In case you are new to the game and you don’t want to spend too much money, it’s best to focus on a specific-army-focused pair of Legendary Commanders in Rise of Kingdoms.
Using a specific kind of troops is always better than mixed troops.
Do not spend your time and XP books on many commanders at once. It’s not necessary.
Also, do not level up your commanders before you max out their first skills.
Infantry Commanders
Richard
You can only find Richard in the gem wheel so you need to save your Gems, at least 10k Gems, in order to get him.
The wheel will appear once your kingdom is 7-8 weeks old.
He is definitely an excellent infantry commander in the game right now. Everyone hates him.
Max his first skill first before leveling him up.
Charles Martel
You can receive Charles Martel from Golden Keys and event The Mightiest Governor Season 5.
You can easily see how crazy Charles Martel is right from the beginning. He can deal huge normal attack damage to the enemies while being very tanky with his defensive talents.
He is one of the must-have commanders for all infantry armies. Ensure you max his first and second skills before getting him to 3 stars.
He is very good at dealing with cavalry units during the early game. Invest all of your sculptures on him If you are the core members of your Clan.
When you don’t have Richard yet, you can couple Charles Martel with either Sun Tzu, Joan of Arc, Scipio, Mundeok, etc.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu is an Epic commander. You can get him for free by selecting China as your starting civilization at the start of the game.
Since he is an Epic commander, maxing him out is not hard at all.
You can use any other commander to support him, however, Osman is probably the best one you can use at the beginning due to how fast he can nuke the skills. They can do a serious amount of damage in just seconds. However, they are not good at tanking damage.
Infantry Commanders
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto is only available via the game store and you need to buy them with money. However, he is super cheap & coming with tons of valuable items, only $0.99.
If you want to spend a little bit in the game, he is totally worth it. He is dominating during the early game.
Cao Cao
You can get Cao Cao from the Golden Chest and the Daily Offer Chests (guaranteed to receive him for every 3 chests opened).
Cao Cao is great for any phase of the game, from early to late game.
In the early game, Cao Cao + Minamoto is one of the best combos for raiding people farming. You can kill tons of people using this combo. Possibily many of them will delete the game because of getting bullied a lot.
Pelagius + Belisarius
We have mentioned this combo in the Civilizations guide. You will want to check it out!
If you are free to play players, this is definitely the best combo for you.
Archer Commanders
Yi Seong Gye (YSG)
Get him from the Wheel of Fortune.
He is always the top commander for early-mid game. Doing well in the late game. He can deal tons of splash damage and overwhelm the enemies on the battlefield.
If you really want to get him, start saving your Gems from now. His wheel starts right after the Richard’s wheel. Best to get him immediately the first time you see him.
You can also use Yi Seong Gye to support either Charles or Richard. Nuking tons of damage without getting your enemies noticed.
El Cid
You can get El Cid from The Mightiest Governor Season 9+ or from the Golden Chests.
El Cid is best coupled with YSG. El Cid should only be maxed after you max out YSG.
However, you can also use El Cid with Hermann to silence the enemy rallies and significantly decrease their damage/skills.
Epic Archer Commanders
Don’t use them. They are pretty much useless.
Mixed Troops
Most of the time, mixed troops should only be used for tanking damage on the battlefield or for rallies. They are best at applying buffs/debuffs to allies/enemies.
Never put siege units in your mixed troop dispatches since it reduces the power of your armies by a lot!
Julius Ceasar
You can get him from either Golden Chests or The Mightiest Governors Season 1-4.
If you can spend a little in the game, you can max him out very fast and can help your Alliance a lot by doing rallies.
He is one of the most beloved rally commanders. You can use him from early to late game.
Never touch him If you don’t spend money in Rise of Kingdoms!
Hannibal Barca
Okay… If you are a pay to win player, just get Hannibal Barca.
He is the best at bullying weak cities. Caesar + Hannibal is what you want to use to make people removing the game.
Scipio
Epic commander who has great damage when used with mixed troops. Nice defensive skills with great counter-attack damage.
Best when coupled with Joan of Arc.
Joan + Cleopatra
Best support combo you could have in the early game.
During combat, use them to buff your enemies and… win the battle with ease.
The more Cleopatra you have on the battlefield, the more healing ability your allies have.
They are not good at dealing damage, but they are excellent at supporting.
Aethelflaed
Free Legendary Commander, very easy to use, can be coupled with any commander. Must have.
Conclusion
So above are the best commanders in Rise of Kingdoms you would want to focus on during the early game.
Remember, never use Epic Archer Commanders. Also, do more researches because they are the main source of your power during the early game. Focus on 1 path only.
