Elphi'sAcademy
The Complete Subordinate City Guide
How subordinate cities, mayors, cultures, debuffs, training speed, troop production, linking, and battlefield use work together.
Learning Objectives
- Understand what subordinate cities contribute beyond raw power.
- Choose cultures and mayors based on the account's actual role.
- Build a reliable subordinate-city routine for PvP, growth, and protection.
Why This Matters
Subordinate cities are one of the most misunderstood systems in Evony because they look passive. Players collect them, assign any spare gold general, and assume the system is finished. In reality, subordinate cities can provide growth bonuses, troop production, revival support, and some of the most important enemy debuffs on the account.
A strong subordinate-city setup does not begin with the rarest color or the most famous mayor. It begins with a job description: what does this account need the subordinate network to do?
How Evony Actually Works
Each subordinate city has a culture, quality color, internal buildings, troop population, mayor, and linked combat behavior.
Higher-quality subordinate cities generally offer stronger inherent bonuses, but culture and strategic fit still matter.
Subordinate-city mayors can contribute debuffs and subordinate-specific development bonuses through skills, specialties, ascension, gear, cultivation, and other systems.
When linked for combat, subordinate cities can participate and their mayor debuffs may apply according to the game's combat rules and current setup.
Subordinate troops are not free decoration. They can be killed, require rebuilding, and may affect repeated combat readiness.
Culture choices often include development benefits such as construction, research, training, healing, resource production, or combat-related advantages. The best mix depends on whether the account is growing, rallying, defending, bossing, or supporting.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- List every subordinate city by color, culture, location, and current mayor.
- Define the account role. A developing account may value growth cultures differently from a mature battlefield tank or rally lead.
- Select mayors for debuff coverage rather than collecting duplicate bonuses without a plan.
- Develop mayor specialties and equipment only after confirming the mayor is part of the long-term setup.
- Use subordinate-focused gear and refines where appropriate. Do not put premium main-march equipment on a mayor simply because it has a higher power number.
- Level subordinate buildings in a deliberate order that supports troop recovery, training, and the bonuses you actually use.
- Before PvP, verify which subordinate cities are linked. Before risky combat, understand the troop and revival cost of leaving them active.
- Protect high-value subordinate cities politically and physically. Track ownership rules, server agreements, and temporary training arrangements.
- Review the network whenever a new mayor, culture, or better-quality city becomes available. Replace the weakest strategic slot, not necessarily the lowest-power one.
Optimization by Spending Style
Free-to-Play
Use obtainable debuff mayors and improve them methodically. A coherent set of accessible mayors is better than waiting forever for an ideal premium roster.
Low Coiner
Target missing debuff categories and long-term mayor fragments. Avoid investing deeply in temporary mayors.
Heavy Coiner
Build complementary mayor coverage, developed specialties, and role-specific subordinate equipment. Duplicate the same debuff only when it serves a deliberate cap strategy.
Common Mistakes
- Choosing mayors by general power instead of useful debuffs.
- Leaving every subordinate linked during situations where troop losses provide no benefit.
- Ignoring subordinate troop recovery.
- Developing random specialties before the final mayor plan is chosen.
- Assuming the highest-color subordinate city is automatically the best culture for every slot.
- Failing to track server rules for subordinate ownership and training.
Elphi's Recommendations
Treat the subordinate network as one coordinated system.
Build debuff coverage from a written checklist.
Review linked status before every serious PvP session.
Quick Reference Checklist
- All subordinate cities inventoried
- Account role defined
- Culture mix reviewed
- Mayor debuff coverage mapped
- Mayor gear checked
- Linked status checked
- Troop recovery plan ready
- Server rules recorded