Player's Guide - ArchBattle - Free Online Browser Based Strategy MMORPG

Players Guide

Guide Topics

Introduction, Races, Resources, Artifacts, Empire, Training, Building, Forge, Skills, Attack, Market, Bank, History, Guild, Account, Shout Box

Introduction

Don't come into this game thinking its just like every other game out there. It isn't. The strategies in this game are different. You must defend your empire not simply defend a castle. Defensive structures like forts, strongholds and castles add to your defense but do not add to your ability to defend. You need a healthy number of sentinels, defenders and more to keep an adequate defense. You will lose many battle even with a good defense. The objective is to grow. Lose battles and it slows your own growth process. Winning battles slows other players progress and may help you grow. The primary metric is net worth. The more structures, equipment and trained personel you have the higher your net worth. Another metric is experience. You get experience by winning battles. The experience gained allows you to level which gives you more settlements and skill points.

There are no "turns" in ArchBattle. Soldier morale is used to determine the amount of attacking a player can do. Morale grows by 5% each week (20 minutes real time). Attacking someone takes a minimum of 3% morale (2% in a guild war). Morale loss is based on the size of your empires net worth and the size of your targets net worth. If your empire has a higher net worth than your target you will lose more morale for each attack up to a maximum of -250% in a single attack. Use caution when retaliating against small empires.

A round is 3 months.

Quick Help by Peon:

A game week is 20 minutes in real world time, this is when all your production takes place and you get new pop if any.

To gain Experience points and, possibly, more gold you will need to attack someone. Be careful though. Attacking someone of a higher level than you gives more points, but the player you attacked can then attack you back with their whole population, provided they train them all to attackers (Large empires can do massive damage to you this way, be careful).

To increase population, build huts. To do so you will need to train carpenters to build and gather lumber (Carpenters gather lumber when not assigned to build). As you increase your pop, you will need to build farms to feed them. Each farm only feeds 50 pop, so plan ahead!

Before you can make your army bigger to attack and defend against larger enemies, you will need to buy better weapons and armor. Do so on the forge page. If you pay attention to the "HOW TO PLAY ARCHBATTLE" section below, you will know the correct combination of armor and weapons to buy. If not, you have wasted gold!

You need miners to produce gold to pay for all this, so train some miners!

MORE stratgies for players can be found in the Strategy & Tactics Forum

HOW TO PLAY ARCHBATTLE

Your goal it to rise in rank and conquer your enemies. You can do this as a solo player or you can create or join a guild and share resources with others.

Races
All races start with: 500 Citizens, 100 Miners, 100 Carpenters, 100 Blacksmiths, 10 Masons, 50 Scouts, 50 Sentinels, 100 Militia, 100 Infantry, 150000 Gold, 10000 Food, 2000 Lumber, 1000 Iron, 1000 Stone, 500 Hex, and 10 Skill Points
Undead	Undead come from an ancient evil magic that has cursed the kingdoms of ArchBattle for centuries. Ability: After a battle with any race other than undead the evil magic that goes with them will animate up to 10% of the enemy killed in battle. Restrictions: 10% Decrease in population growth. Immune to lycanthropy infection. +5% kills vs. Lycans.
Humans	ArchBattles Human populations are versatile and can adapt to any situation. Ability: +20 Skill Points at Empire Creation. Restrictions: None
Trolls	Trolls tough hides and unnatural ability to rapidly heal make them a dreaded enemy in combat. Ability: Forces disabled or killed in combat reduced by 35%. Retrictions: 15% Decrease in population growth.
Elves	Elves are masters of the forest. Ability: 35% Increase in Lumber production. Restrictions: 20% Decrease in mining production.
Orcs	Orcs overall toughness and strength make them formidable opponents on the battlefield. Ability: An increase of 20% in army offensive and defensive totals. Restrictions: 20% Decrease in mining production.
Dwarves	Dwarves are master miners. Ability: 20% Increase in Iron, Hex and Gold production. Restrictions: 20% Decrease in Lumber production.
ADVANCED PLAYER RACES
Goblins	Ability: 35% increase in population growth. Restriction: 35% decrease in offense / defense.
Giants	Ability: 35% increase in offense / defense. Restriction: 35% decrease in population growth.
Lycans	Ability: 8% of opponents battle losses recover and may become infected with lycanthropy. At the first full moon the infected will return to your empire bringing others with them fully trained. +20% offense and defense during full moon. Restriction: 10% decrease in population growth. -10% offense and defense during last quarter moon. 0% bonus during new moon and first quarter moon. Immune to raising by undead. +5% kills vs. Undead.

