Hello and welcome to the best Richard I commander guide for beginners.
If you are new to Rise of Kingdoms and wondering which one is the best garrison commander to keep your city safe and sound from the attackers.
Then look no further because you have come to the right guide. Richard I is one of the best garrison commanders for many good reasons.
He is a legendary commander in Rise of Kingdoms and comes with a very powerful defensive skill set.
Richard I specializes in infantry troops and will have no problem keeping your enemies at bay thanks to his fantastic healing ability and high defense value.
Through a combination of defense enhancements and healing, Richard I is more than capable of withstanding the brute force in Rise of Kingdoms.
Richard I specializes in infantry, garrison, and defense talents.
| Richard I |
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| Title: The Lionheart |
| Civilization: Britain |
| Base Power: 1,100 |
| Rarity: Legendary |
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Richard I Summary:
- Heals his army for 1,400 health points each time he activates active skill.
- Reduces up to 5 targets’ damage by 30% and march speed by 15% in a fan-shaped area.
- Reduces damage taken by 15%.
- Increases counterattack damage by 10%.
- Increases both Infantry defense and attack bonus by 15%.
- Increases healing received by 30%.
- Reduces watchtower damage taken by 30% when serving as garrison commander.
- Further reduces damage taken by 5% and increases infantry attack vs cavalry by 2%.
- Every 10 seconds, apply 50% march speed reduction on the target.
Why Richard I is the Best Commander?
- One of the best infantry commander in the game.
- Extremely tanky.
- Amazing self-healing ability.
- Can cushion massive blows and hold the frontline easily.
- Hits up to 5 targets, applying damage reduction and march speed.
- Increases amount of healing received, great when partnering with a support commander.
- Best infantry commander for wrangling cavalry commanders.
Background Information
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He was known as Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.
During the Third Crusade, Richard was a central Christian commander, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin.
Rather than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, Richard has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies.
Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects. He remains one of the few kings of England remembered by his epithet, rather than the regal number, and is an enduring iconic figure in England and France.
Introduction
Welcome to our in-depth Rise of Kingdoms guide for Richard I. This informative guide overviews Richard I 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 Richard I right and maximize strategic advantages.
Richard I is one of the powerful defender commanders in Rise of Kingdoms with a rarity rating of Legendary.
He is affiliated with Britain and becomes available after your Kingdom turns 120 days old.
Unlike Boudica and Edward of Woodstock, Richard I specializes in infantry and excels at providing a solid defense layer to your army as garrison commander and on the field.
To unlock Richard I, you will need to obtain 10 Richard I sculptures, which you can do through opening chests, Wheel of Fortune, and through special events.
Now that we have the introduction part about this legendary commander done, I will talk about Richard I skills, talent builds, and pairs further in detail next.
Stick around with us to learn how you can make the most use out of this great commander.
Best Richard I Skills
In the next part of our best Richard I commander guide for beginners, we will talk about these legendary commander skills.
As previously mentioned, he is a good defender commander, which means most of his skill set is focused on reducing the enemy attack, countering hard, and protecting your troops by increasing the defense value.
Here’s a list of Richard I’s skills below:
| Soul of the Crusaders |
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Rage Requirement: 1000 Heals some of the slightly wounded units in Richard’s army. Adds a debuff to a maximum of 5 targets in a fan-shaped area. (Debuffs effect reduces damage dealt and march speed for 2 seconds.) Upgrade Preview: Healing Factor: 600 / 800 / 1000 / 1200 / 1400 |
This active skill heals some of your slightly injured troops upwards to 1,400 at max level.
Additionally, it debuffs up to 5 targets in a fan-shaped range, causing the targets to do 30% less damage and reducing their march speed by 15%—a solid active skill for a defender commander.
| Chivalry |
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Increases troop damage reduction and counterattack damage. The effect applies to all garrison troops when this commander is serving as a garrison commander. Upgrade Preview: |
Simply reduces the amount of damage taken by 15% and increases counterattack damage by 10% when serving as a garrison commander.
An excellent passive skill that provides an extra layer of protection.
| The Lionheart |
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Increases the attack of infantry units and defense of infantry units. Upgrade Preview: |
This passive skill is a must-have if you are rolling pure infantry build: increases infantry attack and defense by 15%.
| Battle-Hardened |
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Increases healing effects received by troops and reduces watchtower damage taken by enemy troops. Upgrade Preview: |
Battle-Hardened is an interesting passive skill that gives Richard I some flexibility to work with offensive commanders.
This passive skill increases the amount of healing which bolsters his active skill.
