Rise of Kingdoms puts dozens of historical figures in front of you as commanders, and a free account has to choose which ones get its sculptures, the items that upgrade a commander's skills.
This Rise of Kingdoms commander guide covers which commanders to build first, what a Legendary costs (690 sculptures to max its skills plus 10 to summon it, according to a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026), and where those sculptures come from. Pick your first pair with our guide to your first days in Rise of Kingdoms, then use this page to decide who gets your sculptures after that.
Pick a Role Before You Pick a Rise of Kingdoms Commander
A guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 sorts commanders into three main types: open-field commanders, barbarian-hunting commanders, and gathering commanders. It also says open-field commanders need the most investment, while barbarian-hunting and gathering commanders can be used mainly for their specific roles. That split is your budget. Give a barbarian hunter or a gatherer only what its single job requires, and save your deepest investment for open-field commanders, because that's where the guide puts the cost.
Alliance duties sit on top of those roles. The update notes on the App Store for versions 1.1.6.18 and 1.1.6.33, March and April 2026, refer to Alliance Flag and Alliance Fortress themes, and to the fortress, flag, and territory of an alliance. If your alliance asks you to hold a flag or reinforce a fortress, build the commander for that job instead of guessing, and fill each role with one commander before you give any of them a second round of investment.
Build Around One Troop Type and an Epic Commander
A guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 tells free-to-play players to focus on one troop type when developing commanders. The same guide calls Sun Tzu the only Epic commander in its recommended group and a particularly strong choice for free-to-play players. Another guide the same account posted that month says to prioritize practical Epic commanders and to be cautious with Legendary sculptures, so finish an Epic before you start on a Legendary.
For starting picks, another guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 recommends Belisarius for cavalry, Sun Tzu for infantry, and Kusunoki Masashige for archers. Treat those as that guide's recommendation. A pairing guide the same account posted later that month lists the primary first and places all three behind another commander: Belisarius behind Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Sun Tzu behind Charles Martel, and Kusunoki Masashige behind Hermann. Take your first pairing from the beginner's guide, which sets out both plans, instead of rebuilding it here.
Rarity alone shouldn't decide who gets sculptures. The "Fast Commander Leveling Guide," posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, warns that many new players invest in commanders because of their high rarity or because they happened to summon them. Pick the commander that fits your troop type and role, and leave the rest alone until it's their turn.
Know What a Legendary Costs Before You Commit
According to a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, fully upgrading a Legendary commander's skills takes 690 matching or Universal Legendary Commander Sculptures, and the 10 sculptures needed to summon the commander bring the total to 700. Treat 700 as the price tag before you summon anything Legendary, and count what you can realistically collect before you spend the first 10.
The same guide says Legendary Commander Sculptures are limited and tells players to focus on one or two high-priority Legendary commanders instead of spreading their resources too thin. Keep to that limit: one or two high-priority Legendary commanders, not one for every role.
Expertise skills belong in the calculation too. A guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, titled "Gathering Troop Training," brings them up in its advice on gathering commanders. In the guide's example, Matilda of Flanders gets her expertise skill once she is awakened. Check what awakening requires for the commander you're considering before you commit. If you can't realistically reach 700, finish an Epic first and come back to the Legendary later. The next section shows where the sculptures come from.
Know Where Your Sculptures Come From Before You Spend Them
Start with what each sculpture does. According to a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, you upgrade a commander's skills from the Skills screen using that commander's own sculptures or Universal Commander Sculptures, and the sculptures have to match the commander's rarity. Stars are a separate track: raising a commander's star level unlocks skills instead of leveling them directly, and 4 stars opens the skill slots.
A separate pairing guide the official account posted on Lilith's forum in October 2026 says a commander needs level 20 and 3 stars to lead a march as a primary with a secondary behind it. The "Primary and Secondary Commanders: Star-Level Unlock Rules" guide, posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, adds that Commander Sculptures give only a tenth of the star EXP that Starlight Sculptures do, so don't burn them on stars.
Daily VIP rewards are one route to Legendary sculptures. Another guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 points to VIP 14 as the key milestone, which grants 3 Legendary Commander Sculptures every day, and says you can earn VIP points from purchases, from Alliance Chests, or by exchanging Gems at a 1:1 ratio.
Lilith's patch notes for version 1.0.87, October 2024, say the buffs and exclusive chests for different VIP levels were updated, so older VIP tables may be out of date. If Legendary sculptures are your goal, plan around VIP 14; a spending guide the official account posted on Lilith's forum in October 2026 aims for VIP 13 on a new-server budget of about 20 USD. Check the rewards in the game itself.
