Beginners guide by Legend 36

Art of Conquest  - Beginners Guide
Here are some answers for often asked questions and common tips to make you better than the competition and to give you a decent start in the game.

What do I spend my linari on?
Don’t buy troops, don’t buy resources, don’t buy runes or draconic dust, and don’t buy skill points. Buy all of the 70% off 30 min speedups you can in the in-game shop to quickly proceed in the game. If you are willing to spend money and get more linari than other players, it is recommended to buy the 50% 2h speedups too.

A good thing to invest linari on are also hero chests, through which you can get all heroes in-game (apart from Jacques, that’s why it is recommended to spend your $10 first hero deal on him) which you need to become stronger, to clear void faster than other players, to increase your supply cap through command increase to get more troops, to increase your 4 hero attributes in general (Might, Magic, Stamina, Command) to boost your hero skills and your troops during live fights through attributes comparison, such as world duels, the Duel Tower, Clash of Fate, etc…

What do I spend my blue speedups on?
Spend your blue speedups on building until you reach Tactics School level 4. From that moment on, it is very important that you spend your rush only in research, since troop and hero research take way more time than construction (which everyone will have finished eventually). This is a common error many new players do, but in fact investing in research pays off way more in the long term.

As for investing in research, after you have unlocked hero research (by completing stage 4.15 in the Tactic School), it is recommended to spend your blue rush only in hero research, as this one takes again way more time than troop research and pays off very quickly usually. In order to have a quick advance in building, it is recommended that you only level up the army buildings you use, the Academy, Tactics Schools, the Hospital and the Castle.

Which hero research tree do I focus on first?
There are 4 possible trees you can invest on and you will later need to have all 4 categories at a serious level to compete later on with other players. However, for beginners it is recommended to start first with increasing your damage outcome to quickly proceed in Void, events and also in PvP. Hence, Mages/Necromancers or Rogues/Mechanists are in this case your best choice.

While Rogues already have potential to do good damage without research, Mages/Necromancers need important key researches, such as tier 7 effect+milestone, tier 8 effect and tier 10 effect to shine. Rogues/Mechanists need the same tiers in their research too to become even more devastating. The best Mages/Necromancers are Avril, Vallari, Wraxius and Ophidia, while the best Rogues/Mechanists are Mako, Bazric, Fenris (when his path-finding actually works), Nora and Jacques.

What do I buy in the void (shop)?
The best for you is to buy the daily XP cards and Dragonglass in the void shop to quickly level up both your heroes and dragon(s). There are also Void heroes, such as Nora, Mako, Wraxius, Rufio and Gan that require Adamantium in order to be hired. It is your decision if you need/want those heroes, but you will eventually need them all, if only for attributes boosts. All Void heroes are super-useful in their own way and depending on your play-style, a great addition. The highest Void level currently is 160. In order to get there, you may need to switch your race multiple times or borrow the right troops in order to defeat the more or less difficult armies waiting for you. Especially for the early stages, Heavy Infantry, Bandits and Marksmen are perfect to grant you a quick advance in order to get important equipment scrolls for your heroes.

Which race do I play as?
Although this is an often asked question, it is quite hard to find an answer for it. The best solution is to try out every or most races and once you have found your favourite one, to stick with it.

As for the different races, these troops are key-troops early and mid-game:


 * Human: Line Infantry (very strong offence), Heavy Infantry (very strong offence) and Light Infantry (very strong defence)
 * Rakan: Bandits (very strong offence and crowd control) and Samurai (strong defence and offence)
 * Dwarf: Mechsuits (very strong offence and defence) and Snipers (strong offence)
 * Sylvani: Huntresses (very strong dodge rate {evasion} and good offence), Treefathers (very strong defense and good crowd control), Shroomlords (very strong offence) and Watchers (strong offence and good crowd control)
 * Lich: Stalkers (strong defence through awakening), Warlocks (strong attack) and Spiders (strong attack and strong defence through Spiderlings)

Every race has its own strength at overwhelming their opponent, which comes with their unique play-style and perks.

Try them out and you will quickly discover their powers!

Which heroes do I level up?
It doesn't matter if you have 20 level 30 heroes that barely do anything. It is better to focus on a certain elite of heroes, for example 3 level 50 heroes instead that will carry you more than 20 low-level ones.

As for the beginning of the game, it is essential that you get your aura-heroes, such as Elena, Avalon, Gazul, Gan etc… up in order to increase your survival during battles. What’s more, getting your damage dealer heroes to a decent level is a key-strategy as well, as dead enemy troops and heroes don’t deal damage ;D.

As for attributes cards and equipment, it is recommended to put your Command (equipment) first into your aura-heroes to boost their abilities, while it is better to invest your Magic cards on magic damage dealers (Avril, Vallari, etc…), your Might cards on physical damage dealers (Mako, Jacques, Bazric, etc…) and your Stamina cards on tank-heroes, such as Baelrog, Virion, and other Gladiators and Paladins.

