Hannibal Barca is a legendary commander in Rise of Kingdoms. If you are looking for a commander that is strong at attacking and works well with any type of troops. Then look no further because Hannibal Barca is the perfect pick. He specializes in these talents: leadership, conquering and attack.
Hannibal Barca |
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Title: Carthage’s Guardian |
Civilization: Other |
Base Power: 1,100 |
Rarity: Legendary |
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Hannibal Barca Summary:
- Deals 400 damage to single target then an additional 300 damage to 3 targets.
- Reduces enemy targets defense and damage by 25% for 3 seconds.
- Increases damage by 10% when commanding 3 or more troops type.
- Has 10% chance to heal himself for 1,000 when attacking cities.
- Increases troop capacity by 10%.
- When battling outside of alliance territory, increase damage of all troops by 15%.
Why Hannibal Barca is the Best Commander?
- Powerful damage and defense reduction debuff.
- Best commander for attacking enemy cities due to insane self-healing capabilities.
- Extremely flexible, can work with any troops.
- Can command large army size.
- Perfect conqueror commander due to 15% attack bonus outside of alliance territory.
Background Information

Hannibal Barca was a Carthaginian general, considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His father Hamilcar Barca was the leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War.
His younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair. Hannibal lived during a period of great tension in the western Mediterranean Basin when the Roman Republic established its supremacy over great powers such as ancient Carthage, the Etruscans, Samnites and the Greek king of Syracuse.
One of his most famous achievements was the outbreak of the Second Punic War when he marched an army which included war elephants from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Italy. In his first few years in Italy, he won three dramatic victories – the Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae, in which he distinguished himself for his ability to determine his and his opponents’ respective strengths and weaknesses, and to plan the battle accordingly – and won over many allies of Rome.
Hannibal occupied much of Italy for 15 years but was unable to march on Rome. An enemy counter-invasion of Nort Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was decisively defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama.
Introduction
Welcome to our in-depth Rise of Kingdoms guide for Hannibal Barca. This informative guide was created to help provide an overview of Hannibal Barca skills, talent trees, gameplay, strategies, and guides in Rise of Kingdoms. The purpose of this overview guide is to help new and experienced players understand how to play Hannibal Barca right and maximize strategic advantages.
Hannibal Barca is a legendary commander and one of the best commanders for leading a mixed army. If you are a fan of having more than 3 types of troops in an army, you definitely will love Hannibal Barca as one of your primary commanders. He is outfitted with some of the most powerful offensive skills and features several strong talent builds that focuses on conquering, PvP battles and providing support as well.
To unlock Hannibal Barca, you will need to gather 10 Hannibal Barca sculptures. Which can be done via unlocking silver and golden chests, through the events and VIP shop. Once you have the required materials, you can go to the Commander selection tab to summon him. So, without further ado let’s dive deep to learn more about Hannibal Barca skills, talent builds, roles and pairs.
Best Hannibal Barca Skills
Getting to know Hannibal Barca skills is the most important part in this commander guide. In this section, we will explain each skill and how you can use them to maximize to your advantage during the battles. That being said, let’s find out what his skills are. Scroll down to learn more:

War Elephants |
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Rage Requirement: 1000 Deals direct damage to a single target then decreases target’s damage and defense for the next 5 seconds. Upgrade Preview: Direct Damage Factor: 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 / 400 |
War Elephants is a staple of Hannibal Barca’s active skill. It is one of the most powerful skills that deals direct damage and reduces the enemy damage and defense by 25% for 5 seconds. This skill cripples their defense which will allow your troops to deal more damage. At the same time, the enemy deals reduced damage which actually serves as a double-edged sword.
Envelopment Tactics |
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When Hannibal’s army contains 2 different unit types, all damage is increased. If this army contains 3 different types, all damage is even further increased. (Warriors and swordsmen are the same unit type, while warriors and slingers are different unit types.) Upgrade Preview: Bonus Damage (2 Unit Types): 1% / 2% / 3% / 4% / 5% |
Envelopment Tactics is actually a very important passive skill and something that you really should take advantage of if you want to play Hannibal Barca as an effective commander. By doing a mixed army, all troops gain a 10% damage bonus at the same time, they can cover each other’s weakness by providing counter against enemy troops.
Siege |
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When attacking other Goverrnors’ garrisons, Hannibal has a 10% chance to heal some of his slightly wounded units. Upgrade Preview: Healing Factor: 500 / 600 / 700 / 800 / 1000 |
Siege puts Hannibal Barca as a very powerful conqueror when you use him to attack enemy cities. This passive skill helps offset your casualties under Hannibal Barca’s leadership. The 1,000 healing effect that he does when attacking an enemy garrison is big enough to mitigate some of the damage. Plus, this passive skill has no restriction which means he can trigger it as often as he can. A very strong passive skill.
Expedition |
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Increases troop capacity. When battling outside of alliance territory, increases the damage of all Hannibal’s troops for 3 seconds after using a skill. Upgrade Preview: Troop Capacity Bonus: 3% / 4.5% / 6% / 8% / 10% |
Expedition adds an interesting twist in Rise of Kingdoms because this passive skill encourages you to play Hannibal Barca outside of your alliance territory in order to gain that 15% damage bonus. Plus, the size of troop capacity is increased by 10% which supports larger troops.
War Elephant Trample |
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Deals direct damage (Damage Factor 400) to a single target then deals additional damage (Damage Factor 300) to 3 targets in a forward direction on the next turn and decreases damage of the 3 targets by 25% and defense by 25% for 3 seconds. |
Finally, this is an enhanced skill which improves Hannibal Barca’s active skill. While it deals the same amount of direct damage towards a single target. He now deals up to 3 targets on the next turn for 300 damage and reduces their damage + defense by 25% for 3 seconds. This enhanced skill isn’t only useful but incredibly powerful when battling against three or more enemy targets.
Best Hannibal Barca Talent Trees
In this part of our best Hannibal Barca commander guide for beginners, we will share our recommended talent builds. Resetting the talent points can be very costly if you are too far ahead with the current build. So to make the most of these recommended talent builds for Hannibal Barca, I suggest starting fresh and investing talent points from there. Below are our top 3 preferred talent builds for this legendary commander.
Conqueror Talent Build

