Crown of Greed Beginner's Guide: Rule Through Gold, Not Orders

The single most important concept in Crown of Greed is that you cannot directly control heroes or subjects. There is no 'select unit, right-click to move' here. Every person on the map has free will and follows their own behavioral patterns based on their class and traits. You influence them through gold. Post a bounty flag on an enemy nest, and heroes who find the reward appealing will go destroy it. Set the bounty too low, and they'll ignore it entirely. Too high, and you'll run out of treasury fast. Finding the right gold balance is the central skill of the game. Think of yourself less as a general and more as a king managing a mercenary economy.

When you load into your first scenario, you'll have a small amount of starting gold and an empty plot of land. Speed matters — enemies spawn over time and get stronger. Recommended early build order: 1. 🏠 **Dwelling / House** — increases population and tax base immediately 2. 🛒 **Market** — provides equipment to heroes and generates passive tax income 3. ⚒️ **Forge (Blacksmith)** — upgrades hero weapons and armor, making them more effective 4. 🍺 **Inn (Tavern)** — critical for hero recruitment and party formation 5. 🗼 **Guard Tower** — your first line of defense against early enemy raids Do not build more of the same building type early on — each duplicate building costs significantly more than the last. Plan your layout before spending.

Once you build an Inn, heroes will begin to arrive in your kingdom. Each hero belongs to one of approximately 10 classes, and each class has a distinct behavioral tendency: - ⚔️ **Knight** — patrols borders, defends the kingdom perimeter - 🗡️ **Rogue** — seeks profit opportunities, excellent at scouting - 🏹 **Ranger / Hunter** — loves exploring undiscovered lands, great at clearing nests - 🧙 **Mage** — powerful against special enemies, often stays near city - ✝️ **Cleric / Paladin** — highly effective against undead enemies - 💪 **Berserker** — aggressively charges into combat, seeks battle constantly Each hero also rolls random traits at recruitment — both positive and negative. A hero might be Devout (bonus vs undead, penalty vs living) or a Glutton (wastes gold at the Marketplace). These traits make each playthrough unique. You can view hero traits before deciding whether to fund their initial cost. Some negative traits are minor nuisances; others can drain your economy if not managed.

Gold is the only resource in Crown of Greed. There is no wood, stone, or food — everything revolves around coins. Gold income sources: - 🏦 **Tax Collection** — each building pays taxes collected by your Tax Collector NPC - 🏪 **Trading Post** — heroes buy and sell equipment, generating commerce income - 💀 **Destroying Enemy Nests** — each cleared nest drops a gold reward Gold expense sinks: - Building construction (each duplicate type is more expensive) - Hero bounties and contracts - Spell casting costs - Building repair after enemy raids ⚠️ Critical warning: If your Tax Collector is killed by roaming monsters, your income stops until they respawn. Keep Guard Towers near your economic buildings.

Enemies will periodically assault your city. They spawn from Nests scattered across the map — the longer a nest exists, the stronger the assault waves become. This creates a proactive pressure to clear nests early. Defense fundamentals: - Build Guard Towers at chokepoints before the first wave - Post Scout bounties (low gold) to reveal nest locations early - Post Attack bounties on revealed nests before raids escalate - Enraged enemies (after you've been passive too long) launch coordinated attacks — these are significantly harder to repel As ruler, you can also cast defensive spells during raids. The area-based Stone Shield and Cure spells can turn the tide of a battle if you have enough gold.

Flags are your primary tool for communicating with heroes. You place flag markers on the map and attach a gold bounty to them. Heroes will evaluate the risk-reward ratio and decide whether to accept. Contract types available via flags: - 🔍 **Reconnaissance** — low cost, heroes scout the area - 🛡️ **Defense** — heroes guard a specific location - ⚔️ **Attack** — heroes engage enemies in a zone - 🐉 **Nest Clearing** — heroes destroy an enemy spawn point Tip: Start with low-cost Recon contracts to map the terrain, then upgrade to Attack/Clearing contracts once you know what you're facing. Never post high-value bounties blindly.

Crown of Greed features a meta-progression system called Heritage Points. These are earned between campaign scenarios based on your performance — riskier missions with more enemy clearing award more points. Heritage Points are spent on permanent upgrades that carry between scenarios, such as: - Starting with extra gold - Unlocking new building types earlier - Improving hero recruitment rates - Boosting Tax Collector resilience This system adds meaningful long-term strategy to the 15-scenario campaign.

- Always keep at least 200 gold in reserve for emergency defense bounties - Never build a second copy of a building until you have all first-tier buildings - Check hero traits before paying their initial recruitment fee - Scout before you attack — unknown nest types can surprise you - The Tax Collector is your most important NPC, protect them at all costs - Spells cost gold — save them for actual crises, not minor skirmishes