Ikariam
Ikariam Tips & Info
Ikariam Defense
Posted on 03.23.08 5:05PM under Tips
So you might have angried a few other Ikariam players by pillaging their villages/ towns/ cities and now you might think they’re coming after you. In this guide I am only going to cover the low level defensive units e.g. Ballista ship, Ram ship, Phalanx and.. spies! Therefore, it’s more aimed at new people to the Ikariam.
These three units are the basis of your defense at the start of the game. Later on, the phalanx can get replaced by steamgiants and the ballista ships by catapult ships but if you’ve only started Ikariam 3 or 4 days ago you wouldn’t have gotten to that stage yet as it can take weeks if not months.
The prime mistake new people do is they expand their port like crazy seeing how little resources they use, thinking it might help them in the long run or simply because they can’t build anything else. Well, the first trick to being supreme in defense is keeping the level of your trading port to 1. If you’ve already upgraded it, downgrade it by selecting demolish.
Secondly, build two or even three Balista ships and keep them constantly in your Ikariam town’s port. If someone sends over a trading ship they will get turned back by these ships. This means they will then have to blockade your port and send over at least the same number of ships you have and of a higher level. For example, 2 flameships per 2 Balista ships. This is costly, requires high level of research and time consuming (3h+ at least). If you haven’t been spied on and the player saw that pillaging you would totally be worth it, he would just give up after his trading ships returned.
Okay, so we have a level 1 port, three Balista ships and now we need soldiers - Phalanxes! This is the second line of defense. At this level 15 phalanx continuously on defense ’stance’ in your town will render all attacks worthless.
The phalanx is the best unit for defense in Ikariam assuming the upkeep costs and defence bonus. Steamgiants are the next step up from phalanx but they are months away in the research time line!
The third unit that will help you keep the enemies away are the spies! An expanded hideout of 4+ and the same number of spies on defense status will provide more than adequate protection against most spies and players who would want to attack you at this level (remember, I’m talking about 3-8 with medium scores).
Remember it is also important that your town wall is at least the same level as your town hall to provide the best defense bonus in Ikariam it can offer.
Posted by Moron on 03.24.08 4:24 am
Thank you for this site
Posted by raen on 03.25.08 5:08 pm
Can someone tell me why is better to have the town port at level 1?
At this level u have 10 goods/minute which is very small.
Posted by Nick on 03.25.08 5:42 pm
It’s good because that way if someone managed to defeat your defense they will only be able to load 10 of your goods per minute :).
Posted by Hellroar on 03.25.08 6:24 pm
Wait, If I put 3 ballista ships in my port, no-one will be able to send me any resources? I’m guessing that’s not quite what will happen as I probably misunderstood it, but could you explain that part better please :)?
Posted by O Maluco on 03.25.08 10:44 pm
You are doing a very good job!
Very usefull information!
I am now i better ikariam player after visiting your site.
Thank you and keep up the good work.
Posted by Dr. Manhattan on 03.26.08 1:17 pm
Informative and useful. Please keep up the site, and thank you!
Posted by Nick on 03.26.08 4:02 pm
@Hellroar: Well, if you put 3 ballista then the attacking enemy will need at least 3 fireboats/ 4 ballista, etc. depending also on the upgrades.
The costs for blocking your port to get rid of your 3 ballista are high 1000+ gold so unless you have a lot of resources the ballista will act as a deterent. Also, most lower level players will only send 2-3 ships for a port blockade and your 3 ballista could easily eliminate these.
Posted by makimasu on 03.27.08 6:02 am
if i put up 3 ballista ships would traders still be allowed? since u said “If someone sends over a trading ship they will get turned back by these ships”
Posted by Nick on 03.27.08 7:15 am
Yes, well I meant a trading ship as in an attacking trading ship :P.
Posted by Alec Rave on 03.27.08 7:58 pm
as in they want to take your resources trading ship
not a ship sent from a trading post
those conduct business as usual
Posted by João on 04.01.08 11:36 pm
i have 80 phanlanx only in my capital… this is a god site but only to begginers…
Posted by omario on 04.05.08 11:28 pm
how do u recieve bonus resources from the alliance when ur the leader
Posted by Danielle on 04.07.08 6:55 pm
If someone defeats me and is looting resources, why is it better to have them loot me more slowly? Does it mean they get fewer resources, or does it just take them longer to get away with them? If it just takes them longer, why do I care?