Some events change how you can spend the sculptures you already have. Lilith's patch notes for version 1.1.00, October 2025, describe an event called "A Will to Skill" where you exchange Universal Commander Sculptures for certain commanders' sculptures, and say these events are only available in kingdoms at least 21 days old. The version 1.0.88 notes, November 2024, list an event of the same name that used Universal Commander Sculptures to upgrade certain commanders' skills.
Where Store Offers Fit
Some offers include sculptures. Lilith's patch notes for version 1.0.98, August 2025, say the Daily Special Offer unlocks a limited-time special bundle with guaranteed sculptures for your chosen commander. Lilith's US App Store listing also shows an in-app purchase called "Legendary Commander Training" at $4.99 as of October 2026. That's an App Store price, not a PC price, and the listing shows only the name and price, so check what the in-game offer contains before you count it toward your 700.
Keep Gathering Commanders a Cheap Side Investment
According to a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, titled "Gathering Troop Training," green- and blue-rarity gathering commanders need less EXP to level up, and most gathering speed comes from a commander's second skill, so a 5-5-1-1 setup is usually enough early on. A separate guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, titled "Fast Commander Leveling Guide," says to level gathering commanders to 37 in the early game and stop there.
Don't spend Universal Legendary sculptures on a Legendary gatherer. The "Gathering Troop Training" guide says you can obtain a large number of gathering commander sculptures through the Strategic Reserve event, so that's where a gatherer's upgrades should come from, and your Universal Legendary supply stays free for your open-field commanders.
That rule covers Yahya ibn Khalid, a Legendary gathering commander whom the update notes on the App Store for version 1.1.10.21, July 2026, announced as recruitable starting in Season 1; the notes point to in-game events for how to obtain him.
Gathering marches keep working overnight. The "Gathering Troop Training" guide says to send one march to gather from an alliance resource point before you go to sleep, and a full load of resources will be waiting the next morning.
Give the Primary Your Talents and the Secondary Your Skills
According to a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, titled "Essential Tasks for Your First Day as a Beginner," each march can use two commanders. Another guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, titled "Fast Commander Leveling Guide," says that for the primary commander, troops, talents, skills, equipment, and armaments (unlocked later) all take effect, while for the secondary commander only skills take effect.
That tells you where to spend: talent points, equipment, and your main leveling go to the primary, and the secondary gets only the sculptures its skills need. The "Fast Commander Leveling Guide" also says a secondary at level 30 with 4 stars does as well as one at level 60 with 6 stars, so don't chase levels on a secondary.
Read a commander's recommended talents before you spend points: the update notes on the App Store for versions 1.1.11.25 and 1.1.11.28, August and September 2026, mention the recommended talents in some commander guides and fixed an issue where the points required for them were calculated incorrectly. By role, the "Fast Commander Leveling Guide" says barbarian hunters should max their Peacekeeping talents and gatherers should prioritize their Gathering talents.
Keep Each March on One Troop Type
Keep each march on one troop type. A guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 tells free-to-play players to build around a single troop type, because mixing types often leads to poor synergy and developing several at once costs far more resources.
There are exceptions: another guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 names Yi Seong-Gye, an archer commander, as a secondary who can back an infantry or cavalry primary because his skills are relatively versatile. The same guide adds that most commanders have skills that specialize in one troop type, so check a secondary's skills before you put them behind a primary of another type.
Ignore Tier Lists in Your First Kingdom
Your limit is the sculpture supply, not a commander's position on someone's list. A guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026 warns against investing in a commander because of its rarity or because you happened to summon it, so decide on role, cost, and troop type instead. Before you summon or invest in a commander, check three things:
- The role it fills: open-field, barbarian-hunting, or gathering.
- Whether you can fund it. For a Legendary, that means the 690 sculptures plus 10 to summon it.
- The troop type of the march it joins.
FAQ
How many sculptures does it take to max a Legendary commander in Rise of Kingdoms?
It takes 700: 690 matching or Universal Legendary Commander Sculptures to fully upgrade a Legendary commander's skills, plus 10 to summon the commander. That total comes from a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, so count your sculptures first.
Where do Legendary commander sculptures come from in Rise of Kingdoms?
VIP 14 grants 3 Legendary Commander Sculptures daily, per a guide posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026. Lilith's patch notes for version 1.0.98, August 2025, also describe a Daily Special Offer that unlocks a limited-time special bundle with guaranteed sculptures for a chosen commander.
Do secondary commander talents work in Rise of Kingdoms?
No, only a secondary commander's skills take effect. The "Fast Commander Leveling Guide," posted by the official account on Lilith's forum in October 2026, says a secondary at level 30 with 4 stars performs as well as one at level 60 with 6 stars.