and refer to the sections below for more details on what to do during War Prep.
Remember, war points cannot be gained during the war prep phase.
Finally, once the 30-minute timer is up, war begins! You have two hours to war, barring any immediate death or added timer scenarios (in some cases, you get extra time on the war clock—usually about 30 more minutes).
Once the war timer is up, whoever has the most points wins that RoC war. Both teams are under a ‘truce timer’ for 24 hours, and during this time all players can review all war stats, including when and where rally points where placed, and how many alliance members participated in the RoC event.
Reign of Chaos Team Building
I can’t speak to every team-based Reign of Chaos strategy used by Rise of Empires players, but I can speak a little bit about the way our alliance has built teams around the different strengths and play-preferences of our members. If you want to dive a little further into this subject, BWG has this article up that talks a bit about building teams for Reign of Chaos War, but here’s what I learned generally from our format:
It can be good to have about four to five different teams in your alliance during the Reign of Chaos war season. We used the basic format of defenders, attackers, path-makers, and tile clean-up, and even tested a few other small precision teams where possible.
Basically, attackers go to enemy states to attack, defenders defend Alliance Centers at home, path-makers build bridges from hidden tiles or rally points in enemy states, and tile cleaners tackle purple tiles at home anytime war is not happening.
Build your teams wisely, or participate in the teams that others have built for your team. Try your best to help all members know what they are responsible for each war.
TIP: In our alliance, our R5 and R4s use the alliance rankings to determine how many members will be on for next war, while one of the guests on BWG’s recent S1 vs. S2 comparison episode mentioned that they use discord polls to see who will be in attendance.
Now, regardless of how you’ve built your teams, and how your team’s strategy naturally evolves over several wars and between seasons, there are at least a few basics I like to keep in mind during a heavy season of battle. Let’s look at the different ways Reign of Chaos teams can use their time prior to war, during war, and between wars.
What to Do Eight to Twelve Hours Pre-War
What are the most important resources for Reign of Chaos war? Our team leader continues to remind us that one of the top contenders is STAMINA. Stamina can be limited, so you want to ensure you have 100% stamina on each of your legions as you go into war.
Buying stamina is costly, hence the recommended eight to twelve hour ‘stop’ period prior to war when you stop sending out all legions (and set them to gather) so you can regenerate stamina for the evening’s festivities.
Here are just a few other things you can do as a team member, team captain, or alliance leader to prep for RoC War, depending on your team:
Attackers
Check in with team captain(s) prior to war to confirm you will be there. If you will not be there for war, garrison your best legions at your honour structures surrounding Alliance Centre 1 and 2.
Drop at least 20 tiles in enemy states – or have at least 20 free tiles to take in enemy states
Search for giants around target Alliance Centers in enemy states that have timers set to expire during war time, and bookmark them so you can teleport in quickly and attack buildings from a closer distance
Confirm proposed war targets with other teams, and check your own tiles to see if you have existing tiles in enemy state: share these with the other teams
Defenders
Check in with team captain prior to war to confirm you will be there. If you will not be there for war, garrison your best legions at your honour structures surrounding Alliance Centre 1 and 2
Search for ‘holes’ in your tile defense pattern surrounding AC1, and patch them up with your worst legions.
Search for giants around AC1 with timers that will expire during war time, and bookmark them so you can fill holes quickly during war.
Drop at least 10 tiles in your home state – or have at least 10 free tiles to retake tiles at home
Check your own tiles to see if you have existing tiles in enemy state: share these coordinates with the other teams, specifically pathers and attackers
Pathers
Check in with team captain prior to war to confirm you will be there. If you will not be there for war, garrison your best legions at your honour structures surrounding Alliance Centre 1 and 2.
Drop at least 40 tiles in enemy states – or have at least 40 free tiles to take in enemy states
Check your own tiles to see if you have existing tiles in enemy state: share their coordinates with other teams, especially those close to enemy alliance centres
Tile Cleaners
Check in with defense team about potential tile threats around any of the alliance centers. Notify them of which tiles to watch out for.
