• Dear forum reader,
    To actively participate in our forum discussions or to start your own threads, in addition to your game account, you need a forum account. You can
    REGISTER HERE!
    Please ensure a translation into English is provided if your post is not in English and to respect your fellow players when posting.
  • We are looking for you!
    Always wanted to join our Support or Forum Team? We are looking for enthusiastic moderators!
    Take a look at our recruitment page for more information and how you can apply:
    Apply
  • Forum Contests

    Won't you join us for out latest contest?
    You can check out the newest one here.

Guide to the Guides

Surge

Brigadier-General
Welcome to the Glossary of Guides! Here you will find a complete list of guides that can help you during your time in Forge of Empires. All of these guides are certified legitimate, and you won't find any error in these guides (except in a few oudated guides). Here is the list of categories that I have put this list of guides in:

Guides: This should be quite self-explanatory; these are the guides that can help you with the main game. They can explain a major system, such as how coins work, or it could be just a compilation of every single statistic in the game.

Misc./Utilities: These could be anything that can help your game experience, whether it is a fix for your browser crashes or a city planner.

Outdated: These guides were once fully functional and they helped many people in the game. Unfortunately, the main problems are either that the stats changed from a while ago or it stops at the Late Middle Age. Still, you could find some important information among the rubble that's still useful and even though these guides are now defunct, the authors had spent some of their time trying to write a guide to help the community. It's only fair that they get mentioned.

Recommended Guides for Newcomers: This is a merge between Guides and Misc./Utilities. However, they are a select number of guides that should help new players get a firm grasp of the game. You might notice that there are a few outdated guides here. However, some of these have useful information for the new player, and even though some guides don't include the later ages, by the time the guide is finished in parallel to the reader, the player should know how the game works well enough to manage on their own. Also, some very good guides did not make it here: this may be because they are mainly for advanced players (like the Large Roads guide, which one encounters in the eighth age of the game).

If you're interested in writing a guide, you can submit it here. Here are the requirements for submitting a guide:

-The guide must have correct information. You might be new to writing guides or the game in general, but please check for any misleading information and make sure that you know what you're talking about.
-Minimum criteria for the "updated" status is that it includes information that is true to the current version of the game and/or if it's a list of values across all ages, it must be at least up to the Progressive Era. The reason why PE is the benchmark is because the transition from the Industrial Age to the Progressive Era is much bigger than between the previous ages.
-Message me in the forums about your guide. I will check it and if it fulfills the above criteria, it will be featured here. Who knows, maybe I could recommend it to new players?

Because every category of guides has a lot of guides that are listed, they are in spoiler tags. To reveal them, click on the white button with the word "Spoiler" in it. To access a guide, simply click on the name of the guide.


Guides

Guide for Beginners by Random – This is the most reliable basic introductory guide to all of the systems in the game. If the tutorial didn’t do a good job of teaching you the basics, this guide will.

Guide to Forge of Empires by HeftySmurf – This is another brief and simple guide to pretty much every mechanic in the game. Although it uses fewer screenshots that Random’s guide does, it describes its details by linking words to external screenshots (otherwise you would see nothing BUT screenshots without those links). This is essentially just a differently written guide trying to show the same mechanics. It just depends on which kind of guide you prefer.

Noob Guide by Bartimaeus46 – This guide briefly tells you the most basic bare-bones functions of the game and how to play the game.

The Gold Coin Super Guide by Surge – This guide describes every little detail in every house across all ages, and also shows some tips and tricks to help you get more coins quickly.

Happiness Optimized! by funonline – This shows a little bit of math on how you can find out happiness requirements for enthusiasm status.

Goods Buildings Explained by Farmerlynch – This guide clearly shows how the goods system works and advice on producing goods. This was recently updated to now include refined goods, along with the cost ratios of goods between two different ages, and the goods cost of the tech tree.

Table Guide to all Buildings, Units, Towers, and Expansions by –Vanguard.- - This is the father of all guides. Although it was initially abandoned until the Colonial Age, the community helped expand the guide to almost twice its original size. This guide includes every building statistic, costs of all expansions, all four campaign maps, the medal rewards of PvP towers, and all military units.

