The Weapon and Armor Workshops are two of the most overlooked structures in the game. Newer players have a habit of upgrading the buildings but not utilizing them. They are the most crucial elements in battle next to troop level and hero quality.
The boosts provided by the Workshops add additional attack and defense abilities to the troops that are upgraded with them. Each level of upgrades costs a small amount or resources that can be spared during most times of the game. Once these buildings reach level 10, in addition to needing the standard food, stone, wood, and iron, they will also require a small amount of magic crystals that build in your inventory from the Crystal Mines that each union must possess.
It is very important to pay attention to these buildings and use them at every moment you have available. Many battle are decided by the workshop grades achieved. For instance, Player A may send a force that is half the quantity of Player B's troop count, but if Player B has no Workshop upgrades and Player A has the troops in use upgraded to level 10 weapons and armor, this can actually negate higher troop levels, and even surpass them. It would be likely in such an attack that Player A will win such a fight, or cause higher than anticipated losses. It is important to note that no other player can decipher what your weapon and armor grades are and this can give you an edge on the competition.
From the start of the game you must build these Workshops in your main city. Later on, however, it is foolish to make that your main location for these buildings. As the level of the Workshops increases, so does the time to make them and the resources needed. This can draw attention from important structures that can only be built in your main, such as the Espionage Center, or resources that exceed level 20. It is advisable that you build these Workshops in a sub city, but only one of them. If sub 1 has level 15 Workshops, and all upgrades are that high, while sub 2 has level 5 workshops, those in sub 2 are completely useless.
Once you have the ability to make workshops in your sub, I recommend that you upgrade them there and spare your main so that it can accomplish more worth construction matters. You may even downgrade those buildings in your main if you so desire, to save population points. Either way, it is crucial that the importance of these buildings not be overlooked.
