RISE OF CASTLES - HEROES

The Footmen Combo Dominating the Meta

📌 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Combo Overview

2. Individual Hero Analysis

3. Team Synergies

4. Automated Battle Flow

5. Skins & Upgrades (All 3 Heroes)

6. Matchups & Counter-Strategies

7. Final Recommendations

🎯 COMBO OVERVIEW

📊 INDIVIDUAL HERO ANALYSIS

1. ALEXANDER THE GREAT (FRONT) - The Pillar That Sustains and Destroys

Alexander is the HIGHEST damage dealer on this team.

Skills & Automatic Behavior:

The Long March (Skill 2)

• Automatically activates on rounds 1 and 3

• Selects 1 random enemy

• That enemy takes +325% additional damage from ALL sources permanently

• You don't choose the target — the game decides randomly

  
  

Macedonian Phalanx (Skill 8)

• Activates at the start of battle

• ALL enemies start bleeding

• Bleed scales with Alexander's Might (approximately 1240%)

• Deals damage before each enemy action

• If Alexander loses 25%+ of his HP in a single round, he recovers 210% of lost HP at round end

The Conqueror (Skill 5)

• Permanently active

• Alexander takes 48% less damage

• Receives 16% more healing

• DRAWBACK: Takes 300% more burning damage — beware of fire teams

Why he is the damage carry:

• Bleed affects ALL enemies simultaneously

• The Long March vulnerability multiplies ALL damage the target receives

• Alexander has the highest Might on the team (~1240%)

2. ACHILLES (MID) - The Executioner

Achilles scales over time but has a critical vulnerability window.

Skills & Automatic Behavior:

Demigod (Skill 2)

• Active from battle start

• Achilles takes 60% less damage

• Immune to all control effects (Silence, Disarm, Suppress, Confuse)

• Gains +30% damage each round (stacking)

• EXCEPTION: On rounds 5 and 6, he TEMPORARILY loses Demigod

• During rounds 5-6, he takes +20% more damage and loses immunity

  
  

Blade of Judgment (Skill 5)

• 80% chance to activate any round

• Deals 545% damage to 1 random enemy

• 65% of damage dealt becomes healing for 2 random allies

• IF Demigod is active (rounds 1-4 and 7+):

  • 80% chance to hit 1 additional enemy (2 targets total)

  • 50% chance to Silence each target for 2 rounds

Sacred Realm (Skill 8)

• Active from battle start

• COMPLETELY NEGATES Fatal Blow and Destructive Strike for ALL squads (allies AND enemies)

• When any ally drops below 50% HP for the first time (automatic):

  • Heals 440% of max HP for that squad

  • Grants +42% damage for 3 rounds

  • Grants -42% damage taken for 3 rounds

⚠️ VULNERABILITY WINDOW: Rounds 5 and 6. Achilles loses Demigod. Takes +20% damage. Loses control immunity. Enemies will try to kill him now.

Observed Damage: 60k to 120k per battle (25-30% of team damage)

3. LA HIRE (BACK) - The Timing Master

La Hire isn't here for damage. He's here for control.

Skills & Automatic Behavior:

Tenacity (Skill 2)

• Active from battle start

• ALL Footmen (allies AND enemies) take 30% less damage

• On rounds 2 and 5: all your Footmen gain +50% chance to activate their 5th skill

Shield Breaker (Skill 5)

• Round 1: 100% chance to activate. La Hire gains First to Attack (acts before anyone). Deals 325% damage to 2 random enemies. Applies Disarm for 1 round.

• Rounds 2+: 60% chance to activate. Deals 325% damage to 2 random enemies. Applies Disarm for 1 round.

Advance (Skill 8)

• Activates at battle start

• La Hire binds 2 random enemies

• Reduces by 80% ALL effects that increase or reduce damage (buffs and debuffs)

• Effect decays 10% per round automatically

Observed Damage: 5k to 22k per battle (5-8% of team damage)

🔗 TEAM SYNERGIES

Key Interactions

⚙️ AUTOMATED BATTLE FLOW

PRE-BATTLE (Round 0) - Fully Automatic

Hero What Happens

Alexander The Conqueror activates (-48% damage, +16% healing). Macedonian Phalanx activates (bleed on ALL enemies)

Achilles Demigod activates (-60% damage, +30%/round, CC immune). Sacred Realm activates (no crits)

La Hire Tenacity activates (-30% damage for Footmen). Advance activates (binds 2 enemies, -80% modifiers)

ROUND 1 - Guaranteed Opening

Order (by Speed) What Happens

La Hire (First to Attack) Shield Breaker ACTIVATES (100% guaranteed). Deals 325% damage to 2 enemies. Applies Disarm to them.

Alexander The Long March ACTIVATES. Marks 1 random enemy with +325% permanent damage vulnerability.

Achilles Blade of Judgment attempts to activate (80% chance). If successful, attacks marked enemy. Heals 2 allies.

