# Evony Beginner's Guide: Build Your City With a Clear Plan
Evony: The King's Return gives new players plenty to do. Buildings display upgrade prompts, research branches open, and troops can be trained almost immediately. That freedom can also make your progress feel scattered. If you upgrade whatever has a notification, the next important building may still be locked behind a prerequisite you overlooked.
The simplest way to make consistent progress is to follow **one objective at a time**: choose your next major upgrade, inspect its requirements, and work backward.
## Start with one city objective
Open the building you want to upgrade and read its current requirements. Check the prerequisite buildings, resource cost, and construction time shown in your game. If something is missing, make that requirement your immediate task. Upgrade costs and unlock conditions vary by level, so your own game screen is the final reference.
A useful three-part note is: **goal → missing requirement → next action**. For example, if your next Keep upgrade requires another building first, upgrade that building before spending time on unrelated construction.
## Match research to what your city needs
Evony ties city growth to buildings, technology, generals, and armies. The Academy supports that growth through research. After an important construction step, check which available research helps your current objective. Researching every open branch equally may delay the improvement you actually need.
If your current focus is city development, select research that supports that plan. When you move into monster hunting or competitive battles, reassess your military research and troop setup. There is no universal research order that fits every account.
## Train troops for a purpose
Before training a large number of troops, decide what they will do. Will they help with early quests, join alliance rallies, hunt monsters, or defend your city? Troop count alone does not determine how useful an army will be. Troop type, tier, general, research, and the target all matter.
After a battle, read the report. If your wounded count is higher than expected, choose an easier target and review your setup before repeating the attack.
## Find an alliance that fits your playing hours
An active alliance can help you learn rally rules, event timing, and team coordination. Read its announcements before joining an attack. Different alliances may have different instructions for the troop type and number of troops members should send.
## Your next-login checklist
1. Pick one building or research goal.
2. Inspect its requirements and completion time.
3. Start the most relevant available research.
4. Check troop training and alliance activity.
5. Read your latest battle report before choosing a harder target.
## Frequently asked questions
### Should beginners upgrade every building equally?
No. Prioritize the buildings required for your immediate goal, then address secondary upgrades.
### Does a higher power number mean I am progressing well?
Power is only one indicator. Research, suitable generals, a coherent army, and alliance coordination also affect what you can achieve.
### What should I do when an upgrade is blocked?
Open the upgrade screen, identify the exact missing prerequisite, and address it first. If you are looking up resource terminology while planning your city, you can also visit [EvonyRSS](https://evonyrss.com/).
**Editorial source:** [Evony: The King's Return gameplay overview](https://liveops.evony.com/evony-tkr/).
*The cover is an editorial illustration, not an official game screenshot.*