Beginner's Guide to Travian!

[Woden]

Q: Do I still get resources when I am offline?
A: Yes. The game world is persistent; while you are offline, resources still accumulate, attacks still go on, and timers still count down.

Q: Do my Crannies protect x of each resource, or x total?
A: Crannies protect the listed amount of each resource. Remember that only 2/3 of this amount is protected if the attacker is a Teuton.

Q: How do I build a Rally Point?
A: To build a rally point, go to the Village Overview. Then fix your eyes to the very middle of the picture. Now, just to the right of the very middle of the picture is a moon shaped piece or grass. Click on that, and there you can build a Rally point.


(Picture courtesy of Havok)

Q: What is the benefit to upgrading my Rally Point?
A: The benefit to upgrading your rally point is that you can have more target choices with your Catapults.

At level 1 it is completely random, at level 3, 5 and 10 the variety of possible targets grows, and at level 10 every building but the cranny, the stonemason, and the trapper can be targeted. You can, however, hit the Cranny, stonemason, and trapper randomly.

Additionally, at level 15, you can build a Tournament Square, which increases the speed of your troops after they have travelled 30 fields from your village. Note that they will travel the first 30 fields at regular speed, regardless of the length of the trip.

Finally, at level 20, you can split your catapults between two seperate targers (requires at least 20 catapults in the attack). Half (rounded up) will attack the first target, and half (rounded down) will attack the second target).

Q: Where do I build a wall?
A: In the Village Center, click on the moat.

Q: Can I move/delete a Building once I build it?
A: I'm afraid that after you place a building down and finish construction, you can not move it. You can, however, destroy it when you have a level 10 Main building. Then you can enter the main building, select the building you want to destroy, and it will downgrade it by a level. Once it reaches level 0, it is destroyed.

Q: How do I create an alliance?
A: In order to create an alliance, you need an level 3 Embassy. You can join an alliance with only a level 1 Embassy and an invitation.

Q: How do I increase my population?
A: Every building has a specific number of inhabitants. As you build buildings and upgrade them, your population will increase. If you look at the top of the page, at the little wheat symbol with a slash in it, that is your population.

Also, note that population is generally a bad thing, as it lowers your wheat production.

Q: Help, my wheat production is constantly shrinking!
A: The consumption of wheat by building inhabitants (for example, 5) and troops will lower your wheat production (for example, 10). You can see your gross wheat production at the top right. For example, 5/15

Q: Does my Academy/Blacksmith/Armory research affect my other villages?
A: No.

Q: If I lose/demolish my Academy/Blacksmith/Armory, do I keep the research I finished?
A: Yes. The research can only be lost if the village is completely destroyed.

[Woden]

Q: How do I train troops?
A: You will need to build a level 1 Rally Point ((look up for details)) and a level 3 Main Building. Then you can build a barracks and train your troops there. Each race starts with one type of unit known; additional unit types need to be researched at the Academy before they can be trained.

Q: How do Reinforcements work?
A: You have the possibility to reinforce other players as long as the account is neither in the beginner protection nor banned. In order to reinforce someone you need troops and a target. A target can be choosen via the map, the statistics or by entering the information of the village you want to reinforce via the rally point. Troops that have been sent to reinforce another village will stay there until they die in battle, you withdraw them or the owner sends them back. Their upkeep has to be paid by the village-owner. If you wish to support the village owner with wheat to pay the upkeep of troops, you can supply them with a reasonable amount of crop.

Q: How do I defend my village?
A: As long as you have troops (yours or friendly) stationed in your village, they will automatically defend the village.

Q: Why do I lose troops attacking an empty village?
A: Every village has a minimal base defense. With exceptions for particularly powerful cavalry, troops will always be lost when attacking with only one troop type. It is not a good idea to send defensive troops like the Gallic Phalanx on attacks.

Q: Why do my troops raid so few resources?
A: There could be several reasons. For one, each unit can only carry so many resource units; otherwise, a Cranny automatically protects a certain number of resources from enemies. Also, the village might simply not have any more resources for you to take.