Posted by newbie on 04.08.08 7:36 am
how do i get my phalanx to be on a defensive stance? and if i train a phalanx in barracks, does it automatically put in defense of my town. sorry for my bad english.
Posted by Winterbay on 04.08.08 2:43 pm
I’d just like to point out that if soemone is attacking you a high level port might help as well since, if they have forgotten to blockade your harbour, you can quickly send your resources away to a colony or an ally and then recall them when the attack is over.
And yes a lower lvl trading port gives the enemy less loot since they have teh same time to load no matter how big the port is.
Posted by Clarification on 04.08.08 6:58 pm
Hey, just to be clear about the trading port: the attacking player only has a certain amount of time (I think 20 minutes) to loot your colony, so a low level trading port vastly reduces the amount of goods they’ll be able to steal. This makes raiding a waste of time, since getting 200 wood or whatever isn’t worth the time and effort.
Also, if you train military units and then just leave them where they are, they count as being “defensive”. So If I train 10 slingers and then never look at that town again, those ten slingers will be defending the town automatically.
Finally, if you have a level 1 trading port and the defensive forces this post mentions, you’re pretty safe, because any high score raider will look for better targets. Of course it’s possible someone could attack you with 500 swordsmen or something, but they’d get so few resources out of it, what would be the point?
Posted by Evans on 04.10.08 11:07 am
I have the same question as Hellroar… :S
Great site guyz!
Posted by Rick on 04.11.08 12:21 am
@Danielle: It’s to deter off the attacker. If he finds that he’s not really getting anything when he’s continuously attacking, he’ll stop because it’s his time wasted.
@newbie: You don’t need to do anything. Just leave your Phalanx in the city (don’t use it to attack/send it anywhere) and I’ll automatically defend the city.
Posted by MG' on 04.13.08 7:20 pm
Port lvl 0 is much better than lvl 1.
Just C4 your port.
0 defense + 0 lvl port
=
Pissed off ataker.
Posted by Ringhloth on 04.19.08 11:52 pm
I like having a high-leveled port and a high leveled warehouse. Send away all my resources, then send them back. Btw, how many swordsman would 5 phalanxes hold off?
Posted by totekthegr8 on 04.20.08 12:49 pm
this is a damn good site….i just found it out and i said…..aaahhhhhhh…..thats y…..
Posted by anonomous on 05.02.08 2:40 am
y is it important 2 have a lvl +4 hideout
Posted by ESPEROS on 05.05.08 12:13 am
Thank you for this site!!!
Posted by zethra on 05.06.08 7:16 am
How do you get a Ballista ship? I just dont understand how to recruit them as if i click the Barrack button, they will only show icons for slingers.
Posted by kalle on 05.08.08 3:34 pm
But if he can’t get past your ships, then what does the level of the port matter?
Posted by Jun Yen on 05.10.08 11:08 am
Um, Mg? I would assume that you’d like a port, otherwise it’s pretty hard to trade, send out attacking trade ships, etc.
And also, I’d like to point out that with a lvl 1 port, only 1 enemy trading ship will be sent (it’s automatic). A trade ship can only hold 300 resources, so they can only steal max 300.
Posted by Confused on 05.11.08 11:24 am
I have 3 ballista ships in my shipyard and I just got pillaged. Why did they not send the trade ships packing?
Posted by r on 05.12.08 4:33 pm
Hi people i have been playing this game from 2 weeks ..
wanted to know how to increase my population and reduce the corruption
Posted by BCV on 06.24.08 1:53 pm
BUZZ! what is the purpose of donating gold to the wonder of an island you have a colony at? e.g “ares stronghold”
Posted by Secret on 09.11.08 9:04 am
Well,
Just upgrade your port into high level and put some defense on it
the idea is
your port level = your town hall level / 2
and
keep the ballista ship to 3 constantly in the port
Why I upgrade my port into higher level?
