A Comprehensive Guide to Kingshot Rallies

Introduction: The Misunderstood Mechanics of Rallies

Rallies in Kingshot are one of the more complex and often misunderstood aspects of the game. Many of their mechanics don't behave as one might intuitively expect. This guide will unpack the unique intricacies of how rallies work to provide a clear understanding, even in edge-case scenarios. It is highly recommended to first watch a guide on general Kingshot combat mechanics, as this guide will build upon those foundational concepts.

Offensive Rallies: A Breakdown

Let's begin with offensive rallies as they are the simpler of the two types.

How Offensive Rallies are Constructed

• Rally Leader (Captain): This is the player who initiates the rally.
• Rally Joiners: These are the other alliance members who join the rally.

When a rally is initiated that costs stamina (e.g., against Terrors or Cesares), only the Rally Captain pays the stamina cost. This stamina is refunded if the rally is unsuccessful.

Rally Contributions: Leader vs. Joiner

The roles and contributions of a Rally Captain and a Rally Joiner are significantly different.

Rally Leader Contributions:

If you are leading a rally, your bonuses and stats apply to the entire rally. This is a crucial point. The contributions from the leader include:

1. All Stats & Buffs for Troops: This encompasses a wide range of bonuses that will apply to every troop in the rally, regardless of who sent them. These include:

   • Combat Research bonuses
   • Governor Gear and Charms
   • Hero Equipment stats
   • Hero stats
   • Consumable combat bonuses
   • Pet bonuses and abilities
   • Other miscellaneous sources like skins, frames, and island decorations.

2. Rally Capacity: This value determines the total number of troops that can be contributed by other alliance members. It is primarily determined by the level of the Rally Leader's Command Center.

3. Skills of all 3 Heroes: The Rally Leader selects three heroes, and all of their expedition abilities will apply to the entire rally.

   • This includes the standard three hero skills for orange heroes.
   • It also includes the fourth expedition ability found in their exclusive gear details.
   • The order in which the leader places their three heroes does not matter; all skills from all three heroes will be active.

4. Troops: The Rally Leader also contributes their own troops to the rally. They must send at least one troop but can send up to their personal deployment capacity. The tier of these troops helps determine the base stats upon which all the leader's buffs are applied. The proportion of infantry, cavalry, and archers also impacts the overall combat simulation.

Rally Joiner Contributions:

If you are joining a rally, your contributions are much more limited and may not be what you expect.

1. Troops: Your primary contribution is your troops. The number, tier, and proportion of your troops add to the total rally size and affect the overall troop composition, which in turn influences the combat simulation. The stats of these troops will be boosted by the Rally Leader's buffs, not your own.

2. Priority Expedition Skill: You can contribute up to one hero skill to the rally. This is not a skill you choose directly. The game automatically selects it based on a specific logic:

   • The skill is taken from the first hero you place in your march (the one designated as the "Hero Captain" with a small green flag).
   • Only the first expedition skill of that first hero is eligible for inclusion in the rally. This is called the Priority Expedition Skill.

3. No Other Stats or Buffs: Crucially, as a Rally Joiner, you do NOT contribute any of your own personal stats or buffs to the rally. This includes:

   • Your research bonuses.
   • Your Governor gear or charm bonuses.
   • Stats from your heroes' equipment.
   • Any consumable buffs you have active.
   • The skills of your second and third heroes.

The only thing your second and third heroes contribute is an increase to your personal deployment capacity based on their level, allowing you to send more troops.

Understanding the Priority Expedition Skill Selection Logic

The game has a system to decide which joiners' Priority Expedition Skills actually make it into the final rally bonus pool.

• Four Skill Slots: There are only four available slots for hero skills from all the rally joiners combined.
• Selection Logic: The game follows a two-step logic to fill these slots:
  1. Skill Level: It prioritizes the skills with the highest level. A Level 5 skill will always be chosen over a Level 4 skill, regardless of what the skill does. This means non-combat skills (like gathering skills) can potentially be selected if they are a higher level than a joiner's combat skill.
  2. Rally Joining Order: If there is a tie in skill level (e.g., more than four joiners offer a Level 5 Priority Expedition Skill), the game will select the skills from the players who joined the rally first.

Stacking Hero Abilities:

What happens if multiple joiners contribute the same skill?

• Stat-Based Abilities: Abilities that provide a flat stat boost (like Chenko's "Stand of Arms" which increases Lethality by a percentage) will stack.
• Chance-Based Abilities: Abilities that have a percentage chance to trigger (like Jabel's "Rally Flag" which has a chance to reduce damage taken) do not stack. The game will only use one instance of the skill.