Some Building & Units Statistics Including PE by kingjoseph2000 – Any little statistic you can come up of can be found in this guide, all the way up to the Progressive Era. Residence incomes, happiness yield, production per hour, you name it!

Buildings’ Efficiencies by TerraAnt – This tells you every statistic on every building, like coin costs and sizes. Although it has the Modern Era updates for residences and production buildings, it lacks the stats from goods buildings, roads, event buildings, battle points for military unit losses, great building stats, and tech tree analysis.

Great Buildings Encyclopedia by –Vanguard.- - Ever wonder what’s in it for you if you level up that Level 8 Castel del Monte? Should you invest that many points in a Capitol? This handy guide tells you every little number that is strewn across all great buildings of the game! Although the guide on its own isn’t fully complete, the community has been kind enough to provide all stats for the Space Needle, the Atomium, the Observatory, Cape Canaveral, Habitat 67, Lotus Temple, and Innovation Tower in the same format!

Martynius' List of Great Building Contribution Rewards - -Vanguard's.- list of contribution rewards for every great building is limited at best. Martynius has compiled a list of contribution rewards for every single level of every single age type of great building.

Warfare Guide by Frankus-I – This is a full guide on how to defeat different defensive variations and tactics you can use to help you do that.

Putting the Horse Before the Cart: A Thorough Guide for Early to Mid Game by Jprice – As the title suggests, this is a thorough guide and it is very long. This guide details several variations as to how you can start the game and continue from there. It gives you instructions on which buildings you should build for each variation and in which order you should research specific technologies. You only need to read part of this guide, as the rest is just a different variation that you probably won’t utilize. By the time you get to the Early Middle Ages, you should have a good idea of what to do from then on, so this isn’t really an incomplete guide.

Special Buildings by byeordie – Every special event hosts a number of unique buildings you can acquire albeit for a limited amount of time. This guide shows every single one of these buildings and provides statistics for every age of those buildings. Trying to score a goal to get a Fan Shop but you don’t know what it does? No problem! Did you sell your Graveyard before you could get the Old Graveyard? See what you missed out on.

1 Hour vs 8 Hour Houses by Damast – This guide tells you where the fine line between 1 hour house and 8 hour house efficiency is. How many hours do you need to be up per day in order to make 1 hour houses worth more than 8 hour houses?

Happiness by Xerophyte – This is another basic guide that just talks about the happiness system. If you missed out on the happiness mechanic during the tutorial, you can read it up in this guide, but you won’t get anything advanced here.

Illustrated “How To” Guide for Guilds by King Dael – Need a little help on all the commands a guild offers you? This guide explains what everything does in text and picture format. Good for the new leaders out there.

Guild versus Guild – How To… by Amy Steele – Have you finally grasped the basics of guild management and have grown a nicely sized guild? Then try your luck in Guild versus Guild! This guide tells you exactly what everything does, how everything works, and how to do everything in Guild versus Guild, complete with illustrations of steps.

Official Guild Vs Guild Full Guide by The Countess – this is just like the Guid versus Guild How To guide, however it’s organized in a more process-based fashion and also includes a list of GvG terms.

GvG- Goods Costs per Siege by Huscarl – After getting your feet wet with Guild versus Guild, you should know that every siege has a different goods cost from one another. This guide has a table showing the goods cost of the first 28 sieges and, if you want to take it to the next level, it has a formula you can use for any number of sieges.

Basic Optimization Strategies by slurpz – This is a simple and brief guide on a few strategies you can use to optimize your city’s output

The New Trade System as of 07-09-12 by Herluth – If you have trouble grasping the trading system, Herluth explains it quite well, and provides some pictures with his explanations.

Characteristics of Large Roads by FacetiousMike – Problems with transitioning from the Industrial Age to the Progressive Era? This short manual should explain everything you need to know about 2x2 roads, the new big thing in PE.

One Lane vs Two Lane Comparison by Huscarl – Huscarl’s guide dives one level deeper than FacetiousMike’s Characteristics of Large Roads guide. This advanced guide compares every building that uses one lane roads to two lane roads beginning from the Progressive Era. Should you replace your Drive-In Theater with a Public Pool? Should you make the switch to Postmodern Era houses? These questions are answered in detail and with numbers here.

