Grepolis Beginner’s Guide

Grepolis Beginner’s Guide by Apologia

This is a guide, made by someone who never played the game. You are in the forums, so you know how to attack a village. This guide is for the first week (or two) of play.
With merely the ‘beginner’s protection’ as the base, and during that one week of protection, a lot of of heavy reading and weighty playing, this player wanted to see what they could do. Within this simple construct, unfettered by the clarity of experience, this player wanted to design an easy guide for fellow noobs.
This is the result.

-MOST IMPORTANT- You have 5-7 days where NO ONE can hurt you.
(the number of days is either 5 or 7, depending on your world)
This is called the ‘Beginner’s Protection’. Use these days well.

-This is a time-based game, and two distinct periods of play. Logged-in and Logged-off.
1) Logged-in: YOU are in control. Do not waste time.
2) Logged-off: YOU are not here. But your buildings are still working.

-You are Logged-in. Do not waste time. Learn the basics AS you play.
-Keep all three ‘sheets’ up, the Game, Help and Forums. (on the left hand side of screen)
-Help- is wonderful for we noobs. While your troops and construction crews are doing their jobs, scan the various buildings, units, and other topics that will greatly improve your ideas and plans.
-Forums- are full of interesting people. Get to know them by reading about them! Uncover the present wars and Alliances, your own Ocean’s events (it’s a very big world out there) and how it may effect you later on; and certainly there are many hints to be found on faster growth and using resources effectively.
-The Game- You always want to pop in and out of the game while reading the other two ‘sheets’. Keep those troops working!

-Troops! When logged-in, ALWAYS keep your troops busy.
Keep attacking (farming) villages, all the time you are logged-in. The amount of resources from farming is huge compared to that which you get from your buildings. Speedy farming is the key to fast construction.
Be wary when attacking villages that slip below 75% mood. Having your precious men killed at this stage can set you back many hours. (I found out the hard way)
Between 60-74% it’s a risk. Under 60% you are taking a gamble. The amount of resistance is affected by the ‘strength’ of the village. It’s often better to send your soldiers to another village. You might lose 5-10 minutes, but you won’t lose those vital commodities. There is absolutely NOTHING to do but watch your construction crews hammer nails …if you don’t have an army.

-Wood! It’s a constantly changing balance of priorities, but WOOD is your primary need at first. Upgrade the Timber Camp, FAST. (But, make sure you slowly upgrade the other resource buildings to accommodate future needs.) Wood is burned up at an alarming rate, it’s used for everything. You will also need your Timber Camp at level 3 to build a Silver Mine. Build it!

-Silver Mine is your first new building. It is a slow build. (the first of many slow builds) But once made, it will begin to do it’s job. Raiding the villages will produce your big cash, but when logged-out, the Silver Mine will continue to pour out it’s dividends.
Make sure you build this as soon as you can. When you go to sleep tonight the miners will still be hard at work.

-The Quarry is important, but not so much at this stage.
A lower level Quarry, along with your village raids, gives more than enough rock to build things.
Rock is a fantastic determinant on how fast you should level your Warehouse. Don’t waste resources! Keep an eye on your Warehouse and how much rock you have in it. Upgrade accordingly.

-The Farm is also important, but after a few levels you should have plenty of food. Level the Farm only as you see the need for more men. The ‘free’ population is up in the top right corner of your screen. Always have a few dozen waiting to be employed for your military or construction.

-The Senate is ultimately your most important building.

-Keep looking at the -Help- list of buildings. It shows what you need to build new stuff. There are obviously many methods for growth of a city, but a few buildings are very basic.
1) Barracks. This should be your first concern after the Silver Mine. You need more men! Get those men out there gathering resources! The Barracks also allows you to build the…
2) Academy. Ignore the slingers for now. They can’t carry enough booty and you need the research points. Get the Academy to level 2, this will allow you to research Archers. Immediately save silver to research those Archers.

-Archers are extremely good at getting resources. They are 50% faster and 50% better at carrying the booty from the villages than your swordsmen. They are ideal to send out to more distant villages while the swordmen stay closer to home. This spreads out how fast the villages lose their mood.

With archers farming the villages, and some decent amount of ‘logged-in’ playing, the first week should be easy to reach 1000 points with at least 100 soldiers defending your city.
But things in an active world are never easy…

-Strategy and ‘The Game’-
We may be noobs, but we don’t have to look like one!

-Check out your island and surrounding islands carefully. Become aware of local Alliances and new players. You have many minutes of ‘down time’ while your buildings construct and your troops raid villages. Spend these minutes planning ahead.
Look around, check things out. Inspect names, Alliance ‘tags’ and banners, how fast people grow, anything you can do to fathom how aggressive (or helpful) they may be in the future.

-As you go up the rankings, passing many inactive players, look at rankings for Alliances and players..
This will give you a basic understanding of all the Alliances in your world. It’s also a big boost in your morale knowing you are advancing fast. Be aware, your ranking slows down considerably as you advance.
This is also a wonderful way to learn all the functions of -Profile- and -Rankings- on the left hand side of your screen and how to look at cities, alliances and players. It also aids in the forums, to sort of know what’s going on and how it may effect you later on.

-Protect your base. Your first city is… your only city.
Dozens, even hundreds of soldiers helps you in two ways.
1) Fast and heavy raiding of villages.
2) When your ‘beginner’s protection’ is over, you want a decent amount of defense. Other players may probe you, spy on you, and/or try for a swift farming raid on your city. Defend yourself.
Make friends soon, preferably on your island. Small Alliances may look weak when compared to the Great Alliances, but they do their task very well. A potential attacker on your city doesn’t know how well your new friends may help you, and those on your island can send help VERY fast.

-Don’t search for the big Alliances to join, you will look like a fool.
You (and me) aren’t anywhere near that stage of the game. If you feel threatened or just bored, join with a nearby smaller Alliance. These are the people that can actually help you. However, be cautious about joining anyone.
-Don’t commit yourself too early to an Alliance. You have a week to assess the situation without being attacked, and during that week many things might be revealed.
Make friends. This is a huge world, with a lot of players, and you need friends to ward off any idiots out there. Make friends with smart, calm and ACTIVE people close to you.

-Choose your city name carefully.
Look like an mature adult who knows what they are doing. Don’t be overly aggressive, nor look like a weakling. You can change a city name whenever you want, just click on the name in the City Overview or Island Map.

–Think BIG, if you plan to play for awhile. Check the high-end Alliances. (using the -Ranking- button it’s easy to see. Just press 1 on the -Ranking- list.) Consider where you are in the world, and how you may fit in with the elites of the game. These people have every advantage on you; time, friends, the forum, experience, and a lot of power.
Give them credit where credit is due.

And lastly, but surely not leastly!…

When you are logged-out is VERY important.
-Keep in mind when you plan to quit playing for the day, and when you will next play. Even when your troops aren’t working, your buildings (and many other players) are still hard at the game. Plan accordingly. Upgrade one last resource building, send out one last village raid. And be SURE to keep your Warehouse large enough so while you do your RL stuff, like sleeping… (if you do sleep!) …the Warehouse slowly fills up and your resources are not wasted. It’s a total blast knowing when you return that you will have a lot of stuff to do! (For many older players this becomes a chore, the ultimate burden of being an elite. But fun as heck for us noobies!)

There you have it! A Noob’s Guide for Noobs. Not perfect for sure, and certainly not complete, but still a decent method to get through these first days of figuring out a new game.
And, for little ol’ me, after playing Grepolis for only two days, a fun (and sort of scary) way to enter the forums and help out my fellow noobies.