Grow Empire: Rome: How to Conquer Level 96 Cities

To conquer a Level 96 city in Grow Empire: Rome, lead with heavy Roman Legionaries to absorb wall tower volleys, advance Catapults and Archers to pressure the fortified gate, and hold offensive hero abilities to wipe defender counter-waves as they exit the entrance.

Why Level 96 Sieges Stall

Level 96 cities introduce a significant difficulty spike on the conquest map due to three overlapping defensive factors:

High-Damage Wall Towers: Parapet archers continuously pick off unshielded or light units before they reach the gate.
Reinforced Gate Durability: The gate requires sustained physical and siege engine damage to break, turning the approach into an extended kill zone.
Dense Garrison Counter-Waves: Elite defenders and shielded spearmen spawn directly behind the gate. If your assault force fails to eliminate these units quickly, your frontline gets pushed back within range of the defensive towers.

A siege stalls when low-tier or unarmored units enter the field prematurely, collapsing the frontline and leaving your backline siege engines and archers exposed to garrison counter-attacks.

Recommended Army Composition

Forming a durable frontline supported by ranged damage prevents high gold losses during deployment.

Unit Class	Tactical Role	Deployment Timing	Vulnerability
Roman Legionaries	Frontline shield wall; absorbs tower arrow fire	Immediate (Phase 1)	Slow march speed; heavy sustained melee
Roman Spearmen	Countering heavy enemy chargers and garrison pushes	Secondary (Phase 2)	Lower armor against ranged tower volleys
Roman Archers	Sustained ranged fire against wall and ground defenders	Continuous (Phase 2–3)	Fragile; requires constant frontline protection
Roman Cavalry	Flanking exposed units and clearing remaining defenders	Situational (Phase 4)	High casualties if sent into choke points early

Hero Ability Timing and Siege Weapon Synchronization

Avoid triggering hero active skills on cooldown while units are still crossing the field. High-impact abilities, such as area-of-effect boulder strikes or offensive damage boosts, provide the most value when the garrison clusters directly outside the gate.

Protect Catapults: Position siege engines behind your infantry line so they can fire consistently at the gate without drawing aggro from enemy ground units.
Clear Reinforcement Clumps: When a secondary wave of defenders exits the gate to push back your Legionaries, trigger your hero's area damage ability immediately.
Focus on Gate Demolition: Clearing the defender clump removes the physical obstacle in front of the gate, allowing your Legionaries and Catapults to concentrate their damage on breaking the entrance.

Step-by-Step Tactical Deployment Order

Deploy units in phased waves to maintain line cohesion and avoid feeding lone squads into defensive fire.

Deploy Legionaries First: Send two to three squads of Roman Legionaries immediately at the start of battle to draw wall tower fire and establish the frontline.
Advance Catapults and Archers: Once your infantry has crossed halfway toward the enemy wall, deploy Catapults and Roman Archers behind them.
Reinforce with Spearmen: When the initial garrison wave engages your Legionaries, send Roman Spearmen forward to secure the frontline against enemy counter-charges.
Trigger Hero Skills on Clustered Waves: When the next dense group of enemy defenders gathers at the gate, fire your hero's offensive skills to clear them instantly.
Breach and Deploy Cavalry: Once the city gate collapses, send Roman Cavalry through the breach to hunt down remaining ranged units and secure the colony.

Recommended Upgrades Before Attacking

If your frontline breaks before the gate falls below half health, retreat and invest in core stats before attempting another assault:

General Talent Upgrades: Allocate General experience into passive troop health, melee damage, and ability cooldown reduction to increase Legionary survivability under wall fire.
Colony Revenue Reinvestment: Collect gold from previously conquered colonies to fund unit tier promotions and siege weapon upgrades. Attempting Level 96 with unpromoted infantry will consistently lead to frontline collapse outside the gate.