Resources
All resources except horses suffer from .5% decay per week.
	Gold. The coin of the realm. Used to pay upkeep (wages and maintenance), purchase weapons, armor, buildings and market resources. Produced by Miners.
	Lumber. Used in the construction of bulidings and to fire the forges when making weapons and armor. Produced by Carpenters when not assigned a building task.
	Stone. Used in the construction of many buildings. Produced by Masons when not assigned a building task.
	Iron. Used for forging weapons and needed to build some structures. Produced by Blacksmiths.
	Hex. Magical metal which strengthens weapons and armor. Without this metal the undead would be unstopable. Its so effective even they use it to defend themselves against other undead. Produced by Blacksmiths.
	Food. Everything needs to eat. Some things need wheat, some meat. Others just the energy provided by the food source (or the energy provided TO the food source). Produced by Farms.
	Horses. Required to train mounted soldiers. Produced by Ranches.
Useful Data Provided in Info Bar
	Net Worth. Total of everything you own.
	Morale. Your armies happiness. Increases by 5% every week until it reaches 100% then 1% thereafter. Morale drops based on who you are attacking. The lower below your net worth your enemy is the more morale you lose in each attack. You lose a minimum of 3% for attacking another empire. There is no upper limit. Use caution when retaliating against an attack by a small empire.
	Crystals. Earn these by voting and referring new players to the game. Once you earn them they can't be sold, traded or taken away and they are kept from round to round. Use them in the exchange to purchase empire bonuses.

Artifacts
There are a number of magical artifacts in the ArchBattle realm. Once captured they imbue the empire with increased abilities. Unfortunately the power they emit repels other artifacts so an empire can only hold one artifact at any time. If you capture a new artifact any artifact you already have will be transported back to the NPC empire that originally held it.
Spyglass	Your scouts will always return an accurate report of the enemies defenses.
Hammer	Your carpenters will build faster weilding this enhanced hammer.
Pick	This will take your miners to the largest seams of gold.
Shield	Fewer arrows will hit the intended targets.
Axe	Guides your carpenters to the most abundant groves.
Anvil	Metal more quickly bends to the will of your blacksmiths when placed upon this anvil.
Scroll	When read to trainees they take on new skills quickly.
Armor	Lead your defenders wearing this and all your soldiers will have increased protection.
Battle Axe	Carrying this axe into battle will grant your attackers more strength.
Crown	Your soldiers will recover from combat quicker when they see you dawn this simple crown.

Empire: The info page.
This page shows game news, your stats and has a shout box for a quick message to other players. Don't forget to vote! It helps get more players in the game increasing the targets, allies and fun!

Guild: Create or join a guild here.
If you have an invitation to a guild you can accept or decline it from here. You need 3 players including yourself to start a guild. A guild allows you to share resources with other guild members and discuss strategy in the private guild forum.

Training: Train your citizens here.
The citizens that join your empire are untrained and don't do anything until you train them. 20 Untrained citizens will generate 1 gold per week.
Scouts:	The infiltrators of your army. They get into the defending forces to gain the initiative, commit sabotage and divide the enemy. The more you have the better, however, they are not as effective as Attackers and can only use spears. There is no limit on the number of Scouts you can have.
Sentinels:	The guards of your defensive forces. These guys watch for scouts and prevent them from infiltrating. You will want to maintain a force of sentinels around 3% of your TOTAL POPULATION as scouts are sneaky and try to infiltrate as normal citizens your sentinels must watch over everyone. Can only wear leather armour. There is no limit on the number of Sentinels you can have.
Militia:	The citizen soldier. Can use all armor types. Cannot use 2 handed weapons. There is no limit on the number of Militia you can have.
Infantry:	The front line attacking soldier. Can use all weapon types except lances. Can only used Scale or lighter armor. There is no limit on the number of Infantry you can have.
Archers:	This soldiers job is to reduce the size of the attacking or defending forces. They launch their arrows from behind your melee soldiers to disable or kill enemy soldiers before hand to hand combat begins. They add only a small amount to the offense and defensive totals and cannot use armor or weapons. You can only train these if you have outposts. Archers cannot win a battle alone. You must have another soldier type to win. 50% of your total army can be Archers.
Lancers:	Combination Scout and Sentinel on horse back. Leather armor only. Can use all weapon types. You must have Forts to train Lancers. 25% of your total unmounted army can be Lancers.
Knights:	These mounted soldiers are highly trained. Can use all weapons and armor. You must have Strongholds to train Knights. Knights are limited to 25% of your total Lancers. eg. If you have 100 Lancers you can train 25 Knights.
Champions:	Combines Scout, Sentinel, Knight and Archer all in one hero sized package. They can fire multiple arrows before combat begins with a + 10% accuracy bonus. Can use all weapons and armor. You must have Castles to train Champions. Champions are limited to 10% of your total Knights. eg. If you have 100 Knights you can train 10 Champions.
Miners:	These workers generate 25 gold per week each. This is your source of income. There is no limit on the number of Miners you can have.
Blacksmiths:	Blacksmiths forge weapons and armor. They are also needed to construct some buildings. They gather 1 iron and .25 hex when not assigned to a job. There is no limit on the number of Blacksmiths you can have.
Carpenters:	You need these workers to build the buildings and gather lumber when not assigned to build. When not assign to build a structure they will gather 1 Lumber each. There is no limit on the number of Carpenters you can have.
Masons:	You need these workers to build some buildings and gather stone when not assigned to build. When not assign to build a structure they will gather 1 Stone each. There is no limit on the number of Masons you can have.
If you cannot pay the per week labor cost (known as upkeep) then only the workers you can pay will gather resources or build that week.
Reserve: Reserved soldiers are not used when you are attacked. If you have 100 Militia and set reserves at 80% then only 20 will be used when you are attacked. This allows you to defend against smaller empires while not being completely crushed by larger ones in one hit.

