Efficient resource acquisition is fundamental to sustained growth and competitive advantage within Evony. Without a consistent and optimized flow of timber, food, stone, ore, and gold, empire expansion stalls, military power stagnates, and development bottlenecks become inevitable. This article outlines strategic approaches to resource farming, focusing on methods that maximize output, minimize waste, and ensure a robust supply chain for all in-game activities.
Establishing a Resource Generation Foundation
Effective resource farming begins with internal infrastructure and strategic general deployment. These foundational elements directly influence the rate at which your empire can generate and collect essential materials.
Internal Production Optimization
Your city's internal buildings—farms, sawmills, quarries, and mines—are the backbone of passive resource generation. Maximize their output by:
- Upgrading Structures: Prioritize leveling up resource buildings to their highest possible tier. Higher levels yield more resources per hour.
- Assigning Production Generals: Appoint generals with specific production buffs to relevant buildings. For example, a general with a "Food Production Speed" skill should be assigned to a farm. These generals often have skills that boost output by significant percentages.
- Researching Economic Tree: Invest in the "Development" and "Economy" research trees within your Academy. Research nodes like "Food Production," "Lumber Production," "Stone Production," and "Ore Production" directly increase your hourly yield. Further research into "Construction Speed" and "Research Speed" indirectly supports resource generation by accelerating infrastructure development.
- Monarch Talent Allocation: Allocate Monarch Talent points into the "Development" tree. Skills such as "Construction Speed," "Research Speed," and various "Production Speed" buffs directly enhance your internal resource generation capabilities.
Strategic World Map Gathering
While internal production provides a baseline, the world map offers the most significant resource volumes. Optimizing world map gathering is crucial for rapid expansion and sustaining large armies. Optimizing world map gathering is also influenced by participating in strategic events that offer valuable resources.
Selecting and Equipping Gathering Generals
The choice of generals for gathering expeditions profoundly impacts efficiency. Prioritize generals with:
- Gathering Speed Skills: Look for generals whose innate skills or specialty skills directly increase gathering speed for specific resources or all resources. Examples include Queen Jindeok, Constance I, and Shimazu Yoshihisa.
- Equipping Gathering Gear: Craft and equip gear sets specifically designed to boost gathering speed. These often include items like the "Courageous" or "Achaemenidae" sets, which provide substantial percentage bonuses. Enhance these items for even greater returns.
Optimizing Troop Deployment
Sending the right troops in the correct numbers is vital for efficient gathering:
- High Load Capacity Troops: Siege machines have the highest load capacity per unit. While slower, they allow you to carry more resources per trip, reducing the number of expeditions needed.
- Balanced Expeditions: For faster, smaller hauls, a mix of ground troops and archers can be quicker, but their load capacity is lower. Balance speed with total capacity based on the tile level and your immediate needs.
- Tile Level Prioritization: Always aim for the highest-level resource tiles you can safely gather from. Higher-level tiles offer more resources and often faster gathering rates.
Pro Tip: Implement a staggered gathering strategy. Send out multiple generals to different resource tiles simultaneously. This maximizes the number of active gathering expeditions and ensures a continuous flow of resources back to your city. Monitor the remaining resources on tiles to avoid sending troops to depleted locations, which wastes march time and stamina.
Leveraging Alliance Benefits and Events
Your alliance and participation in in-game events can provide significant resource boosts.
Alliance Resource Spots
Alliances can construct resource spots within their territory. These alliance-specific tiles often have higher yields and faster gathering speeds than standard world map tiles. Coordinate with your alliance to utilize these efficiently.
Alliance Help and Research
Alliance members can send "help" to speed up gathering expeditions. Additionally, some alliance research nodes can boost member-wide gathering speeds or resource production.
Event Participation
Evony frequently hosts events that reward resources or provide temporary gathering buffs. Actively participate in:
- Resource Consuming/Gathering Events: These events often reward large quantities of resources or speed-ups for gathering.
- Boss Monster Hunts: Defeating world bosses can yield resource chests.
- Daily Quests and Challenges: Consistent completion of these often provides a steady trickle of various resources.
Advanced Resource Management and Protection
Beyond farming, effective management and protection prevent losses and ensure resources are available when needed.
Sub-City Resource Generation
Sub-cities also contribute to your overall resource production. Upgrade their resource buildings and assign appropriate sub-city generals to maximize their output. Some sub-city generals have skills that boost resource production for the main city or provide a percentage of their sub-city's production to your main city.
Resource Protection
Large resource stockpiles make you a target. Implement strategies to protect your resources:
- Spend Wisely: Avoid hoarding excessive amounts of resources in your main city when not actively building or researching.
- Store in Alliance Warehouse: If your alliance has a warehouse, store surplus resources there to protect them from enemy attacks.
- Use Resource Items: Keep resources in item form (e.g., "1M Food Chest") until immediately needed. These cannot be plundered.
- Strong Defense: Maintain a strong defensive army and upgraded walls to deter attackers.
Sustaining Your Empire's Economy
Consistent application of these resource farming and management strategies is key to long-term success in Evony. By optimizing internal production, maximizing world map gathering efficiency, leveraging alliance benefits, and participating actively in events, you establish a robust economic foundation. This foundation empowers faster construction, accelerated research, and the ability to train and sustain a formidable army, ultimately driving your empire's growth and dominance. This foundation is further strengthened by leveraging alliance benefits effectively to drive empire growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which resources are most important to farm?
All five primary resources (food, timber, stone, ore, gold) are crucial, but their priority shifts based on your current objectives. Early game often prioritizes food and timber for basic building and troop training. Mid to late game sees increased demand for stone and ore for advanced buildings and higher-tier troops, while gold is consistently needed for research and general upgrades.
Are there specific generals best for gathering?
Yes, generals like Queen Jindeok, Constance I, and Shimazu Yoshihisa are highly valued for their gathering speed buffs. Always check a general's "Specialties" and "Skills" for bonuses related to resource gathering before assigning them to expeditions.
How can I protect my gathered resources from being plundered?
The most effective methods include keeping resources in item form until needed, storing excess in your alliance warehouse, and maintaining a strong defensive army and city wall. Spending resources quickly on upgrades or research also reduces the amount available for plunder.
Does troop type affect gathering speed or capacity?
Troop type primarily affects load capacity. Siege machines have the highest load capacity, making them ideal for large hauls, though they are slower. Ground troops, archers, and mounted troops have lower load capacities but can reach tiles faster. Gathering speed is primarily influenced by your general's skills, monarch talents, research, and equipment.
