Bottom Line: Keep builders working around the clock, join an alliance the moment you hit TC6 (that's when it unlocks — not before), and save gems for Hero Roulette with one exception: rent the second build queue on push days (1,000 gems for 2 days). If you'll ever spend real money on this game, the permanent Construction Queue Pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD) is the single highest-ROI purchase available. These three habits define your first week.
I've played enough Kingshot — and read enough guides that confidently repeat wrong information — to know that bad advice in week one doesn't just slow you down. It can cost you weeks of recoverable time. The alliance timing, the hero priorities, the Academy unlock level: these details matter and they're often wrong in guides written by people who played the game once.
This guide is built from verified mechanics (including the official Kingshot Help Center), community-tested strategies, and firsthand progression experience. Where older guides get it wrong, I'll flag it directly.
Quick Start Checklist
Push Town Center to Level 15 by end of day 7
Join an active alliance at TC6 (this is when the feature unlocks)
Get a second build queue: 1,000 gems for a 2-day rental during major pushes, or the one-time Construction Queue Pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD) if you'll spend real money
Build Mill, Sawmill, Quarry; keep them within 2 levels of your TC
Save all remaining gems for Hero Roulette — no exceptions
Complete daily quests every single login
Start Academy research as soon as it unlocks — Construction Speed first
Pick up Jabel from your Day 2 login reward — she's better than Quinn early on
Use the in-game Bank — it's effectively free gems, so don't leave it idle
A Note on TC Targets
Many beginner guides set a week-one Town Center goal of TC9 or TC12. That's far too conservative. With consistent play, active starter quest completion, and speedup management, TC15 by day 7 is achievable and is the real benchmark to aim for. TC15 is where the game opens up significantly — you gain access to Hero Gear, your troop camps can push to higher levels, and your march size becomes competitive enough for real alliance events. If you land at TC13 or TC14, that's fine. But set your sights at 15, not 9.
Day-by-Day Progression
Follow the Chapter Missions exclusively — they're optimized to give you blueprints and resources to get through the tutorial phase fast
Build Mill, Sawmill, and Quarry as required — don't over-invest in them yet, just keep them close to your TC level
Complete every starter quest — speedup rewards here are generous and front-loaded
Never leave your builder idle — the moment a build finishes, queue the next one before closing the app
Collect your starting heroes from the Hero Hall — Howard is a solid early Infantry hero, Chenko a useful cavalry joiner
Start your Barracks and begin training troops — even T1 troops are better than an empty army
Set up the in-game Bank — it pays out gems for deposits you'd be sitting on anyway. It's free value; there's no reason to leave it untouched
Common mistake: Upgrading random buildings because they seem useful. Only upgrade what's required for your next Town Center level. Everything else is a distraction early on.
Claim Jabel from your Day 2 login reward — she's a free AoE hero who outperforms Quinn at this stage and is useful for Expedition and early Suppression
Activate a second build queue — the one purchase worth making in week one. Two paths: spend 1,000 gems for a 2-day rental on big build-push days (the only gem spend that beats Hero Roulette short-term), or buy the permanent Construction Queue Pack for $2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD if you're open to a single real-money purchase — it's the highest-ROI spend in the entire game. Either way, doubling your construction throughput in week one compounds for months.
Push toward Town Center Level 7 — this is the milestone that unlocks the Alliance system
Start upgrading your Embassy alongside TC — a higher Embassy level increases how many Alliance Helps you can receive, which means faster construction timers
Once you hit TC6, immediately search for a top 10–20 alliance on your server. Look for one with active help requests in chat — that's your signal it's actually alive
Why Jabel over Quinn? Quinn is an R-rarity Archer who falls off quickly. Community tier lists consistently place him in C tier with a recommendation not to invest heavily. Jabel is a free Mythic with AoE damage and useful Expedition buffs — she carries you much further for the same resource investment. Don't upgrade Quinn beyond the minimum needed to clear stages.
