Originally Posted by
Helgrymm
Basically, all buildings have their uses, some just have more uses, or they are used all the time. We'll preface by saying I am in a top alliance, and in the top 500 individually on a server, so I am not getting "farmed" by anyone.
Cottages - I build 14 of these in every city, I like large populations, so they are generally at L5+ as soon as they can be, then as I start getting the more important things built, I start upgrading these again.
Barracks - I build 7 barracks in my starting city, and 8 barracks in each additional city. I always try to upgrade them in bunches, so they are useful. All of them built as 1's before upgrading, then I upgrade one to L4, then upgrade another, etc. Once they are all to L4, I get them all to L6, and then I start working on L9's.
Inn - You need one in every city, even if you get rid of it later. The Inn is a prerequisite for the Feasting Hall, which is obviously a must. The Inn really does not need to go past L1, if you plan on removing it later, but I keep one in each city always. The plan here is that in case of emergency, each city is able to stand alone, if I lost the others. I generally work on getting an L5 Inn, which gives better selection of heroes.
Feasting Hall - Obviously you need this. I suggest getting it to L4+ ASAP. You'll need 1 spot for a Politics hero, 1 for an Intelligence hero, and as many Attack heroes as you want.
Rally Point - Always work on getting this up to at least L3 before doing much else. You always want armies out, workers out, and transporters out, whatever you are doing.
Beacon Tower - This is a must, and should be upgraded often. One in each city.
Market - Some people use them, some don't. I use them, very actively. I put on in each city, and upgrade them to L4+ to allow me flexibility in my orders. I also use a strategy that makes each city heavy in a certain resource, so the market helps me with an extra source of income, and a way to get the necessary resources when I need them.
Forge - You'll need this at least to L2 in each city, until the walls are done. Only need it upgraded further in one city, though, and once your walls are done you can get rid of it.
Workshop - Get this to L1 in each city, but it is the same as the Forge, only need the upgraded version in one city, you can replace it when your walls are done.
Academy - One in each city, and always keep them all upgraded. You can forgo L10 upgrades to these badboys if you aren't hitting people with warehouses ;)
Stables - I always get these, although I only upgrade one per city, for research purposes. The enhanced speed part, I think, is broken, so no need to keep them once you have a Relief Station upgraded to suit.
Relief Station - I like to shift troops around as needed, and also ship resources to teammates. Getting a high level Relief Station is simply mandatory in my view. It means that no one can bully my alliance around when we can all send defensive troops around in no time flat.
Embassy - Personally, my cities do not have an embassy, except my main city (The one with only 7 barracks. Take a guess how my other cities get an 8th barracks?) Not trying to sound cocky, but I don't really need someone else's troops stationed in my city, eating my food. My defenses are solid enough, especially with the change to boost range of ATs based on wall level. So between my own troops and my wall defenses, I don't really need to station troops here that aren't mine. The downside, is that if I lose all my cities and for some reason lost my alliance, I'd need to do a lot of work just to get back into an alliance, but my alliance is solid (I'm the VH, so I shouldn't get booted ;) and that would never be a problem.
Warehouse - Honestly, I just don't use them. It started when you could still hide resources on the market, which made that much more effective than using Warehouses. Still, there are only certain circumstances you'd need these for, and other buildings are useful more regularly. With the extra defense bonuses from additional AT range and Rockfalls affecting Mechanics, you can easily defend your city if you aren't stupid and don't **** the wrong people off. Having a good alliance is also very good, because the threat of force is generally more effective than the use of force. Still, if you are one of those people without a good alliance, or you started really late, these can be useful for emergencies.