Rise of Nations/Walkthrough

Tips for rise of nations

1. Be at your commerce limit for all resources at any point intime of the game. Well rounded Economy is the backbone for victory. Your primary objective should be to have well rounded economy followed by well rounded military. Be sure to be well rounded in all aspects of the game instead of focusing one alone at any point in time of the game.

2. Research priority should be first economy then followed by military. So, sci->com>mil>Civ> corresponding age > ............ can be a good research sequence in most of the cases for all ages except ancient age/first age of the game. In first ancient age/first age alone follow sci-1>civ-1>com-1>mil-1>classical age or sci1>mil1>civ1>com1>classical age sequence( if your are rushing). Sometimes you can skip civics research incase of emergency alone except in ancient age/starting age, but dont do always. However post info age research at library depends on scenarios you are facing.

3. If you have extra resources build wonders that can overcome nations weakness or resources which are in short supply.( Eg for bantu build hanging gardens instead of colossus.Similarly if you are running out of food build pyramids. If you are an american go for colossus/pyramids instead of hanging gardens). If you are a dutch go for military related wonders. If india go for wonders that give other resource benefits not wealth. If you are running out of mines build wonder that give metal benefits. Don't underestimate the power of wonders. Wonders are key for economy which in turn key for victory. Choosing right wonders pay you most.

4. Research governments that can overcome nations weakness.For russia, research socialism instead of capitalism. Russians have good oil gather rate by default. For dutch go for socialism ,monarchy and depotism in most cases.

5. Every city should have market( if you are not at wealth limit or good wealth nations),university( note: no limit for knowledge until you reach the limit +999 for any nation at any point in time it requires a lot in later stages ), some towers, Sam installations when airplanes are available, barracks/stables with few solders for defense. If city at the border of the opponent build temple/fort also. Order depends on scenarios you are facing.

6. When opponent is attacking your city take out in order - generals, then supply wagons, siege weapons, spys, then other units. Dont blindly attack on whole army. Army without generals can be dismantled quickly even they are in higher number especially in your territory with/without attrition damage.

7. Except when you are going for expansion of your territory for economy always attack your opponents capital city as priority. Dont perform a small attack except when it is used as a strategy. When you attacking a city you must have atleast plundered the city even in case you cannot hold it and attack should be brutal/well planned/full fledged. You ultimate aim should be to hold the city after attacking. Otherwise it is a waste of huge resources. Army should be well rounded with all units including generals/spys/siege units/infantry.. etc with a very big number. However the number of individual units depends on scenarios. Use spys to bribe enemy units in battlefield and convert important enemy units and use generals to create decoys every now and then, when crafts are available.Remember Spys can be attacked or seen by very few units. Remember to take out the opposition general units first.

8. Have a small army/create a small army with a general to take out enemy citizens/small resource buildings alone like mining camps,oil wells etc which are well outside enemy city/enemy defense.Similary take out fishing ships as well. Consider it as a patriotic army. They need not come back. Take as many economy buildings/citizens as you can as they are alive without losing them. Do not attack military units with this. Army with units with good aglity is good for this purpose. May be stable units untils bombers available. Dont include slow moving units in this army. Also this is a hit and run attack. As soon as your objective is satisfied vacate the place immediately. If you have some time, take some citizens. Dont go in fight with other military units. If you sight considerable military units vacate the place immediately. You can also use bombers when it is available. Do this every now and then. This will hamper economy growth of oppositions. Also consider nations weak resource to gather if possible but not always.But beware of doing this before russians.

9. Consider infinite queues for some unit creations and other short cut keys that can be used for handy. Consider infinite queues for scholars/villagers/infantries which may save your time. When you are at commerce limit dont create units that will generate that resource. ( Eg Dont create caravans when you are at commerce limit.)

10.Powerful wonders in my opinion are colosus,statue of liberty city and supercollider. However, if you are having nuclear weapons/stealth bombers then space wonder may be very beneficial than supercollider. Be sure about all wonder benefits and well verse in the scenarios when you can build. If your opponent is a russian then statue of liberty city/kremblin is a much needed wonder for victory. Because it will counter act attrition damage caused by russian nation and make you easy to attack. If your are an american terra cotta army will be beneficial. If your opponent is an american/greeks then you may opt to have hanging gardens to cope faster development for knowledge.This is not the thumb rule. It may change according to scenarios/nations you are facing. Choosing wrong wonder may cost you dearly and even to loose in many cases. Sometimes you may have choose between the two.

10. Explore the map using scout/spy units. This will give plenty of information.

11. Attack as soon as when you have army with good numbers and dont go offensive if you dont have sufficient army. Especially dont chase enemy units when their attack counter attacked especially when they are strong. Wait until you get sufficient army before attacking.

12. Garrion wounded units when not attacking/defending/when not involved in fighting to heal. Use units wisely. Dont lose units unnecessarily in fighting. Dont engage in war you cannot win.

13. Build cities in defensive place/other end of war zone when you are losing cities in other end. Dont engage full fledged war to get lost city back if you sensed you cannot win/reclaim. Instead focus on weakening enemy,economy growth and making the other cities more defensive.Also sure your capital city is in higly defensive place.

14. If your enemy is much stronger than you then, dont perform a full fledged attack. Play defensively. Perform hit and run attack to weaken enemy economy and plunder as much as you can. Make sure all your cities have good solid defense.Dont encounter with enemy military units directly as much as possible in opponents territory. Do this until you are sufficiently strong enough than your opposition. You can verify the points table in the right bottom of the screen for this purpose. Also well verse in counter units for every enemy units.

15.Spend time equally for all parts of game economy,military,research, exploration.Dont stick on one of them even situation warrants. It will costs you dearly. Keep units busy all the times as much as possible. Watch playback of recorded games played by excellent players.

These tips are prepared on my own with my own experience with assumption you are playing against toughest AI/very good player. Any suggestions/value additions to these are welcome. Prepared by mskgames.