You should be in an alliance by now — tap the clasped-hands icon every time it appears to help alliance members (it costs you nothing and builds goodwill for when you need help)
The Academy unlocks when your Academy building itself reaches Level 9
— all three research trees (Growth, Economy, Battle) become available at that point
First research priority: Construction Speed (Tooling Up) and Research Speed (Tool Enhancement)
— these have compounding returns. Faster research makes all future research faster. Don't start with Military research.
Send marches to gather resources from the world map — gathering from wilderness tiles produces far more resources than your production buildings at this stage
Keep valuables in your Backpack, not your main inventory — resources in Backpack storage cannot be looted by other players. Only move resources to inventory when you're about to spend them
- Keep troops training continuously — don't let Barracks sit idle
Focus your hero upgrades on 3 heroes maximum — early Gen 1 core: Howard (Infantry, solid defender), Chenko (Cavalry, valuable rally joiner thanks to her Lethality buff), Jabel (AoE DPS, strong in Expedition). Don't spread upgrades thin.
Target getting Chenko to 4 Stars as a priority — her "Stand of Arms" skill maxes at 4 stars and makes her significantly more useful in Bear Hunt and rallies
Contribute to Alliance tech research every day — even small donations earn Alliance Tokens, spendable in the Alliance Shop for speedups and teleports
The Academy should never be idle — research runs even while you're offline. Always queue the next project before closing the app
If you haven't already, teleport your castle inside or near your alliance's territory — building in the open wilderness alone is asking for early retaliation
Hero trap: Gen 1 heroes like Howard and Quinn are placeholders, not long-term investments. They'll be replaced when Gen 2 heroes arrive (around day 50). Upgrade them enough to function — don't sink your Mythic Shards into maxing Quinn. Save Mythic General Shards for Marlin (the best Gen 2 attack Archer) when Gen 2 arrives.
Help alliance members daily — this is free and reciprocal. Active alliances have a real "help economy" going
Join rallies when your alliance calls them — even at low power you earn rewards and contribute troop capacity. Never skip Bear Trap: the resource and Forgehammer infusion is exactly what keeps your TC progression moving
When you join a Bear rally, put Chenko in your left hero slot with her top-right Lethality skill maxed — that buff is how a small account adds real rally damage. Save a formation so you can join the whales' rallies instantly
Gems: 0 spent on VIP, 0 on random pulls, 0 on shop refreshes — all saved for Hero Roulette (the only exception was the second build queue)
Check daily quests every login — these are the most consistent early source of speedups
Note your server's event cycles — major events follow weekly and biweekly patterns. Spending speedups during Power-Up events (when you get event rewards for doing things you were going to do anyway) is the correct move
Check your TC requirement tree — identify which buildings you need to upgrade next to unlock TC16+, and start queuing those now. Your next big target is TC19, which unlocks Island and Fountain progression — prioritize getting there
Keep something in the construction queue at all times — through this whole stretch, either your Town Center or your Embassy should always be upgrading. If you can spare a device, start a farm account: TC28–30 is brutally resource-hungry later, and a stockpile makes that wall far easier
What NOT to Do in Week 1
| Mistake | Why It Hurts | What to Do Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Spending gems on VIP XP | VIP levels through play; gems are irreplaceable | Save for Hero Roulette (second builder is the one exception) |
| Maxing out Quinn | He's C tier — falls off fast and wastes shards | Level him minimally; invest in Jabel and Chenko |
| Trying to join alliance before TC6 | The feature simply doesn't exist until TC6 | Push to TC6 first, then search immediately |
| Spreading hero upgrades across 5+ heroes | 10 weak heroes lose to 3 strong ones every time | Max 3 heroes — Howard, Chenko, Jabel in Gen 1 |
| Leaving builder idle | Every idle minute is compounding lost progress | Always queue before closing the app |
| Storing resources in main inventory | Visible to raiders; can be looted in attacks | Keep in Backpack until you're ready to spend |
| Skipping the second build queue | Doubles construction throughput; gem rental (1,000 gems / 2 days) is the only F2P exception to the Hero-Roulette rule, and the $2.99 USD pack is the highest-ROI low-spender buy | Rent on push days, or buy the permanent pack if spending real money |
| Ignoring the Embassy | More Embassy levels = more Alliance Helps = faster builds | Upgrade Embassy alongside your TC |
| Random building upgrades | Wastes resources and build time | Only upgrade what's required for your next TC level |
Core Rules to Internalize
- Town Center drives everything — every building, every troop tier, every system is gated on TC level. It is always your first upgrade.