When serving as the garrison commander, the watchtowers will take 30% less damage from the enemy troops.
A very powerful passive skill that makes Richard I a popular garrison commander to pick.
| Tyrannical Lion |
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Reduces all damage taken by 5% and increases damage dealt to cavalry units by infantry units by 2%. In addition, every 10 seconds, decreases target march speed by 50% for 5 seconds. |
This skill gives a flat 5% damage reduction blanket buff. Does 2% more damage to cavalry via infantry and reduces the march speed of your enemy target by 50%.
That allows Richard I to lock down the target, making it possible for you to dispatch offensive commanders to finish the remaining enemy force(s).
Best Richard I Talent Trees
If you are starting with Richard I and want to know the best talent build to use for this legendary commander.
Then look no further because there are at least three viable talent builds to choose from, depending on your gameplay, strategy, and the purpose of these builds.
Below is our recommended Richard I talent builds to use in Rise of Kingdoms:
Bulwark Talent Build
The Bulwark talent build works out exceptionally well with Richard I because of his unique skill set.
This talent build focuses on increasing the troops’ defense to make them even harder to get killed on the battlefiled.
Through increased defense, Richard I can easily transform into a frontline commanders to channel all of the incoming damage while the damage dealers do all of the heavylift.
Thanks to Richard I’s already solid healing ability, damage reduction and increased defense makes it easy to hold down the frontline.
If you are looking for ways to provide support to your friendly alliance members, this talent build is just amazing to use for Richard I.
PvP Talent Build
Alternatively, if you want to use Richard I in PvP battles like Sunset Canyon and even during the Lost Kingdom.
Then you need to use this talent build to improve the infantry troops’ attack, defense, health, and march speed.
As mentioned before, healing is one of the primary competencies that keeps Richard I and his troops alive throughout the battle.
Which is why some of the talent points are invested into improving the speed of rage generation that allows Richard I to recover health as much as he can.
Staying alive in any PvP battles is equally important as it is to countering enemy attackers.
Garrison Talent Build
By default, the Garrison talent build is one of the best choices to use for this commander.
It increases the troops’ defense value and reduces the damage taken when Richard I is serving as the garrison commander.
Unlike the other two talent builds, the speed of rage generated is also greatly improved.
That means Richard I can do even more damage, heal more and maintain debuff on the enemy targets.
Additionally, your watchtower takes 30% less damage from the enemy troops.
Star Level & Talent Point Upgrade Priority
In the next part of our Best Richard I commander guide, I will talk about star level & talent point upgrade priority to maximize your commander’s combat potential.
Here’s how to prioritize your Richard I effectively with the Commander Skill Lock feature:
Bulwark Talent Build:
- Keep Richard I at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Richard I at 3 ⭐ until you max out his third skill.
- Level Richard I at 4 ⭐ until you max out all of his skills.
PvP Talent Build:
- Keep Richard I at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Richard I at 3 ⭐ until you max out his third skill.
- Level Richard I at 4 ⭐ until you max out all of his skills.
Garrison Talent Build:
- Keep Richard I at 1 ⭐ until you max out his first skill.
- Level Richard I at 2 ⭐ until you max out his second skill.
- Level Richard I at 4 ⭐ until you max out all of his skills.
Best Commander Pairings for Richard I
Before we list out the best commanders to pair with Richard I. It is essential to keep in mind that he specializes in the infantry.
That means he will perform the best and get the most out of pairing when you pair him with another commander specializing in the infantry.
It is also possible to pair with commanders who have strong leadership ability as long as they don’t have conflicting skills that require mixed troops.
Below is our recommended commanders for pairing with Richard I.
Julius Caesar
One of the best legendary commanders to pair with Richard I is Julius Caesar.
If you are looking for a commander who excels at PvP and open field battles that can heal ability.
Julius Caesar will significantly improve all the troops’ defense and attack to inflict even more damage while reducing incoming damage taken.
Through Richard I’s improved healing capability, more troops will be recovered and stay alive thanks to increased defense capability.
This combo is excellent for tanking bosses in raid events like the Ceroli Crisis and Ian’s Ballad.
Alexander the Great
If you are looking for a commander to enhance your Bulwark talent build further, Alexander the Great is one of the best commanders to pair with.
He comes with the ability to put up a shield and increase defense. When the shield is down, increase attack.
Plus, he is excellent support since his active skill also gives a small shield to nearby friendly commanders to offset some of the incoming damage.
So, in summary, Alexander the Great and Richard I together make one of the best frontline combos in-game.
Charles Martel
Don’t underestimate Charles Martel for his skills. He is one of the best commanders to improve Richard I’s Garrison talent build.
