New Players

Some Basic Starter Tips:

Getting started in **Evony: The King's Return** can be overwhelming, but focusing on a few core strategies will set you up for long-term success. The most important areas to focus on as a beginner are joining a strong alliance, prioritizing your keep and research, and strategically managing your resources and generals.

Security and Alliances:

**Join a strong, active alliance immediately.** An alliance offers protection, resources, and access to monster rallies, which are a key source of rewards.
**Keep a truce agreement ("bubble") up at all times.** Your beginner's shield will eventually expire, and other players can and will attack you if you are not bubbled. Keeping a bubble up is the most reliable form of protection.
**Do not attack other players.** Scouting or attacking another player breaks your bubble, making you vulnerable to attack.
**Protect your resources.** Never open resource boxes from your inventory unless you are about to use them for an upgrade. Unboxed resources can be stolen by attacking players.

City Development:

**Prioritize upgrading your Keep.** Upgrading the Keep unlocks new buildings, features, and higher-level upgrades for other structures.
**Focus on Academy research.** Your Academy is crucial for growth. Researching construction and typography speed will accelerate all future building and research projects.
**Build an efficient resource layout.** Focus on building a large number of sawmills and keeping just a few farms. Farms generate food, which your troops consume for upkeep. Since there is no penalty for "starving" troops, you can rely on gathering or alliance-shared resources for food.
**Always be gathering.** You can send multiple marches to gather resources on the world map. This is much faster than relying solely on your city's resource fields.

Generals and Combat:

**Do not invest in purple or lower-tier generals.** While you may get some non-Epic Historic generals early on, you will get much better gold generals from the Tavern and event rewards. Save your resources for these higher-quality generals, which have higher base stats and a fourth specialty.
**Join monster rallies.** As an alliance member, join as many monster rallies as you can. They are a valuable source of resources, speed-ups, and other materials.
**Use the correct troops for monster hunting.** For solo attacks against boss monsters, send only your highest-tier mounted troops to maximize your damage and minimize casualties.
**Use double-drop generals.** Generals like Cleopatra or Baibars have a special skill that increases the amount of loot you receive from defeating monsters. Use them for your rally joins to maximize your rewards.

Events and Resources:

**Stockpile resources for events.** Instead of spending resources immediately, save them for consumption events. During these events, you can spend your stockpile to earn bonus rewards.
**Don't waste speed-ups.** Use speed-ups wisely. For upgrades that finish in less than 5 minutes, you can use the "Help" feature from your alliance to finish them for free.
**Don't open resource boxes too early.** Store resource boxes in your inventory to keep them safe from attackers. Your troops will not die if you run out of food.

Key Evony Events

The **Monarch Competition** is a weekly, five-stage event where players earn points by completing specific tasks. The first four stages run for 24 hours each in a random order, while the final stage is a multi-day event.

The Stages of the Monarch Competition:

The first four stages occur in a random order each week:

**City Development:** Earn points by increasing your power through building upgrades and academy research.
**Power Increase:** Earn points for any activity that increases your overall power, such as training troops, building, researching, or increasing general power.
**Troop Training:** Earn points based on the number and tier of troops you train in your barracks.
**Resource Gathering:** Earn points for gathering resources (food, lumber, stone, ore, and gems) from tiles on the world map.
**Monster Killing:** Earn points by defeating world monsters and boss monsters.

The Final Stage: Kill Event (KE)

The final stage is always the **Kill Enemies Event (KE)**, which lasts for 48 to 72 hours (depending on whether it's a regular week or Server vs. Server week). In this high-stakes stage, you earn points by attacking and defeating enemy troops belonging to other players.

Server Monarch Competition

During a **Server vs. Server (SvS)** week, the Monarch Competition has a sixth stage, and the KE stage is worth double points, making it the most critical part of the competition for a server's victory.

**King of the Fortress (KoF):** This is a high-risk, high-reward PvP event. As a new player, your primary strategy should be defense and patience.

**Always be Bubbled:** Keep a Truce Agreement active to protect your city.
**Hide Troops:** Send your troops out on long marches to gather or to a subordinate city to keep them safe from being killed.
**Do not Attack:** Do not break your own bubble unless instructed by your alliance leader.

Evony Historic Generals

**Monster Hunter Generals By Rank.** There are 5 Ranks in this Tier list – **S, A, B, C and F**. Generals in Rank S are the best, and Generals in Rank F are the worst.

This list assumes that you plan to optimize Skill Books for a mounted march and that you will maximize the mounted specialties. Only Gold Historic Generals are included.