- Alliance = free daily speedups — help requests cost you nothing and save you hours. Being in an inactive alliance is almost as bad as having none.
- Gems are for Hero Roulette — the one exception is renting the second build queue (1,000 gems for 2 days) during big push windows. The permanent second builder is a one-time paid pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD), not a gem unlock. Everything else waits.
- Backpack protects your resources — never leave valuables in main inventory unless you're spending them immediately.
- Academy should never be idle — research runs 24/7 even offline. Start with Construction Speed and Research Speed.
- Gen 1 heroes are placeholders — build them to function, not to max. Save Mythic Shards for Gen 2.
Where This Guide Differs From Others
A lot of beginner guides — including earlier versions floating around — contain a few persistent errors worth addressing directly:
Quinn isn't worth investing in. Most guides list Howard/Chenko/Quinn as the starter F2P core. Quinn (R rarity Archer) is almost universally rated C tier. He's useful while you have nothing else, but don't sink resources into him. Jabel — which you get free on day 2 — is significantly better and available to everyone.
TC9–12 is too low a week-one target. Ambitious but achievable play gets you to TC15. That's the real milestone that opens up the game. Aim there.
The second build queue is worth it — but know which version you're buying. Many guides say "save every gem for Hero Roulette, no exceptions." That's wrong: the 2-day rental for 1,000 gems is a real F2P exception during push days. And the permanent unlock is the Construction Queue Pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD), a one-time real-money purchase — not a gem unlock and not a VIP perk. Older guides conflate the two; they're separate purchases.
What to Expect After Week 1
| Milestone | Where You Should Be |
|---|---|
| Town Center | Level 13–15 |
| Alliance | Joined and active (TC6+ required) |
| Heroes | Jabel, Howard, Chenko — Chenko toward 4 stars |
| Research | Construction Speed and Research Speed in progress |
| Gems | Spent only on 2-day second-builder rentals during push days; rest saved for Hero Roulette |
| Troops | Mix of T1/T2/T3 Infantry, Cavalry, Archers training continuously |
| Academy | Never idle — always researching something |
If you're at TC12 instead of TC15, don't panic — the habits matter more than the exact numbers. Gem discipline and never leaving builders idle are the two things that have no shortcut if you mess them up. Everything else can be recovered.
FAQ
Conclusion
Week 1 is about building habits, not just numbers. The four things that actually define your long-term trajectory:
- Town Center upgrades — always first, always moving
- Active alliance — join at TC6, help daily, never be solo
- Gem discipline — rent the second builder on push days (1,000 gems / 2 days), or buy the permanent Construction Queue Pack ($2.99 USD / $3.99 CAD) once; everything else goes to Hero Roulette
- Focused hero investment — 3 heroes deep beats 10 heroes shallow
If you're slightly behind on TC levels, that's recoverable. If you've been spending gems randomly or spreading hero upgrades thin, those decisions are much harder to undo.
Next: check out our F2P Mastery Guide for the longer game plan, or the Academy Research Guide for the complete research priority order.
For long-term account progression, we strongly recommend reading our Master Academy Guide to unlock Pan and Valora's passive rewards.
Need help or spotted something off?
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