Getting Started/Outskirts Officer

Achieving the position of an Outskirts Officer is a demonstration that a player is taking the game seriously. While there still is quite a bit of work involved with building up the city and building resources, players at this level start to reach out and make an impact the larger world and are making some significant contributions to other players too.

Rewards for the position

While not nearly as elaborate as the previous promotional rewards, there still are some significant items that have been given to players for their promotion to this rank. Open the inventory from the inventory icon and Use the treasure diagram with the lockbox to reveal these rewards:

• 2 Drafts
• 3 Horns
• 2 Sketches

While the inventory is open, this is also a good time to introduce a player to resource enhancement items. Click on the production section of the inventory and the following items will be seen:

• Bronze Urn
• Hill Breaker
• Yew Bow
• Tax Order
• Steel Axe

It would be recommended to Use one of each of these at this time. Resources are going to become very precious and players are also now in a position that their resource production is significant enough that these items also serve a useful purpose. Players have 24 hours to take advantage of the resource production enhancement ability of these items, so it is important to take advantage of these items when a player has the time available to use them properly. This tutorial isn't going to be suggesting the use of these items after this, but this is certainly something which can significantly put a player ahead of others and really make a difference in terms of being ready to face other players when the new user protection wears off.

Do not hesitate to use acceleration items and bonus artefacts. Any sort of advantage at this early stage of development is merely multiplied when later issues arise in terms of having more of everything to do what is needed.

Be wary of the Reverence task

There is one task in the Daily section of the task list which may have a check box next to it. Yes, this is a task in which you can claim a reward, but at the same time, be very much aware of the cost of claiming this reward. It calls for players to donate resources to the poor and needy (meaning the virtual persons). The reward is 1000 reputation points, which will advance players quickly in the rankings list.... but not really help with building the city. 10,000 of each resource (including gold) is claimed with this task, never to be seen again. There is no complimentary task which gives the resources back.

One other reward, besides the reputation, is the Box of Bliss. There are rewards of jewellery, something that may be contained in a Box of Bliss, will soon become very important but as an Outskirts Officer should not be your main focus.

If players have been off-line for quite some time and there are resources simply piling up in the warehouses, this is something worth taking the time to act upon and claim the reward. Reputation can be useful, but not at the expense of building the city. There will be plenty of opportunities to gain reputation and can be more beneficial to building the city as well. Just be patient and don't claim this reward, or at least understand completely what the cost of that reputation score is going to be. Again if perhaps players need the little bit of extra experience in order to be promoted to the next level, it would be a good idea but don't take this reward unless the gold is in the treasury in excess (more than 110,000 gold) and that is the only requirement left.

As a Junior Prefect this will become something much more useful.

Resource production

Keep steady on the progress of the resource buildings in the outskirts. If it hasn't been done so far, make sure that all of the top resource buildings are now at level 10. This is now a critical task should be made a top priority in terms of keeping the building queue full to see that the resource buildings are expanded.

In addition, two more resource areas have been added to the outskirts for resource development. At this time, create one Timber mill and one Copper mine for these resource areas, both at level 1. They will be upgraded shortly, but for now keep them at level 1 and don't put any more resources into them.

If it hasn't been done yet, also check that the Warehouse is at level 5. If that hasn't been done yet, start its construction as well. The warehouse is needed, and the resources from completing the task related to raising its level to level 5 can aid in upgrading the resource buildings too.

Furthermore, the production rates should be raised at this time to 2,700 for each kind of resource. Even if a player seems to have an excess number of a particular resource at this time, those resources should still be upgraded at this time as well.

When everything is done, the following should be the resource building levels for all resources:

• Cropland (Food)
  • Level 10
  • Level 7
  • Level 6
• Timber Mill (Wood)
  • Level 10
  • Level 4
  • Level 4
  • Level 4
• Quarry (Stone)
  • Level 10
  • Level 7
  • Level 6
• Copper Mine (Copper)
  • Level 10
  • Level 7
  • Level 6

These are quite a few buildings and will take some time to build. Concentrate first on raising the top buildings to level 10, and then start at the lowest level buildings for each resource type and raise their levels so eventually the number and levels equals this list.

As a priority, it would be suggested to upgrade the wood first, followed by food, then stone, and finally copper. Upgrading the copper buildings will take the most time, and there will be other things to work on in the meantime.

Raising population

With resource production well under control, it is now time to raise the population of the city again. This time, raise the building levels of all Villages to level 5. When this is done, the maximum population should be just under 10,000 and players can start earning more gold as a result. More importantly, this provides a large population base to support the growing resources and soon to be growing army.

Searching for an alliance

Players at this point in the game should be searching for an alliance to join. It is important that a player belong to an alliance in terms of general protection, and to show that the player is taking the game seriously. Each alliance has its own characteristics and should be investigated. For players on a more mature world, they may have to be a search for some new player alliances that are used to the idea that members will only be in that alliance temporarily. Regardless, it certainly is useful in terms of passing the time and making comments without having to waste horns in conversations across the whole world. Some alliances are very chatty, and others tend to be more serious.

To help identify the top alliances, click on the Rank button on the top right corner of the game screen and then click on the alliance button on the right side of the rank window. Those at the top would generally be desirable to join, but at the same time players should consider the politics of joining a particular alliance, and also try to find some allies who are close to your city. It is not a good idea to join into an alliance which is a bitter enemy to an alliance which is strong in the general area of your city.

