So here you are, the new Troll parent of a Goblin fortress. They're scared, defenseless, and looking to you to protect them from the unending hordes of beastman nomads. Here's all the ways you can do that, and how to mix and match them for maximum pain.


Your basic attack (which the game names a "Kick" despite feet never being involved) is a pretty standard rapid-hitting walloping that you can issue on any given opponent by clicking on them, and the beatdown will continue until the victim's dead, out of reach, or you use a different attack. Given that your fists are bigger than many of the foes that they'll connect with, there's a small amount of splash on your attacks - you can pummel tightly-packed groups of small enemies.

Upgrading your basic attack should be a priority, since it's key to being able to fight bosses effectively. It's a bit expensive, but it's worth every coin and material spent. You'll need to supplement it with other attacks, but this is a bread-and-butter skill that'll serve you throughout the game.


The Knock skill is underwhelmingly named, but actually very useful. Along with Wheel and Quake, it's one of the basic-three special attacks that you should be using at every opportunity. Knock affects a short arc in front of you and and knocks back and knocks down anyone in that arc.

Knock actually deals a fairly large amount of damage, and has the fastest cooldown of all your special attacks. If you find yourself facing a stubborn crowd of enemies, Knock will move them, whether they like it or not. Like the game suggests, you should throw this one out every time it's off cooldown, and give it priority on upgrading, since it's so fundamental.


Wheel's a skill I'm a bit iffy about. On one hand, its damage is second only to knock, and it hits everything around you. On the other, it doesn't do anything special besides damage. If you're surrounded by weak enemies, this will clear them out in a hurry, and it's a decent way to spread damage around in a crowd, but don't rely on it. If Knock and Wheel are both ready to use at the same time, use Wheel first, because Knock will punt enemies out of Wheel's reach.


Quake's a fantastic skill. Like Wheel, it hits everything around you for solid-if-unspectacular damage, but unlike Wheel, its radius is fairly huge, much larger than the effect of the skill indicates. Quake's cooldown is sorta long, but it's up frequently enough to be useful.

You can use it to thin weak enemies out of a crowd while damaging heavier ones, which is actually much more useful than it sounds. Hordes of weak enemies tend to pummel your fort while you're distracted by punching heavier enemies, and this neatly helps to resolve that little problem and inflict damage on heavies at the same time. It's also useful for dealing with ranged enemies, since the AoE is big enough to hit them from considerable distance away.


Taunt is a very, very situationally useful ability. Quite simply, the fortress typically has more HP than you, and while you can still win a wave if you're knocked out, you're entirely reliant on the Goblins and Orc Mercs to finish off anything you can't bring down.

Taunt's got a long cooldown, but its area of effect is huge, much bigger than the effect of the skill indicates, and anything affected by it will come to pound on you instead of the fort - they'll even stop attacking the fort to come after you in mid-swing. The best way to use Taunt is to have powerful towers on the fort, Taunt a bunch of enemies attacking it, and then kite them around the fortress letting your goblins shell them. This minimizes damage to both you and the fortress.


The Jump skill has a huge cooldown, but is probably the single most useful ability in the game when dealing with ranged enemies. You use it, pick a spot on the map, and drop there, inflicting horrific damage on anything you land on. You can use it to escape a fight, enter a fight, ambush an enemy who thinks they're safely out of reach, come to the rescue of injured Orc Mercs, or just to sail majestically over your Fortress when you're bored. Make liberal use of it!


The Ram skill is bugged. When you activate it, and click a target the Troll runs around at superspeed for the next few seconds, knocking over and slightly damaging any enemy he plows into. The biggest problem is that it's uncontrollably fast, difficult to tell when it wears off, and completely prevents you from fighting normally while it's active. The best use of it is crossing the map quickly to get to a fight you need to intervene in while Jump is on cooldown, and even then, its own cooldown is atrocious. I don't consider this skill necessary, and I beat Survival wave 20 entirely without it.