This talent build is the most popular choice for Hannibal Barca. Mainly because it enriches his ability to deal significant amounts of damage towards enemy cities and clearing the defense for pillaging the resources. Additionally, the talent points are invested into building the rage fast enough to help Hannibal Barca maintain his active skill uptime. A solid talent build for avid conquerors.
PvP Talent Build

One of the best talents built for players who want to PvP with Hannibal Barca. This talent build solidifies his role as multi-type army commander. At the same time, he gains 3% bonus to both attack and defense when leading 3 or more army types. Likewise, the speed of rage generation is improved and he gains damage reduction whenever he uses a skill. A must-have talent build for PvP battles.
Field Talent Build

This talent build continues to latch on the 3% attack and defense bonuses when leading 3 or more army types. However, this build focuses more on delivering sustained damage with troops’ normal attacks. Hannibal Barca is able to reach his troops to fullest potential when fighting for more than 10 seconds thanks to ramp up damage modifier. Plus, the speed of rage generation is improved with this talent build that helps a lot with Hannibal Barca’s ability to cast his active skill often.
Star Level & Talent Point Upgrade Priority
In the next part of our Best Hannibal Barca commander guide, I am going to talk about star level & talent point upgrade priority to maximize your commander’s combat potential. Here’s how to prioritize your Hannibal Barca effectively:
Conqueror Talent Build:
- Keep Hannibal Barca at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 3 ⭐ and max out his third skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 4 ⭐ and max out all of his skills.
PvP Talent Build:
- Keep Hannibal Barca at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 2 ⭐ and max out his second skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 4 ⭐ and max out all of his skills.
Field Talent Build:
- Keep Hannibal Barca at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 2 ⭐ and max out his second skill.
- Level Hannibal Barca to 4 ⭐ and max out all of his skills.
Best Commander Pairs
Believe it or not, there’s quite a few commanders who also specialize in multi-army build, which is also dependent on their skills and talent builds you are using. In this part, we are sharing some of the best secondary commanders to pair with Hannibal Barca. Here they are:
Trajan

One of the best legendary commanders to pair with Hannibal Barca is Trajan. He comes with a powerful skill set that improves rage generation and applies 30% skill damage debuff to targets. Which means Hannibal Barca also can deal even more damage with his active skill and reduce targets’ damage and defense.
The reason why Trajan and Hannibal Barca works so well because they have each other base covered. For instance, if both commanders are leading 3 or more troops type. Trajan will cause the enemy troops to take 20% extra damage, while Hannibal Barca will increase overall troops damage by 10% — bringing total damage bonus to 30%.
If you are in need of additional defense boost, Trajan can build Charge stacks that grants 6% defense bonus for 10 seconds and can be stack up to 10 times. Absolutely beast combo for anyone looking to take advantage of Trajan + Hannibal Barca.
Ragnar Lodbrok

Take your combat capabilities to the next level with Ragnar Lodbrok and Hannibal Barca. This new Vikings commander has a lot to offer such as +40% increased damage with his active skill, +20% attack bonus, 10% increased troop capacity and chance to reduce enemy target’s healing effectiveness by 40%. Ragnar Lodbrok is capable of doing what others can’t: delivering the final blow.
Ragnar Lodbrok and Hannibal Barca works together so well because of the massive damage bonus will help improve troops’ ability to do even more in less time. The enhanced healing reduction effect is very strong, especially if you are attacking city and that debuff will quickly diminish their ability to hold the line. At the same time, both commanders get healing and damage bonus all the time on the map. One of the stellar commander pairings in the game.
Aethelflaed

Aethelflaed is an amazing commander who excels at killing barbarians quickly thanks to her high damage modifier and splash damage active skill. Hannibal Barca and Aethelflaed stand to benefit the most from each other since Aethelflaed excels at multi-army.
Both are incredibly flexible and will have no issues working out well together. If you are looking for a solid barbarian killer pair, Aethelflaed will definitely work well with the damage and defense reduction modifier from Hannibal Barca.
If you don’t have Aethelflaed yet, your best alternative options are Lohar and Boudica as they are flexible enough.
Osman I

If you are looking for a good direct damage dealer to pair with Hannibal Barca, Osman I is a solid choice. He comes with skills which increases the damage dealt by troops, causes additional damage after using active skill and increases the size of troop capacity.
Likewise, Osman I is flexible and will easily work with Hannibal Barca’s focus of being a multi-army commander. If you are looking to upgrade from Osman I in terms of damage, power and flexibility, Mehmed II is the next pick in the line.
Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar is a powerful debuffer and pairs extremely well with Hannibal Barca. Even though Rome and Carthage had a history of being at war during the ancient times, there’s no wonder why Julius Caesar and Hannibal Barca worked together well due to their passive skills benefiting each other.
Julius Caesar is able to reduce their defense and increase your troops damage, allowing your army to dish out major blows. At the same time, he gives additional bonuses toward fighting enemy cities and expands troop capacity size.
If you don’t have Julius Caesar yet, roll with Scipio Africanus.