Building: Construct your empire here.
Huts:	Adds 3 to your maximum population and .025 to your per week citizen growth. They cost 1 gold per week each to maintain.
Outposts:	Adds 25 to your maximum population and .25 to your per week citizen growth. You must have 10 huts for each outpost. They cost 5 gold per week each to maintain.
Forts:	Adds 500 to your maximum population and 1 to your per week citizen growth. You must have 8 outposts for each fort. They cost 10 gold per week each to maintain.
Strongholds:	Adds 2000 to your maximum population and 2.5 to your per week citizen growth. You must have 6 forts for each stronghold. They cost 50 gold per week each to maintain.
Castles:	Adds 5000 to your maximum population and 5 to your per week citizen growth. You must have 4 strongholds for each castle. They cost 100 gold per week each to maintain.
Farms:	Generates 2 food per week each. 1 food feeds 25 citizens, unmounted soldiers, workers or horses per week. Costs 1 gold per week to maintain. Stockpiled food decays at a rate of .5% per week. Adds 1 to your maximum population.
Ranches:	Generate .04 horses per week (2 horses per year). Costs 2 gold per week to maintain. Adds 1 to your maximum population.
If you cannot pay the per week cost then only the buildings you can pay for will generate for that week. Farms and Ranches generate first then Huts, Outposts, Forts, Strongholds and Castles.
Most buildings add to your defense. The total building defense is added together and added to your defense..
Settlements and Overbuilding: You obtain settlements by leveling. You get an additional number of settlements equal to your new level when leveling. You can cheaply build up to 350 structures per settlement. If you overbuild then the cost, resources and upkeep for the buildings increase. If you have 1 settlement and 700 buildings the costs double. 1 settlement with 1050 buildings triple the costs. The increases are linear so they increase for each building you build. If you are already overbuilt and the number of carpenters needed is 100 that is for the next building built. If you build 100 more buildings it may require more than 100 carpenters per structure you build to begin building.

Forge: Make the tools of conquest.
Weapons (Offense)
Spear:	Single handed. Cheap and quick to make.
Mace:	Single handed. Inflicts more damage.
Sword:	Single handed. Inflicts twice the damage of a spear.
Halberd:	Two handed. Can't be used with a shield.
Axe:	Two handed. Can't be used with a shield.
Lance:	Designed to be held in one hand.
Bow:	Accuracy is 10% + player level. Only usable By Archers and Champions.
Armor (Defense)
Leather:	Light and concealable armor.
Ring:	Tough hide with rings attached for additional protection.
Scale:	Tough hide with thin metal scales attached for additional protection.
Chain:	Small iron rings linked together.
Plate:	Iron plates for maximum protection.
Shield:	Simple iron disc. Provides protection from arrow attacks. Only usuable with single handed weapons.
Horse Armor:	Tough hide with plates attached for additional protection.

Market: When you need it now.

If you need extra resources or have extra resources to sell this is the place to do it. Enter the amount of resources you have or want, enter the price for each unit and then click buy or sell. If you are buying and your price is lower than the current selling price but higher than the current wanted price your order will be listed first in the wanted section. If another player enters a higher buying price your purchase will be bumped down the wanted list until the higher price order has been filled. If you are selling and your selling price is lower than the current selling price but higher than the current wanted price your stock will be listed until another empire undercuts your price or you have sold your stock. You can cancel purchase and selling orders at any time. You can enter the amount you are willing to pay and the number you wish to purchase. The market will automatically buy everything available up to the quantity you wish to buy at or below your offered bid amount.

Bank: Store your gold away from your enemies.
Any gold you have on hand can be taken if you are successfully attacked by another empire. To prevent gold loss when attacked you can store it in your bank. You are only permitted 5 transactions per year which reset at the beginning of each new year. Interest is paid yearly at the beginning of each new year.

