Understanding Return on Investment (ROI) is one of the key skills that separates top Travian: Legends players from casual ones. ROI helps you decide how to spend resources efficiently — ensuring every investment pays off as soon as possible.
In Travian: Legends, ROI measures how long it takes for your investment to pay for itself.
In simple terms:
ROI = Resources Spent ÷ Resources Gained per Hour
The smaller the ROI time (in hours or days), the better the investment.
You use ROI every time you decide:
Which fields to upgrade next,
Whether to train troops early,
Or whether to expand to a new village or upgrade an existing one.
A player on a x2 speed gameworld wonders if they should conquer three crop oases (+25% each) for a non-capital 15-cropper village.
Upgrade cost (Lv. 15 → Lv. 20): 1,595,070 resources
Bonus crop gain: +2,100/hour (without gold bonus) or +2,625/hour (with gold bonus)
Using ROI:
1,595,070 ÷ 2,625 = 607 hours (~25 days)
That means it takes about 25 days just to recover the resources spent — only after that does the upgrade start generating a net gain.
Cost: ~1,350,000 resources
Production gain: 16,800/hour (x2 world, all fields Lv. 10, resource buildings Lv. 5)
Using ROI:
1,350,000 ÷ 16,800 = 80 hours
That’s just 3–4 days to recover the investment — and it also gives new culture points and population.
Conclusion:
Expanding to a new village has a far better ROI than upgrading the Hero’s Mansion for extra oases in this example.
Tip: If your world situation is unstable, you could also use those same resources (~1.6 million) to train ~5,000 Phalanxes instead — another strategic ROI consideration.
Many experienced players use ROI principles to plan which crop fields to upgrade first in their capitals.
The idea is simple: always upgrade the field that gives the highest increase in hourly production for the lowest total cost.
For example:
Upgrading a crop field from level 5 to 6 might cost fewer resources but add less production than upgrading one from level 8 to 9.
By comparing the extra production gained to the upgrade cost, you can see which action pays back faster — that’s your best ROI choice.
Following this logic ensures your crop production grows steadily without wasting resources on inefficient upgrades.
Training an army too early can slow down your economic progress. Use ROI thinking here too:
If you farm:
Use your farming income to sustain troop training.
A good split is 60% of income into army, 40% into economy.
If you don’t farm:
Only start troop training once you have at least two fully developed villages (all resource fields level 10, buildings maxed).
This ensures your economy can handle troop upkeep and rebuilds after losses without collapsing.
Use ROI whenever you face these questions:
“Is this upgrade worth it right now?”
“Will this army investment pay off soon enough?”
“Should I focus on expansion or upgrades first?”
If an investment returns resources faster than alternatives, it’s almost always the smarter move.
ROI helps you make smarter, faster progress.
Always compare how long an upgrade takes to pay off.
Prioritize investments that boost production early.
Train troops only when your economy can support it sustainably.
Use tools like the Cropper Developer Calculator to plan your upgrades efficiently.
Mastering ROI ensures every decision moves your account toward faster growth and long-term success.
