S3 Studio and Thermite Games put you in charge of a fallen clan in an ancient China setting, starting from a crumbling estate on 14 May 2025 in Early Access. You marry family members off, push them through imperial exams, build income properties and outlast roughly 30 rival noble houses across generations. Characters are defined by eight attributes and die of old age, so the clan matters more than any single person in it.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Family Estate | Eight character attributes basics | Might | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Provincial Capital | Generational family succession mastery | Might | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | County | Imperial exams and officialdom + gear | Writing or Might | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Fief | Build optimization | Writing | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Military Camp | Min-max | Writing or Cunning | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Family Estate)
The crumbling compound you inherit at the start and rebuild from over 200 available building components. Everything else in the game flows from how quickly you turn it into something that generates income.
Level/Difficulty: Generation one onward Key Rewards: Freeform base building, housing for family members, the base for all early income
What to Do in Family Estate
- Learn Eight character attributes. Writing, Might, Business, Arts, Cunning, Charisma, Luck and Renown decide what a family member is good for. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Might as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- Build General Stores first and switch to Smithies the moment the treasury allows. Housing looks appealing because it is cheap, but its returns are the worst of the major building types.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: Exchange or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Eight character attributes fundamentals
- Might selected and functional
- Family Estate main content cleared
- Ready for Provincial Capital
Phase 2: Early Game (Provincial Capital)
The administrative centre of each province, where appointed officials handle taxes, military affairs and public order. Prosperity here rises with player shops, public shops and market stalls.
Level/Difficulty: Accessible from early on, worth targeting once you can afford Smithies Key Rewards: Highest prosperity for income buildings, court appointments, bank access for ingot exchange
What to Do in Provincial Capital
- Work on Generational family succession. Family members marry from age 18, produce children who grow into the next generation, and eventually die. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Exchange if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Drop employee wages to around 400 coins per worker. The hiring roll is random rather than wage-gated in a strict sense, so keep retrying after a failed attempt instead of raising the offer permanently.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to County.
- Consider whether Writing might suit your playstyle better than Might.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Generational family succession integrated into gameplay
- Exchange acquired
- Provincial Capital fully cleared
- Ready for County
Phase 3: Mid Game (County)
The subdivision beneath a province, holding its own governance and a slice of the population. Counties are where mid-tier appointments sit and where a rising family typically gets its first real authority.
Level/Difficulty: Mid game, after the first exam successes Key Rewards: Governorship posts, local building slots, stepping stone toward provincial rank
What to Do in County
- Master Imperial exams and officialdom. High Writing lets a character sit the civil examinations, with roughly 20 Writing needed to clear the first one. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Smithy. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Target roughly 24 to 36 Smithies as a mid-game goal. That is the point community guides identify as enough to fund the rest of a playthrough without further economic management.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Coins and gold ingots for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Imperial exams and officialdom mastered
- Smithy acquired or in progress
- County fully cleared
- Ready for Fief
Phase 4: Late Game (Fief)
Land granted to your clan that produces tax income shaped by the laws you enact. Population growth depends on how flourishing the settlement is, and discontent at 70 or above tips it into rebellion.
Level/Difficulty: Mid to late game Key Rewards: Tax revenue, private army recruitment, law-making that shapes long-term income
What to Do in Fief
- Finalize your build. You should be running Writing or Might with optimized gear.
- Smithy should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Check the bank rate before converting gold ingots. The exchange swings between roughly 8,000 and 12,000 coins per ingot, and holding a stack until the high end is worth tens of thousands of coins.
- Fief taxes and discontent optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Military Camp.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Smithy upgraded to max
- Fief fully cleared
- Ready for Military Camp
Phase 5: Endgame (Military Camp)
The recruitment site inside a fief where a personal army is raised and maintained. Materials for strengthening troops are cheapest when bought through an Exchange rather than sourced locally.
Level/Difficulty: Mid to late game Key Rewards: Private troops, rebellion suppression, the military route to high rank
What to Do in Military Camp
- Military Camp tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Get one child per generation to Writing 20 as early as possible. That is the threshold for the first imperial examination, and every year of delay is a year of ingot salary you never collect.
- The endgame loop: run Military Camp, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Cunning for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Fief taxes and discontent mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Military Camp fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Filling the estate with housing because it is affordable, then finding the monthly income never grows.
- Converting gold ingots to coins the moment they arrive rather than waiting for the exchange rate to swing toward 12,000.
- Neglecting Writing across an entire generation and locking the clan out of the ingot salaries that officialdom pays.
- Letting fief discontent climb past 70 while campaigning, and losing the territory to rebellion.
- Leaving heirs unmarried into their twenties, which pushes each subsequent generation later and shrinks the family tree.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Build General Stores first and switch to Smithies the moment the treasury allows. Housing looks appealing because it is cheap, but its returns are the worst of the major building types.
- Drop employee wages to around 400 coins per worker. The hiring roll is random rather than wage-gated in a strict sense, so keep retrying after a failed attempt instead of raising the offer permanently.
- Target roughly 24 to 36 Smithies as a mid-game goal. That is the point community guides identify as enough to fund the rest of a playthrough without further economic management.
- Check the bank rate before converting gold ingots. The exchange swings between roughly 8,000 and 12,000 coins per ingot, and holding a stack until the high end is worth tens of thousands of coins.
- Get one child per generation to Writing 20 as early as possible. That is the threshold for the first imperial examination, and every year of delay is a year of ingot salary you never collect.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More House of Legacy Guides
- House of Legacy House of Legacy Overview
- House of Legacy Best Builds
- House of Legacy Tier List
- House of Legacy Beginner's Guide
- House of Legacy Tips & Tricks
- House of Legacy Weapons Guide
- House of Legacy Combat Guide
- House of Legacy Boss Guide
- House of Legacy Maps & Locations
- House of Legacy Crafting Guide
- House of Legacy Classes & Characters
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