How to View Rally Information

You can see the final composition and bonuses of a rally before it launches.

• Go to the "War" tab in your alliance menu.
• Select the rally you are interested in.
• Click the rally flag icon in the top right corner.

This "Rally Bonus" window will show you:

• The total troops and rally capacity.
• A detailed breakdown of all squad bonuses being applied (these are from the Rally Captain).
• Under "Hero Skills," you can see the skills contributed by the Rally Captain and the four selected skills from the Rally Members (joiners).

You can also click the "inspect" icon on the main rally screen to see the "Troop Type Ratio," which shows the overall percentage and individual contribution of Infantry, Cavalry, and Archers from each participant. This is useful for balancing the rally composition.

Defensive Rallies: Key Differences and Advantages

Defensive rallies, such as garrisons in your own city, alliance buildings, or captured objectives, follow most of the same rules as offensive rallies but with some critical differences and advantages for the defender.

Automatic Composition and Key Roles

A defensive rally is automatically formed from all the players and troops currently garrisoning the structure at the moment an attack hits. This introduces a few key roles:

• Rally Leader (The Strongest Player): The game automatically selects the player with the highest overall stats from everyone in the garrison to be the Rally Leader. This player's stats, buffs, and all three of their hero skills will apply to the entire defensive rally.
• Garrison Captain: This is the player who "owns" or controls the garrison. They set the Rally Capacity and can manage the garrison (expel players, appoint a new captain, or sort the player order). They may or may not also be the Rally Leader.
• Rally Joiners: All other players in the garrison contribute their troops and potentially one Priority Expedition Skill, just like in an offensive rally.

The "Secret" to Optimizing Garrison Skills

Because the order of joining matters for breaking ties in Priority Expedition Skill selection, and since you can't see the final rally setup until an attack is launched, optimizing a garrison can be tricky. However, Alliance R4/R5 members have a powerful tool: sorting the garrison list.

By repeatedly appointing and relieving players as the Rally Captain, you can manipulate the order of the player list. The player most recently relieved as captain moves to the bottom of the list. By doing this in a specific sequence, you can force the players with the most desirable, high-level Priority Expedition Skills to the top of the list, ensuring their skills are chosen in the event of a tie. This allows for fine-tuning the defensive rally's hero skills without having to kick anyone out.

The Garrison Resupply Trick

If your troops in a garrison are injured from a battle but not completely defeated, you do not need to recall your entire march to reinforce. You can simply send a second march to the same garrison. This will "top up" your troop count back to your personal deployment capacity. The game will prioritize adding Infantry first, then Cavalry, then Archers if you send more troops than you have room for.

Hero Selection Guide & Tier Lists

Hero Priorities for Rally Leaders

The best Rally Leaders will almost always be players who have invested heavily in the latest generation of Orange (SSR) heroes, as they have superior base stats, more skills, and powerful exclusive gear.

For players without fully developed new-generation heroes, the best free-to-play (F2P) options from the initial hero pool are:

• Infantry: Howard
• Archers: Quinn (He is the only purple archer with two combat skills)
• Cavalry: Jabel (Despite being an Orange hero, she is very F2P-friendly to develop)

Hero Priorities for Rally Joiners (Offensive)

Your goal is to contribute the best possible Priority Expedition Skill.

• Priority Tier: Heroes with a Lethality buff as their first skill. This stat is generally considered the most impactful for damage.
  • Heroes: Amadeus, Chenko, Yanu
• Attack Boost Tier: Heroes that provide a flat Attack boost.
  • Heroes: Amane, Hilde
• % Chance (Use with Caution): Heroes whose first skill is a percentage chance to increase damage. These are good, but do not stack, so coordinate with your alliance.
  • Heroes: Marlin, Zoe, Jaeger, Petra

Hero Priorities for Rally Joiners (Defensive)

Your goal is survivability to withstand the initial attack.

• Health Boost Tier: Heroes whose first skill boosts troop Health.
  • Heroes: Gordon, Saul
• Damage Reduction Tier: Heroes whose first skill reduces incoming damage.
  • Heroes: Fahd, Howard, Quinn
• % Chance (Use Cautiously): Chance-based defensive skills. Good, but do not stack.
  • Heroes: Jabel, Helga
• Debuff Tier: Eric's skill reduces the enemy's attack. This is a powerful ability that stacks, making multiple Erics in a defensive rally a viable strategy.
  • Hero: Eric

You can also click the "inspect" icon on the main rally screen to see the "Troop Type Ratio," which shows the overall percentage and individual contribution of Infantry, Cavalry, and Archers from each participant. This is useful for balancing the rally composition.