Rise of Kingdoms Commanders

Achilles

S

Delivers cavalry burst as lead or deputy.

Aethelflaed

A

Free Legendary from Expedition; F2P barbarian-fort rally lead. Listed under Evergreen F2P and A/Situational.

Alexander Nevsky

S+

Very high active skill damage with strong damage reduction; superb charge burst.

Alexander the Great

A

Applies a healing-reduction debuff and grants map march speed; strong early and as a rally anti-heal partner.

Alp Arslan

S

Strong archer deputy adding sustained skill damage.

Arthur Pendragon

S+

Burst damage plus cavalry buffs; a meta-defining open-field lead that pushed older cavalry into niche roles.

Bai Qi

S

Amplifies skill damage and adds bonus damage against weakened targets; one of the best infantry deputies. Underwhelms as a solo primary.

Belisarius

High march speed; runes, rally-joins, obelisk grabs. Also an F2P barbarian-fort rally lead; listed under Evergreen F2P.

Bertrand

A

Reworked in 1.0.94 into a field cavalry commander: combo attacks and a rage drain on his active.

Boudica

Cheap evergreen Epic; barbarian-fort rally lead; expertise after Sun Tzu and Joan of Arc.

Boudica Prime

S

Prime rework of the Epic Boudica.

Cao Cao

High march speed; ideal on T1 troops for grabbing runes, joining rallies, and objective sprints. Also a spender barbarian-fort rally lead.

Centurion

Gatherer to max; also a supply gatherer for Ark of Osiris.

Charles Martel

A

Shields, damage reduction, and healing that make him a premier structure and garrison anchor.

Cleopatra

Legendary gatherer; acceptable to spend legendary gathering sculptures on a dedicated gatherer/farm.

Constance

Gatherer to max (level 37 for full gathering tree).

Constantine

A

Shields, damage reduction, and healing; strong standalone defensive lead.

Gaius Marius

Gatherer to max. Source spells it both 'Caius Marius' and 'Gaius Marius'.

Gang Gam-chan

S

Flexes between cavalry and archer support.

Gilgamesh

A

Brings anti-heal to city rallies.

Gorgo

A

Walls infantry garrisons (with Zenobia).

Harald Sigurdsson

Infantry anti-heal rally lead; pairs with Alexander the Great.

Hermann Prime

S+

Applies silence and heavy skill damage; silence timing can cancel an enemy nuke.

Ishida Mitsunari

Gatherer to max. Source writes 'Ishida'.

Joan of Arc

Cheap evergreen Epic; also France's free gatherer commander (+25% gather speed, +25% load). Expertise early.

Joan of Arc Prime

S

Prime rework of the Epic Joan of Arc; pairs with Alexander Nevsky for a top open-field cavalry march.

Keira

Works as a barbarian-fort lead but is slow to expertise.

Lancelot

High march speed; runes, rally-joins, obelisk grabs.

Liu Che

S

Active direct damage applying a slow and a defence-reduction debuff; passives buff infantry and add sustain.

Lohar

The best barbarian-chaining commander; expertise fast (Lohar necklace grants extra XP). Listed under Evergreen F2P.

Matilda of Flanders

Gatherer to max.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Spender barbarian-fort rally lead; also granted by the First Recharge Bonus offer.

Nebuchadnezzar

S

A top rally lead.

Philip II

S+

Active direct damage with slow and defence-reduction debuffs; premier universal deputy. Shines as a deputy, not a top-end lead.

Qin Shi Huang

S+

Massive AoE nuke; a benchmark open-field and rally primary. Wants skill-damage amplifiers, not normal-attack deputies.

Queen Tamar of Georgia

Gatherer to max. Source writes 'Tamar Queen'.

Ramesses

S

Applies healing reduction that counters Richard-style defenders.

Richard

A

Shields, damage reduction, and healing; arguably the best Sunset Canyon tank.

Saladin

A

Durable single-target damage; a known counter to Richard in Sunset Canyon.

Sargon the Great

Named as a Liu Che pairing partner.

Šárka

Gatherer to max (level 37 for full gathering tree).

Scipio Africanus Prime

S+

Shields, damage reduction, and counter effects that keep an infantry line alive; excellent durable primary or premium deputy. Enables damage rather than dealing it.

Seondeok

Gatherer to max.

Sun Tzu

Cheap evergreen Epic infantry nuker; expertise early (source recommends expertising Sun Tzu and Joan of Arc first).

Sun Tzu Prime

SS

Active AoE nuke hitting up to five targets and restoring rage; the Prime rework adds fixed true damage that bypasses defensive buffs, a low rage requirement, and large stat boosts. Passives raise skill damage and infantry stats, countering the defensive meta.

Theodora

A

Anchors mixed garrisons (with Yi Sun-sin).

Trajan

A

Broad team buffs.

Vercingetorix

SS

Balanced skill damage and survivability with strong version resistance; fits nearly every scenario.

Xiang Yu

S+

Very high AoE output that warps open-field targeting; strongest in the current open-field five-march setup.

Yi Seong-Gye

S

Circular AoE (expertise) excelling in open field, rallies, barbarian chaining, and garrison; extremely high, versatile DPS. First Legendary to max for most players.

Yi Sun-Sin

A

Anchors mixed garrisons (with Theodora).

Zenobia

A

Walls infantry garrisons (with Gorgo).

Zhuge Liang

S+

High skill-damage nuke usable as primary or deputy.