This Guide covers the basic essentials that all classes should adhere to. Almost anyone who has played the game is likely to have already fallen pray to one (or all) of these, and should be wary of falling pray to them a second time. If however you are new to COE 3, then this Guide will help to raise your awareness of some of the most common mistakes and traps that have lead to the abrupt and terrible demise of many an aspiring young empire.

1.) Never Leave Your Citadel Undefended.

A somewhat common mistake is to leave the Citidel undefended as you go off flaging resource squares. Sometimes you can get away with it, but more often than not it will cost you the game. All it takes is one deer or stealthy brigand and it's game over. So make sure you leave behind a few units before you disappear into the fog of war.

2.) Never Leave Home Without An Escort.

Another common mistake for new players is not knowing (or forgetting) how to transfer units onto the Leader, by clicking on Transfer Units and adding units to the Leader individually by left clicking or adding entire squads by holding shift and left clicking.

A Leader without an escort isn't going to last long, so make sure they have a few units with them at all times.

3.) Only Take What You Need.

There are a lot of resources, and not all of them will be usable by your class. For this reason, it is better not to kill neutral guards for a resource you cannot use, and instead let your opponents lose units and waste action points trying to capture it instead.

4.) Never Gamble Without Just Cause.

Never fight a battle unless you're sure that you can win and that the rewards outweigh the cost of victory.

5.) Looks Too Good To Be True? It Is.

If an important resource such as an Ancient Forest or Old Castle looks abandoned, then chances are good there is a stealthy unit hidden there. Some stealthy units can be weak such as brigands and goblins, though more powerful units such as forest trolls and wights can also be hidden from view.

6.) If You Can't Use It, Then No One Can.

Roughly a third of the classes have some means at their disposal of destroying specific resources, while everyone is able to destroy ancient forests and regular forests via the use of a pyromancer or pyro-like ability. So if you can't use it, then no one can. Either destroy it outright or sit on it and deny your opponents access to it.

7.) Information Is Power.

You should make use of the ability to right click on any stack of units to find out useful information about them. This can tell you how many hit points unit have left or what spells enemy wizards have at their disposal.

8.) Trading.

Trade is more useful to some classes than others, if you require a special resource then trade is very important to you, and if you make use of gems then trade is crucial to you. Make full use of it, try not to forget about it and you'll deny your opponents a very powerful asset.

9.) Delaying Tactics

You can run away from and/or delay a stronger armies approach by detaching a single unit from your army each time that you move to a new square. This will force the enemy to expend all their action points to fight one battle per-turn to pursue your army, or their march upon your intended postion of defense, while at the same time granting you continued sight of their approaching army.

Update 1 (26/07/2020) - I deleted Chapter 2 regarding game phases as it was largely incorrect.

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