How to Take a Screenshot by Herluth – This isn’t much of a game guide, but it’s an important skill to know when using the forums. This is especially important if you want to submit a bug on the forums, so if you aren’t sure how to submit a screenshot, you should take a look at this guide.

Unit Guides! by Jaskoo – This guide shows the statistics, such as attack and defense, for all units including the Champion and Rogue across all ages.

Guide for Gold/Supplies! by Jaskoo – Although lacking in detail, this a good stop for a very brief guide on acquiring coins and supplies.

http://forum.en.forgeofempires.com/showthread.php?26680-Province-Guide by naterichster - This guide lists all province's scout times, scout costs, rewards, and what their sectors consist of, including negotiation costs. It will be helpful to refer to this guide for future preparations to negotiate your way through them or match your units perfectly. This is under construction, but information on any province not listed is always welcome.

Percentage Chance of Finding a Unique Blueprint by Martynius – this little guide gives you the rundown of the odds of getting a unique blueprint at any given moment.

Simple Calculation for Forge Points Bought & For Total Cost of the Next Batch of Forge Points by Surge – Are you planning on buying some forge points to donate over the first rank in one of your friend’s great buildings? Find out the cost using the handy formula here, complete with detailed instructions on how to use it. No math skills necessary.

Did You Know? by Slygoxx – Did you notice that the loading screen always has a little tip? This thread compiles every hint the loading screen gives you, thankfully without the time constraint!

Analyzing the Real Value of Great Buildings by davidb3 – Is Tower of Babel really worth building? This thread discusses the efficiency of every great building and from which point they truly show their power, or which are just some plain old junk.

Analyzing the Value of the (Easter Event) Wishing Well by davidb3 – What are the chances of getting coins or diamonds from a wishing well, and how much do you get from each age? This guide tells you exactly that, and, based on his observations, you should be able to infer whether or not you personally need a Wishing Well. Even though this goes up to the Progressive Era, the percent values don’t change, and very few are concerned about coins and supplies, so you can more or less treat this as a complete guide.

Cultural Buildings – in Order of Happiness by jampots – If you’re designing a city that required someone to polish your cultural buildings for maximum effect, consult jampot’s list for impeccable efficiency.

Misc./Utilities

Glossary of Common Abbreviations by Hippocratia – Everybody loves abbreviations. But what exactly does it mean when someone offers BP’s if you donate FP’s in his CA DC and IndA RAH GB’s? This handy guide is your universal translator!

Forgestats by Slygoxx – This website has it all – stats to every unit and building. However, arguably it is famed for its City Planner which is a very popular program you can use to plan your city easily for future building. The City Planner is always being updated whenever it needs to be.

The Damage Calculator by byeordie – This calculator tells you the amount of damage one unit will do to another unit while accounting for other variables such as great building boosts. This is mostly useful before commencing battles, but you can use it to creatively get around units that you don’t exactly have the correct strong-bonus units for.

City Planner by MadGab7 – While Slygoxx’s city planner is more reliable, it needs an internet connection to use. If you ever think that you might have your internet cut off but you want to work on your city, MadGab7’s city planner goes right into your computer so you can access it without worrying about your connection. But if you have a connection, then you should use Slygoxx’s planner. It’s simply better and more seamless. It is slightly inconvenient, it does not have the more advanced sizes the later ages offer you, it does not include the new v1.25 map expansion update, and because it’s a download link, you might not trust it. However, I recently downloaded this and I can assure you that there is nothing suspicious here, but if you catch something, don’t blame me. I gave you the warning.

Email Validation Guide by FacetiousMike – Having trouble validating your email? This guide should dispel any confusion while showing the process using words and pictures.

Optimizing Firefox Performance by HeftySmurf – Firefox has some issues occasionally with Forge of Empires. HeftySmurf shows a way to eliminate most, if not all of the problems you get when playing on Firefox.

How to Fix Shockwave Flash Crashes in Google Chrome by marihood – Just as the title suggests, if you’re having some trouble with crashes on Google Chrome and clearing the cache doesn’t help, this is the guide to go to.

