Evony Henry V Guide: Best Ranged Assistant Build and Pairings

If you recruit Henry V in Evony, deploy him as an unascended assistant general behind a fully developed primary ranged commander. Henry V features high base attack and leadership growth alongside dedicated ranged buffs, but obtaining the duplicate copies required to ascend him is difficult without dedicated event token pools. Using him in the assistant slot gives your march 100% of his primary skill buffs and three full skill book bonuses at the cost of only a single copy, avoiding expensive investments in Blood of Ares and Runestones.

Skill Conditions and Combat Role

Henry V functions strictly as an offensive march leader. His primary skill boosts ranged troop attack and secondary defensive stats exclusively when leading an attack outside your city.

• Offensive PvP and Rallies: Fully viable. His attack buffs trigger on all outward marches, making him effective against enemy keeps and monster rallies.
• Wall Defense: Not viable. Because his primary skill requires an attacking march outside the city, he provides zero defensive buffs when stationed on the main wall.

His four military specialties scale from baseline ranged troop assault and defense into compound attack multipliers, culminating in a gold specialty that grants flat ranged attack and marching ranged attack increases. However, unlocking all four paths requires thousands of Runestone chests and tens of thousands of Gems, which yields better returns when prioritized on your primary march leader.

The Ascension Bottleneck: Main vs. Assistant General

Ascending any historic general to five red stars requires unlocking each tier with Blood of Ares, millions of Gold, and 16 duplicate copies of that specific commander. Established ranged leaders such as Elektra offer consistent, free-to-play progression because players can steadily farm her fragments through Relic Chamber exploration.

Because Henry V is recruited primarily through the Great General Chest and rotating tavern refreshes without dedicated fragment grinding, free-to-play and low-spending monarchs risk stalling him at low star tiers. A stalled primary general loses hundreds of percentage points in potential attack buffs, defense, and march size capacity compared to a fully ascended farmable general.

An assistant general does not require star levels, specialty development, or an assigned dragon to activate their primary skill and equipped skill books. Operating Henry V as an assistant preserves scarce Blood of Ares while delivering his base offensive multipliers immediately.

Recommended Skill Book Setup

Henry V does not suffer from skill code conflicts with standard ranged books, allowing you to equip core offensive abilities directly.

Equip these Level 4 books on Henry V:

1. Level 4 Ranged Troop Attack: Adds flat attack power that stacks directly with his primary skill.
2. Level 4 Ranged Troop Range Bonus: Extends archer firing distance, allowing your backline to engage hostile units earlier.
3. Level 4 Ranged Troop HP: Increases archer survivability against enemy siege retaliation.
4. Alternative Utility (Level 4 March Size or Ranged Defense): Slot march size or defense if your primary commander already carries one of the core archer books.

Before binding valuable Level 4 books, fill all three skill slots with Level 1 skill books first. Once three Level 1 skills occupy the slots, replace them one by one with your chosen Level 4 books to avoid accidentally overwriting high-tier abilities.

Pairing Rules and Recommended Commanders

In Evony, an assistant general's skill books do not stack with identical skill books equipped on the main general. To maximize combat efficiency, coordinate the skill book loadouts across both leaders so neither ability is duplicated.

Pair Henry V behind these established primary leaders:

• Elektra: A dependable pairing for most players. Because Elektra is farmable through the Relic Chamber, she can reach five red stars while Henry V supplies supplementary offensive power from the secondary slot.
• Simeon the Great: An alternative high-tier primary leader who benefits directly from Henry V's complementary ranged attack boosts.

After equipping your commanders, set the march formation at the Rally Spot. Check the march preset display to ensure both generals' primary skill icons appear illuminated. Lit icons verify that the skills do not conflict and all offensive bonuses will apply during battle.