Let's talk about the conclusion first: The resource allocation in the early stage of this game determines your upper limit within a week. Don't stupidly follow the novice's guidance. I tested three numbers and optimized the process twice. This style of play is firmly in the top ten in the new server.
The first thing to do at the start: modify the building queue. By default, there is only one construction queue. Don't draw cards for the ingots given by the system. Just buy the second queue. It only costs 50 ingots, which is extremely cost-effective. Two queues create resource fields at the same time, which is more than 35% faster than a single queue.
The order of upgrading resource fields: Farmland > Lumberyard > Stone Ore > Iron Ore. Food consumption is the largest in the early stage. Food is needed for barracks and conscription. After the farmland reaches level 5, the lumber mill will be replenished. Iron ore is enough in the early stage, don't exceed level 4, and you can replenish it in the later stage. Specific rhythm: In the first hour, upgrade the farmland to level 3, build a lumberyard to level 2 at the same time, and then upgrade the main city to level 2 to unlock the barracks.
General selection: Zhao Yun and Xun Yu sent by the system are decomposed separately. Zhao Yun is the strongest single target output in the early stage, and Xun Yu is the only general that can regenerate anger stably. Zhang Fei, who comes with the first charge, can be fully trained immediately. The three brothers (Liu Guan and Zhang) have bond bonuses, but there is no need to force them because Liu Bei fragments are difficult to obtain. Recommended lineup: Zhao Yun + Xun Yu + Zhang Fei + Hua Xiong (given as a bonus for the first deposit, or use Huang Zhong instead). Note that Hua Xiong's skill has armor piercing, and combined with Zhao Yun, it can kill wild monsters of the same level in seconds.
Efficient jungle route: Level 8 and 10 wild monsters will be refreshed on the second day after the server is launched, so don't rush to fight. First upgrade the main city to level 5, click "March Speed" and "Recruitment Efficiency" in the technology, then bring all the troops, and use Zhao Yun to farm the level 8 field alone (only send one team, and other generals will take one soldier to collect). Experience books and orange equipment fragments will drop in the wild at level 8. If you play them 10 times a day, give priority to changing attack power and troop equipment.
The restraint of arms must be understood thoroughly: cavalry can defeat archers, archers can defeat spearmen, and spearmen can defeat cavalry. But in the early stage, you only have spearmen and archers. The spearmen have a 35% damage bonus when fighting wild monsters (mostly cavalry), so you should focus on training the spearmen. At level 4 barracks, the third-level soldier "Tiger Guard" will appear. The defense and HP are twice that of the spearmen of the same level. They will basically not lose troops when fighting wild monsters below level 12.
Tips for speeding up city construction: Prioritize upgrading the main city to level 6 to enable the "alliance" function, and then immediately add a top ten alliance, which will provide resource bonuses and free city relocation. Then upgrade "School Field" to level 4 to unlock the third formation, with three output generals. In the "Military" branch of the science and technology tree, only click on the "Attack" and "Defense" lines. Don't click on the other lines because they can be reset in the later stage, but the difference in combat power in the early stage is only in these levels of bonuses.
Resource liquidation: It is much easier to deal with wood and stone in the early stage. Don't be idle and use the “market” function to exchange them for grain and grass. The exchange ratio is 1:1.2, but it costs 500 copper coins, which is worth it. Copper coins come from collection and hunting, don't spend them randomly, keep them in exchange for food.
48 hours key node: At this time, your main city should reach level 8 and you can fight level 20 wild monsters. But don't touch it, because level 20 wild monsters have rebound damage and you will die. Go to level 15 first and save enough for a set of blue attack equipment. Upgrade the skills of Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei to level 3, and give priority to "passive" and "automatic release" skills. The specific coefficients are: Zhao Yun's passive +8% attack per level, Zhang Fei's passive +5% critical hit, which is extremely cost-effective.
72 hours to reach the leaderboard: At this time, your troops should be more than 50,000, the main city should be level 10, and the "Expedition Order" function should be unlocked. Go to the alliance territory to play the "City Guard" mission and get a lot of merit and resources. Note that the "World BOSS" is refreshed at 12 noon every day and must be defeated. The top 100 players will have golden general fragments. My way of playing is: bring a full complement of archers (the archers have no restraint when fighting the BOSS, but their output is stable), use Xun Yu's ultimate move to retaliate, and Zhao Yun hits three times in a row, with a single damage of over 20,000.
Finally, let's talk about the hidden mechanism: The first 10 times in the game's “Arena” every day will give you experience regardless of winning or losing. Don't skip it, play it manually, and you can get 30% more points. Points are exchanged for "General Soul", priority is given to exchange for Zhao Yun fragments, upgrading to a three-star qualitative transformation, and one more skill combo.
I personally tested this process. I opened a level 9 city in three days and entered the top 50 in seven days. If you have any detailed questions, just ask directly and I will reply as soon as I see it.