Introduction/Basics
Battle mechanics in Evony can be difficult to understand. This guide will try to give you as much information as possible to understand how to do PVP and PVE battles.
Troop Types
First off is the core principles on which troop types who is good/bad against each other in a battle. Remember that this rule is true only if all else is equal (similar buff, generals, gear etc.)
Think Rock/Paper/Scissors:
Ground beats Ranged beats Mounted beats Ground.
Basic:
When the tier and the buff are near the same level, the basics are, siege machines counter ranged troops, ranged troops counter mounted troops, mounted troops counter ground troops, and ground troops can defend ranged troops. If mounted and ground troops are able to push forward to get close to ranged troops and siege machines, they are able to easily kill them.
Factors:
Aside from the basics, we have many factors that determine the battle mechanics, including but not limited to, General buffs, Alliance buffs, Tech buffs, Monarch Talent buffs, item buffs, VIP buffs, Dragon buffs, and so on
This means that based on your enemy you should select to attack with a troop type that best counters then enemy's troops. But remember that your specific troop types and leading general will have a lot to say on the outcome of a battle. Also your own buffs versus enemy buffs will have a big impact.
So what does all this mean? Basically it means that even if your enemy has mostly ranged troops you should in theory use a ground attack since ground counters ranged. However if your ground general, buffs and troops are very weak it won't do much good. In such a case it's better to use you ranged march if your ranged general, buffs and troops are way stronger than your ground. Usually for lower level keeps in early or mid game, your ranged attack will usually always be better than the other types. It takes a lot of time to build strong generals and troops of each type.
Layers
For any PVP action you absolutely most use layers. What is layers? Layers is simply put that you in your march preset uses all tiers of troops from T1 and up to your highest tiers. Each layer buys you a round in combat. If you aren't using layers and your enemy is, you will suffer severe losses even on attacks/defenses that are troop type counters.
How big should my layers be?
At very minimum your layers should be at least 100 to 1K all based on your level and march sizes. Some people choose to use larger amounts of layers and some uses smaller layers. For pure attacks smaller layers might work better. For reinforcing buildings larger layers might work better.
Do I include all my troop types in my march preset?
Yes! Every preset, for every troop type, needs full layers! Every troop type; every tier you have. Do me a favor and trust me when I say that you NEED layers for everything. This means that for any march preset you include layers of all troop types, ground, ranged, siege and mounted from T1 and up to your highest tier.
Can/Should I do mixed marches? ex) half archers, half cavs?
Can you? Yes. Should you? NO. There's two primary reasons why you shouldn't mix marches.
First off, when you hit something/someone you are usually looking to counter a specific troop type. If you mix a march, then no matter what you are hitting, one of your troop types in the mix is going to be directly countered by what your enemy has, causing you extra unnecessary losses.
Second, if you build a General to be hybrid of two troop types, then neither of those types is going to be fighting at their maximum strength as the General's gear/refines will be split between the two. This puts you at a severe disadvantage in all attacking scenarios as you want the troop type that you are using to counter your enemy to be as strong as possible to maximize damage and minimize losses.
Why so heavy on T12s?
T11s and T12s have a different mechanic than the rest of the tiers. Whereas normally a troop attacks the Lowest HP enemy in range, T11s and T12s attack from the Highest down. This means that if you have T13s, your T12s are protected on both sides by higher and lower HP troops. Meaning that they get several rounds to fire on your enemies upper tiers unmolested. There are many different philosophies on the ratio of T13s to T12s out there and almost everyone will tell you something different and give you a different reason. The most common ratios you will see are 50:50, 60:40, and 30:70. I tend to lean between 50:50 and 60:40 myself but that's just a preference. Play around a little bit and find what works best for you!
Layering Troops for Attack and Defense
An important part of PvP combat in Evony The King's Return is to create both offensive layers and defensive layers of troops for the best army composition. This technique is so common, that most players just refer to troop tier layering as "layers".
There are two types of layers, thick defensive layers of troops to protect your city, and thinner offensive layers for your attack marches.
This guide will go in-depth on how layers work, why they are needed, and how building layers can be sometimes more of an art than a science.
The Underlying Mechanics of why Layers Work
Disclaimer: Battle mechanics in Evony are not public information, so much of the information below are battle tested theories. However, there will be proof of these theories below.
Two important mechanics that shape how and why layers work are:
PVP battles occur with multiple "hidden" rounds
Each troop type at each tier targets one enemy type and tier per round
Hidden Rounds of Each Battle in Evony
Although you get instant battle reports, PvP combat in Evony actually occurs in stages or rounds behind the scenes.