Check your own tiles to see if you have existing tiles in enemy state: share their coordinates with the other teams
Search diligently for enemy tiles surrounding Alliance Centers, retake purple tiles, and always save 10 stamina per legion to garrison buildings around AC1 or AC2 before you log off before war time
If you can only make war for a few minutes, consider reaching out to the path-making team to see how you may best help their strategy
FINAL TIP: One hour prior to war, check in to Alliance Chat if you have tiles placed inside of the protective ring of structures surrounding any of the alliance centers. Ask whether these need to be dropped, or whether they should remain for defense. Keep watch for the answer. Remember, tiles take 30 minutes to drop. Bookmark them for easy dropping during war time if needed.
What to Do During Reign of Chaos War Prep Phase
Once war has been declared, there is a 30-minute prep phase. During this time, there are a few things that each team can focus on to gain an advantage during Reign of Chaos war:
Attackers
Begin looking for potential rally point locations around enemy alliance centers. Once found, attack captain places a bookmark for quick reference.
Attack captains review attack strategy with team members.
Attacking Captains ping possible castle locations in alliance chat for attacking members—attacking members should know which pings they must listen to, and should port when ready.
(optional) attack captain places enemy rally point to begin pathing to target alliance center.
Defenders
Defence captain assigns three to five of the strongest defenders to be the only members allowed to garrison alliance centers for war.
Begin looking for potential locations around AC1 where enemies may place their own rally point (3x3 squares) — defense captain then places a bookmark where the most likely rally point will be placed
Defense captains assign one or two team members to search for enemy paths per alliance center
Defense captains review defense strategy with team members
Defense Captains ping possible castle locations/ rally points in alliance chat for defending members—defending members should know which pings they must listen to
Continue to watch for rally points placed, and hold until captain give the go-ahead to begin defending with tile-blocking strategies
Watch for enemy castles building a path toward alliance centers, and notify team/ team leaders when a red-tiled path has been located
Pathers
Path team lead or war lead (R5) places rally point as close as possible to target enemy alliance centre, AND/OR from the closest ‘sneaky’ or hidden tile in enemy state to the enemy alliance center.
Pathers start taking tiles in a straight line toward target alliance center, either one at a time or in a quick one-after-the-other formation, using ports to remain as close to the tiles needed as possible. Different path teams can deploy to different enemy alliance centers at the same time
Watch for enemy castles blocking the path, and notify team/ team leaders when your path has been blocked in case idle reinforcements can come offer support
If pathers reach honour structures quickly, do not take buildings until the official war timer begins. Surround the honour structures with tiles and begin mobilizing an attack strategy with the attack team for that alliance center
What to Do During Reign of Chaos During War
The main goal of each Reign of Chaos season is clear: to be the team who comes out with more points. The more war victories, the more points, and the more rewards all members get at the end of the season.
To get the most points during a Reign of Chaos war though (i.e. the two or so hours where your war clock is running), teams must defeat honour structures, take red tiles from enemies, and bring down enemy alliance centers. The best teams will, as I mentioned, also be working between wars to make sure no one reclaims their advantage:
With all that in mind, here’s what I gathered from some of the wars we completed together as a team in my alliance:
Attackers
ATTACK GOAL: Get to enemy honour structures and alliance centers to gain Reign of Chaos points!
Attacking captain/ R5 places rally point(s) in enemy state based on the evening’s attack strategy.
EXAMPLE: If your team is going for enemy alliance center three and doesn’t already have tiles in the enemy state, then attack lead would instruct attackers to look for the closest available spot to place a rally point to that alliance center
Captains continue to monitor and lead attack strategy
Captains check in with R5/ war-head for further instructions when in a bind, or when in need of help
Consistently search for openings around enemy alliance centers to port in quickly!
Keep note of high-level enemy defenders in case attack leads want to use reign of chaos dragons—do you have tiles close that they could use to path to that castle?
Work with pathing team to know when to switch tactics and move attacks to another alliance center
Keep an ear open to defenders who may need help protecting against enemies, and be ready to port back immediately on call
Do regular stamina checks to make sure attackers are being sustainable and conserving for honour structure attacks (attackers should check in at 50% stamina).
Defenders
DEFENCE GOAL: Prevent RoC enemies from getting to your alliance’s honour structures: do not let the team get points on the scoreboard!
Do ‘alliance center checks’ to make sure no enemies are secretly pathing or building a bridge to a vulnerable Alliance Center
When enemy paths are found, look for closest allied tile to begin building a good tile blocking strategy
When an enemy legion begins to march on a tile close to you, and you are sure you can make it before they arrive, take the tile so they waste stamina
TIP: Try defending by utilizing the five-minute tile cooldown timer so enemies cannot go a certain way!
