Complete Guide to Buildings in Evony: The King’s Return 2025
- Favian the Wise Man
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Complete Guide to Buildings in Evony: The King’s Return – Functions and Strategic Importance (2025)
Posted on June 6, 2025
In Evony: The King’s Return, building and upgrading your city is the cornerstone of creating a powerful empire. Each building serves a unique purpose, from training troops to boosting resources, defending your city, or unlocking advanced gameplay features. Understanding these buildings and their roles is crucial for both new and veteran players aiming to dominate in this real-time strategy MMO. This SEO-friendly blog post provides a comprehensive breakdown of every building in Evony, their purposes, and strategic tips to maximize their potential, based on insights from sources like the Evony Guide Wiki and community resources. Whether you’re constructing your first Keep or optimizing for Server vs. Server (SvS) battles, this guide has you covered!
Why Buildings Matter in Evony
Buildings in Evony: The King’s Return are the foundation of your empire’s growth, defense, and military power. They require resources (food, lumber, stone, and iron) to construct and upgrade, with higher levels increasing your monarch’s power and unlocking new features. Some buildings have prerequisites, requiring others to be at a certain level before upgrading. To boost construction speed, equip the Strength Crown before starting upgrades, as it reduces build time by 10–20% for as little as 600–800 gems, according to Empire Build Academy. Below, we detail every building, its purpose, and strategic tips to optimize its use.
Core Buildings and Their Purposes
1. Keep
Purpose: The Keep is the heart of your city, determining your overall progression. Its level dictates which other buildings can be constructed or upgraded and unlocks higher-level features, such as puzzle stages and advanced troops.
Max Level: 40
Key Benefits: Higher Keep levels increase your monarch power, unlock new buildings (e.g., Art Hall at Keep level 11), and allow access to higher-tier puzzle stages. It’s the central hub for city management.
Strategic Tip: Always prioritize upgrading the Keep, but ensure prerequisite buildings (e.g., Walls, Academy) are maxed out first. Research in the Academy before upgrading the Keep to boost gameplay success.
2. Walls
Purpose: Walls are your city’s first line of defense, protecting against enemy attacks. They support trap construction, allow assigning a defense general, and enable patrolling and collecting server gifts.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading increases trap capacity, wall defense, and HP. Assigning a strong defense general enhances city protection.
Strategic Tip: Keep Walls at the highest level possible to maximize trap capacity and defense. Research trap-related technologies in the Academy to bolster defenses.
3. Warehouse
Purpose: Protects a portion of your resources (food, lumber, stone, iron) from being plundered by enemies or consumed during upgrades.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels protect more resources, ensuring you retain materials during attacks or heavy construction phases.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade the Warehouse early to safeguard resources, especially if you’re active in PvP or SvS events. Combine with resource-gathering strategies to maintain a steady supply.
4. Academy
Purpose: The Academy is where you research upgrades to enhance your empire’s strength, including troop stats, resource production, and construction speed.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Research significantly impacts gameplay, offering buffs like increased troop attack, defense, or resource gathering efficiency. It’s critical for long-term progression.
Strategic Tip: Prioritize Academy upgrades and research, focusing on technologies that align with your playstyle (e.g., combat buffs for PvP or resource boosts for growth). Use Speedups wisely to accelerate research.
5. Archer Tower
Purpose: Provides additional defense by attacking enemy troops during city sieges.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading increases defense power and HP, making your city harder to conquer.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade alongside Walls to create a robust defense system. Assign a ranged-focused general to enhance Archer Tower effectiveness during attacks.
6. Barracks
Purpose: Trains ground troops (e.g., swordsmen, spearmen) for battles and resource gathering.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels unlock advanced ground troop types and increase training speed and capacity.
Strategic Tip: Build multiple Barracks to boost training capacity. Focus on ground troops for balanced armies, especially for early-game monster hunting.
7. Archer Camp
Purpose: Trains ranged troops (e.g., archers, crossbowmen) for combat and resource gathering.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading unlocks higher-tier ranged troops and boosts training speed and capacity. Ranged troops are effective against certain enemy types.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade alongside Barracks for a balanced army. Equip blazons (e.g., Valor set) to enhance ranged troop stats for events like Arctic Barbarians.
8. Stables
Purpose: Trains mounted troops (e.g., cavalry) for fast-moving attacks and resource gathering.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels unlock advanced mounted troops and increase training speed and capacity. Mounted troops excel in speed and monster hunting.
Strategic Tip: Prioritize Stables if focusing on monster battles or SvS, as mounted troops benefit from buffs like the Soul blazon set.
9. Workshop
Purpose: Trains siege machines (e.g., catapults, ballistae) for attacking enemy cities and gathering resources.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading unlocks higher-tier siege machines and boosts training speed and capacity. Siege units have the highest load capacity for resource gathering.
Strategic Tip: Focus on siege machines for resource-heavy tasks, as they excel in gathering. Use with Honesty or Humility blazon sets for siege buffs.
10. Army Camp
Purpose: Increases the training speed and capacity of all troops (ground, ranged, mounted, siege).
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels enhance overall troop production efficiency, allowing faster army growth.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade Army Camp early to support rapid troop training, especially before events like Clash of Civilizations where large armies are key.
11. War Hall
Purpose: Organizes alliance rallies against enemies (monsters or players), enabling cooperative attacks.
Build Requirement: Keep level 10
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading increases rally capacity, allowing more troops to join coordinated attacks.
Strategic Tip: Essential for alliance-focused players. Upgrade before major events like Battle of Chalons to maximize rally strength. Coordinate with allies via in-game chat or platforms like Line.
12. Trap Factory
Purpose: Builds traps to defend your city against enemy attacks, complementing Walls and Archer Towers.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels increase trap capacity, which is determined by Wall level and research. Traps deter attackers and reduce enemy effectiveness.