Rank S

Marco Polo, Haakon Haraldsson, Hermes, George Monck, Washington (Prime), Artemis, Napoleon (Prime), Cheng Yaojin, Hestia, Beowulf, Poligenus, Jayavarman II, Andre Massena, Zhao Yun, George A Custer, Martinus, Mordred, Sun Ce, Gaius Octavius, Maria Theresa, Hannibal, Roland

Rank A

Lysander, Laudon, Barbarossa, Bertrand du Guesclin, El Cid, Li Jing, Maximilian I, Cyrus the Great, Lucilla, Ulysses S Grant, Prince Eugene, Yue Fei, Robert Guiscard, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Basil II, Caesar, Takeda Shingen, Prince Rhaegar, Carus, King Arthur, Sweyn Forkbeard, Aethelflaed

Rank B

Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Elektra, Washington, Theodora, Jadwiga, Guan Yu, Khalid, Ii Naomasa, Seleucus I, Yi Sun-sin, Constantine the Great, Robert the Bruce, Honda Tadakatsu, John Buford, Genghis Khan, Nathanael Greene, John Adams, Isabella I, Suchet, Frigg, Gnarr, Vlad al III, Totila, Qin Qiong, Alessandra, Ludwig, Freyja, Baldwin IV, Narses, Pyrrhus, Melisande, Maeda Toshiie, Sanada Yukimura, Hera, Zhang Fei, Sargon I, Pallas, Douglas, Winfield Scott, Elizabeth I, Raged King, Theodosius I, Oda Oichi, Algernon Sidney, Queen Boudica, Li Shimin, Scipio Africanus, Ragnar, Kleos, Xiang Yu, Lu Xun, Elise, Zhang Liang, Princess Kaguya, Lautaro, Charles V, Charles XII, Eleanor, Jiang Ziya, Franz Joseph I, Epaminondas, Miltiades, Turenne, Simeon the Great, Trajan

Rank C

Soult, Baibars, Idunn, Sappho, Stilicho, Oleg of Novgorod, Godfrey of Bouillon, Liu Bei, Narcissus, John Churchill, Louis IX, Henry V, Septimius Severus, Subutai, Niwa Nagahide, Champlain, Raimondo, Nordic Barbarian King, Casimir Pulaski, Wallenstein, Thutmose III, Blanche, Queen Anne, Philip II, Surena, Themistocles, Gilgamesh, Zucca, Christina, Zachary Taylor, Zizka, David Farragut, Hojo Ujiyasu, Takenaka Shigeharu, Yeon Gaesomun, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Matthias I, Yodo-dono, Cnut the Great, Sherman, Stephen II, Theobald I, Merlin, Alfred the Great, Arthur Wellesley, Skanderbeg, Gunther, Mihai, Petronas, Sigurd, George Dewey, Guinevere, Aurelian, Pericles, Edward Teach, Gwanggaeto the Great, Toyotomi Hideyori, Marcus Agrippa, James Conrad, Mikhail Kutuzov, Trivia Hecate, Heraclius, Brian Boru, Tachibana Ginchiyo, Sei Shonagon, Tomyris, Clovis I, Edward III, Isaac Brock, Pachacuti, Hernando Cortes, Mu Guiying, Maarten Tromp, Sulla, Ono no Imoko, Spartacus, Mehmed II, William Marshal, John Hunyadi, Maurice of Nassau, Zhu Di, Alexander Nevsky, Maurice de Saxe, Darius I, Peter the Great, Leo III, Mason Weaver, Stephen the Great, Justinian I, Harald, Ramesses II, Michael VIII, Vladimir the Great, Charles the Great, Harald III, Mark Antony, Gustavus Adolphus, Himiko, William Wallace, Hammurabi, Otto the Great, Kusunoki Masashige, Leonidas I, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Emperor Qin Shihuang, James Bowie, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Amir Timur, Arminius, Eulji Mundeok, Saladin, Amr ibn al-As, Mansa Musa, Edward the Black Prince, Suleiman the Magnificent, Gwon Ryul, Tran Hung Dao, Ashoka, Ly Thuong Kiet, Flavius Aetius, Dmitry, Zhuge Liang, Menshikov, Attila, Abd al-Rahman I, John I of Portugal, Hamilcar Barca, Ban Chao, Oda Nobunaga, Nero, Margaret I, Charles Martel, Undead General, Cimon, Andrew Jackson, Shajar al-Durr, Askia Muhammad I, Queen Jindeok, Miyamoto Musashi, Jester, Shimazu Yoshihiro, Richard the Lionheart, Pompey, Antara, Alexander Suvorov, Empress Dowager Cixi, Kim Si-min, Ivan IV, Joan of Arc, Jumong

Rank F

Hua Mulan, Uesugi Kenshin, Gaius Marius, Constance I, Frederick the Great, King Sejong, Yi Song-gye, Philip Sheridan, Harun al-Rashid, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Princess Lucy, Catherine II, Queen Victoria, Jefferson, Lincoln, Empress Wu, Cleopatra, Lu Ban

Monster Looping Strategy

The generals in this list look to maximize the **Double Item Drop Rate**. There are only a few generals that possess this skill. At the top of the list are the generals with the highest Double Item Drop Rate once all specialties have been maximized. At the bottom are the generals with the lowest Double Item Drop Rate once all specialties have been maximized. This includes Purple and Gold Historic Generals.

