This was written by someone else, however, it contains important info.
Ok, I'm figuring there's bound to be a bit of information that people know and feel should be shared, thus I'm going to make a topic for all the decent hints/suggestions/tips/whatever that we think should be provided for the optimal Empire Craft experience.
Store refresh timer + Political Orders are both on a one hour timer, so you can keep all your cities stores + orders within a minute of each other and optimize your gathering + equipping rates.
Floating Castle is a phenomenal source of EXP, but keep track of how much force you have available, since the earlier you hit it, the more powerful the enemies are. one hour after start the devils are around 11K force, 1:30 after is about 6k force.
Troop placement matters immensely. Know how to place troops to bait and flank the opponents, both in attacking other players and when fighting Devils.
Tanks: Infantry #2,5. Cavalry #2,3
Damage: Infantry #3,6. Cavalry #4
Anti-Cavalry: Infantry #4, Cavalry #1,3
Anti-Infantry: Infantry #5,6, Cavalry #2,4
Please note that hero specialties, hero bonuses, hero skills, troop levels, and weapon/armor upgrade all add together for huge adjustments, so the 100 Sword Dancers you have will go from a loss with minor damage to the opponent to a victory having lost only 5 troops just by using the right hero, using higher level troops, and upgrading them.
Keep your equipment up-to-date. Having a level 26 hero wearing full Trainee is a waste of troops and time, since the bonuses provided by Steel, even when not wearing a full suit, are upwards of 4 times the stats of Trainee gear. Stats allow for more powerful troops in fighting, better success in Arena/Pagoda, and better increases when mayoral.
Specialize your heroes. If you have one set to be mayor, gear them for Dex/Str above all, put all the skill points under the political tab, etc... Troop leaders want Str/Agi for the best effects. Make your duelist go Str/Def, with Contest skills and make sure they have the weapon resist (slash/blunt/pierce) to counter whatever they are fighting against. Hammers are Blunt, Spears are Pierce, Swords are Slash. If the opponent has a Hammer and Slash Res, you want to use a Spear or Hammer and wear lots of Blunt Res to help ensure a victory.
Troop Levels:
Book 2 - Beginner's Quests
Book 3 - Arena Points (Grade 1 or 2) or Union Shop (Level 1,2,3)
Book 4 - Union Shop (Level 3+), Military Theory Quests
Book 5 - Military Theory Quests
Book 6 - Military Theory Quests
Building your troops from the Barracks as a higher level will save time + resource, and it ensures that each food used is more effective.
A level 1 Swordsman has 16 Inf Atk, 1 Inf Def, 16 Pike Def, 8 Cav Def, 29 HP.
A level 10 Swordsman has 37 Inf Atk, 16 Inf Def, 34 Pike Def, 26 Cav Def, 47 HP.
If you have 100 army space, would you rather 100 of the first, or 100 of the second?
Feel free to post your suggestions/tips as well!