FoE Signature Generator by stolkie – Do you want a cheap, easy-to-make, quick signature? This is the place to go.

Efficient No Army City Design for Beginners in the Bronze Age by Serene Doge – This is a schematic to an efficient design for Bronze Age cities that have just started, along with appropriate statistics.

What is the Point of Being in a Guild? by hint – This is a standalone thread for hint’s past quote. It’s a detailed explanation as to why you should be in a guild and the benefits a guild can bring.

Great Building Theories by Surge – This isn’t exactly a guide. Because the points addressed in that “guide” are theories, they can be completely incorrect. The only reason why it’s here is because there may be some validity to some of these claims, and if you accidently confirm some by research, I can add on to it.

Outdated

Goods Requirements of the Tech Tree by HaekelHansi – This guide tells you the costs of the techs you’ll find in the tech tree from the Bronze Age to the Late Middle Ages.

Goods Requirements for Researching HMA, LMA, and CA by Pembar – This guide tells you all the costs you will encounter while trying to research the High Middle Age, Late Middle Age, and the Colonial Age.

All Required Coins, Supplies, and Goods for the Industrial Age Tech Tree by Aerozol – Just like Pembar’s guide, this little guide tells you all the costs of the Industrial Age tech tree. It can be useful, but unfortunately it does not detail the tech trees of any other age.

Some Statistics Regarding Military Buildings and Their Units by HaekelHansi – Although it’s outdated, showing units only up to the Late Middle Ages, its statistics are reliable and in an easy-to-read chart format. Historically speaking, this is the father of the guides section. It was one of the first that ever appeared here.

Statistics Regarding Buildings and Their Production by HaekelHansi – Like his military buildings guide, this guide is also outdated up to LMA, but is reliable and can be easily read. This is the father of -Vanguard's.- guide and the grandfather of kingjoseph2000. It was the first of its kind on this forum.

General Offensive/Defensive Military Guide by blamage (lifted off the US forums, by Daniel) – Despite being incomplete (going only up to the Colonial Age), this is an extremely useful guide that tells you which units you should use for each age when attacking and defending.

Most Efficient Guide by Sephcornel – Although it is incomplete, as it goes up to the Colonial Age, this guide tells you which building combinations are the best to use in every age. Although the term “most efficient” is very subjective to one’s play style, this is not a guide you want to miss if you’re a newcomer.

Sector Negotiations by Lodroth – This guide tells you the total costs of negotiating your way through the ages. This is a solid guide, however it only goes back to Industrial Age. If you’re a new player, though, this may last you for a while.

A Guide to New Members Conquering the World Map by snakemaster – This guide tells you everything you will gain by conquering the many provinces of the world. However, this guide doesn’t account for the different deposits someone else may get (one can get clay instead of hemp) and it doesn’t tell you which age these provinces are, either. It only goes all the way until LMA.

Points Table by – TyRioN BlacK - - This guide shows the point values of every building until the Colonial Age, but the past updates also had changed the point values on many buildings, so this isn’t an accurate source anymore.

Full World Map by Aerozol – This guide shows the entire map of the world from the Bronze Age to the Colonial Age. Sadly this doesn’t include the proceeding ages.

List of Goods in Each Age by Preto – This is a very simple, tiny guide that tells you which goods belong to which age and the costs of producing them.

How Every Building Looks Like by Surge – This is not a guide per se. It’s simply a gallery that shows how every building in the game looks like. The thread only goes up to LMA, though.

Detailed Tech Tree by Much Ado – This guide tells you the goods cost of only the first four ages. It can be a little confusing to read, though.

Tech Tree Analysis by Ooidal – This is like Much Ado’s tech tree guide, going back to only LMA. This one does, however, give different details on the tech tree, and a recommendation as to what you should research first.

Full Quest List by Huscarl – This is a list of all quests given to you by the various quest-givers in the game. Unfortunately it’s extremely limited, and a lot of quests are missing, and it only goes up to EMA. This thread also has Farmerlynch’s guide below the original post, but it is also limited.

Units on the Battlefield by d745993 – This guide shows all statistics pertaining to military units while they are on the battlefield. However, it only goes over the basic units of the early ages before the game changes all of the units’ strengths and weaknesses starting with the Progressive Era.