Do regular stamina checks to make sure that defenders can outlast enemies until war is over.
Keep an ear open to attackers who, if defense is quiet, may call on idle defenders to attack in the enemy state.
When enemies are close, garrison buildings with high-level troops. Defenders should ensure that the highest power players are garrisoned first. This is equally true for alliance centers.
TIP: Until enemy is close, use farms or alt accounts to help block enemy pathers out in the open field—keep your main castle’s stamina as full as possible until you really need it. If attackers are idle and have a ton of gems or teleports to use, call on them to help block enemy paths in your home state.
At the end of war place a marker where tile cleaners need to clean enemy purple tiles from the day’s war.
Pathers
If pathers are being used to help facilitate ATTACK TEAM, then help build a path to the target alliance center from the rally point or secret tile placed in enemy state.
If pathers are being used to facilitate a DECOY ATTACK on another AC, then help build a path to that alliance center from a secret tile placed in the enemy state.
Keep checking the distance of your path to the target alliance center so you can quickly report your distance.
Continue to check that your path is going in the direction of the target alliance center and not a non-enemy alliance center or farm alliance decoy.
Port close to the head of your path to keep your march times under a minute
Do regular stamina checks to make sure that your troops can outlast enemies until war is over.
Keep an ear open to attackers who, if defense is quiet, may call on idle pathers to attack at an open alliance center.
When 20-30kms from enemy alliance center, report status to attack lead for further instructions. If on your own, simply continue to path, and do not hit enemy buildings unless instructed. Path close or beside honour structures, spread tiles, garrison them, and wait for your command—you will become an attacker soon enough if you’ve saved some stamina for it.
Because enemy attackers are distracted, this is also good time to use main and alt castles to proliferate or spread tiles in the enemy state to prepare for next war if you are idle. You never know who you will be up against, and every advantage helps.
Tile Cleaners
Tile Cleaners are not, or should not, be online during reign of chaos war. If you ARE online during reign of chaos war, do your best to check in and help. Do not wait until war is over. Even five minutes can make a big difference. If you are worried about bothering the main attack strategy, the best thing you can do is begin taking back enemy red tiles, or port to the state your alliance is at war with and begin spreading as many tiles as possible there.
To recap a little: when tile cleaners log in after war is over, they should look to the bookmarks placed by defense and tile cleaning captains to know where enemy tile threats are the greatest.
When in doubt, begin your search for purples around alliance center one, then two, and so on. Tile cleaners should attempt to expend their stamina retaking enemy purples from at least 250kms around alliance centers’ one, two, three, and four, and then garrison their legions in their honour structures around alliance centers’ one and two as soon as war is imminent.
What to Do Between Reign of Chaos Wars
Rest, recover, recuperate! Reign of Chaos war can be intense, so I always liked to fall back into my groove of getting those clash of provinces gold chests.
Still, there’s a bunch of stuff that I’ve learned we can do as players to help our alliance win the next RoC War. We can take more tiles to increase our honour points and gain more specialization points, for instance – those wight kings offer 10K honour points every day! – while pathers or cleaners may want to work on getting to 500 demo in more than one legion, or just increasing the research that most benefits the troops they want to war with best.
TIP: Whatever your war role, always make sure you have a full set of Dragon Bolts and Shouts at your disposal whenever possible. Upgrade those dragon shout buildings and crush your enemies, who may be unprepared!
All players should also consider revisiting the tiles they’ve placed to help defend around alliance centers at various distances to make sure they haven’t accidentally been taken or dropped. Retake any needed vantages for the next war! You can heal your troops and accumulate gems and teleports for the next war, or make sure to patch up any holes in and around your alliance centre, but whatever your choice, always make sure you’re actually having fun while you’re in game!
Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to your battle partners and congratulate them on a great war, to go smash some non-NAP castles, to participate in a Kill Event, or just rapid production all your farms down to 24% for no reason at all—who cares! Just remember to let off some steam and then head back into RoC war time with a clear head and tons of strategic focus.
Oh! And check your dang all-mail.
As always, I hope this has been helpful. I’m open to making addendums to this article in the future.
Looking forward to another season to come.
Good luck, and all my best,
krysos kinmaster (KY)