Travian

Teutons are the most aggressive and have the best troop types for an offensive play. Their troops are cheap and fast to train, but their attack power is the weakest compared to the Gaul and Roman.

Because of their cheap price and quick training time, Teutons dominate the early game and are best suited for an aggressive play from the beginning to the end. By end game, Gaul and Roman armies are more powerful than the Teuton army.

Teutons are excellent raiders with 33 percent plunder bonus. This means a Teuton can reach 1/3 into crannies when raiding. The importance of the plunder bonus is probably understated because raiding is such an important part of the early to mid game. Raiding not only steals resources for your own growth, but they also deny the same resource for your opponent’s growth.

A player who raids actively will easily maintain a much higher growth rate than one who does not believe in raiding. My biggest plunder is 325,000 resources in a single raid. For the fastest growth, you need to raid often and Teutons are the best raiders.

Teutons also possess the best offense troops in the game. The clubswinger is in my opinion the best overall unit in the game. If I had to choose to build only one unit type, it would be the clubswinger. Clubswingers are the cheapest unit in the game and have the shortest training time.

Being cheap and fast to build, high traveling speed and a high carrying capacity, and a medium offense capability, the clubswinger is the best attacker in the early game and also the best raider of the game. By mid game, the Teuton Knight takes over raiding roles.

Another important advantage is the Teuton scout. Unlike other tribes, the Teuton scout is trained in the barracks. This is a very important advantage in the early game because the scout is such an important unit. While Gauls and Romans need a stable to train scouts, the Teuton has quick and cheap access to scouts.

The Teuton scout consumes only 1 crop, as opposed to 2 for a Roman and Gaul. This means a Teuton can support twice the number of scouts for the same crop as a Roman or Gaul. If you play as a Roman or Gaul, its a good idea to ask a Teuton to reinforce you with defensive scouts.

The Teuton earth wall is also the toughest among the tribes. Although it has the lowest defense bonus, but it is very difficult to destroy. In contrast, the Roman walls provide the highest defense bonus, but in my opinion it is useless because it is too easily destroyed, therefore negating the defense bonus.

Because of its tough walls, the Teuton is the most suitable tribe to host a World Wonder village.

Lastly, the Teuton merchant has the highest carrying capacity. He can transport 1000 resources per merchant – so a fully upgraded marketplace can transport 20,000 resources per load. When you have upwards of ten villages, you will need to constantly send resources between your network of villages. It gets to a point where the growth of your new villages depends on how fast you can push resources around.

The clerical guide describes the Teuton’s weakness is its weak defense. But the spearman is the best cavalry defender and has the second highest total defense point per unit. He is not a weak defender, but he lacks a strong defense against infantry troops.

The main weakness of the Teuton is probably in the late game. This is not a significant weakness, but I just need to mention that during end game, Gaul and Roman armies are probably more powerful than the Teuton army.

In conclusion, the Teuton’s cheap offensive troops and the 33 percent plunder bonus is in itself enough to make the Teuton a formidable tribe. It is very well suited for an active aggressive player and an active raider.

Since I advocate an offensive play style, then there is no better tribe than the Teuton. This guide is based primarily on my experience as a Teuton.

I’d recommend the Teuton to beginners as well as advanced players.

However, do not play as a Teuton if you don’t intend to raid. They are unsuitable for a defensive play style.

Romans

Romans are a mediocre race. They are an overall tribe – neither good in offense, nor defense, but average at both.

Roman troops are expensive, slowest to train but their armies are also among the most powerful in the game. This makes the Roman a slow starter but by mid and especially end game, Roman armies can be very powerful.

Romans have the most powerful infantry in the game. Their infantry is unmatched, with the imperian and praetorian being the best in their class. Almost every troop type (except cavalry) is more effective than the other tribes (eg fire catapult, senator).

At a glance, it seems that Romans are a superior tribe. The setback however is the cost and building time – they are too expensive for a balanced game. A Roman not only takes very long to build a large army, but when a Roman loses his army, he could not replace his losses quickly enough to continue the fight.

In terms of raiding, Romans are very poor raiders. The legionnaire is slow and carries a small load. He is also expensive. The imperian is faster, but at the price of 600 resources per unit, it is a costly affair to lose troops while raiding.