How to Make Your Desired Units Start First by Surge – This is a simple, half-minute method on fixing your troops positions when you enter battle for units of different ages but the same movement speed. Unfortunately, this is essentially broken now that there is a new military selection screen.

Recommended Guides for Newcomers

Guide for Beginners by Random – If you skipped the tutorial, any confusion should be cured here.

Guide to Forge of Empires by HeftySmurf – This is in a different style from Random’s guide, but it’s essentially the same.

Noob Guide by Bartimaeus46 – This guide briefly tells you the most basic bare-bones functions of the game and how to play the game.

The Gold Coin Super Guide by Surge – Most notably you might get some help on how you can optimize coin output and maybe clear a confusion or two.

Happiness Optimized! by funonline – If you’re planning on having an enthusiastic city all the time, you should know how to do it here.

Table Guide to all Buildings, Units, Towers, and Expansions by –Vanguard.- - Print this and hang it on your wall. I am not kidding. The next time you have a doubt in some building’s power, just take a look here.

Some Building & Units Statistics Including PE. by kingjoseph2000 – This is essentially –Vanguard’s.- guide, except it is missing the later ages but has a tech tree analysis.

Buildings’ Efficiencies by TerraAnt – Although this offers fewer than kingjoseph2000’s guide, it has some ME data you might not want to miss for reference.

Great Buildings Encyclopedia by –Vanguard.- - You will not get very far without seeing a great building. Before building one, you must see this guide and see the costs. Will it all pay off? Martynius' List of Great Building Contribution Rewards goes well with this list, but you probably won't use it as much as the main guide. Nevertheless, you could use it to feed your curiosity.

Warfare Guide by Frankus-I – This is a full guide on how to defeat different defensive variations and tactics you can use to help you do that.

Putting the Horse Before the Cart: A Thorough Guide for Early to Mid Game by Jprice – If you got the time, read up beginning variations. You just might find it the extra kick you need to get your city off the ground.

1 Hour vs 8 Hour Houses by Damast – Take a look here before you get up to Clapboard houses. You should note how many hours you are active every day, and follow this guide to maximize your coin output efficiency. Will it be 1 hour houses or 8 hour houses?

Illustrated “How To” Guide for Guildsby King Dael – If you want to make a guild without crashing it miserably by not knowing how to do what, check this out.

Guild versus Guild – How To… by Amy Steele – If you can manage it, Guild versus Guild is an extremely important aspect of guild life. Without it, you won’t get any bonuses.

Official Guild Vs Guild Full Guide by The Countess – This is just like the Guild versus Guild How To guide, however it’s organized in a more process-based fashion and also includes a list of GvG terms.

GvG- Goods Costs per Siege by Huscarl – Plan for all of your attacks in GvG with this guide.

Basic Optimization Strategies by slurpz – This is a simple and brief guide on a few strategies you can use to optimize your city’s output

The New Trade System as of 07-09-12 by Herluth – If you have trouble grasping the trading system, Herluth explains it quite well, and provides some pictures with his explanations.

How to Take a Screenshot by Herluth – This isn’t much of a game guide, but it’s an important skill to know when using the forums. This is especially important if you want to submit a bug on the forums, so if you aren’t sure how to submit a screenshot, you should take a look at this guide.

Unit Guides! by Jaskoo – This guide shows the statistics, such as attack and defense, for all units including the Champion and Rogue across all ages.

Simple Calculation for Forge Points Bought & For Total Cost of the Next Batch of Forge Points by Surge – You will notice that forge point costs rise very quickly. Don’t get caught by surprise when you can’t afford all of the 20 forge points you need to finish that Castel del Monte. The first formula is strictly a for-fun experiment. You don’t need it.

Analyzing the Real Value of Great Buildings by davidb3 – An expert pair of eyes examining every great building may just be the advice you need not to build that trash.

Analyzing the Value of the (Easter Event) Wishing Well by davidb3 – If you get caught in an event and manage to get your hands on a Wishing Well, take a look at this to see what they’re really worth. Otherwise, it's as good as spoiled cheese.

