A Simple Beginner's Strategy (advice for a newcomer)

For all of you who are new to Travian, it can be a little overwhelming. Not to say it's complicated, but the temptation to build so many different buildings is fun. Unfortunately, the newcomer can often get distracted by glitz and glamour of a barracks and forget to do the most important things. Here's what SHOULD be built first, what should be focused on, and how long they should be focused on in each new city you build. I hope it helps.

#1 : RESOURCE FIELDS!!
There's no if, ands, or but's about it. Resource fields are the most important building in the game. Without them you can't build JACK. (and jack requires well over 100,000 of every resource including titanium!)
For those of you a bit slower on the uptake as to why, here's a visual aid.

	1 Day	2 Day	3 Day	4 Day	5 Day
50 resource/HR	1200 Resource	2400 Resource	3600 Resource	4800 Resource	6000 Resource
100 resource/HR	2400 Resource	4800 Resource	7200 Resource	9600 Resource	12000 Resource
200 resource/HR	4800 Resource	9600 Resource	14400 Resource	19200 Resource	24000 Resource

See how by day five if you have your resources up, how much more you can be earning? See, if you wasted time building up your other buildings during that five days, now it is taking all the longer to get resources in. If you still don't understand, just trust me and build up your resource fields.

How Long?: Get them all to at least level 7 (on each field) before moving on. I prefer at least 1 level 10 of each resource as well so I can build Brickworks, Sawmill, and the Iron Foundry (all 3 add 5% per level to their respective resource, aka if your clay is at 200/hr and you build a lvl 5 brickworks it jumps to 250/hr)

#2 : Granary/Warehouse
Duh! This should be a given if we have a high production. If you can't store it, you can't use it!

How Long?: This I believe should be focused on until you can hold over 100,000 of each resource. (stagger this appropriately with Resource field expansion) Here's a good gauge to use. Assume how much you will make of given resource in 36hrs. If your granary/warehouse can't hold that much, upgrade. Don't upgrade again until you are in the same situation.

#3 : Crannies
I know, I know. I will hear all sides of this stupid argument. I believe in crannies. But I also believe in active players who watch their accounts for attacks and spend down when they see them coming! I think someone without a cranny is an idiot. I also believe that someone with more than 2 better have a HUGELY good reason. If you really can't figure out how to spend down, get a sitter who does!

How Long?: This should be staggered like warehouse/granary. Not as high though. Don't waste space or time with these except to cover the bare minimum of backup resources, appx 1500 of each on average. Once your city is big enough to have a real defense, DESTROY THE 2nd (or more <shudder>) Cranny.

#4 : Market
What's that you say? Why a market? Because you can trade resources, simple as that. You will always end up with extra of something and wish it were a different resource. Without a market, there's nothing you can do. This is probably one of the most overlooked and most important strategies of the game. Level this up, and do it pretty quickly. An added bonus is population from the market. It makes you look bigger, which in turn will often turn away predators who prey on small villages. Also, notice that you can use this to get yourself additional resources. Here's how. Set up trades like these, 750 Clay for 1000 Wood, at the same time do, 750 Wood for 1000 Clay. Don't pull these trades! Wait for them to both complete. Look at the result. You just gained 250 of each of those resources, and it didn't cost you anything. It's like investing in the stock market. Trust me, someone will eventually trade for your resource.

How Long?: Until you have about a lvl 9/10 marketplace. After that wait until you have other things upgraded before going back to it.

#5 : Wall/Earth Mound/Palisade
No. Barracks aren't next. Why? Even without a single troop (which cost resources every hour) you can still kill incoming troops and discourage them from attacking. How cool is that. Even a lvl 1 wall can kill 4 or less troops of about any race. That's right. If someone raids you with less than 5 troops, a level 1 wall will kill them all. Nice huh? Just think how many a lvl 6 can kill. Yes, that's without you having a single troop. Don't waste your time on troops unless you are going raiding.

How Long?: Until it's about a lvl 6/7. After that, the expense starts growing alot, and you need to be focusing on other things. Like troops!

#6 : Barracks
I won't overcomplicate this one. Troops come from a barracks. You can't raid without troops. You can't increase your resources as quick without raiders. Assume you only take 50 resources per raid, and you can only raid 1 time per hour. Look at the first chart I had above. Think that will make a difference in the long run? Of course it will. So get to it fast, especially if you are a Teuton. BTW, don't EVER send less then 5 troops to raid. Even at the beginning of the game. You'll just lose them, and THAT's a waste of resource.

How Long?: You really need to only worry about what's required to get your best raiding unit until you are ready to actually go to war. At that point though, you better be ready to max this sucker out to lvl 20!

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That's it for now. I hope that helps anyone who is new. Thanks for reading!

Really good set of tips for a beginner, specially if they are romans and gauls. I am one of those that prefer, before the beginner protection expires, build a cranny and level it up to 3-4 at least, so when teutons come down on you raiding once the protection is gone, you can go on growing up without much trouble. No more than one cranny though, one is enough ... and you will end up deleting it once you are big enough and you need all the space you can get in your city.

i need reinforcments someone is attacking me and to many guys are attacking at once

rollymaster wrote:i need reinforcments someone is attacking me and to many guys are attacking at once

Er... maybe we need a Simple Beginner's Guide for Using Forums

Try to post this as a new post rather than a response to an existing post. Also include your server, alliance wing, and maybe location. If you have access to your server boards, that would be better than in the general area here. Also try igm to people in your alliance that you see online (they have a blue dot).

Also be a little more specific. Have they been attacking with rams and cats, or are they just raiding? If they are just raiding, dodge their attacks and keep your resources low. If they are using cats, make sure you mention that (that's a little more serious than just raiding).

Thanks for catching that korendir!