Economy

Economy

While Empires and Allies is largely about military conquest and defense, you need to have a strong economy to be able to keep the units churning out.

The most important resources are Wood and Oil, but it costs a great deal of other resources to construct them. For getting started, it makes the most sense to focus on your infrastructure - this involves building the government structures and housing to make sure you can then concentrate on pure resources to get your armies trained.

Farms should come next, and you will want to build a lot of them. They generate coins, which are central to your economy. When constructing farms, a large part of it is choosing which specific crops to grow.

More become available as you level up, and each crop has different advantages and disadvantages to be considered i.e. how long it takes to grow, the cost of planting the crop, and the reward from harvesting it. Some crops take many hours to grow. It makes sense to plant these when you are going to be away from the game for an extended period, whereas short-life crops can be used for a quick injection of cash.

Once you begin to stabilise, you can begin to construct Lumber Mills, to get your Wood, Oil wells (fairly obviously for oil...) and Mines, to extract Ore. As you level up you will unlock the ability to construct these resource-collecting essentials.

Resources

Each island has a variety of resources that are ultimately at your disposal. Resources that you can attain are listed below:

Coins

Coins are earned through the rent of many buildings and through industry. They can be used to purchase most buildings and units in the game.

Wood

Wood, as you may expect, is gathered by cutting down trees and through building lumber mills. You can sign up for lumber contracts to keep this side of your infrastructure working well.

Oil

Oil is about as important in Empire and Allies as it is in real life. You need oil to be able to build the vast majority of units in the game. To get it, you have to harvest the resources of Oil Wells.

Ore

Ore is the basic cornerstone of resources in Empires and Allies. Ore can be of the Aluminium, Copper, Iron, Uranium and Gold variety. You will need to harvest all of these to be able to construct all of the units and buildings in the game. You can use mines to get the ore, and can also trade with other players for it. Ore is also released at the end of combat situations.

Markets

It is also important to build Markets in your empire. This will allow you to sell excess goods to any neighbors in need of resources. In addition to selling things like coins and ore, you can get rid of any military units you have a glut of in exchange for some much-needed cash. When you build a Market, you have to pick the type of resource that you want it to sell - with this in mind, you will need to build a few markets depending on the nature of your economic infrastructure. When players visit your empire, they can use your Markets to buy goods directly from you. Because of this, it makes sense to build Markets close together, making them easy to find. Of course, you can also visit your Neighbors to buy their excess resources.

You can only sell goods if you have an adequate supply of neighbors to buy them.

As well as through generating and buying resources, you can also gain them by invading other empires, fighting off enemies, visiting neighbors and completing the main storyline.

Buildings

Deciding which buildings to construct is important to ensuring your empire functions well and that you don't waste resources.

Resource Buildings

Farm:

Farms cost wood and take up 4 squares on the map. The amount of wood farms cost increases depending on how many you have already - this creates a difficulty curve that should evolve with your progress. Farms are used primarily to get coins. The importance of them drops off as your economy and military exploits grow.

Lumber Mill:

Lumber Mills are used to get Wood for your economy. They cost 200 Coins and require four map squares. You need to have at least 50 population to be able to build them, and once you have, the Wood will be used to construct other buildings.

Lumber Mill II:

Essentially the same as the basic Lumber Mill, this requires a population of at least 600, and costs far more: 8,750 Coins, 25 Wood and 30 Ore. You get more Wood from this Lumber Mill.

Lumber Mill III:

The best Lumber Mill, this needs 2,250 population, costing 26,750 Coins, 2,675 Wood and 65 Ore.

Market:

Markets are essential for a good economy, being used to sell excess resources and units. They cost 1,000 Coins, 100 Wood and 5 Ore, requiring 250 population before your first Market can be constructed.

Oil Well:

Oil is important as it is required to build most military units and upgrade them. Constructing an Oil Well costs 250 Coins and 25 Wood. You will need at least 100 Population before you can unlock the Oil Well.

Oil Well II:

The next stage of the Oil Well costs 2,000 Coins, 200 Wood and 10 Ore. You need 500 Population to unlock it.

Oil Well III:

The best Oil Well requires a Population of 1,800. It costs 13,500 Coins, 1,350 Wood and 40 Ore.

Ore Mine:

To unlock the first Ore Mine, you need 100 Population. It costs 300 Coins and 30 Wood. You need Ore Mines to be able to extract various types of metal for your Empire. When you first begin the game, the type of Ore that will be in your game is selected for you. Oil is very valuable for reselling at the Market.

Ore Mine II:

The second stage of the Ore Mine requires 1,600 Population. It costs 12,000 Coins, 1,200 Wood and 35 Ore.

Ore Mine III:

Ore Mine III is incredibly expensive. Not only do you need Population of 4,000, but it costs 26,750 Coins, 2,675 Wood and 65 Ore. Because of this, you will find it difficult to construct many of these until very late in the game.

As well as buildings for gathering resources, you will need to build some for constructing a military system. Below is a list of the military buildings:

Military Buildings:

Air Force Research Lab:

This allows you to upgrade your air units. It needs a Population in your empire of 800, and costs 5,000 Coins, 500 Wood and 25 Ore. It takes up 6 squares on the map.

Army Research Lab:

To upgrade your land units, purchase this building, which requires a Population of 300, and costs 1,000 Coins, 100 Wood and 10 Ore.

Barracks I:

This is where you build your land units. You can construct it from the start of the game, and it is cheap to build - just 200 Coins and 20 Wood.

Barracks II:

For more advanced land units, build Barracks II. You will need 700 Population, 400 Wood and 15 Ore to do so.

Barracks III:

For the best land units in the game, Barracks III is the answer. You have to have a Population of at least 3,200, and it will require 20,000 Coins, 2,000 Wood and 50 Ore.

Hangar I:

The Hangar is used to produce air units. The first Hangar needs just 325 Population, and will then cost 400 Coins and 40 Wood to build.

Hangar II:

Hangar II allows you to build the next set of aircraft. You will need 1,000 Population and the cost of building Hangar II is 6,500 Coins, 650 Wood and 20 Ore.

Hangar III:

To be able to build the best air units, Hangar III is required. To unlock it, reach 3,200 Population. To build, 24,700 Coins, 2,470 Wood and 55 Ore is necessary.

Navy Research Lab:

To unlock the upgrades for your naval units, you need 1,100 Population. Building the Lab itself costs 5,000 Coins, 500 Wood and 25 Ore.

Shipyard I:

This allows you actually build naval units. You can construct it from Day 1, and it only costs 300 Coins and 30 Wood to build.

Shipyard II:

Fore more advanced seafaring units, you will want Shipyard II. It is unlocked once you reach 1,200 Population, costing 7,580 Coins and 758 Wood and 25 Ore.

Shipyard III:

Shipyard III permits the best naval units to be constructed. Once you have 3,600 Population you will be able to build it, for a cost of 25,700 Coins, 2,570 Wood and 60 Ore.