Introduction to Empire Craft
Empire Craft is a new free-to-play online strategy game that allows players
to form intricate cities, armies, resource plots, and battle for dominance
against other players on a massive world map. Each player starts out with a
plot of land and must build up his/her city, defenses, food and resource
production, and a massive army to conquer neighbors and nearby resource
locations. Battle plans are enacted in real-time, and working together with your
union members, basically guild mates, is the only option when faced with some of
the more powerful lords in your area.
Empire Craft is browser based and allows an incredible amount of flexibility.
If you're a casual player you can log in in the morning, set the orders to
build, defend, attack, and then check up later in the day to see how your city
is progressing. That's very appealing to casual players, but in Empire Craft you
also have the ability to play continuously through real time quests, attacking
enemies closer to your home base, and constantly strategizing with friends about
progressing the status of your union.
There are three races in Empire Craft each with a specific set of graphics
for their buildings
and landscape. Troops also have different strengths and statistics depending
upon their race. Races are Human, Dwarf, and Orc. Unions can be based on race or
geographical location, but different races start in different areas.
Heroes are also race
specific, but you can still hire them regardless of their race.
We've broken down some of the areas in the game that are most interesting to
a player just starting out.
Your City
Players start with a city that's virtually just a plot of land with very low
defense and population. You increase the amount of people in your city by
building certain buildings and a standing army. A good way to level up your city
quickly is to follow the quests and tutorials that guide you through your first
few rounds of building to set up the fundamentals of a city. You can also read
the
Empire Craft Guide for beginners that will take you through the first ten
things you should do as a new player. After you complete the first round of
tutorials here's an idea of what your city might start to look like based on the
race you choose:
Developed Human City
Developed Orc City
Developed Dwarf City
Important Buildings and Defenses
The main building in any city, for all races, is a
city hall
which controls how many buildings you can build at one time and will affect
how your city looks based upon what level it's at. Cities are also surrounded by
walls which can house
defense towers and be upgraded. When successfully attacking someone their walls
will fall by one level in Empire Craft.
Here's a look at the option to build level 1 walls or level 2 guard towers,
you can see what they cost, and how long they'll take to build.:
Each city also comes equipped with a
farm,
sawmill,
iron mine, and
quarry. Each of these
resource plots are upgradeable and provide a set number of resources for the
city. There are other important buildings ranging from hospitals BBQ grills; for
a full list of buildings and a technology tree visit the
Buildings page of
the Empire Craft Wiki.
Your Army
Your armed forces are also a very important part of the game, if you can't
defend and attack successfully you're going to be wiped off the map pretty
quickly. There are
Calvary Barracks
and Infantry
Barracks to support your massive demand for troops to defend your city and
attack your enemies. There are several buildings you'll also need to build to
give you technological advances over your enemies, and by building them new
technologies become available that will allow you to equip your troops better.
Armies are controlled by
heroes which you
recruit at your local
tavern after one is built. Armies fit into troop slots and allow a single
hero to hold up to 5 different types of troops in whatever combination the
player feels will work best depending upon the mission. Troop types also vary by
race and offer a wide selection, each type catering to specific needs. As an
example of variety the troop types for the human race include
Swordsmen, Shieldmen, Bowmen, Pikemen, Sword Dancers, Longbowman, Light Calvary,
Heavy Calvary, Lancers, and Horse Archers. As the hero levels up they can take
more troops types with them into battle!
Here's a look at the hero troop assignment screen:
Once you build an army you'll head to the map screen and find neighbors and
land plots to attack and call your own. You can also use the map to find
potential nearby union members who can offer vital assistance should you be attacked.
Union members can also garrison troops in your city if they're able to get to
you in time. In Empire Craft when a union member sends you troops you can
control the troops they send you!
Heroes and Equipment
Heroes are recruited at a tavern and will lead your troops into battle. A
unique feature of Empire Craft is that heroes can carry equipment, and the
better the equipment carried by the hero the more benefits are added to their
base stats. Equipment is gained by exploring, conquering, and questing. There
are hundreds of pieces of equipment heroes can carry, which can adjust they role
they play in each battle. There are also equipment sets which give heroes
special bonuses when the full set is worn.
Here's a look at the hero equipment screen:
Heroes have base stats and can have these stats affected by equipment, but
they will also increase their stats and experience they engage in battle. Losing
a high level hero could be very bad for your empire and heroes should be
carefully deployed if they're important to you. Heroes are how you interact with
other players and are what allow you to conquer and attack enemies on the world
map.
Unions and World Map
Players can also use their armies and heroes to obtain resource plots on the world map and share
resources with other members in their union to advance the level of the union
and reap the benefits of the
union shop. As the
union progresses players can obtain items available only to high level unions
that increase the abilities of their troops and grant union members other
exclusive abilities. The world map is a good place to find unions, usually by
their proximity to you, and potential places to expand your empire.
Here's a look at the world map, centered on a city marked with a blue dot:
This particular segment of map has a few strongholds and a lot of open space.
There are currently two servers, server 1 and server 2. Server 1 has a high population
but there's more space available for players who are just learning on server 2.
We've set up
EmpireCraftWiki.com to help you get started with any questions you may have.
We also have an
Empire
Craft Q&A
section for any questions that might arise while playing the game! To register
and start playing the game now visit
hithere.com!