Q: How does the game determine what resources my army will take?
A: It is based on the ratio of unprotected resources in the defender's village.

If they have 100 unprotected Wood, 200 unprotected Clay, 200 unprotected Iron, and 100 unprotected Wheat, and your soldiers can carry 60 resources, then you would get 10 Wood, 20 Clay, 20 Iron, and 10 Wheat.

Q: How can I found or conquer new villages?
A: In order to found a new village, you need three settlers; in order to conquer a new village, you need an administrator (Senator, Chief, or Chieftain, depending on tribe). You can build these in a level 10 Residence or Palace. You also need to have produced a certain number of culture points.

Q: Can I lose my village?
A: If you only have one village, no. If you have more than one village, then any village except your Capital can be conquered; any village, including the Capital, can be destroyed, however.

Q: How can I tell when an attack is coming?
A: If you look at your resource fields when an attack is coming to you, you will see, right above Production, Two crossed Swords with Attack in 00:00:00 (the time will vary) . When it reaches zero, they will attack.

Q: I can't get my attacks to work... the "Time Remaining" counter keeps ticking up! What do I do?
A: There is a confirmation button on that window. All you need to do is click that button, and the attack will be launched.

Q: How does the Tournament Square work?
A: Your troops will travel the first 30 fields of any trip at normal speed, and will then move at the faster rate listed in the Tournament Square.

Q: Someone is farming me... what can I do?
A: Please read Theo's anti-farming guide.

[Woden]

Q: Where do Heroes come from?
A: A hero is created from a regular unit, through the Hero's Mansion. To create a hero, you must have one of the unit you wish to create a hero from in the village, and it cannot be a reinforcement.

Q: Is it possible to assign rams, catapults, settlers, spies or administators to be come hero?
A: No.

Q: How much can a hero carry?
A: A hero can carry nothing at all.

Q: Do I have to create 3 heroes first before I can delete one?
A: As long as a hero is dead he can be deleted, regardlessly how many heroes you have.

Q: Do heroes show up in battle report?
A: Yes, they do.

Q: Can I see the skills of a hero in the battle report?
A: No.

Q: What is the maximum level of a skill?
A: The maximum level is 100 per skill.

Q: Is it possible to defend one village with multiple heroes?
A: Yes, but the def-bonus only applies to troops of the player who owns the hero giving the bonus.

Q: When does a hero lose health?
A: A hero loses health equal to the percentage of casualties in a battle. For example, if you lose 25% of your troops in a battle, your Hero will lose 25 health. Usually, when you attack someone, the base defense (palace + wall) is enough to inflict at least some damage.

Q: Can a hero be used as sole defender or attacker in a combat?
A: Yes, but this is not advised as a hero will die if he is reduced to 0 health OR if he loses 90 or more health in a single battle.

Q: How is the experience of a hero calculated?
A: The hero gains experience from every enemy troop killed in a battle. The amount of experience is equal to the upkeep of the troop; a Phalanx gives one experience point, while an Equites Caesaris gives 4 experience points. Killing a hero earns 6 experience points.

If multiple heroes are defending, the experience is divided evenly between them.

Q: Does a hero get experience when he dies in a battle?
A: Yes, he does.

Q: Does a hero get improved by upgrades done in the armoury and the blacksmith?
A: No, they do not influence a hero at all, regardless of when the upgrade was completed.

Q: When can I start annexing oases?
A: You need a hero's mansion level 10, 15 and 20 for each oasis you want to annex.

For more information about oases, please visit this site.

Q: How many heroes can one have at a time?
A: Each player can only have one active hero. If this hero dies, the player will have the option to choose one of up to three inactive heroes (including the newly dead one) that he wants to have revived, or to create a new hero (if the player has less than three heroes).

Q: Can I move my hero to another village of mine and use him from there to attack?
A: Yes, as long as the village you send him to as reinforcement has a hero's mansion.

Q: What happens to the skills and experience when I revive a hero?
A: Apart from the hero having 100% hitpoints again, he will be same as before he has been killed. He will loose neither skills nor experience.

