Evony Keep Defense Guide: How to Fortify Your City

To build an effective keep defense in Evony, raise your Hospital capacity above your total troop count, deploy debuffing Generals to your Subordinate Cities, slot a high-synergy Wall General, and structure your forces into troop layers. For average players, defensive success is measured by making attacks unprofitable for rivals rather than achieving complete invincibility.

Hospital and Watchtower Infrastructure

Your city buildings establish the boundaries of your defensive risk. Before spending resources on high-tier units, upgrade your military infrastructure to protect your investment:

1. Expand Hospital Capacity: If your active troop count exceeds your total Hospital capacity, any overflow units killed during a keep attack suffer permanent death instead of being sent to the hospital. Keep your total unit count within your Hospital capacity to survive enemy hits without catastrophic losses.
2. Upgrade the Watchtower: Higher Watchtower levels provide crucial early intelligence on incoming enemy scouts and rally marches, giving you the time needed to adjust defenses or bubble.

Wall General and Mayor Setup

Generals supply the numeric foundation of your city defense. Differentiate between your primary gatekeeper and your supporting city mayors:

Selecting a Wall General

Assign a Wall General who specializes in ranged or mounted troop defense, as these unit types handle the bulk of defensive combat. Look for candidates offering a mix of percentage-based stat buffs for your units and percentage-based debuffs against enemy attack stats.

Enhance your Wall General by focusing gear stats and cultivation on flat HP and flat defense increases to build a durable base layer of protection.

Equipping Subordinate City Mayors

Subordinate Cities act as passive debuff zones that trigger before an attacker reaches your main keep.

• Assign Debuff Specialists: Fill Mayor slots with Generals whose innate skills reduce enemy attack, defense, or HP.
• Equip Leadership and Politics Gear: Give Mayors equipment that boosts Leadership and Politics, which enhances their administrative and combat debuff efficiency.
• Audit Active Mayors: Periodically check your Subordinate Cities to remove passive or low-tier Generals, ensuring only active debuffers participate in server conflicts.

Troop Layering and Capacity Rules

Defending with a single troop tier leaves your keep exposed to targeted counter-builds. Layer your army to force attacking forces to clear cheap units before reaching your primary damage dealers.

• Build a T1 Buffer Layer: Train a large quantity of Tier 1 units to act as a meat shield, absorbing initial turn damage from attacking marches.
• Maintain Mid-Tier Support: Keep balanced numbers of mid-tier troops to support high-tier damage dealers once the initial front lines engage.
• Cap Training at Hospital Limits: Do not train troops beyond your Hospital capacity unless you have clear operational plans for managing extra units during server events.