Level 4 Skill Books should also be applied where possible. Read our Evony Skill Book Guide for more details on adding Skill Books to Generals.

Best Monster Looter Generals - Double Item Drop Rate

**Skill** = Double Item Drop Rate from base General Skill
**Special** = Double Item Drop Rate from maximized General Skill Specializations
**Book** = Double Item Drop Rate from Luck Skill Book
**Total** = Total Double Item Drop Rate from Skill, Specialization, and Book. This can be increased further with equipment.

General	Skill	Special	Book	Total
Theodora	10%	15%	18%	43%
Baibars	25%	16%	N/A	41%
Aethelflaed	N/A	15%	18%	33%
Caesar	N/A	15%	18%	33%
Cleopatra	20%	N/A	N/A	20%
Nathanael Greene	N/A	N/A	18%	18%
Seleucus I	N/A	N/A	18%	18%
Maria Theresa	N/A	N/A	18%	18%

**Additional Notes:**

**Theodora** currently only appears to be available in new servers as a first purchase reward.
**Nathanael Greene** is included, as although Double Item Drop Rate is low, his base skill reduces stamina cost by 25%. This is very useful when joining many rallies.
**Seleucus I** is included, as although Double Item Drop Rate is low, his base skill allows him to march very quickly. This is useful when joining many rallies.
**Maria Theresa** is included, as although Double Item Drop Rate is low, his base skill reduces stamina cost by 20%. This is very useful when joining many rallies.

Does the Double Drop Rate skill from the Assistant General stack with the main general? That's an excellent question that deals with the often-confusing mechanics of the Assistant General system!

The short answer, based on player testing and community consensus, is:

❌ No, the "Double Item Drop Rate" skill from an Assistant General generally does NOT work.

The general rule for Assistant Generals is that their Special Skill (the main one that is unlocked when they are recruited) will NOT stack with the Main General's Special Skill or skill books.

How Double Drop Rate Works

Source	Works as Main General?	Works as Assistant General?	Notes
Main General's Special Skill (e.g., Baibars' 25%)	YES	NO	This is the primary buff and is only active when the general is leading the march.
General's Specialty (e.g., Aethelflaed's Fortune +15%)	YES	YES	The consensus is that the buff from a general's unlocked Specialties (like Aethelflaed's Fortune or Theodora's specialty) does apply even when they are the Assistant General.
Skill Book: Luck (+18%)	YES	NO	Skill Books on the Assistant General that match the Main General's primary skill/buff (like Double Drop) usually do not take effect.
Dragon Ring (+28%)	YES	YES	The effect of the Dragon Ring (often Rurik's ring) on the assistant general is generally confirmed to apply.
VIP Level / Event Buffs	YES	YES	These are account-wide buffs that apply regardless of the general pairing.

The Stacking Strategy

To maximize your Double Drop Rate, the best practice is to focus on making the Main General the primary source of the Double Drop Rate buff, and then use the Assistant General for things that are confirmed to stack and are very valuable:

**Main General:** Use a general whose Special Skill has a high Double Drop Rate (like Baibars) or a high Attack Against Monster skill, and equip the Luck Skill Book and Dragon Ring on them.
**Assistant General:** Use a general who provides:
- **Monster Debuffs:** Generals like Aethelflaed provide a crucial Monster Attack debuff from their specialties, which does work from the assistant spot and saves you wounded troops.
- **Stamina Reduction:** Generals like Nathanael Greene reduce Stamina cost, which is highly beneficial.
- **Specialty Buffs:** Generals with the Fortune specialty (like Aethelflaed) are used as assistants because their specialty buff is believed to stack, while their main skill is ignored.

Therefore, you do not stack the Special Skills for Double Drop, but you can stack the Specialty drop rate buffs.

Add information about **Player-vs-Player (PvP) Generals** here, including those specialized for marching, defense, and subordinate cities.

Best Keep Duty Generals

Duty Generals provide crucial, passive buffs to your Keep and military buildings, so choosing the right ones can greatly impact your growth and defense. The "Best" Duty Generals are often split into two categories: Peace-Time (Construction/Research) and Battle-Time (Defense Buffs).

Peace-Time (Construction)

These generals are essential for rapidly increasing your Keep, walls, and other building levels.

General	Special Skill (Primary Buff)	Acquisition/Notes
Zhuge Liang	Construction Speed +20 % (when Keep Officer)	Premium. He is the peace-time gold standard, but he is difficult to acquire and ascend.
Menshikov	Construction Speed +20 % (when Keep Officer)	Tavern/Easy. Provides the same powerful +20 % construction buff as Zhuge Liang and is much easier to obtain and ascend from the Tavern. Highly recommended for all players.