Alliances themselves offer benefits to their members, and alliances also have levels in terms of performance. Higher level alliances offer increasingly better benefits to its members, and can significantly impact the ability of players to compete against one another, including with resource production.

Building up city

With the resources now much higher, the following buildings need to be upgraded to the following levels:

• Stable to level 2
• Relay Base to level 2
• University to level 5
• Ramparts to level 4
• Palace to level 6
• Garrison to level 10
• Villages - All 10 villages to level 6, for a max population of 11,900

This guide is starting to move away from sticking strictly with the tasks from here, as more responsible and balanced gameplay needs to happen at this point. Raising the Garrison level at this time is very useful, as at level 10 players can start training the Archers unit. The significance of training archers is that legends making an attack with archers, in sufficient quantities, can overwhelm and eliminate Halberdiers and Swordsmen without taking any casualties of their own. This in turn allows players to routinely attack and defeat wildlands for slow but steady progress with reputation, treasure, and resources. Pushing this Garrison level up any earlier is a distraction from growing the city and consumes resources that won't be rewarded with tasks. There is a task that rewards bringing the Garrison up to level 10, but it will be some time before players perform the previous tasks necessary to "unlock" that task. This is a good time to start with this objective, however.

Still, refrain from training too many soldiers at the moment. That will be covered in this guide, but for now be patient.

It is also important to concentrate on raising the Conscription skill to level 5 in order to train archers. Even at the cost of training other skills this should be intensively followed at this time.

Raising Resources again

This seems repetitive, and by now it really can be. Still, it is important to keep pushing up on the resource production at the city outskirts. It is now time to push up the top resource levels again, this time to level 12 on all resources. Once all of the top resources are at level 12 or under construction to move up to level 12, the lower level resources need to be brought up to a total of 4,000 production. This is a very daunting task, but something worth the effort as this will give ample resources to be involved with many other areas of the game after this big push.

With the Palace upgrade, that should be the next resource area built in the new resource area, for a total of 4 cropland areas. Food will start to become a significant issue shortly.

• Cropland (Food)
  • Level 12
  • Level 7
  • Level 7
  • Level 7
• Timber Mill (Wood)
  • Level 12
  • Level 7
  • Level 7
  • Level 7
• Quarry (Stone)
  • Level 12
  • Level 11
  • Level 10
• Copper Mine (Copper)
  • Level 12
  • Level 11
  • Level 10

Particularly getting the copper production up is going to take quite some time. Work first to get the top resource areas brought up to level 12 production, and then work on the wood first, followed by food, then this time copper, followed by stone.

Training Archers

Hopefully by now the Garrison has been raised up to level 10 with the Conscription skill up to level 5, and players can start training Archers to join into their army. Click on the Garrison and then click on the green "recruit" button to raise 100 archers. This consumes a great amount of resources, so players may want to do this in small increments of only 10 or 20 at a time, leaving resources for construction of new buildings (especially resource buildings) and other tasks like University research.

Entering the Wildlands

With 100 archers, players can now enter any level 0 wildland and be able to engage in successful raids without having any casualties. For active players wanting to stay busy, this is both an excellent way to gather resources as well as doing something when build times on city construction is starting to get into hours with seemingly little else to do.

When a player clicks on a wildland, there are several different options available to that player:

• Invade - Entering into a wild land for the purpose of extracting resources immediately. Treasure which is found immediately is taken back.
• Occupy - A more permanent occupation of the wildlands is done. Resources aren't immediately extracted, but it does enhance the city. At wildlands of level 3+, players can explore wildlands for additional treasure.
• Spy - Not really invading a wildland, but to check on how many and what kinds of soldiers are in the wildland.

and finally

• Favorites - Placing the wildland or location on a list of places to keep track of for future reference. This is useful in terms of building up a list of places to consider attacking on a regular basis.

Make sure that the 100 archers are assigned to a legend. Players may want to assign these archers to the legend who isn't currently acting as governor, or at least swap back and forth on occasion. Attacking wildlands that is a Lake, Forest, Hill, or Mountain will yield 500 resources of some type (depending on the wildland type) that can be used to either make more soldiers or help with building up the city. By sending soldiers out regularly to fight, this also gives experience to those legends.

Keep track of the life points on each legend that is being sent out to battle. Constant battles will eventually fatigue the legend to the point they can't fight effectively any more, so switching with another legend can have some benefits of letting the first one "rest" to recover their life points. The life points will go down even if there are no casualties from battle, as will be the case with the 100 archers.

Building up the city again

Finally, it is time to start working on the city again. This is a final push to be ready as Junior Prefect, where even more is going to be expected.

The following buildings should be upgraded again:

• Ramparts to level 5
• Palace to level 7
• Villages - All 10 villages to level 7, until when the Palace is complete and then to level 8
• Market to level 2

The purpose of upgrading the Market at this time is to give much more flexibility in terms of procuring resources from other players, or if excess resources seem to be in the warehouse as a way to move that stuff out and ship it to other players. See the article on the Market for more details on how to engaged in trade between players.

Higher level villages help to generate the gold necessary for promotion, which is likely the last significant task before a promotion can happen. Keep working at it, and very shortly the promotion to Junior Prefect will soon be at hand.

If these buildings are finished and a player still is waiting for enough gold to be in the treasury, keep building resources (raising the top level to 14) and shortly the gold will be in place.

Also, keep track of any University research, and in particular try to raise the Construction skill up as high as your university will let you. Raising the resource skills will also make a huge difference in your city as well.

When finished, move onto the next part of the tutorial >>>