Farm accounts are not optional at TC 20+. Your main account's resource production plateaus while upgrade costs accelerate. A single farm account running optimally adds 30-50% more RSS to your weekly income. Two farms can nearly double it.
A farm account is a secondary Kingshot account dedicated to gathering resources and transferring them to your main account. It's the single highest-ROI time investment in the game — 10-15 minutes of daily management translates to millions of additional resources per week.
When to Start a Farm Account
Not everyone needs one immediately. Here's the decision framework:
| Your TC Level | Farm Account? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| TC 1-14 | ❌ Not yet | Main account production is sufficient |
| TC 15-17 | ⚠️ Consider it | Costs start outpacing production |
| TC 18-20 | ✅ Start now | Resource deficit becomes noticeable |
| TC 21-25 | ✅ Essential | Upgrade costs require supplemental income |
| TC 26-30 | ✅ Run 2+ farms | Truegold era demands maximum throughput |
Start your farm at TC 18 — not later. It takes 2-3 weeks to get a farm account to useful productivity. Starting at TC 20 means you'll have a resource crisis BEFORE your farm can help. Start early.
Farm Account Setup: Step-by-Step
Day 1-3: Foundation
- Create a new account on a secondary device, emulator, or phone alt-account
- Join the same alliance as your main account (critical for resource transfer)
- Rush Town Center to TC 10 using beginner speedups (these are given freely)
- Build production buildings — prioritize RSS buildings over military
- Do NOT invest in heroes — the farm's only job is gathering
Resource Building Priority:
| Building | Priority | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Farm (Food) | ★★★★★ | Food is always needed |
| Lumber Mill (Wood) | ★★★★☆ | Second most consumed resource |
| Quarry (Stone) | ★★★☆☆ | Needed for TC upgrades |
| Mine (Iron) | ★★★☆☆ | Needed for troop upgrades |
| Barracks | ★★☆☆☆ | Only enough troops for gathering marches |
| Hospital | ★★☆☆☆ | Minimal — farm shouldn't be fighting |
Day 4-14: Growth Phase
Target: TC 15-17 within 2 weeks
Key Milestones:
- TC 12: Full gathering march capacity
- TC 15: Access to higher-level resource nodes
- TC 17: Optimal farm productivity tier
Research Priority for Farm Accounts:
- Gathering Speed — directly increases RSS/hour
- March Capacity — more troops per march = more RSS per trip
- March Count — unlock additional gathering marches
- Do NOT research combat technology (waste of resources)
Stop Upgrading TC at: TC 17-19. Going higher wastes resources that should be transferred to your main account. The farm's purpose isn't progression — it's production.
Gathering Hero Optimization
The heroes you assign to gathering marches directly affect how much you collect per trip.
Best Gathering Heroes
| Hero | Gathering Skill | Bonus | Best Resource |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saul | Resource Commander | +% gathering speed (all resources) | All resources |
| Bjorn | Harvest Master | +% food gathering speed | Food nodes |
| Cedric | Lumber Efficiency | +% wood gathering speed | Wood nodes |
| Fenrir | Mining Expert | +% stone/iron gathering speed | Stone/Iron |
| Any Gen 1 hero | Basic gathering | Base rate only | Filler march |
Check your in-game hero skill screens for exact percentage bonuses — they vary by hero star level and skill upgrade rank.
Gathering Speed Calculation
RSS per Hour = Base Node Rate × March Capacity Modifier × (1 + Gathering Speed Bonus)
How to calculate your personal rate:
- Send a march to a Level 5 node and note the estimated completion time
- Divide node capacity by march time → that's your RSS/hour for that node size
- Multiply by number of active marches for daily throughput
- Apply your gathering speed bonus (hero + research + gear) as a multiplier
A TC 17 farm with gathering heroes and 30% speed bonus typically pulls in 2-3x more RSS per day than a farm with no gathering investment.
Level 5 resource nodes give significantly more RSS per hour than Level 1-3 nodes. Always send your highest-capacity marches to the highest-level nodes available.
Resource Transfer: The Math
Getting resources off your farm and onto your main account requires understanding the transaction mechanics.
Transfer Methods
| Method | Notes | Cooldown | Tax Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Resource Help | Request resources from alliance members | Cooldown varies | 0% (no tax) |
| Coordinate Gathering | Main account recalls farm's node mid-trip | None | 0% (farm does the work) |
| Direct Trade | Via in-game help system | Varies by TC | May have small tax |
Daily Transfer Budget Calculation
The exact amounts depend heavily on your farm's TC level, research depth, and gathering bonuses. Here's a framework to estimate:
- Check your farm's daily resource building production (shown in the building tooltip)
- Calculate gathering throughput (see RSS/Hour formula above) and multiply by 24h
- Subtract minimal maintenance costs (troop training to keep marches filled)
- The rest is transferable to your main account
Most TC 17 farms generate 2-5M total RSS per day across all resource types when optimized with 3 gathering marches and gathering heroes assigned.
