Tribes of Rhombica™Strategy guide
Tips for winning at Tribes of Rhombica, based on the game's rules and on recorded games. Tap a section to open it.
Core strategy
Expand first: villages are free cities
- Every village you capture becomes a city. A city earns 1 + its level in stars every turn and can support more units. Early villages are the best investment in the game.
- To capture a village, move a unit onto it and stay there until your next turn.
- Ruins (stone pillars) are worth a detour: stay on one for a turn to get a free technology, 15 stars or a Swordsman.
Grow your cities with different unit types
- A city's level is the number of DIFFERENT unit types it has trained that are still alive. Training one Warrior, one Archer and one Defender from the same city gives it level 3.
- Each level adds 1 star of income per turn to that city and lets it support one more unit.
- At level 5 (and again at 10) a city gets your tribe's free hero. Plan five different unit types per city to unlock your hero early.
- A city can support level + 1 units, plus 1 for every star per turn its buildings earn. Farms, mines and temples raise the cap, not just your income.
Research when you have units
- Technology costs base cost + 5 x (your cities / (your units + 1)) stars. More units make research cheaper; more cities make it more expensive.
- Train units before a big research push, and research before you settle a burst of new villages.
- Tier 1 techs cost 5, tier 2 cost 8, tier 3 cost 12, rising to 47 at the top. Tiers 1-2 take one turn, tiers 3-5 two turns, higher tiers three turns.
- Branches research in parallel, so you can study Military and Economy at the same time.
Win fights before they start
- Damage = the attacker's damage x attack / (attack + defence x terrain). Hills (x1.25), mountains (x1.5), jungle (x1.2), forest (x1.15) and City Walls (x1.5) all multiply the defender's defence, and they stack.
- Attack and defence shrink as a unit loses HP, but damage doesn't. Attack with healthy units and finish wounded ones.
- Surround an enemy (every tile around it held by your units) to deal DOUBLE damage.
- The defender hits back at half damage, but only if the attacker is within its range. Archers (range 2), Catapults and Ballista Ships (range 3) can attack melee units without any counter-attack.
- A unit that doesn't move or attack for a whole turn heals a quarter of its health. Rotate damaged units out of the line.
Pick the right units
- Warrior (2 stars) is the most cost-efficient early unit for scouting, villages and filling unit caps.
- Swordsman (4 stars: attack 3, defence 2, 5 damage, 12 HP) is the best all-round fighter in the mid game. Massed Swordsmen won the recorded 10-tribe online game.
- Defender (3 stars, defence 3) holds cities and chokepoints cheaply but only deals 2 damage.
- Catapults deal 6 damage at range 3 but have 0.5 defence and can't move and attack in the same turn. They can't hold a city; keep them behind your line.
- Knight (6 stars, 15 HP, moves 2) is the strongest land unit for breaking through.
Use the map
- Pentagons cost 1 movement and rhombi (4-sided tiles) cost 2. Moving along a road (road tile to road tile) costs half, so build roads on the paths your armies use most.
- Bridges (Engineering) let land armies cross narrow water without ships.
- Carriers (Naval branch) ferry up to 3 land units at a time for sea invasions.
Diplomacy
- Peace gives BOTH tribes +3 stars per turn and stops attacks between them. Peace with several tribes is a big income boost.
- AI tribes remember betrayals. A tribe that breaks treaties gets much worse peace offers from everyone for about 30 turns.
- What worked in practice: make peace with everyone, then fight one enemy at a time. Allies who attack the same target together win wars that a lone tribe can't.
- AI tribes join wars to help a long-time friend, and team up against a runaway leader.
Protect your capital
- Losing your original capital halves your star income until you take it back. Put City Walls on it (Fortifications) and keep a Defender inside.
- Capital cities on hills or mountains are much harder to take.
Win conditions
Dominator: be the last tribe standing
- Eliminate every other tribe (no units and no cities left).
