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The Battle of Polytopia cheats and tips - List of EVERY unit and tribe

We've got everything you need to know about The Battle of Polytopia!

The Battle of Polytopia cheats and tips - List of EVERY unit and tribe

The Battle of Polytopia is here and with a brand new multiplayer update, refreshing the entire game for everyone that's been playing.

We've got a big list of the tribes and units you can expect to use in The Battle of Polytopia, so you can get brushed up on which tribe you should be using, and which units you should be investing your resources on.

We'll take you through absolutely everything you need to know, so read on for an essential primer on The Battle of Polytopia!

Remember to leave us your multiplayer codes to play with us here!

You can also check out our Battle of Polytopia tips on getting started and combat.

Tribes

There's so many tribes to choose from, and many of them have unique bonuses. Here they all are - mind, many will require a small in-app purchase in order for you to play with them, but in most cases it's worthwhile.

Xin-xi

The Xin-xi tribe have wonderful cherry blossom trees and start with the climbing tech, which is great for crossing mountains. You can see more from a mountain, so you'll explore faster if you have this tech.
Imperius

You'll be gathering fruit fast with the Imperius tribe, who start with the necessary organization skills to harvest fruit, which is an important resource for growing your city population.
Bardur

Bardur rides bears and look awesome doing it, so they're worth playing for that, not just the hunting tech.
Oumaji

The Riding tech is useful for rider units so the sandy Oumaji might be a good choice. Riders travel further per move than the warriors other tribes start with, so you'll get a lot of exploring done right from the first turn.
Kickoo

Kickoo are more adept at coastal areas since they start with the fishing tech. They also ride tigers. Excellent. Though they cost a microtransaction.
Hoodrick

Hoodrick kick things off with Archery, and can be difficult to contend with in the early game. Archers can attack other units from a distance but they move slowly and don't defend as well as warriors. Hoodrick also require a microtransaction.
Luxidoor

Luxidoor has a huge capital, but the tribe requires a huge (well not really) microtransaction, making it one of the more expensive tribes. Having a huge capital city at the start, though, means more stars roll in every turn.
Vengir

You'll be ferocious in the early game if you start with swordsmen. You'll need to pay to play with this tribe, but with swordsmen you have a really strong unit at your disposal straight away. Vengir territories tend not to start with a lot of resources around them so beware.
Zebasi

With farming available from turn one you'll quickly get the resources you need with the Zebasi tribe, though you'll need to cough up cash to play with them.
Ai-Mo

The peaceful Ai-Mo ride llamas and meditate bad vibes away. All yours for a small microtransaction. There's a reward for non-aggression with the meditation skill, and since the early turns of a game tend not to involve much conflict, it means Ai-Mo players could score an early reward which will help build the population.
Quetzali

Shields will make the Quetzali tribe very defensible early on. And they look seriously cool. Yours for a small investment.
Aquarion

They have access to unique units and a specialised tech tree. The Tridention unit you're able to build with this lot has ranged attacks and a dash move, making them pretty awesome. This all makes the Aquarion one of the more interesting paid-for tribes.
TBA

There'll be more tribes in the future, too! Just keep checking back here and we'll update with all of the latest units and tribes.
Units

There are a huge bunch of units to use in battle while playing The Battle of Polytopia, some are good, but many are not, simply. We'll give you a quick run down of the units you'll want to use.

