Travian: A Beginner's Guide to the Most Popular MMORPG Browser Game in the World Part Two

If you have decided to go ahead and take the plunge and sign up to play Travian, here are a few basic things to get you going:

The Races

One of the most important decisions is choosing which race you play as. Teutons are favored by the more aggressive players, as they are heavy on offensive military and lite on defense. Teutons are generally favored by the most active and top tiered players, as their raiding skills stand above all others. Gauls are defensively based. They receive many defensive benefits, which I'll discuss a bit later, but also have some very powerful offense. Gauls are good if you are unable to check your account very often. Finally, Romans are the most versatile of the three races. As a Roman you have the ability to choose whether you want to be offensive or defensive, and the main benefit is that you are able to build one resource field and one building at the same time.

Crannies

One of the most important aspects of the game is the cranny. Crannies provide a hidden place where you can hide a certain number of each resource from invaders. This is essential when you are beginning a game, and cheap to build up quickly. I'd recommend having at least one level 10 cranny completed by the time your beginner's protection is up, especially if you are in a heavily populated area. One advantage of being a Gaul is that you will automatically have twice the storage space in your cranny as the other races. Teutons are able to raid anything that is within the top 33% of crannies. So if you are being raided by a Teuton, ensure your resources are not only within your cranny space, but under 77% of it.

What to Build First

Aside from crannies, resource fields are the most important thing you can build up. The faster you build your resources the more your population grows. Once you have a decent hourly production coming in, you can begin to build up some other buildings.

The most basic buildings that you should build along with your resources are the warehouse, granary, and marketplace. Marketplaces will allow you to trade resources with other players, and may provide you with a last second place to hide resources in the event of a raid.

Once you the basics in place and some decent resources coming in, it's time to work on military. If you are a Teuton or more aggressive player, you may want to forego other buildings in lieu of building up a military right away. The first thing you'll need to do is build a Rally Point. The Rally Point can only be build in one square, just to the right of the center. Once this is built, you can build barracks in any empty space. From there you can begin to build basic infantry.

Gold

Every player starts out with 35 gold. Gold is how Travian makes money, and is completely optional. In the upper right corner of any Travian page (while logged in) there is a "Plus" button. If you click the button, and then click the "Gold" tab, you will see the many options. In the beginning, I'd recommend using gold to get 25% increased production out of your resources. This is very helpful in the beginning. If you become an addict and go full force into Travian, you will find yourself buying lots of gold, and most if not all of the top players use it regularly.

More Resources

Now that you have a basic idea of what you're doing, stop reading this and head over to a much much much more comprehensive site, Travian FAQ. This site should be one of your main guides from here on out. But your best resource is of course experienced players. Find a good alliance who is willing to show you the ropes, and you'll learn very quickly. Good luck!