Best gem farming commanders and marches in Rise of Kingdoms

Gems in Rise of Kingdoms come from small deposits spread over the map. A march gathers for a few minutes, walks to the next deposit and only goes home when it is full, so two things decide your gems per hour: how fast each march gathers and how little time it spends walking. This guide shows which commanders, troops, levels and talents help with both. It is based on the in-game skill texts, troop stats and talent trees, and on march data from our own bots.

Commander pairs for 5, 6 and 7 gem marches

Use one pair per march. With 5 marches send pairs 1 – 5, with 6 marches add pair 6, with 7 marches use all 14 gathering commanders. Skill bonuses simply add up inside each march, so you can swap partners freely — what matters is which commanders you send.

March	Primary	Secondary	What helps gems
1	Pepin III	Seondeok	gathering speed ×2loadextra on finish ×2siege load
2	Cleopatra VII	Joan of Arc	gathering speed ×2load ×2
3	Casimir III	Šárka	gathering speed ×2load
4	Constance	Centurion	gathering speedload ×2extra on finish
5	Matilda of Flanders	Gaius Marius	loadextra on finish
6	Yahya ibn Khalid	Ishida Mitsunari	load ×2siege march speed
7	Tamar	Wak Chanil Ajaw	talents only

Put the higher-level commander as primary: only the primary's talents and troop capacity count. The secondary adds its skills, so its level does not matter.

T1 siege or T1 cavalry for gems?

One gem needs 1,000 load. T1 siege carries 20 load per unit, T1 cavalry only 5, so siege carries four times more gems per troop. T1 cavalry is faster (march speed 100 against 80).

The Gathering talent tree has Modified Axle: +30% march speed for siege. With it, a siege march is about as fast as a cavalry march and still carries four times more. That is why siege is the best choice once your primary commanders are level 50 or higher. Cavalry wins while your primaries are still below level 50, or if you already own a lot of T1 cavalry.

Never mix troop types in one march: a march moves at the speed of its slowest unit.

Three 7-march setups

Pick the setup that matches your commanders. For 5 or 6 marches, use the first 5 or 6 rows.

Commander levels and talents

• Level 40 (39 talent points): enough for cavalry — Superior Tools, March Speed and The More The Better.
• Level 50 (54 points): the whole Gathering tree (48 points) including Modified Axle — what a siege march needs.
• Level 60 (74 points): Gathering tree plus 26 points in the second tree for march speed and more troops.
• Secondary commanders: any level. Spend sculptures on their gathering skills instead of experience.

Gathering tree priority

1. Superior Tools: +25% gathering speed for every resource, gems included — the biggest single gain.
2. March Speed I + II: +9% march speed.
3. The More The Better: +6% extra resources when a deposit is finished.
4. Modified Axle: +30% siege march speed — siege marches only.
5. Armed Convoy: +15% defense while gathering — useful in KvK.

Gathering Mastery for food, wood, stone or gold does nothing for gems: take it only as the path.

Second talent tree (level 60)

Twelve gathering commanders put their remaining points into Integration (march speed +9%, Fresh Recruits for more troops). Gaius Marius uses Leadership (march speed +12%). Yahya ibn Khalid uses Mobility (march speed up to +25%), which makes him the best primary for walking less. The third tree (Support, Attack, Defense or Skill) adds nothing for gems.

Commander	Talent trees	Gem skills to upgrade
Pepin III	Integration · Gathering · Support	First Carolingian, Lombard Expedition, Donation of Pepin
Seondeok	Integration · Gathering · Attack	Insightful, Honoring the Heavens
Cleopatra VII	Integration · Gathering · Support	End of Ptolemy, Beauty and Wisdom
Yahya ibn Khalid	Integration · Gathering · Mobility	Across Seas of Sand, Age of Translation
Casimir III	Integration · Gathering · Defense	Treaty of Kalisz, University of Krakow
Ishida Mitsunari	Integration · Gathering · Support	Taiko-kenchi
Joan of Arc	Integration · Gathering · Support	The Maid of Orléans
Matilda of Flanders	Integration · Gathering · Defense	Flanders' Gift, Wise Ruler
Tamar	Integration · Gathering · Support	One Heart, One Mind
Wak Chanil Ajaw	Integration · Gathering · Defense	Revival of Wak Kab'nal
Šárka	Integration · Gathering · Skill	The Maidens' War, Lost Treasure
Constance	Integration · Gathering · Skill	Queen of Sicily, Loving Mother
Gaius Marius	Leadership · Gathering · Skill	Marius's Reform
Centurion	Integration · Gathering · Attack	Industrious Leader

What adds the most gems

• One more gem march: about +50 – 70 gems per hour.
• Superior Tools: about +16% gems per hour.
• Modified Axle on siege marches: about +5 – 10%.
• The More The Better: +6%.
• March speed talents: about +2 – 8%.

Estimates assume a march spends about 70% of its time gathering and 30% walking, as measured on our bots. Skills for food, wood, stone or gold only (for example Go-Bugyō, Clever Heart, Age of Plenty) do not help gems.

Sources: in-game skill texts and troop stats, talent trees, march data from our bots.