This is backed by the fact that each troop type of each tier has five battle-relevant attributes:
Attack
Defense
HP
Speed
Range
While attack, defense and health points can exist without rounds or turns, the speed and range cannot exist without rounds.
Both ranged and siege have much longer range than cavalries or ground. This means they can start shooting at enemies from further away. On the other hand, cavalry and ground has a higher speed, so they close the gap between them and their enemies per round.
This mechanic, in combination with the different distributions of attack, defense and hp points, also supports the natural counters for each type. Range outpower horses, horses outpower ground, and ground counters archers.
Troop Types Target one Enemy Type per Round
At each turn, each troop type at each tier has their own location and attributes, and choose one target group of enemies. While over the course of an entire battle, that troop type/tier can kill multiple types or tiers of enemies, at each turn, they target only a single one.
If this was not true, the developers would have to implement some kind of logic to split troops to target different enemies, which would result in an inconsistent outcome per battle. In addition, if troops can target multiple types of enemies per round, layers would not work in Evony - but they do.
How Battle Mechanics Influence Layered Builds
Given the two battle mechanics above, we can begin to understand why someone with lots of layers has a large advantage over someone without.
Let's assume we have two players A and B, both similar size, power and buffs. Player A sends a march full of T13 archers. Player B sends a march the same size, but with 90% T13 archers and the rest layers of all other 51 troop tiers (T1-T13 times 4 - 1).
Player A's T13 archers has to waste 51 rounds targeting each of those other troop tiers. On the other hand, player B's T13 archers have a 51 round advantage, hitting only the T13 archers available.
The end result is always a massive win for player B, with layers.
Defensive Troop Layers
Defensive troop layers in Evony are less up for debate, everyone usually has them and they are not too different. In general, the bigger each defensive layer is, the better it is for you because your keep is not limited by march size.
The one thing to consider is keeping the overall number of troops you have manageable, and still being able to ghost if you are not fully able to defend against large keeps.
A general guide for the amount of troop layers per keep level:
Keep 25 or Lower - 5k to 10k of each troop tier of each type
Keep 26-30 - 20k to 50k of each troop tier of each type
Keep 30-33 - 50k to 100k of each troop tier of each type
Keep 33-35 - 200k+ of each troop tier of each type - you likely won't be able to ghost, so get those layers as large as possible
At higher level keeps, level 30 or above, you will also want to work on your T12, T13 and maybe even T14s for PvP attack marches.
A good general goal is try to even out each of the three types (mounted, archers, ground) and eventually have at least 1 million of each troop type above T12.
Siege is a fantastic defense for your city, and often will clear out many enemies before they have a chance to reach your city. Do not neglect your siege as part of your defense layers, as the T13 and T14 siege has the longest range of any unit in the game.
Attack Troop Layers
You will eventually have at least three main attack marches, one for archer, one for cavalry and one for ground. Other late game marches include siege rally march (siege bomb), and a hybrid archer/siege march. We will focus on the three main "pure" marches here.
The Best Ranged Layered March
25-40% of your top tier ranged
25-40% of your second tier ranged
10-40% of your third tier ranged
0.25-2% of all other ranged tiers
1-10000 of all other troops
Yes, these are very wide ranges for each troop type, so your ranged march shouldn't be very different from the formula above. The reason the ranges are wide is that the specific percentage or number for you depends on your specific circumstance.
If you have unlocked T14s, your best march can look like 500k of each T14, T13, T12 archers, 20k of each of the other archers and all other troops at 1000. However, if you want to send out a cheaper march, you can also do 250K T14, 350K T13 and 900K T12, 20k of other archers and all other troops at 1000.
If you are a smaller player, having layers at 1000 is too much for your march size, so maybe your ideal march is 300k T12, 100K T11, 50K T10s and only 100 for all other troops.
The size of the layer for all other troops is more of an art than science. Layers of 2000 will beat layers of 1000 all other things equal, for a larger player.
However, larger layers also means less room for your most powerful ranged troops and not focusing on the type your general is optimized for.
Scout your enemy and update your layers accordingly. Layering means tricking the enemy troops into under-utilizing their power. With a good idea of what your enemy's layers look like (or whether they have layers at all), you should be able craft the optimal layered march to counter.
The Best Ground Layered March
35-60% of your top tier ground
15-30% of your second tier ground
5-20% of your third tier ground
0.25-2% of all other ground tiers
1-10000 of all other troops
The formula for ground layers is a little different from ranged troop layers. Ground is mainly used to counter range, and their heavy HP and defense is a natural advantage.
