Rise of Kingdoms Commanders

Delivers cavalry burst as lead or deputy.

Free Legendary from Expedition; F2P barbarian-fort rally lead. Listed under Evergreen F2P and A/Situational.

Very high active skill damage with strong damage reduction; superb charge burst.

Applies a healing-reduction debuff and grants map march speed; strong early and as a rally anti-heal partner.

Strong archer deputy adding sustained skill damage.

Burst damage plus cavalry buffs; a meta-defining open-field lead that pushed older cavalry into niche roles.

Amplifies skill damage and adds bonus damage against weakened targets; one of the best infantry deputies. Underwhelms as a solo primary.

High march speed; runes, rally-joins, obelisk grabs. Also an F2P barbarian-fort rally lead; listed under Evergreen F2P.

Tanky Ark-of-Osiris rally lead.

Cheap evergreen Epic; barbarian-fort rally lead; expertise after Sun Tzu and Joan of Arc.

Prime rework of the Epic Boudica.

High march speed; ideal on T1 troops for grabbing runes, joining rallies, and objective sprints. Also a spender barbarian-fort rally lead.

Gatherer to max; also a supply gatherer for Ark of Osiris.

Shields, damage reduction, and healing that make him a premier structure and garrison anchor.

Legendary gatherer; acceptable to spend legendary gathering sculptures on a dedicated gatherer/farm.

Gatherer to max (level 37 for full gathering tree).

Shields, damage reduction, and healing; strong standalone defensive lead.

Gatherer to max. Source spells it both 'Caius Marius' and 'Gaius Marius'.

Flexes between cavalry and archer support.

Brings anti-heal to city rallies.

Walls infantry garrisons (with Zenobia).

Infantry anti-heal rally lead; pairs with Alexander the Great.

Applies silence and heavy skill damage; silence timing can cancel an enemy nuke.

Gatherer to max. Source writes 'Ishida'.

Cheap evergreen Epic; also France's free gatherer commander (+25% gather speed, +25% load). Expertise early.

Prime rework of the Epic Joan of Arc; pairs with Alexander Nevsky for a top open-field cavalry march.

Works as a barbarian-fort lead but is slow to expertise.

High march speed; runes, rally-joins, obelisk grabs.

Active direct damage applying a slow and a defence-reduction debuff; passives buff infantry and add sustain.

The best barbarian-chaining commander; expertise fast (Lohar necklace grants extra XP). Listed under Evergreen F2P.

Gatherer to max.

Spender barbarian-fort rally lead; also granted by the First Recharge Bonus offer.

A top rally lead.

Active direct damage with slow and defence-reduction debuffs; premier universal deputy. Shines as a deputy, not a top-end lead.

Massive AoE nuke; a benchmark open-field and rally primary. Wants skill-damage amplifiers, not normal-attack deputies.

Gatherer to max. Source writes 'Tamar Queen'.

Applies healing reduction that counters Richard-style defenders.

Shields, damage reduction, and healing; arguably the best Sunset Canyon tank.

Durable single-target damage; a known counter to Richard in Sunset Canyon.

Named as a Liu Che pairing partner.

Gatherer to max (level 37 for full gathering tree).

Shields, damage reduction, and counter effects that keep an infantry line alive; excellent durable primary or premium deputy. Enables damage rather than dealing it.

Gatherer to max.

Cheap evergreen Epic infantry nuker; expertise early (source recommends expertising Sun Tzu and Joan of Arc first).

Active AoE nuke hitting up to five targets and restoring rage; the Prime rework adds fixed true damage that bypasses defensive buffs, a low rage requirement, and large stat boosts. Passives raise skill damage and infantry stats, countering the defensive meta.

Anchors mixed garrisons (with Yi Sun-sin).

Broad team buffs.

Balanced skill damage and survivability with strong version resistance; fits nearly every scenario.

Very high AoE output that warps open-field targeting; strongest in the current open-field five-march setup.

Circular AoE (expertise) excelling in open field, rallies, barbarian chaining, and garrison; extremely high, versatile DPS. First Legendary to max for most players.

Anchors mixed garrisons (with Theodora).

Walls infantry garrisons (with Gorgo).

High skill-damage nuke usable as primary or deputy.