Storehouse Limits and Transfer Timing
Farm account storehouse matters too. Resources above your farm's storehouse limit are vulnerable if the farm gets attacked. Transfer before overflow, or shield the farm during KvK.
Transfer Timing Strategy:
| Time | Action | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Recall gathering marches, transfer RSS | Collected overnight |
| Midday | Re-deploy gathering marches | Maximize node uptime |
| Evening | Transfer again if near overflow | Prevent overnight vulnerability |
Farm Account Daily Routine (10 Minutes)
Minimize time spent on your farm — it's a support tool, not a second main account:
- Collect resource buildings (30 seconds)
- Recall gathering marches, transfer RSS to main (2 minutes)
- Re-deploy 3 gathering marches to highest-level nodes (2 minutes)
- Queue troop training if march capacity is low (1 minute)
- Claim daily quests — only the free ones (1 minute)
- Check alliance RSS help requests (1 minute)
- Log out — done.
What NOT to do on your farm:
- ❌ Invest in hero shards
- ❌ Participate in PvP events
- ❌ Level up heroes beyond the minimum for gathering skills
- ❌ Spend gems on anything except second builder (if early)
- ❌ Upgrade past TC 17-19 (waste of resources)
Scaling Up: Multi-Farm Strategy
When one farm isn't enough — and at TC 24+, it often isn't.
When to Add a Second Farm
| Signal | What It Means |
|---|---|
| You're consistently resource-starved for TC upgrades | One farm can't keep up |
| Your TC hits 24+ and costs double | Income must increase proportionally |
| You have 10 additional minutes per day to spare | The time investment is worth it |
Multi-Farm Efficiency
| Setup | Relative RSS Gain | Daily Time Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Main only | Baseline (100%) | 0 min (it's your main) |
| Main + 1 Farm | +35–45% more daily RSS | +10 min/day |
| Main + 2 Farms | +65–80% more daily RSS | +18 min/day |
| Main + 3 Farms | +90–110% more daily RSS | +25 min/day |
Diminishing returns set in at 3+ farms due to node competition and time cost.
Absolute numbers depend entirely on your main account's production rate and the farm TC levels. The percentage boosts above are consistent regardless of your account size.
Multi-Farm Specialization
With 2+ farms, specialize each one:
| Farm | Focus Resource | Building Priority | Gathering Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm 1 | Food + Wood | Max farms + lumber mills | Level 5 food/wood nodes |
| Farm 2 | Stone + Iron | Max quarries + mines | Level 5 stone/iron nodes |
This produces a balanced resource flow instead of surplus food and deficit iron (the most common imbalance).
Farm Account Security
Your farm holds significant resources. Protect it:
Basic Protection Measures
- Stay in your main account's alliance — territory protection applies
- Keep resources below storehouse capacity — transfer daily
- Relocate near alliance center — harder for enemies to reach
- Shield during KvK — farms are targeted during kill events (easy kills = free points)
- Don't keep troops idle — troops in gathering marches can't be killed in your city
The "Invisible Farm" Strategy
Make your farm a low-priority target:
- Keep power as low as possible (don't build unnecessary buildings)
- Don't promote troops beyond what gathering requires
- Don't join rallies or PvP events from the farm (keeps you off radar)
- Position far from kingdom borders (away from KvK frontlines)
Farm vs. No Farm: The Progression Gap
Here's the concrete impact over time:
| Metric | No Farm (Main Only) | With 1 Farm | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total RSS earned (3 months) | Baseline | ~35-45% more | Significant |
| TC level reached | Base progression | +1-2 TC levels faster | Noticeable |
| Time spent (total 3 months) | 0 hours | ~15 hours | 5 min/day avg |
| Time saved on progression | — | ~2-3 weeks ahead | Significant |
Bottom line: 15 total hours of farm management over 3 months saves you 2-3 weeks of progression time. The ROI is overwhelming.
Next Steps
- Resource Protection Guide — Protect your farm and main account from raids
- Free Resources Guide — Stack farm income with all other free sources
- Events Guide — Use farm resources during event windows for multiplied value
- Complete Guide — Where farm accounts fit in the overall progression roadmap
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