Strategic Tip: Combine Trap Factory upgrades with Wall research to create a formidable defense. Useful for players under frequent attack in PvP servers.
13. Watchtower
Purpose: Provides scouting reports and warnings about incoming enemy troops, aiding in defense preparation.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels offer more detailed scouting reports, helping you counter enemy strategies.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade early to stay informed about threats, especially in PvP-heavy servers. Pair with a strong defense general for optimal protection.
14. Art Hall
Purpose: Collects artworks that provide buffs to your city, troops, or resource production.
Build Requirement: Keep level 11
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Artworks offer unique bonuses, such as increased attack or resource yields, enhancing overall gameplay.
Strategic Tip: Unlock and upgrade the Art Hall as soon as possible to access powerful buffs. Prioritize artworks that align with your playstyle (e.g., combat or growth).
15. Arsenal
Purpose: Upgrades troop levels (e.g., from level 10 to 11), increasing their strength and effectiveness.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels allow upgrading to higher-tier troops, crucial for late-game battles.
Strategic Tip: Focus on Arsenal upgrades after building a sizable army to enhance troop power for events like SvS or Arctic Barbarians.
16. Rally Spot
Purpose: Amplifies army size for battles, exploration, or attacks on enemy strongholds.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Upgrading increases march size, allowing larger armies to be deployed.
Strategic Tip: Prioritize Rally Spot upgrades before major battles to boost army strength. Essential for events requiring large marches, like Clash of Civilizations.
17. Market
Purpose: Provides a daily selection of resources and items for purchase or trade.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Offers access to resources, speedups, or other items, updated daily for variety.
Strategic Tip: Check the Market daily for valuable deals, especially during resource-intensive events. Use gems sparingly to maximize value.
18. Tavern
Purpose: Recruits generals, including rare golden historic generals, for a cost in gems or gold.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels increase the quality and frequency of available generals, critical for boosting troop performance.
Strategic Tip: Refresh the Tavern regularly to recruit top generals, as they significantly enhance battles and city development. Save gems for high-value recruits.
19. Bunker
Purpose: Protects troops from being killed during attacks, reducing losses.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels increase troop protection capacity, preserving your army during PvP or SvS.
Strategic Tip: Upgrade the Bunker to minimize troop losses, especially if you’re frequently targeted. Pair with healing-focused research for faster recovery.
20. Holy Palace
Purpose: Enhances subordinate city management and provides buffs for subordinate cities.
Build Requirement: Higher Keep level (typically late-game)
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Improves subordinate city production and defense, boosting overall empire strength.
Strategic Tip: Unlock the Holy Palace in the late game to maximize subordinate city benefits, especially after server merges when sub-cities are critical.
21. Farm, Sawmill, Quarry, Iron Mine
Purpose: Produces resources (food, lumber, stone, iron) to support construction, research, and troop training.
Max Level: Varies by Keep level
Key Benefits: Higher levels increase resource production rates, though gathering from the world map is faster for large-scale needs.
Strategic Tip: Build and upgrade multiple resource buildings early, but prioritize world map gathering with siege units for efficiency, as BlueStacks suggests.
Strategic Tips for Building Management
Prioritize Key Buildings: Focus on the Keep, Academy, and Walls early to unlock features and strengthen defenses. Upgrade resource buildings and troop training facilities (Barracks, Archer Camp, Stables, Workshop) to support growth.
Use Speedups Wisely: Avoid auto-using Speedups, as Empire Build Academy advises, to save them for critical upgrades like the Keep or Academy.
Choose the Right Culture: Select a culture that aligns with your goals (e.g., Korea for faster lumber production, Japan for food) to boost specific building efficiencies.
Alliance Synergy: Join a strong alliance to share resources and rally support, making War Hall and Rally Spot upgrades more impactful.
Balance Offense and Defense: Upgrade offensive buildings (e.g., Barracks, Stables) for events like Arctic Barbarians, and defensive buildings (e.g., Walls, Trap Factory) for PvP protection.
Community Insights and Considerations
The Evony community, particularly on Reddit’s r/Evony_TKR, emphasizes the importance of strategic building upgrades to stay competitive. Players note that neglecting buildings like the Academy or Warehouse can hinder progress, especially in PvP-heavy servers. However, some criticize the game’s monetization, as premium upgrades often require gems or real-money purchases, a sentiment echoed in reviews on the App Store. Free-to-play players can succeed by focusing on resource gathering and event participation, but strategic building management is key.
Conclusion
Buildings in Evony: The King’s Return are the backbone of your empire, each serving a unique role in growth, defense, and combat. From the central Keep to the resource-protecting Warehouse and troop-enhancing Arsenal, understanding and prioritizing these structures will set you up for success in 2025’s competitive landscape. Use this guide to plan your upgrades, leverage your culture’s bonuses, and dominate events like Clash of Civilizations.
Have questions about building strategies or facing the latest server merge? Share your thoughts in the comments, and check out more Evony tips at Empire Build Academy or Evony Guide Wiki. Happy building, monarchs!
Keywords: Evony buildings guide 2025, Evony The King’s Return building purposes, Evony Keep upgrades, Evony Academy research, Evony defense strategy, Evony troop training, Evony server merge tips, Evony building management, Clash of Civilizations strategy, free-to-play Evony guide
Sources
Evony, The King's Return Wiki: Buildings
Empire Build Academy: Essential Tips for Evony Construction
BlueStacks: Evony Beginner’s Guide
BlueStacks: Evony Tips and Tricks
Evony Guide Wiki
Reddit r/Evony_TKR Community Feedback
Pocket Tactics: Evony Guide
Vocal Media: Evony Beginner’s Guide
Evony News Center