Round 1 Result:

• 2 enemies disarmed (cannot normal attack)

• 1 enemy marked (+325% damage taken)

• Bleed already active on all enemies

• Enemy team already at a disadvantage

ROUND 2

What Happens

Tenacity activates: +50% chance for 5th skills on all Footmen

Achilles Demigod: +60% stacked damage

Alexander's bleed already wearing down all enemies

Shield Breaker now has 60% chance (not guaranteed)

ROUND 3

What Happens

Alexander uses The Long March AGAIN. Marks ANOTHER enemy (or same if previous still alive)

Achilles Demigod: +90% stacked damage

ROUND 4

What Happens

Bleed has already killed or severely wounded several enemies

Achilles Demigod: +120% stacked damage

La Hire: Shield Breaker with 60% chance

Sacred Realm may activate now: If any ally is below 50% HP → heals 440%, +42% damage, -42% damage taken

ROUNDS 5-6 (⚠️ VULNERABILITY WINDOW ⚠️)

What Happens

Achilles LOSES Demigod (temporarily)

Achilles takes +20% more damage

Achilles loses control immunity

Tenacity activates +50% chance for 5th skills (round 5)

The game does this automatically. You cannot prevent it.

During these rounds, protect Achilles: If Sacred Realm hasn't been used, it will activate if Achilles drops below 50% HP.

ROUNDS 7-8

What Happens

Achilles regains Demigod (with previously stacked damage bonuses!)

Blade of Judgment returns to full power

Alexander with accumulated vulnerabilities

Final execution of enemy team

🎭 SKINS & UPGRADES (ALL 3 HEROES)

ALEXANDER - Hero of Heroes (Everlasting, Season X08)

Replaces The Conqueror with Complete Conquest.

Changes:

• Damage reduction: -48% → -60%

• Healing amplification: +16% → +20%

Additional POSITION-BASED effects (automatic):

Position Effect

FRONT (recommended) 50% chance to counterattack attacker (120% damage)

MID -20% chance to be hit by Fatal/Destructive Strike

BACK +8% damage dealt

Verdict: Highly recommended. Alexander in FRONT gains counterattack.

ACHILLES - Blade of Glory (Everlasting, Season X15)

Replaces Blade of Judgment with Holy Judgment Redemption.

Changes:

Effect Without Skin With Skin

Base damage 545% 650%

Targets with Demigod +1 target (2 total) +2 targets (3 total CASTS!)

Control effect 50% Silence 50% SUPPRESS

Suppress vs Silence:

• Silence → blocks only skills

• Suppress → blocks skills AND normal attacks (much stronger)

How it works with the skin:

• With Demigod active, the skill is cast 2 additional times (3 total executions)

• Each execution deals 650% damage

• 50% chance to apply SUPPRESS to each target

Verdict: TOP PRIORITY. This is one of the biggest upgrades in the game.

LA HIRE - Rampage Warrior (Legendary, Season X23)

Replaces Tenacity with Blood of Fury.

Changes:

Effect Without Skin With Skin

Damage reduction -30% (both sides) -30% (both sides)

Rounds 2 and 5 +50% chance 5th skill Maintained

Rounds 3 and 4 — +15% Life Steal for Footmen

What Life Steal does: When a Footmen deals damage, they recover troops proportional to the damage dealt.

Verdict: Very good. During rounds 3 and 4 (the team's power spike), your Footmen gain active sustain.

🎯 MATCHUPS & COUNTER-STRATEGIES

Favorable Matchups

Enemy Reason

Archer Teams Footmen > Archer (1.3x bonus). Sacred Realm negates their crits.

Critical Hit Teams Sacred Realm completely negates Fatal/Destructive Strike.

Burst Damage TeamsThree layers of damage mitigation (-60%, -48%, -30%).

Unfavorable Matchups

Enemy Reason

Burn Teams Alexander has +300% vulnerability, Penalty from The Conqueror

Anti-Heal TeamsAlexander and Achilles rely on healing, Blade of Judgment and Macedonian Phalanx healing are reduced or nullified

Control Teams Rounds 5-6: Achilles loses immunity, Natural vulnerability window from Demigod

What is Anti-Heal and Why Is This Team Vulnerable?

Anti-Heal refers to skills that reduce or block incoming healing. Examples:

• Don Quixote (Parry): 75% chance to ban healing for 2 rounds

• Cyrus (Epic Conqueror): Prevents troop recovery

Why this team is vulnerable to Anti-Heal:

• Alexander relies on Macedonian Phalanx healing (210% recovery)

• Achilles relies on Blade of Judgment healing (65% of damage dealt)

• La Hire does NOT provide healing (without skin)

If the enemy has Anti-Heal, this team's sustain drops dramatically. Consider bringing a dedicated healer or avoiding matchups against Cyrus/Don Quixote teams.

📋 UPGRADE PRIORITIES

Skills (in order of importance)

Priority SkillReason

1st Skill 8 (Sacred Realm) Negating crits is the most important

2nd Skill 8 (Macedonian Phalanx) Bleed on all enemies

3rd Skill 5 (Blade of Judgment) Team damage and healing

4th Skill 2 (The Long March) +325% vulnerability

5th Skill 8 (Advance) Bind on 2 enemies

Skins (in order of importance)

Priority Skin-Reason

1st Achilles = 650% damage, 3 casts, SUPPRESS

2nd Alexander = -60% damage, counterattack in FRONT

3rd La Hire = +15% Life Steal rounds 3-4

📊 FINAL VERDICT

Category Rating

Consistency ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Constant bleed damage, guaranteed round 1)

Survivability ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Three layers of damage mitigation)

Anti-Crit ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Sacred Realm is unique)

Control ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Bind, Disarm, Silence/Suppress)

Scaling ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Achilles scales with rounds)

Anti-Burn ⭐⭐ (Alexander's weakness)

Anti-Heal ⭐⭐ (Healing-dependent; La Hire skin adds limited sustain)