Simply because the higher you level the more resource u need to handle. Sometimes transferring good can reach about 6k good per transfer which is 10 Hours if level 1 port. So It will be wasting too much time.
The tips given was intentionally for beginner.
If you like to make a lot of trading ( buy cheap thing, sell at higher price ). Port level 1 is absolutely ridiculous.
If the enemy ship is coming to block your port
you can run all the resource very quickly
Plus, you can still transfer out ( out only, not in )even the battle is still ongoing.
But a bit risky unless the battle was a long battle.
If you loose the sea battle and the enemy block your port. Quickly downgrade your port level into 1 or 0
When you feel its save again, upgrade it back.
Sound costly, but trading port is cheap and fast to upgrade compare to others
This technique only applicable if you always keep monitoring your city. If you seldom visiting your city then this in not very practical.
Posted by Lord Tory on 09.15.08 2:03 pm
….just a quick update. Well, I know I was going on about defense…. I am now about to get attacked simultaneously by a size20 & size18.
….55min later…
They have been rejected, lol. Idiots didn’t spy to see if I had a navy oblivously. But I have had enough time to send a spy back to their base before they got to me. I see they don’t have a navy; and all their troops are on their way to me, so I will send out an attack & seperate navy blockade. Their walls are only size 8, and they are size 18; one of them. So he will be at a major disadvantage. …….
Point: Don’t attack someone without spying first! My main island is size16 with size 25 Wall (Upgrading to 26; but still days to go on timer!) Size25 Barracks, Size10 Port, Size 15 Shipyard, 20 paddle rams, 50 flame ships, 50 catapults, and a few hundred archers, gunsman, gyrocopters, etc, etc. I think its a decent army unless I want to “swell” for an attack on someone. This with my defense bonus should have thrown off my attack if he would have simply SPIED before attacking!
Posted by The Doctor on 09.17.08 5:47 pm
First off, the trading port: If someone pillages your town, assuming you have enough resources to pillage, here’s what they will get maximum depending on your trading port size:
No trading port - 60 goods
Level 1- 200 goods
Level 2- 600 goods
Level 3- 1160 goods
If you are a really beginning player and someone attacks you, just destroy your port and let them get nothing, then rebuild it later for very cheap. This is called turtling. Later on, it’s kind of a jerk thing to do, and people will try to punish you for it, but anyone who’s mean enough to attack a N00B deserves to get nothing.
Ringhloth: Your phalanxes could probably hold off 10-12 swordsmen on their own, more if you have a town wall to help. That’s just an estimate, though, because it’s random. The high trading port technique does work, but just remember that if they attack you while you’re offline you’re screwed.
Zethra: Ships are recruited elsewhere, at a shipyard. You have to build it on one of the blue open spaces at the bottom.
Kalle: That’s the point. If you hhave enough defenses, don’t worry about keeping your port low, but don’t make it ridiculously high in case someone does decide to work their way through your defenses.
Hope this helps.
~The Doctor~
Founder, EDGE Alliance
ikariam.com World Eta
Posted by B on 10.01.08 6:54 pm
Get a port of 4-5… dont be such a chicken. low level ports will make it impossible to do anything in this game later on…
the best advice is: if you get attacked,
check on who attacked you…
Throw 3-5 spies in each town
look at their port levels… If high, use the other 2 spies to see what their working with for defense. If you cant beat them down, save up resources and $$$, build an offense in one town only… and go get em. make sure you upgrade.
and if their offense is too large… let one spy sit for a month, till they raise their ports even more (most players go to 5-6) then with all your wealth attack, again and again until they lower their ports… make sure you hold their ports with every village you have, fire ships do well. once you get through their defense, attacking and holding every port will have all their people dying off and their research and resources will go down to nill… with this, they cant afford military and they will lose the cause so fast.
without incoming wine, sulfur, and no men to keep up their military flow, you might come to a resolution that will benefit you by blackmail.
Peace!
~B
Posted by carpediem on 10.07.08 8:34 pm
@Confused- it is possible that the atac is from your island.If a atac is from the same island don’t mater if you have balista in port.
Reduce coruption upgrading palace and guvernator rezidence.