Glossary of Common Abbreviations by FacetiousMike – You’re going to encounter a lot of abbreviations while you play Forge of Empires. Try to memorize them gradually or, if you can’t afford the extra brain space, just refer to this little guide every time you see something you don’t recognize. You might as well print it if you have to.

Forgestats by Slygoxx – You might not think it’s important, but once you reach Colonial Age, you will need to constantly plan for future buildings. This website’s city planner is extremely reliable, and you can save your map any time.

The Damage Calculator by byeordie – You might not know in the beginning, but siege units have terrible firepower. Use this calculator to effectively gauge which units you can substitute for those units that normally have a good bonus against an enemy unit.

Email Validation Guide by FacetiousMike – One of the most common problems new players face is validating their email. If you don’t know how, check out this guide.

Optimizing Firefox Performance by HeftySmurf – Firefox has some issues occasionally with Forge of Empires. HeftySmurf shows a way to eliminate most, if not all of the problems you get when playing on Firefox.

How to Fix Shockwave Flash Crashes in Google Chrome by marihood – Just as the title suggests, if you’re having some trouble with crashes on Google Chrome and clearing the cache doesn’t help, this is the guide to go to.

How to Make Your Desired Units Start First by Surge – This is a simple, half-minute method on fixing your troops positions when you enter battle. This only works on units of the same movement value, however.

Efficient No Army City Design for Beginners in the Bronze Age by Serene Doge – If you have no idea on how to make a good starting city, this schematic can enlighten you in a creative way.

What is the Point of Being in a Guild? by hint – This is a standalone thread for hint’s past quote. It’s a detailed explanation as to why you should be in a guild and the benefits a guild can bring.

Goods Buildings Explained by Farmerlynch – This is a good guide with illustrations on how the goods system works.

General Offensive/Defensive Military Guide by blamage (lifted off the US forums, by Daniel) – Despite being incomplete (going only up to the Colonial Age), this is an extremely useful guide that tells you which units you should use for each age when attacking and defending.

Most Efficient Guide by Sephcornel – Although it is incomplete, as it goes up to the Colonial Age, this guide tells you which building combinations are the best to use in every age. However, by the Colonial Age, you should be more than acquainted with the inner workings of the mechanics.

Sector Negotiations by Lodroth – If you really don't want to fight, you can try negotiating your way through the ages. You might want to know the costs of every age before you tear down that marble mason.
 
Last edited:

Surge

Brigadier-General
Update Changelog

-Updated the list to include 60 guides, risen from the original 21.
-Thread will now be unlocked. If you have questions, you can ask them! However, no spam is allowed.

I will be open to suggestions on how to reorganize this list. I feel that this can be improved.
 

DeletedUser

Thank you very much Surge for all your hard work on this very useful glossary of guides - it is most appreciated. :D

I would suggest a line space between each of the descriptions of the various categories to make it easier to read.

Also, if the outdated guides get updated, what's the best way to apply for them to be moved to a new category? This would also apply to people posting new guides - should they apply to be included in this list or will it be done automatically if the guide is good enough?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Surge

Brigadier-General
Ah, the criteria for submission. That was something I constantly forgot and couldn't remember. Thanks for reminding me. I have now updated the glossary with the spaces between the categories of guides and an extra tab below detailing how to get a guide here.
 

Surge

Brigadier-General
Update Changelog

-Two new guides have now been listed: byeordie's guide on Special Buildings and Huscarl's One Lane vs Two Lane Comparison. Both guides are listed under the Guides section.
-Updated -Vanguard's.- guide to include links to two new great buildings: Cape Canaveral and Habitat 67.
-Table Guide to all Buildings, Units, Towers, and Expansions has been recently revived. As such, it is now removed from the Outdated section and relocated to the Guides section and Recommended Guides section.


I like the revival of the guides section. Keep up the good work folks!
 

Surge

Brigadier-General
Update Changelog

-Relocated Farmerlynch’s Goods Buildings Explained guide from the Outdated section to the Guides section. It was updated with information on refined goods, along with tables for goods cost ratios between two ages and the goods cost for all tech trees. (This was some time ago, I like to keep changelogs with at least two updates in them.)
-Added naterichster’s Province Guide to the Guides Section. It isn’t completed, but it is being updated all the time.
 
Top