Defensive Tactics and Subordinate Cities in Evony
In Evony, subordinate cities are a critical asset for both offense and defense, providing valuable buffs that can shift the tide of battle. For intermediate players, understanding how to optimize these cities for defensive strategies is crucial for protecting your resources, troops, and overall city health. This guide explores the key role subordinate cities play in defense, their buffs, and how to strategically use them to your advantage.
Subordinate cities, unlocked at Keep Level 11, serve multiple functions, including gold production, troop training, and delivering powerful buffs based on their culture and rarity. Properly managing these cities can significantly enhance your defensive capabilities, making them a vital tool in your overall strategy.
The Role of Subordinate Cities in Defense
Subordinate cities are your first line of defense when under attack. When your main city or a subordinate city is targeted, troops from other subordinate cities will join the defense automatically, provided there is a mayor assigned, and the automatic fight option is enabled. These troops, along with the buffs provided by subordinate cities, can help repel attackers and minimize losses.
Certain subordinate city buffs are especially effective for defense. For example, Russian subordinate cities enhance troop and trap attack, making them ideal for creating a stronghold that can deter potential attackers. Similarly, Arabian subordinate cities provide boosts to hospital capacity and healing speed, ensuring you can quickly recover your troops after a battle.
Strategic use of subordinate cities for defense also extends to their rarity. Higher rarity cities (Legendary and Epic) provide significantly stronger buffs, making them essential for players who face frequent attacks. The ability to customize these cities with policies (war-focused, economy-focused, or balanced) further allows players to adapt to their defensive needs.
Subordinate City Buffs and Their Defensive Impact
Subordinate city buffs vary based on their culture and rarity. These buffs can directly impact your ability to defend against attackers. Below are examples of how certain subordinate city buffs can strengthen your defenses:
- Russia: Buffs troop and trap attack, crucial for dealing damage to attacking enemies and triggering traps more effectively.
- Arabia: Increases hospital capacity and healing speed, reducing downtime after battles and preserving your army's strength.
- China: Enhances resource production and troop training speed, allowing faster recovery and preparation for subsequent battles.
- Europe: Boosts construction speed and General EXP gain from monster kills, aiding in upgrading your defenses and improving your Generals.
The rarity of subordinate cities also influences their effectiveness. An Epic (Gold) Russian city will provide a 15% troop attack boost and a 10% trap attack boost, compared to just 2% and 3% from a Common (White) city. This scaling makes upgrading subordinate cities a key priority for players focused on defense.
Choosing the Right Mayors
Assigning the right General as mayor to your subordinate cities can further amplify their benefits. Historic Generals, especially those with high Leadership and Politics stats, provide substantial boosts to building speed, training capacity, and survival rates for troops. Generals with skills that enhance troop health or defense are particularly effective for defensive-focused subordinate cities.
For instance, a General with Leadership and Politics exceeding 900 can activate the War Tactics buff, increasing the Death into Survival Rate for troops. Meanwhile, specialized skills such as trap-triggering enhancements can be added to mayors to further fortify your defenses. For more details on equipping Generals with Skill Books, check out our comprehensive guide.
Strategic Tips for Defensive Success
To maximize the defensive potential of subordinate cities, consider the following tips:
- Focus on Buff Stacking: Select subordinate cities with complementary buffs. For example, pairing Arabian cities (hospital capacity) with Russian cities (troop attack) ensures both recovery and offensive capabilities are covered.
- Upgrade Rarity: Invest in upgrading subordinate cities to Legendary or Epic rarity to amplify their buffs. Use Gems strategically to achieve this.
- Optimize Policies: Choose a war-oriented policy for subordinate cities that are primarily used for defense, ensuring maximum troop readiness and output.
- Regularly Train Troops: Utilize subordinate cities with troop training buffs to maintain a strong defensive army at all times.
- Coordinate with Main City Defenses: Use the buffs from subordinate cities to complement your main city’s defenses, creating a layered and cohesive defensive strategy.
Conclusion
Subordinate cities are more than just resource generators in Evony; they are an integral part of your defensive strategy. By selecting cities with the right buffs, assigning skilled mayors, and optimizing policies, you can significantly enhance your ability to repel attacks and recover quickly from battles. Paired with proper General management and the strategic use of Skill Books, subordinate cities provide a powerful framework for defending your empire.
Understanding and leveraging subordinate cities will elevate your gameplay, ensuring you can withstand even the toughest PvP challenges while maintaining steady growth and progress. Start optimizing your subordinate cities today to create a fortress that no enemy can breach.