“What is the best defense?” doesn’t have a universal answer. It highly depends on own player development, current game situation and even how far the player is from others. Let’s just give few examples of players possible decisions:
- Have high production, gold and live quite far on the map? Then pick the fastest cavalry units to be in time everywhere.
- Limited in gold and resources but still want to support alliance with defence? Then cheapest infantry (highest defence/cost value) would be ideal.
- The gameworld is about to become a hot place with multiple battles? Then probably we can ignore crop consumption and focus on the units that gain the defence points fastest (highest defence/time parameter).
- Preparing for the world wonder or just do not have huge crop production? Then crop efficiency is one of the keys.
- Don’t want to make lots of def villages and prefer to train infantry and cavalry in one? Then it’s better to pick the tribe that provides such an option.
Defense units at one glance
Below, we’ve compiled a table of defensive units in the game. The data is based on a x1 speed game, with level 20 barracks and/or stables, and no other bonuses. The number of units shown is what can be trained over one week (~168 hours) on a x1 gameworld.
Tribe | Units | Number of units | Defence against infantry (k) | Defence against cavalry (k) | Total defence | Upkeep | Unit speed (x1) | Cost per hour (x1) | Defence/Time | Defence/Costs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Legionnaires | 2800 | 98 | 140 | 238 | 2800 | 6 | 6667 | 1417 | 0.213 | |
 | Praetoreans | 2541 | 165 | 89 | 254 | 2541 | 5 | 6958 | 1513 | 0.217 | ||
 |  | Spearmen | 4005 | 140 | 240 | 380 | 4005 | 7 | 8106 | 2265 | 0.279 | |
 | Paladins | 1866 | 187 | 75 | 262 | 3732 | 10 | 11167 | 1556 | 0.139 | ||
 |  | Phalanxes | 4320 | 173 | 216 | 389 | 4320 | 7 | 8100 | 2314 | 0.286 | |
 | Druidriders | 1748 | 201 | 96 | 297 | 3496 | 16 | 11341 | 1769 | 0.156 | ||
 | Haeduans | 1436 | 86 | 237 | 323 | 4308 | 13 | 16803 | 1924 | 0.115 | ||
 |  | Slave Militia | 8400 | 252 | 168 | 420 | 8400 | 7 | 7500 | 2500 | 0.333 | |
 | Ash Wardens | 3251 | 179 | 130 | 309 | 3251 | 6 | 8129 | 1839 | 0.226 | ||
 | Anhur Guards | 1748 | 192 | 87 | 279 | 3496 | 15 | 11341 | 1665 | 0.147 | ||
 | Resheph Chariots | 1380 | 166 | 207 | 373 | 4140 | 10 | 14795 | 2219 | 0.150 | ||
 |  | Mercenaries | 5548 | 222 | 166 | 388 | 5548 | 6 | 9578 | 2312 | 0.241 | |
 | Marksmen | 1805 | 144 | 126 | 270 | 3610 | 15 | 11284 | 1612 | 0.143 | ||
 |  | Shieldsmen | 2308 | 196 | 104 | 300 | 2308 | 8 | 7282 | 1786 | 0.245 | |
 | Elpida Riders | 1591 | 191 | 143 | 334 | 3182 | 16 | 13642 | 1989 | 0.146 | ||