Ground's speed stays the same for each tier, but their attack, defense and health increases for each tier. So every tier of ground moves in battle at the same speed per round, but higher tier ground troops are much less vulnerable.
This is why ground marches tend to be more top heavy than ranged marches. You will still want ground layers, and all other troop layers to counter enemy layers.
If you unlocked T14's, an example march can be 800k T14, 500k T13, 200k T12, 20k all other ground and 1000 other troops.
The Best Mounted Layered March
35-60% of your top tier cavalry
15-30% of your second tier cavalry
5-20% of your third tier cavalry
0.25-2% of all other cavalry tiers
1-10000 of all other troops
Similar to ground, cavalry has increased attack, health and defense for each higher tier. They are mainly used as a ground counter and their high speed and attack gives them an advantage.
To maximize mounted effectiveness, you want to increase attack and HP. This is one reason why mounted attack marches also tend to be more top heavy than ranged PvP marches.
If you unlocked T14's, an example march can be 700k T14, 500k T13, 200k T12, 30k all other mounted and 1000 other troops.
Layering Troops in Evony Summary
All experienced players layer their troops, both defensively and offensively. Layers create a huge PvP advantage over someone that does not, and can often determine how effective someone is holding a building in Battlefield or temple in Server War.
Ultimately, the exact numbers for the best layers for you depends on a variety of factors - your level, your available troops, and your enemy keep/march.
However, the tried and true formulas for successful pure attack marches are very similar, your march should have 70-90% of your top three levels of that type, and layers all the way through.
Victory in city warfare occurs when one side wipes out all the troops of the other. Defenders always have the advantage. Aside from having walls, an archer tower and traps, Defenders can have their full army sent into the fight. The Attackers are limited by their total Troop March Size (based on Rally Point, Research, and Monarch Gear plus any items used).
Sieges are really important for city fighting, but only if they have they are supporting other troops. This is because Siege Machines support all types of troops but are super weak to all troop types. They are slow but have the best range. So while the other troop types battle, Sieges will target the walls of the city and enemy troops, doing lots of damage each turn from a distance.
Battle is turn by turn at super fast speeds. Battle starts 2 spaces away from the longest range. So if you are facing Ranged Troops that have a range of 350 spaces, the battle will begin 352 spaces away. Likewise, if you have Sieges with a range of 500, the battle would start at 502 spaces away. Keep in mind that Traps and Archer Tower also have a range, but Sieges have the best range.
Traps kill Ground. Fire Arrows kill Siege. Rocks kill Ranged. Abitis kill Mounted.
Bosses and Monsters
Boss Monsters are considered Ground, so that is why Mounted works best against them.
Each troop has their Technical Level displayed on their picture in Roman Numerals. Most players refer to this as a troop’s T level. So they will call them T5 troops or T10 troops, etc.
Try to avoid sending multiple levels of Mounted troops. Sending multiple levels can also result in greater healing costs. It is better to wait until you have enough of the right tier level of just Mounted troops than it is to send multiple tiers levels of Mounted troops or to send multiple types of troops (especially Ground or Siege).
Against bosses/monsters the best to worst troop types is as follows:
Mounted
Ground
Ranged
Siege
You can attack bosses with ground and ranged but remember to always use your highest tier of troop. Also remember that since the other troopy types besides mounted are weaker your other marches must have a lot more power compared to your mounted march. At least double or triple to not take wounded.
Also, research can make a big difference in whether your Mounted troops succeed and with how many wounded you receive. Therefore, research Mounted troop attack, defense, hit points, etc. in your Academy.
Your General and his/her equipment play a big role in whether your troops succeed or not. The higher level the General is, the better he will do. Also, Spears work really well to increase Mounted troop attacks, and other items and skills that a General may have increase Mounted troop abilities. So equip the General you want to be your main Boss Fighting General with your best Spear, armor, items, and skills that gives bonuses to Mounted troops.
Your Monarch Power Level determines your Chances. Your Chances are either: Extremely Low, Low, Medium, High or Extremely High. If your Monarch Power Level is within roughly 90% of the Boss’ Power Level, your Chances will be Extremely High. 75-89% is High. 50-74% is Medium. 25-49% is Low and anything below 25% is Extremely Low.
Don’t be fooled by this. Your Monarch Power could be greater than a Boss’ Power and you will still lose if you don’t have enough of the right troops. Likewise, your Monarch Power could be way lower than the Boss’ Power and you will still win if you have enough of the right troops.
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