- Fight one tribe at a time and make peace with the rest. Keep a steady stream of Swordsmen or Knights; ranged units support but can't hold captured cities.
Capitalizer: own every capital
- Hold every tribe's original capital at the same time. You don't have to wipe tribes out.
- Scout where each capital is early. A captured capital also halves its old owner's income, which makes the next capture easier.
- Keep a unit inside every capital you capture. Enemy tribes fight hard to take their capitals back, and an empty city falls to any enemy unit that walks in.
Economist: hold 500 stars
- The first tribe to have 500 stars at once wins.
- Peace with every tribe (+3 stars per turn each), lots of cities, and Oil Rigs and Great Temples (+2 each) are the fastest route.
- Stop spending once you're close: you need 500 stars banked, not 500 income.
Genius: best score after 25 turns
- The game ends after turn 25 and the highest score wins.
- Score: +150 per technology, +500 for each temple you build, +50 every turn for each temple you own, +100 per city captured (+200 for a capital) and +50 per enemy unit defeated.
- Temples are by far the biggest source of score: a temple built on turn 5 is worth about 1,500 points by turn 25. Research Spirituality early and build temples on every empty tile type you can (flat land, hills, mountains, water).
- Research cheap tier 1 and 2 techs in every branch for +150 each.
Tribe openings
Bogforge (Bog Golem)
- Your Catapult hits for 6 damage at range 3, but it has 0.5 defence and can't move and attack in the same turn. Never leave it at the front: park it on a hill one tile behind a melee unit.
- Train Warriors early (2 stars each) to screen the Catapult and claim villages. Organized Warfare is a cheap tier 1 tech that adds Defenders.
- Wetland gives defenders a small bonus (x1.1). Fight on your home ground when you can.
- The Bog Golem heals 3 HP every turn even after fighting, so it can stay at the front line far longer than other units. Pair it with a Catapult behind it.
Canopy Hunters (Shadow Stalker)
- Jungle (x1.2), forest (x1.15) and hills (x1.25) all make defenders harder to hit, and they stack. An Archer on a jungle hill, or on a forest tile in the jungle, is hard to remove.
- Archers have range 2. An enemy that can only reach range 1 can't hit back, so shoot first and keep a tile of space.
- For income, research Agriculture (Farms on flat land) and then Forestry (Lumber Mills on forest tiles, +1 star each).
- The Shadow Stalker is invisible in forest and jungle and hits 50% harder from there. Ambush units that walk into your trees.
Deeproot Wardens (Treant)
- Defenders (defence 3, 12 HP) are cheap at 3 stars and very hard to kill on jungle hills. Use them to hold villages and chokepoints.
- Since you can hold ground cheaply, spend more on buildings and temples. That suits the Genius (score) win condition well.
- Use the Treant's Bark Shield (once a turn) to give +2 defence to every friendly unit next to it until your next turn. It works best in the middle of a group of your units, right before the enemy attacks.
- Defenders deal only 2 damage, so add harder-hitting units before going on the attack: Archers come right after Organized Warfare in the Military branch.
Frostguard (Glacier Warden)
- Use Defenders to hold villages and your capital. Archery is your next Military tech; Swordsmen (Smithing) come later and also need Mining.
- Tundra has no defence bonus of its own, so look for hills (x1.25) and mountains (x1.5) when you need to hold a line.
- The Glacier Warden (24 HP, defence 4) deals +50% damage when attacking from tundra. Fight on your own snow.
- Mines go on ore, found on mountain tiles. Mining comes after Agriculture and Forestry, and it's also needed for Smithing.
Ironfrost (Frost Giant)
- Your Swordsman (attack 3, defence 2, 5 damage, 12 HP) beats almost everything else in the early game. Use it to take villages fast.
- Swordsmen cost 4 stars, so build an economy alongside them: Agriculture is a cheap 1-turn tech for Farms. You start with Smithing only, not the techs before it.
- The Frost Giant freezes what it hits (1 less movement on its next turn), so enemies it strikes struggle to escape or to reach your back line.
