Finding a solid evony age 1 guide can be tough since most people have moved on to newer versions, but there's still something incredibly satisfying about the classic browser experience. Age 1 is a completely different beast compared to the mobile sequels. It's slower, more calculated, and frankly, a bit more ruthless if you don't know what you're doing. Whether you're a returning player feeling nostalgic or someone who stumbled upon a private server, getting your city off the ground requires a specific strategy that hasn't changed much in over a decade.
The Golden Rule of Beginner Protection
When you first start your city, you get seven days of beginner protection. Use every single second of it. A common mistake I see all the time is people rushing to upgrade their Town Hall to level 5 within the first day. Don't do that. As soon as that Town Hall hits level 5, your protection drops, and you're fair game for every veteran player in your neighborhood looking for an easy farm.
Keep your Town Hall at level 4 until you've maximized your resource fields and built up a decent wall defense. This week is your time to build an economy without the fear of someone coming in and taking everything you've worked for. Focus on your Warehouse and your Resource Fields first. You want a steady flow of lumber and iron because, trust me, you're going to burn through them faster than you think once you start training an army.
Building a Sustainable Economy
The heart of your city isn't your palace; it's your resource tiles. In the early game, you'll probably find yourself short on lumber and iron constantly. Food is important, but in Age 1, food often becomes a secondary concern once you start "NPC farming" later on. For now, try to keep a balanced production, but lean a little heavier into wood.
One trick that many old-school players swear by is the "Market Flip." If you see a resource price that's unusually low, buy it up and sell it when the price spikes. This requires you to have a Market at a decent level, but it's a great way to make gold early on without having to tax your citizens into oblivion. Speaking of taxes, keep them around 20% to 25%. It's a sweet spot that keeps your loyalty high enough that you don't have to worry about a riot, but still gives you enough gold to keep your researchers busy.
Why Informatics is Your Best Friend
You might be tempted to rush Military Science or Iron Working, but Informatics is arguably the most important research in the early game. Without it, you're essentially playing blind. High-level Informatics tells you exactly what's coming at you when you get scouted or attacked. It also lets you see exactly what's inside an enemy city or a valley before you send your troops to their deaths.
Once you have a handle on Informatics, move on to Construction and Metallurgy. Construction shaves off precious minutes (and eventually hours) from your build times, which is vital when you start pushing for higher-level walls. Metallurgy increases your defense, and in Age 1, defense is usually the difference between a successful hold and a total wipeout.
Mastering the Art of the Archer
If you ask any veteran for an evony age 1 guide on combat, they'll tell you one thing: Archers are king. While cavalry is fast and swordsmen are sturdy, archers have the range advantage that dominates most battles. The goal in any Age 1 fight is to kill the enemy before they even reach your lines.
However, archers are fragile. If you send 10,000 archers out by themselves, they'll get shredded by a balanced force. This brings us to the most important combat mechanic in the game: Layering.
The Logic of Layering
Layering is the practice of sending a small number of every other troop type along with your main force of archers. For example, if you're attacking a level 5 NPC, you might send 15,000 archers, but you should also include 1 warrior, 1 scout, 1 swordsman, 1 pikeman, and 1 cavalry.
Why do this? Because the game's combat engine calculates rounds based on movement and range. Those single "layer" units act as speed bumps. They force the enemy units to stop and spend a turn attacking the lone warrior, giving your archers an extra round to fire from a distance. It sounds like a tiny detail, but it's the difference between losing 2,000 archers and losing zero.
Finding and Training the Right Heroes
Your hero is the multiplier for your army. A city with 100,000 troops and a weak hero will lose to a city with 50,000 troops and a god-tier hero every single time. When you're looking through the Inn, don't just look at the level. Look at the base stats.
You want a hero with a high starting "Attack" stat for your main general. For your Mayor, you want someone with a high "Politics" stat, as this increases your resource production and speeds up building times. Don't waste your time with "Intelligence" heroes early on unless you're focused heavily on research, as their impact is less noticeable than a high Politics mayor.
Always keep an eye on the Inn and refresh it whenever you can. If you see a hero with a base stat over 65 or 70 at level 1, hire them immediately. They are the ones who will carry you into the late game.
Farming NPCs for Fun and Profit
Once you have a decent force of archers (usually around 500 to 1,000) and some basic layering, you should start farming Level 1 to Level 4 NPCs. These are non-player cities that regenerate resources every hour. They are your primary source of food and medals.
In Age 1, getting medals to rank up your title is notoriously difficult. You'll find yourself stuck at "Knight" or "Baronet" for ages if you don't farm valleys and NPCs. Level 5 NPCs are the "holy grail" for mid-game players. If you can attack a Level 5 NPC with no losses—which usually requires around 1,500 archers and high-level Archery research—you can basically stop worrying about food production forever. You just hit a few Level 5s a day, and your granaries will be overflowing.
The Importance of a Good Alliance
You cannot survive in Evony Age 1 as a lone wolf. Eventually, a massive alliance will decide your state belongs to them, and if you aren't part of a group, you'll be forced to teleport away or get "zeroed" (losing all your troops and resources).
When looking for an alliance, don't just join the one with the highest prestige. Look for one that is active in your specific state. Coordination is everything. A good alliance will help you with resources, give you advice on troop movements, and, most importantly, provide "reinforcements" if someone tries to siege your city. It makes the game a lot more social and a lot less stressful.
Final Thoughts on Longevity
Evony Age 1 is a marathon, not a sprint. You'll have days where you lose your entire army because you forgot to check your reports, and that's okay. The key is to keep your resource production high and your hero levels growing. As long as you have your heroes and your tech, you can always rebuild your army in a matter of days.
Don't get too caught up in the "Prestige" race. Prestige is just a number that shows how much you've built; it doesn't actually show how strong you are. In fact, having high prestige with a small army just makes you a tempting target for people who want to test their strength. Focus on your walls, your archers, and your layers, and you'll find that you can hold your own against almost anyone on the map. Keep it simple, stay consistent, and remember to keep those archers firing.