Charles Martel
defence & garrison anchor
Skills
Skill 1Shield of FranciaRaises a four-second damage-absorbing shield and raises the damage his march deals while it holds.
Skill 2Heavy InfantryHis infantry gain defence and health.
Skill 3The Uncrowned KingAs a garrison commander of his own city the garrison hits harder and the watchtowers hold better.
Skill 4Martel's CounterattackHis march deals more counterattack damage.
Community builds
Builds for Charles MartelOverview
Shields, damage reduction, and healing that make him a premier structure and garrison anchor.
Talent focus
Infantry + Defence/Garrison
Pairings
- Sun Tzu · as deputy
Sun Tzu's cheap, fast-cycling AoE does the killing that Martel's shield wall was never going to do alone.
Counters & matchups
Infantry holds the edge over cavalry and gives it up to archers, whatever the scenario.
Best matchups
Garrison · Holding a garrison against their rally.
- Saladin · CavalryA
Infantry over cavalry, and Charles Martel's shields and healing outlast single-target damage.
- Attila · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Chandragupta · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Justinian · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- Subutai · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
- William Marshal · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
1 more
- Baibars · Cavalry
A infantry garrison (Garrison talents) against a cavalry rally: infantry hold the edge over cavalry. By troop type.
Countered by
Rally · Garrisoning against a rally they lead.
- Nebuchadnezzar · ArcherS
Archers over infantry; pair with Gilgamesh to cut Charles Martel's healing as well.
- Gilgamesh · ArcherA
Charles Martel's garrison holds through healing, and Gilgamesh's anti-heal takes that away.
Favoured, not guaranteed: equipment, talents, skill levels and troop counts decide real fights. Rows marked “by troop type” come from the troop triangle and each commander’s talent trees; the rest are written by hand. Checked against the meta on 2026-09-23.