Evony T1 Ground Defense: Is an Infantry Meat Shield Viable?

Building a massive Tier 1 (T1) ground troop meat shield is not viable for castle defense in Evony. Mass T1 ground builds fail because enemy archer attacks do not target infantry first, enemy cavalry attacks counter ground troops directly, and wall general flat refines cannot effectively cover multiple troop types.

To build an effective defense, restrict your ground units to standard structural layers and focus your bulk T1 training and flat refines entirely on mounted troops.

Troop Targeting and Combat Priority

Trap keeps in Evony rely on strict targeting mechanics and combat turn orders to neutralize incoming attacks. T1 mounted walls work because opposing ranged rallies target mounted units first, allowing a massive pool of cheap cavalry to absorb incoming arrow fire.

Mass T1 ground troops fail to replicate this protection due to how battle targeting resolves:

• Enemy Ranged units prioritize mounted troops first if mounted troops are present on the field. They do not target ground units until the mounted layer is cleared.
• Enemy Cavalry units prioritize ground troops first. A massive T1 ground wall gives an attacking cavalry march an easy target to clear for high points.
• Ground movement speed is low. Ground units require multiple combat rounds to advance across the field before dealing melee damage, limiting their retaliatory damage in early turns.
• Opposing Ground units prioritize enemy ranged and siege units before focusing on infantry.

Because enemy archers bypass infantry to strike cavalry, an oversized T1 ground force cannot protect your city from ranged marches. If an attacker scouts your keep and spots tens of millions of T1 ground troops, they can switch to a high-tier mounted march to wipe out the infantry layer.

The Flat Refine Bottleneck

A T1 defense requires flat attribute refines on your main wall general's equipment. Because Tier 1 troops have low base statistics, percentage buffs provide negligible stat gains. Flat refines add fixed numeric values directly to troop attributes, allowing low-tier units to withstand high-tier hits.

A wall general has six equipment slots. Maximizing a defense requires committing these slots to specific roles:

1. Weapon and Ring: Flat mounted attack and flat siege attack to break incoming marches.
2. Helmet and Armor: Flat mounted defense and flat mounted HP to keep the meat shield alive.
3. Leg Armor and Boots: Flat mounted HP and defense, or siege debuffs.

Attempting to run both a T1 mounted wall and a T1 ground wall forces you to split these equipment slots. Splitting refines halves the defensive stats of your mounted troops while leaving your ground troops without enough flat defense or HP to survive focused rallies. Committing all available slots to mounted attributes creates a functional wall; a hybrid setup weakens both troop types.

Recommended Ground Troop Ratios

Ground troops are still required in your city to act as layers. Defensive layering ensures every tier absorbs combat rounds and slows incoming marches from reaching your backline siege engines.

Maintain these ground counts instead of training a mass T1 infantry wall:

• T1 Ground: 50,000 to 500,000. This maintains defensive layer mechanics without presenting a profitable target for enemy cavalry rallies.
• T2 through T10 Ground: 20,000 to 50,000 per tier to serve as sacrificial buffers.
• T11 through T13 Ground: 100,000 to 250,000 per tier, provided your hospital capacity and debuffs can absorb incoming damage.
• T14 and T15 Ground: Train only the quantities your march capacity and hospital space can safely manage.

Direct your training resources, speedups, and refining stones toward a T1 mounted wall supported by layered siege and flat mounted equipment refines.