Romans are very resilient against infantry attacks. The praetorian is the best anti-infantry unit in the game but he is easily defeated by cavalry. This makes Romans particularly vulnerable to cavalry attack. The Teuton spearman should be used to supplement a Roman’s defense.

The setback with the Roman army is its cavalry. Although the Equites Caesaris has the highest attack value, but it consumes 4 crop, making it the weakest cavalry attacker in terms of attack value per crop. It is also very expensive.

Furthermore, due to the high crop upkeep, a Gaul or Teuton can support a 25 percent larger cavalry army than a Roman. Thus the weak cavalry and expensive troop costs, and long training time negates the advantage of the imperian, making the Romans unsuitable for early game aggression.

Roman armies are known to have lots of imperians. Their strength lies in a high infantry to cavalry ratio, therefore when defending against a Roman, ensure that you use plenty of anti-infantry troops. Do not try to defend against a Roman using spearman.

The clerical guide also describes the Roman City Walls as having the highest defense bonus. Against a skilled player however, the City Walls are one of the most useless structures in the game. The city wall is too easily destroyed, negating the defense bonus.

A Roman is not suitable to host a World Wonder village because of his weak walls.

Another weakness is the Roman merchant. With a capacity of only 500 resources, it falls far short of the needed capacity to push the required resources to growing villages. This hinders new village growth.

The Roman’s true advantage is their ability to build 2 structures simultaneously. So a Roman can extend a resource field and a village building at the same time. A new Roman village can grow very quickly provided it has sufficient resources.

I wouldn’t recommend playing as Romans unless you’re a highly skilled player.

Gauls

Gauls fall in the middle between the Roman and Teuton.

The Teuton has cheap and fast training troops, but they are the weakest in attack power. The Roman has the most expensive troops, longest training time, but they are the most powerful in the game.

The Gaul is in the middle of the two tribes, with an average price, training time and attack power. It is a very balanced tribe and while they are slow to grow in the early game, but their cheap phalanx and double cranny advantage makes them good early game defenders.

In the mid game and end game, the Gaul can evolve into a very, very formidable tribe, even more lethal than the Teuton. This is because their troops are more powerful than the Teuton, and yet cheaper than the Roman’s.

Furthermore, there is one very distinct advantage that the Gaul possesses over all others. And that is they have the fastest traveling troops in the game.

The Theutates Thunder travels at 19 fields per hour – this speed is dazzling, perfect for surprise attacks and quick raids. The druidrider travels at 16 fields per hour –perfect for sending reinforcements. The phalanx travels at 7 fields per hour, also very effective for sending reinforcements.

In the hands of a skilled player, the Gaul dominates from the mid to end game.

Gauls are also suitable for players who don’t like to attack, and prefer to cranny up and play a defensive game.

The phalanx is the best overall defender in the early game. They are suitable against infantry and cavalry, and are cheap and quick to train. By mid game however, the phalanx does not bode well anymore unless they are used in large numbers. The phalanx however is a poor attacker and should not be used for raiding.

Another Gaul advantage is the double cranny size. Each level 10 cranny protects up to 2000 resources, but I do not suggest building a village full of crannies either. You’re better off using the limited space for other structures.

Another unique Gaul feature is the Trapper. A Gaul village can trap up to 200 units of the attacking army. While its somewhat useful in the very early game, but its practically useless from mid-game onwards as armies grow bigger.

The Gaul palisade is somewhere in the middle between the Roman city wall and Teuton earth wall. It is somewhat useful but still not resilient enough to attacks. Because of their weak palisade, the Gaul should not host a World Wonder village.

The marketplace lies in the middle of the Roman and Teuton. It has an average capacity of 750 units per merchant, but their merchants travel faster.

In conclusion, the Gaul is a slow starter, but turns into a very formidable tribe in the mid to end game. It is also suitable for defensive players who want to play a slow paced game.

Despite the advantages, I still wouldn’t recommend playing as a Gaul unless you’re a highly skilled a player.

This is because the Teuton is the easiest tribe to excel in, but if you know what you’re doing, the Gaul is a better tribe than the Teuton.

In conclusion, the tribes in Travian are not balanced. In my opinion, the Romans are the lousiest tribe. Sorry Roman fans, but I just buy it. Gauls are good but a little difficult to play. Teutons are the best because they are the easiest and fastest to expand.

I would recommend playing as a Teuton.