[Woden]

Q: How can I change my village's name?
A: Look at the Side bar and click on Profile, then click Profile in the task bar of the Player Profile page. Then just look down to the box that has your Village's name, delete the name, and type in your own.

Q: What are the +/- numbers on the map and next to villages?
A: Those are the co-ordinates. Travian is set on a Cartesian Co-ordinate map. The center of the map is at 0|0, and it expands for 400 spaces in every direction, with the +'s and -'s telling which direction the location is from the center.

+|+ = Northeast
-|+ = Northwest
+|- = Southeast
-|- = Southwest"

Q: How do I assign a sitter?
A: Look at the Side bar and click on Profile, then click Account in the task bar of the Player Profile page. On of the sections will be titled "Sitters"; enter the name of the player you wish to sit your account here, and then click the button.

To remove a sitter, or remove yourself as a sitter, go to this same section and click the red "X" next to the name of the sitter/sittee to be removed.

A player can have a maximum of two sitters, and can sit for a maximum of two accounts.

Q: How do I log in as a sitter?
A: After being set as a sitter, you log in using the account name of the account to be sat, and YOUR password.

Q: How do I send a message to my entire alliance?
A: First, you need to have the power within your alliance to do so; if you are not the alliance founder, then ask your leader if you have this power or not.

Once you have this power, simply type "[ally]" (without the quotation marks) in the Recipient field of a message.

Q: To whom do I report suspected rule violations?
(...okay, so nobody actually asks it that way. A man can dream. )
A: Multihunter. He is located at (0|0) on every server.

Q: What is the Ø in the alliance rankings?
A: The average population of an alliance.

Q: What are the homeland merchants for each tribe, and how do I get them?
For Gauls: Build a level 3 Cranny, and you will get 3 sets of 125 | 125 | 125 |125 shipments, spaced 6 hours apart.

For Teutons: Build a level 3 Wheat Field, and you will get 1 shipment of 380 | 490 | 380 | 110

For Romans: Build a level 1 Woodcutter, a level 1 Clay Pit, a level 1 Iron Mine, and a level 1 Wheat Field, and you will get 1 shipment of 290 | 310 | 230 | 190, followed 24 hours later by a shipment of 120 | 120 | 120 | 120.

The resources are automatically added to your stores at the time the report is generated. No player action is required.

Q: What are the forum ranks?

Detailed information can be found here: http://forum.travian.us/showthread.php?t=33822

Q: Is there any way to make a Travian Plus link to a building?
A: Plus links to buildings can be done in one of two ways:

1) A link to the building slot.
To make this link, first go to the building slot you want to link to. There will be a two-digit number at the link. Remember that number. Then, add a link to "/build.php?id=xx", where "xx" is that number. This links to the building slot, so it might be going to different buildings in each of your villages.

2) A link to a building type.
To make this link, first go to this site and scroll down to the bottom. Find the number for the building you wish to link to, and remember it. Then, add a link to "/build.php?gid=xx", where "xx" is that number. This link is usually preferred, since it will go to the building type regardless of where it was built in the village.

[Woden]

Travian Help:
http://help.travian.us/index.php
(Official Travian help files. Contains a lot of information about resource requirements, construction times, and other such information.)

Battle Report Archive:
http://travilog.org.ua/en
(Please remember to anonymize reports that will be posted on the forums)

Army Calculator:
http://www.hightek-designs.com/travian/

Travian Tools:
http://travian.macaputo.de/index.php
(Has various utilities, as well as avatars that show your current game rankings)

Resource Calculator:
http://travian.lagacetadelrol.com/index.php

Marketplace Calculator:
http://www.paulis-fahrschule.de/tmc.en.html

NPC Calculator (Helps you use the NPC Merchant to afford the most troops per use)
http://npc.fooo.se/

TravMap (Travian Map tool)
http://travmap.shishnet.org/

Travian Analyzer (Shows changes in player/alliance rankings)
http://travian.ws/

Herocreator (Hero simulator, to help with planning your hero)
http://help.travian.us/hero/index.php

Kirilloid's Travian tools
http://travian.kirilloid.ru/

Travian Time Calculator:

http://www.tk1.com/traviantime.aspx