History: What has happened.
This is a listing of what has happened inside your empire in the last 24 hours. Payments made, attacks and market sales are recorded here.

Attack: Conquer your enemies for gold and glory here.
All the empires are sorted by rank (experience). You gain gold and experience to move up in the ranks by winning in combat.
Find by Page:	Enter the number of the page you want to jump to.
Find by Level:	Enter the level to limit the list to.
Find by Name:	Enter a user name or partial name to search for.
Any user name with an gold shield beside it indicates that the empire is under protection for heavy losses and cannot be attacked until the protection expires.
Rank:	The experience rank of the empire.
Net Worth:	The combined value of the empires assests. Calculated by adding gold, soldiers, buildings, armor and weapons toghether. The calcualtion is done every week.
Population:	The empires current population.
Level:	The level of the empire.
By clicking the user name of the empire you will be presented with the profile page for that empire. At the profile page you can choose to attack the empire or send the empire a private message.
Attacking
Once you choose to attack the empire you are presented with the attack page. Here you can enter the number of soldiers you wish to use in the attack.
When you click attack you are presented with the attack summary page. Scouts try to infiltrate first. If they succeed they can give you the initiative allowing your archers to attack first, sabotage the enemy archers and flank the enemy forces reducing their defenses even further. If you have the initiative then your archers attack first reducing the enemy defenders and archers otherwise the defenders archers get the first attack and target your attackers and archers. The empire with the initiative gets an advantage and their archers can move out of range before the archers of the opposing empire gets to strike. Once the losses from the scouts and archers have been removed the hand to hand combat is preformed and the offense and defense totals are calculated. The higher total wins. If you win the attack you are rewarded gold, resources and experience.
Retaliation and Morale loss. When you are preparing to attack another player the amount of morale you will lose in the attack is displayed. When you attack an empire it is recorded in that empires history as a defend and in your history as an attack. The difference is used to determine the reliation divider. If you attack a single empire a multitude of times their morale loss is divided by that number minus the number of attacks they have made against you. eg. hexsane attacks slayer 4 times without retaliation, slayers morale loss is divided by 4 for the first attack against hexsane, 3 for the next, 2 for the third. If you're attacking larger empires its a good idea to limit the number of attacks to prevent them from doing large amounts of damage to your empire.

Skills: Make your empire stronger here.
Skills are adjustable. When changed they will go up or down 1% per week until the desired target is reached.
Skils increase or decrease by the current percentage. If you produce 100 food per week and have a 10% skill bonus then your production will go up to 110 food per week.
Skill	Description
Agriculture:	Increases food production.
Gold Refining:	Increases gold production.
Iron Refining:	Increases iron production.
Hex Refining:	Increases hex production.
Masonry:	Increases stone production.
Husbandry:	Increases horse production.
Forestry:	Increases lumber production.
Weapon Smithing:	Decreases cost and resources needed for forging weapons.
Armor Smithing:	Decreases cost and resources needed for forging armor.
Architecture:	Increases settlement space.
Engineering:	Decreases building cost.
Fabrication:	Decreases building resource requirements.
Welfare:	Increases max population.
Enrichment:	Increases population growth rate.
Fortification:	Increases building defense.
Toughness:	Decreases battlefield losses.
Archery:	Increases bow accuracy.
Shielding:	Increases shield protection.
Formations:	Increases defense.
Tactics:	Increases offense.

Account: Tell them how good you are here.
This page contains useful links and your public profile.
Profile	Use the text box to enter the profile that everyone can see when they click your empires name from within the game.
Change Password	Click here to change your login password.
Request Name Change	If you join a guild and want to change your empire name to match the guilds theme request it here. Primarily this is used for guild themes however there are exceptions and its up to the moderator to decide if you have a good enough reason to change your empire name.
Reset Account	Click here to enter the account reset page in case you've gotten off to a bad start. You can only reset once evey 5 days.

Shout Box: Communicate quickly with others.
The shout box is located on the empire page for the desktop site or as a seperate page on the mobile site.
Post	Posts the message you've entered.
Refresh	The shout box does not automatically refresh so you must select this to refresh the shout box.
Main	Selects the main shout box for chatting
Guild	If you are a member of a guild select this to enter the guilds private chat area. Players commonly refer to this as 'GC'.
Help	Quick help for the shout box and list of smilies.
Selecting a players name will take you to their profile page.
Clicking Mutes (***) the player. Clicking again unmutes.
To completely block all communications from a player select their name and select the Block link in their profile. This will prevent them from sending you private messages and make them completely invisible to you in the shout box.
Indicates players is using m.archbattle.com.
Foreign Languages - If you can't understand someone else block them from their profile page.

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