Battle-Time (Defense)

These generals should be swapped in right before you expect an enemy attack (during Server War, All-Stars, etc.) to boost your in-city troops.

General	Special Skill (Primary Buff)	Acquisition/Notes
Ashoka	Ranged Troops Attack +20 % (and reduces enemy Ground HP 15 % )	Premium/Best Option. If you can get him, he is the best for PvP because he both buffs your primary defense troops (Ranged) and debuffs a key enemy troop type (Ground).
Heraclius	Construction Speed and Troop Attack/Defense +15% (and reduces enemy Ranged/Siege Attack 20 % )	Premium/Great All-Rounder. Offers a balance of a small construction buff and good defense/debuffs.

Other Essential Military Duty Generals

While the Keep is crucial, these other duty spots provide valuable boosts to your defense and troop stats.

Building	General	Primary Duty Buff	Role
Rally Spot	Toyotomi Hideyoshi	March Size +5 % (and Troop Attack/HP +5 % when attacking)	Crucial. An absolute must-have for all players to increase rally capacity.
Academy	Eulji Mundeok	Research Speed +20 %	Crucial. The best general for speeding up your research, a must-have for growth.
Hospital	Skanderbeg	Hospital Capacity +25 %	Crucial. Increases the number of troops you can save from death.
Archer Tower	Ban Chao	In-City Ranged Attack +20 % (and reduces enemy Mounted Attack 20 % )	Excellent Defense. Gives a vital buff to your main defense troop type and debuffs the Mounted counter. (Maurice of Nassau is a premium alternative).
Trap Factory	Askia Muhammad I	In-City Siege Attack +25 % (and reduces repair cost)	Good Defense. Boosts in-city siege/trap effectiveness. (Otto the Great is a premium alternative).

Key Duty General Rule

Only the **Special Skill** and the 3rd and 4th specialties (the ones with a yellow/red border) that specifically mention the "X Officer" position will apply when a general is on duty.
You do not need to give Duty Generals gear, skill books, or a spiritual beast for the special skill or relevant specialties to work.
The exception is if you are trying to reach a higher officer tier (like "Super Officer"), which requires high base attributes and Power, and you may need to temporarily use gear to meet the requirement.

General Acquisition Methods

The acquisition method often dictates how easily you can obtain and, more importantly, ascend a general. The generals listed fall into two main categories: Tavern/Easily Available and Premium/Event Only.

Tavern / Easily Available Generals

These are the best generals for Free-to-Play (F2P) and low-spending players because you can consistently acquire them with Gold and Gems by refreshing the Tavern. Their fragments may also appear in Relic Chambers.

General	Duty Position	Primary Acquisition Method	Notes on Acquisition
Menshikov	Keep (Construction)	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	The most recommended general for new and F2P players due to his powerful +20% construction buff and easy availability for ascension.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi	Rally Spot	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	Essential for the March Size buff. Relatively common in the Tavern.
Eulji Mundeok	Academy	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	The best general for speeding up your research, a must-have for growth.
Skanderbeg	Hospital	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	Essential for Hospital Capacity. Relatively common in the Tavern.
Ban Chao	Archer Tower	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	The best F2P option for the Archer Tower, providing Ranged Attack buffs and Mounted debuffs.
Askia Muhammad I	Trap Factory	Tavern (Gold/Gems)	The primary F2P option for the Trap Factory, offering a siege attack buff and repair cost reduction.

**Tavern General Strategy:**

Refresh the Tavern frequently with Gems until the general you need appears.
Recruit with Gold. Once they appear, the gold cost to recruit them is relatively low.
Prioritize Ascension. Since you can get multiple copies, these are the best generals to ascend, as the ascension buffs greatly improve their duty special skill.

Premium / Event Only Generals

These generals offer powerful, often superior, buffs but are significantly harder to acquire, usually requiring money (coining) or extensive event participation.

General	Duty Position	Primary Acquisition Method	Notes on Acquisition
Ashoka	Keep (Battle)	Delphic Oracle Event / Packages	A premium battle duty general. He is generally considered the best PvP Keep Officer, but you must watch for limited-time events or special packages.
Zhuge Liang	Keep (Construction)	Event Packages (Rare)	While he offers the same construction buff as Menshikov, he is extremely hard to get and ascend. Menshikov is the better choice for most players.
Heraclius	Keep (Battle)	Limited Events / Event Packages	A battle-focused general that appears in specific recruitment events.

For the Premium Generals like Ashoka and Zhuge Liang, you must watch for special in-game events like Delphic Oracle, King's Scheme, or special packages where their fragments or the full general are offered as a reward or purchase option.