As for equipment, it is very essential that you buy the *Hand of Wisdom* as quickly as possible from the Royal Archive nearby your capital city in order to quickly boost your attributes. This trinket is even in endgame still very essential and will carry you throughout the whole game, since it gives very good Command, Stamina and some Magic. After you have managed to buy it, craft as many of them as you need. You may as well try to craft many *Drill Hammers* as they increase your bronze supply cap by 10 each, and later, when you manage to clear Void 81 and get the scroll, to craft *Messianic Scepters*, which increase your bronze supply cap by 30 and, by having up to 17 command as flawless version, up to 47 bronze cap each, which will give you a huge boost as for getting more (gold) troops.

Is there a way to get quickly more XP for heroes?
The best sources to get XP for heroes for new players are:


 * 1) Hero Trials (XP cards and artifact material)
 * 2) Yip (up to 30% extra XP for all heroes during battles)
 * 3) Magister’s Rod (only for Mages, Sages and Necromancers, but it provides you 20% more XP from all sources, including regular XP cards!)

What temple statues do I focus first?
As for the temple, shoot for the one that unlocks 20% research cooldown first and ignore the other ones until you have claimed it. Research speed increase is an essential and very important buff in this game to proceed quickly in hero, as well as troop research, which makes you overall more competitive. After reaching that one, go for the troop buffs of your race and eventually for the attributes buffs for your heroes.

What dragon do I need to get?
In early- and mid-game, but also in endgame you really need a research and building speed dragon. You can recognise those dragons by the abilities they have, in this case with a yellow colour. They are called "Affluence", "Logistic Acumen" and "Treasure Hunting". Since it is very hard throughout the whole game to ever gain enough Dragonglass, it is important that you try to get a "research" dragon to level 30 first before you focus on an actual PvP and PvE one.

As for these, it is your choice which kind of dragon you prefer. Do you rather want a dragon that can tank several seconds or minutes without dying and distract whole parts of the enemy backline, or do you prefer destructive dragons that are quite easy to kill, yet can swipe most of the field all by themselves? This is all possible through Draconic, which unlocks once your stronghold reaches level 30, and the right combination of skills your dragon can possess and learn. Some Battle-Dragons can work very well as/against other races, while against/as other races they are pretty useless. Hence here’s a small explanation for how the different dragon races can be effective and as what race you should use them:


 * 1) Damage dealing dragons, such as Ruby, Onyx and Topaz work very well with any race. Ruby and Onyx are especially good for killing many small targets, while Topaz dragons shine in taking out heroes (with lightning rod) and small group regiments, such as Treefathers, Mechsuits, Scorpions, etc.. The Draconic path for them to choose is first Destruction, and then either Protection (so they don’t die too quickly) or Affliction (to give decent debuffs as well).
 * 2) As for Human race, a Jade with ability *Rebirth* is the ultimate dragon: It lets you revive your Legionnaires (which increases their health and attack by 30%, further health and attack increase through *Undying Will* by Virion’s resurrection(s)), your Feathershot, which can quite easily be taken out nowadays, can also have a second chance and become less squishy, and your Dire Templars, if they get resurrected, gain permanent crowd control immunity (they cannot be slowed down, stunned, etc…). Jade Dragons work also well as lich with the Spider/Scorpion combo and also as Sylvani, Rebirth for your whole army can be a decent buff. Jade dragons are true support dragons, they don’t deal any real damage, but the health regeneration (abilities *Tranquility* and *Regenerative Scales*) and resistance (ability *Call of the Wild*) they give to your units is usually strong enough to counter the damage Onyx, Topaz and Ruby can deal to you. The Draconic path for them to choose is first Protection, then Affliction.
 * 3) Azure dragons are the crowd control and semi-support dragon race. Their frost abilities allow them to slow and eventually freeze enemies and they can as well give decent physical resistance and health restoration to your units through ability *Noble Blood*. Noble Blood is most effective for Mechsuits and Treefathers, since it offers them decent resistance to their already high resilience and especially Treefathers restore a lot of health. The recommended Draconic path for them to choose is first Protection, then Affliction.

What do I spend my money on?
Since this totally depends on how much you are willing to invest in this game, here are some important deals that you need to get that are worth your money in nearly all situations:


 * 1) Lifetime Patron
 * 2) Regular Patron (at least for the first few months)
 * 3) Jacques $10 bundle
 * 4) Castle progression/Fund Deal
 * 5) $10 advanced material deals
 * 6) Lucky Wheel spin ticket deals
 * 7) $1 and $5 bundles containing runes and dragon map pieces
 * 8) Silverwing Event Gold Pass (Do not rush the XP with linari though!)

If you have any further questions after reading this guide, feel free to check out our official Art of Conquest Discord Server, a great community and the ideal place to learn the mechanics of the game! This is the link: https://discord.gg/7MUYeaS

Have a nice day and enjoy the game!