Unlike Alexander the Great, Charles Martel prefers to stay in your city. He also can provide shield and increase attack temporarily.
Infantry troops under his leadership also gain massive bonuses to health, attack, and defense.
That makes this combo one of the best picks to garrison your city, alliance fortresses, and flags as well.
Guan Yu
Alternatively, suppose you are looking to pair with an offensive commander like Guan Yu, who could use some extra defense to make the troops harder to die on the battlefield.
In that case, Guan Yu typically takes the position as a primary role since his active skill will cause more damage.
However, Richard I can provide some defense value along with Guan Yu — especially with increasing the amount of healing received and reducing the damage taken from the watchtowers.
This combo is great for both PvP battles and when attacking enemy cities.
Wu Zetian
Another good commander to pair with is Wu Zetian. She serves as the anti-nuker role in Rise of Kingdoms and reduces the amount of damage taken by skills.
Additionally, she increases the troops’ defense when serving as the garrison commander.
Every time she uses her active skill, troops get healed, and the enemy targets get moderate amounts of damage.
Thus, if you pair Richard I with Wu Zetian, not only do you get the best self-healing effects in the game but increased damage towards incoming troops.
Furthermore, an extra 10% towards rallied armies when serving as the garrison commander.
Harald Sigurdsson
By nature, Harald Sigurdsson is an offensive commander and tends to take a lot of damage as he fight longer.
If you are looking for an excellent commander to pair with Harald Sigurdsson, who definitely can take some increased defense capability and lower overall damage taken.
Richard I is an excellent commander to pair as he will keep the infantry troops alive while Harald Sigurdsson does all of the hard work.
Through damage reduction, Richard I can minimize the amount of damage taken as effectively as he can when Harald Sigurdsson has reached maximum stacks.
This commander pairing is great for PvP battles if you want to take advantage of increased attacking power but don’t want to compromise defense capability.
Bjorn Ironside
One of the best epic commanders to pair right now in Rise of Kingdoms is Bjorn Ironside.
If you want to PvP against other governors in Sunset Canyon and the Lost Kingdom during the Past Glory event.
Bjorn Ironside is a nice commander to pair because he deals high damage with his active skill. Plus the infantry troops gets an additional 10% attack and defense bonuses.
The least thing Richard I can do in return is keeping the troops alive on the battlefield while Bjorn Ironside do all of the heavy lifting.
Sun Tzu
This epic commander is undisputable the best pick to pair with Richard I.
Sun Tzu is a powerful garrison commander available right away at the beginning of the game if players pick China as their civilization.
Unlike other commanders, Sun Tzu grants a +20% skill damage bonus, which increases Richard I’s overall healing effect.
In addition to that, Sun Tzu does a massive amount of damage against multiple targets with his active skill.
If you ever want to go and fight on the field, Sun Tzu reduces the amount of damage taken while on the map, which is a big bonus for Richard I as he lacks it.
Best Richard I Equipment Set
| Equipment | Name | Stats |
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Gatekeeper’s Shield |
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Windswept War Helm |
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Windswept Breastplate |
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Calvin’s Hand |
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Sentry’s Breeches |
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The Scarlet Hounds |
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| Total |
Set Bonus:
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Overall Stats:
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| Equipment | Name | Stats |
|---|---|---|
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Sakura Fubuki |
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Witch’s Lineage |
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Quinn’s Soul |
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Seth’s Brutality |
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Sentry’s Breeches |
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The Scarlet Hounds |
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| Total |
Set Bonus:
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Overall Stats:
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| Equipment | Name | Stats |
|---|---|---|
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Shield of Eternal Empire |
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Gold Helm of the Eternal Empire |
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Plate of the Eternal Empire |
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Vambrace of the Eternal Empire |
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Greaves of the Eternal Empire |
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Sturdy Boots of the Eternal Empire |
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| Total |
Set Bonus:
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Overall Stats:
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Conclusion of Best Richard I Commander Guide
As we conclude the best Richard I commander guide for beginners, you now know the best commander pairings, talent builds, and skill path.
Richard I is genuinely a great legendary commander to have on the roster due to his incredibly powerful defensive skill set.
When you use him the right way, he can help you snatch some easy victories under your belt — especially late game during the Lost Kingdom event.
Lastly, if you want to get some free gems and rewards, you can visit our Rise of Kingdoms Gift Codes guide and try out these free codes for easy rewards.
Did you find our best Richard I commander guide for beginners helpful and informative? If you have any questions about this commander, let us know in the comment section below.
Rule on, Governors!