- Mass Swordsmen is a proven plan: in a recorded 10-tribe game, the two human winners each built armies of about 20 Swordsmen.
Mireheart (Swamp Witch)
- Archers have range 2 and deal 3 damage. Melee enemies can't hit back from two tiles away, so attack from range and step back.
- Put Warriors in front of your Archers (Archers have only 1 defence). Organized Warfare is a cheap tier 1 tech that adds sturdier Defenders.
- Wetland gives defenders a small bonus (x1.1), so fight from your home ground, and from hills when you can.
- The Swamp Witch poisons from range 2 (2 damage a turn for 2 turns). Poison a unit, then finish it with Archers.
Saltforge Mariners (Sea Captain)
- Pick Islands or Continents maps when you can: your navy starts the game ready.
- Galleys (12 HP, 4 damage) can clear enemy boats and coastal units. Ballistics is your very next Naval tech: Ballista Ships (range 3, 5 damage) shell coasts from safety.
- Later in the Naval branch, Kelp Farms (Aquaculture) on shallow water and Oil Rigs (Drilling, +2 stars) on hilly water give you income land tribes can't touch.
- Keep ships within 2 tiles of the Sea Captain for +1 attack each.
Steppe Riders (Khan)
- Riders move 2 and cost only 3 stars. Use them to grab villages and ruins before anyone else gets there.
- Plains have no defence bonus, so don't try to hold open ground. Hit, then pull back to a hill or a city.
- The Khan moves 5, takes no counter-attack damage, and gets its full movement back after attacking. Strike a damaged unit and ride back to safety in the same turn.
- Riders deal 4 damage but have 1 defence, so don't trade blows with heavy units. Horsemanship leads on to Smithing (Swordsmen) once you also have Mining.
Sunfield Knights (Paladin)
- The Knight (15 HP, 5 damage, moves 2) has the most health of any starting unit. Use it to take villages and to pressure weak neighbours early, but mind its 1 defence.
- Knights cost 6 stars, so mix in cheap Warriors for scouting and to fill out city unit caps.
- The Paladin crosses rhombus tiles for 1 movement each and can step straight into an adjacent city, so it can reach cities other units can't.
- Plains are open; protect your capital with City Walls once you have Fortifications.
Tideborn (Leviathan)
- Your Scout Boat moves 3. Explore the coast early: sea ruins can only be reached by boat and give a tech, 15 stars or a Swordsman.
- Shipbuilding (Galleys) needs Forestry as well as Sailing, so research Agriculture and Forestry early; you'll want real warships before enemies reach your coast.
- The Leviathan (24 HP, 7 damage) is the strongest ship in the game. Use it to break naval blockades and shell coastal cities.
- Water tiles give defenders 0.9x, so enemy ships are slightly easier to hit than units on land.
Maps and modes
Map types
- Classic: Mixed land and water. Expand to villages fast and research Sailing in case your neighbours are across water.
- Pangea: One huge continent. Wars start early, so build an army before you need it and wall your capital.
- Continents: Secure your own continent first, then cross with Bridges, Carriers or ships.
- Islands: Sea tribes (Saltforge Mariners, Tideborn) shine. Everyone else should rush Sailing and Shipbuilding; Kelp Farms and Oil Rigs replace land economy.
- Lakes: Mostly land with short water crossings. Engineering (Bridges) and Fishing Docks pay off.
Multiplayer and the weekly challenge
- Online games are turn-based with a time limit per turn (anytime games: 1 hour to 3 days; live games: 1 to 5 minutes). Missing your turns repeatedly removes you from the game.
- Use the full turn: move scouts first, then attack, then build and research with what you have left.
- Another human is the most dangerous rival on the map. A long peace with a human player and wars against the AI together is a strong plan.
- Weekly challenge: everyone plays the same map and twist for 30 turns, and your final score is posted to a global leaderboard. Score works like Genius: temples and technology count the most.