At a glance
is the highest Castle level for now.
of base build time from level 1 to 30, before bonuses and speedups.
Everything depends on it: it sets the maximum level of your other buildings.
What to build, in order
- The Castle comes first. Open the Castle upgrade panel: it lists the buildings you need before the next level. Upgrade those, not the others.
- Production and combat buildings follow, depending on what holds you back: Barracks and Drill Ground for the army, Scholar Tower for research.
- The rest can wait. Keeping every building at the same level is the slowest way to grow.
Buildings required at each level
To upgrade the Castle, two buildings must first reach the level just below. From Castle 10, the rule alternates:
- Even Castle levels (10, 12… 30): Barracks and any faction building (Tribe Forge, Legion Bastion or Ranger Retreat), at the previous level.
- Odd Castle levels (11, 13… 29): Alliance Keep and Scholar Tower I, at the previous level.
| Castle | Required buildings |
|---|---|
| 10 | Barracks 9 + Faction 9 |
| 11 | Alliance Keep 10 + Scholar Tower I 10 |
| 12 | Barracks 11 + Faction 11 |
| 13 | Alliance Keep 12 + Scholar Tower I 12 |
| 14 | Barracks 13 + Faction 13 |
| 15 | Alliance Keep 14 + Scholar Tower I 14 |
| 16 | Barracks 15 + Faction 15 |
| 17 | Alliance Keep 16 + Scholar Tower I 16 |
| 18 | Barracks 17 + Faction 17 |
| 19 | Alliance Keep 18 + Scholar Tower I 18 |
| 20 | Barracks 19 + Faction 19 |
| 21 | Alliance Keep 20 + Scholar Tower I 20 |
| 22 | Barracks 21 + Faction 21 |
| 23 | Alliance Keep 22 + Scholar Tower I 22 |
| 24 | Barracks 23 + Faction 23 |
| 25 | Alliance Keep 24 + Scholar Tower I 24 |
| 26 | Barracks 25 + Faction 25 |
| 27 | Alliance Keep 26 + Scholar Tower I 26 |
| 28 | Barracks 27 + Faction 27 |
| 29 | Alliance Keep 28 + Scholar Tower I 28 |
| 30 | Barracks 29 + Faction 29 |
Before Castle 10
The first levels need only one building, sometimes two:
| Castle | Required buildings |
|---|---|
| 2 | Farm 1 and Townhouse 1 |
| 3 | Drill Ground 1 |
| 4 | Builders' Hut 3 |
| 5 | Ward Tent 4 |
| 6 | Barracks 5 |
| 7 | Faction building 6 |
| 8 | Barracks 7 |
| 9 | Scholar Tower I 7 and Alliance Keep 7 |
Source: Ares alliance chart (levels 10 to 30) and toplordswiki.com (levels 1 to 9).
What the Castle costs
Upgrades get very expensive after level 20. A few steps, at base cost:
| Upgrade | Wood | Food | Coins | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 → 16 | 12M | 12M | 2.4M | 1d 22h |
| 20 → 21 | 53M | 53M | 10.6M | 7d 1h |
| 25 → 26 | 200M | 200M | 40M | 26d 4h |
| 29 → 30 | 570M | 570M | 114M | 93d 9h |
In total, from level 1 to 30: about 2.43 billion wood, the same in food, and 486 million coins.
Other key buildings
Barracks
Max 35Costs no coins, but needs a Castle at the same level. Levels 31 to 35 need Castle 31, which isn't available yet. From level 1 to 30: about 403M wood, 1.21B food and 265 days of base build time.
Drill Ground
Max 35Sets how many soldiers you train at once: 2,000 at level 1, 3,000 at level 5, 8,000 at level 30. Same costs as the Barracks, with wood and food swapped.
Scholar Tower I
+1%/lvlUnlocks at Castle 4. Each level adds 1% research speed, so 30% at level 30.