Warrior

Attack: 2
Defence: 2
Movement: 1
Health: 10
Range: 1
Skills: Dash
Cost: 2 While nice and cheap, Warriors can't be relied on for the long haul. Good for early battles (because they're cheap and surprisingly good at defence) but you should evolve towards shield-carrying Defenders or even Swordsmen fast.
Rider

Attack: 2
Defence: 1
Movement: 2
Health: 10
Range: 1
Skills: Dash, Escape
Cost: 3 Riders can "escape" - move again after fighting - making them not just much more mobile than Warriors but also tactically very useful if you have a few of them to pound against bigger units.
Archer

Attack: 2
Defence: 1
Movement: 1
Health: 10
Range: 2
Skills: Dash
Cost: 3 Archer's aren't the strongest, but the ability to attack from range make them great accompaniments to your army. Get a few of them lined up and attack from where your opponent can't see you.
Defender

Attack: 1
Defence: 2
Movement: 1
Health: 15
Range: 1
Skills: -
Cost: 3 High defence means you can leave Defenders on cities you don't want taken. They move slowly but behind a city wall they're very strong.
Mind Bender

Attack: 0
Defence: 1
Movement: 1
Health: 10
Range: 1
Skills: Heal, Convert
Cost: 5 Mind benders aren't any good at attacking, but you can use them to heal up your units - and even convert enemies to your side. If facing an enemy Mind Bender, think carefully about where you leave your best units at the end of a turn. Get them out of range!
Swordsman

Attack: 3
Defence: 3
Movement: 1
Health: 15
Range: 1
Skills: Dash
Cost: 5 Swordsman units do great damage in comparison to Warriors and have better health and defence, making them a strong option later in the game.
Knight

Attack: 3.5
Defence: 1
Movement: 3
Health: 15
Range: 1
Skills: Dash, Persist
Cost: 8 The Knight unit is fantastic and will form the basis of any offensive strategy. The good movement and high attack make it a terrifying force, and the Persist skill allows for multiple attacks in a single turn, easily wiping out large but weak forces (like Catapults).
Catapult

Attack: 4
Defence: 0
Movement: 1
Health: 10
Range: 3
Skills: -
Cost: 8 Catapults are essentially upgraded Archers, or land-locked Battleships. Leave them in the back and they'll do consistent long-range damage for your troops. Keep them apart though, to avoid falling prey to a Knight attack.
Giant

Attack: 5
Defence: 4
Movement: 1
Health: 40
Range: 1
Skills: -
Cost: - The Giants are excellent, but hard to get. You'll earn them from upgrading cities or if you get lucky you'll get one from capturing villages. Their greatest attribute is ultimately their high health.
Boat

Attack: 1
Defence: 1
Movement: 2
Health: -
Range: 2
Skills: Carry, Dash
Cost: - Boats are created by moving any other unit onto a port, and will be turned back in to that unit once you hit land. They have the same amount of health as whatever unit embarks.
Ship

Attack: 2
Defence: 2
Movement: 3
Health: -
Range: 2
Skills: Carry, Dash
Cost: 5 + Boat The Ship is an upgrade to the Boat. It essentially does all the same stuff, but moves faster and attacks better.
Battleship

Attack: 4
Defence: 2
Movement: 3
Health: 20
Range: 2
Skills: Dash, Scout, Carry
Cost: 15 + Ship An upgrade of the Ship unit, the Battleship is truly ready for naval warfare, with some new skills and a lot more damage capability.
Amphibian

Attack: 2
Defence: 1
Movement: 2 on water, 1 on land
Health: 10
Range: 1
Skills: Dash, Escape, Swim
Cost: 3 Unique to the Aquarion tribe, this unit essentially replaces the rider, and has great water mobility.
Tridention

Attack: 3
Defence: 1
Movement: 2 on water, 1 on land
Health: 15
Range: 2
Skills: Dash, Escape, Swim
Cost: 8 Tridentions attack from range and throw, well, tridents. Pretty fitting. Also unique to the Aquarion tribe.
Crab

Attack: 3
Defence: 4
Movement: 1
Health: 40
Range: 1
Skills: Escape, Swim
Cost: - Crabs are very much like the Giant units, except they are exclusive to the Aquarion tribe. They don't do as much damage but make up for it with water mobility.
Dave Aubrey
Dave Aubrey
Dave is the Guides Editor at Pocket Gamer. Specialises in Nintendo, complains about them for a living.