9 Kings is a roguelike city builder where you place buildings, troops and spells on a grid and defend your capital against eight rival kings. Each king starts with a different deck, and you take their cards by declaring war on them, so a run gradually becomes a collage of everything you have conquered.
These tips go beyond the basics. They're the strategies experienced players use to play more efficiently, the hidden mechanics most people miss, and the optimizations that compound over a full playthrough. If you're just starting, check our beginner's guide first.
Essential Tips
1. Placement decides more runs than card quality does
Placement decides more runs than card quality does. A mediocre building covering the lane enemies actually use outperforms a strong one sitting where nothing walks, so read the approach before you commit a card.
2. Convert gold into defence before each wave rather than after it
Convert gold into defence before each wave rather than after it. Mercenaries bought at the last moment still fight; gold in the treasury when your capital falls does nothing at all.
3. Declare war deliberately on kings whose decks fill a hole in yours
Declare war deliberately on kings whose decks fill a hole in yours. If your run has no area damage, the king who fields bombers is worth fighting even when he is not the easiest target.
4. Glass cannon units need a body in front of them
Glass cannon units need a body in front of them. Wizards and bombers put out enormous damage and die to the first enemy that reaches them, so a knight line is not optional.
5. Think two waves ahead when placing permanent buildings
Think two waves ahead when placing permanent buildings. What clears the current attack comfortably is frequently obsolete by the time the following wave arrives, and the grid space is already spent.
6. Adjacency and coverage compound
Adjacency and coverage compound. Clustering complementary buildings usually beats spreading them evenly, because overlapping effects turn a defended lane into an impassable one.
7. Warlock summons scale differently from direct damage
Warlock summons scale differently from direct damage. They are weak in a single burst wave and excellent across long attritional fights, so match them to the mode you are playing.
8. Endless Mode is the honest test of a build
Endless Mode is the honest test of a build. A formation that clears Quest Mode on raw statistics often falls apart once escalation outpaces the numbers you were relying on.
9. Do not leave grid edges uncovered because nothing has attacked there yet
Do not leave grid edges uncovered because nothing has attacked there yet. Wave composition changes across decades and an unwatched approach becomes the one that breaks your capital.
10. Keep a small reserve of flexible cards rather than committing every slot to a fixed plan
Keep a small reserve of flexible cards rather than committing every slot to a fixed plan. Runs shift when you acquire an enemy king's deck, and rigid formations cannot take advantage of it.
Advanced Strategies
Build Optimization
The difference between an average build and an optimized one is massive. See our builds guide for full breakdowns.
For Knight commander (A-Tier):
- Focus on Card based building placement combinations for maximum output.
- Core gear: Knights
- Stat priority: Offensive stats first
For Warlock summoner (A-Tier):
- Versatile approach that handles any situation.
- Core gear: Wizards
- Stat priority: Balanced stats
Mechanic Interactions
Understanding how 9 Kings's systems interact is where the real optimization lives. Our combat guide covers this in detail.
Card based building placement + Rival king decks: Buildings, units and spells all arrive as cards you place on the grid. Combined with Rival king decks, each of the nine kings owns a distinct starting deck of buildings, troops and spells.
Gold economy + Escalating enemy waves: Gold accumulates between waves and buys mercenaries and expansion. When paired with Escalating enemy waves, attacks grow across decades of in game time.
Declaring war scaling: Choosing to fight a specific king gives access to the tools that king uses. It is the main way to acquire powers your own starting deck cannot offer.
Equipment Efficiency
| Equipment | Best Use Case | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Knights | Early waves and any formation that needs a durable anchor. | Sturdy front line troops that hold a lane long enough for ranged units behind them to work. |
| Wizards | Killing dense waves quickly when you have screening troops to spare. | Glass cannon casters with heavy output and almost no survivability, so they need a line in front of them. |
| Warlocks | Attrition builds that win by never running out of defenders. | Summoners that generate additional bodies over time rather than dealing damage directly. |
| Bombers | Waves that arrive in tight clusters rather than spread across lanes. | Area damage specialists that clear grouped enemies far more efficiently than single target units. |
| Mercenaries | Emergency reinforcement when a wave outscales your placed troops. | Bought with stockpiled gold rather than drafted, turning a healthy economy into immediate defenders. |
Location Efficiency
Your capital (Whole run): The centre of the grid that recruits units and grows their power. Losing it ends the run, so everything else exists to keep it standing.
The grid perimeter (Whole run): Where waves arrive and where placement decisions pay off. Coverage gaps on the edge become breaches at the centre.
Rival kingdoms (Mid run onward): The eight other kings, each holding a deck of cards you can take by declaring war on them.
Quest Mode (Main progression): The structured run where you face the kings in order and collect their crowns.
Endless Mode (Post unlock): Survival against waves that never stop escalating, used to test whether a build actually scales.
Mistakes Even Veterans Make
- Placing strong cards in lanes enemies never approach.
- Sitting on gold through a wave that then breaks the capital.
- Fielding wizards and bombers with no front line to protect them.
- Declaring war on the easiest king rather than the one with the cards you need.
- Building only for the current wave and having no grid space left later.
Pro Quick Tips
- Placement decides more runs than card quality does. A mediocre building covering the lane enemies actually use outperforms a strong one sitting where nothing walks, so read the approach before you commit a card.
- Convert gold into defence before each wave rather than after it. Mercenaries bought at the last moment still fight; gold in the treasury when your capital falls does nothing at all.
- Declare war deliberately on kings whose decks fill a hole in yours. If your run has no area damage, the king who fields bombers is worth fighting even when he is not the easiest target.
- Start with Warlock summoner, switch to Knight commander when ready
- Invest in Knights above everything else
- Clear areas in order: Your capital → The grid perimeter → Rival kingdoms → Quest Mode → Endless Mode. See our maps guide
- Card based building placement + Rival king decks together are stronger than either alone
More 9 Kings Guides
- 9 Kings 9 Kings Overview
- 9 Kings Best Builds
- 9 Kings Tier List
- 9 Kings Walkthrough
- 9 Kings Beginner's Guide
- 9 Kings Weapons Guide
- 9 Kings Combat Guide
- 9 Kings Boss Guide
- 9 Kings Maps & Locations
- 9 Kings Crafting Guide
- 9 Kings Classes & Characters
Similar Games
If you enjoy 9 Kings, check out these related guides:
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- Hades Tips & Tricks: roguelike game with similar mechanics
- Darkest Dungeon Tips & Tricks: roguelike game with similar mechanics