The Loot skill is not something I consider a priority, just something nice to have. Looting is generally best left to Goblin looters, as they have 100% loot efficiency (meaning they get 100% of the loot from the corpses they bring in), and the loot skill is not necessary to pick up (nor does it affect) Coins or Treasure Chests dropped by enemies - just run the Troll over them. You need to get Looting to maximum before you have the same efficiency as a Goblin looter, and at that point, you should have enough Goblins and Goblin Training that they can handle it much more capably themselves.


Troll Health is probably one of the single most important upgrades. More HP means you can fight longer without being knocked out, soak more damage so that your fortress doesn't have to, and last longer in a pitched battle. You start with 200 HP, and each upgrade brings you to 800, 2100, and 4000 respectively. At the final two levels, you have more HP than some fortresses!


Shaman Healing is another important one, and the first level of it is pretty much mandatory - your natural regeneration is painfully slow otherwise. You can hold off on additional levels for a bit though. Unless you intend to rush enemy waves early, the Shaman still has time to fully heal you even with an underlevelled Shaman Healing skill.


By default, the Troll is not all that quick, as you might expect from looking at him. Investing in Moving Speed fixes that, allowing the Troll to get around the battlefield and deal with fights coming from multiple directions much more easily. Pretty important, all told, especially since Moving Speed also lets you move the Troll out of the way of launched projectiles, if you're sufficiently far enough away.


The Awesomeness upgrade, to my knowledge, does absolutely nothing. The game doesn't state an effect, and I haven't noticed any difference in Troll performance after taking Awesomeness upgrades.

A newly-founded Goblin fort will expect you to see to its defense, but that doesn't mean you have to shoulder all the work! Properly trained, Goblins can be taught to find other allies, and even to defend themselves.

The best way to do this is via defense towers. A Goblin fort can support four of these, and can support one weapon type atop each tower. Goblins prefer four varieties of tower-deployed weapon. More advanced forts with Level-2 towers can support two goblins atop each, while a Level-3 tower can support three armed goblins upon its parapets - prioritize these upgrades, as they double and triple your damage output.

To save money and resources, rearm as few times as possible, and outfit all of your towers with the same weapon. This way you don't have to spend money and materials upgrading different weapon types, or lose money and time spent defenseless on repeated rearming. Never rearm or upgrade when a wave is about to strike; a tower that's in the process of upgrading or rearming cannot fight.

Rockthrowers are the most basic form of Goblin defense. Any Goblin with a decent throwing arm and the ability to hit the broad side of a Rhinoman can chuck stones from atop a defense tower. When Defense Towers are first built, they are manned by Rockthrowers by default.

Rockthrowers are the weakest weapon to use in a Defense tower, and their range is only average, but they do have a strikingly-rapid fire rate. A single Rockthrower in a Level-1 tower can't expect to hold off anything more ferocious than Ratmen, but with four towers of them, fully upgraded (and mind you, they're the cheapest to upgrade if you intend to stick with them), can hold their own against some surprisingly formidable foes. Just be aware of their limited range.

Rockthrowers work best against crowds of light, fast melee enemies that rapidly succumb to a stoning, and as a result, are strongest in the early game. They suffer against bosses and heavier enemies that can more easily weather a rain of rocks. They fare especially poorly against siege weaponry that can fire from outside their limited range.

Archers are a step up from Rockthrowers in most respects from the moment you re-arm a tower with them. They boast a much-extended range and superior damage at the cost of only a little fire rate. As they mature, they prove themselves to be the 'jack-of-all-stats' of tower weapons; solid in every respect but not quite perfect in any of them.

Archers have the second-longest reach of any tower weapon, this alone ensures that there's no enemy that can fire on your fortress without receiving a flurry of arrows in response, and their fire rate is excellent, second only to the Rockthrower. Their damage is a bit lacking compared to the heavier weapons, but not by much.

Archers remain solid against most foes throughout the game, and are quite worth the cost of the initial re-arming necessary to use them. They have a bit of falloff in the extreme late-game, where their damage output can't quite keep up with increasing enemy health, but they're still serviceable even then.

Goblins are nothing if not clever, and it's not unheard of for them to press the explosives they use for mining into service as weapons. Enter the Goblin Bomber, a strong-armed demolitionist willing to risk life and limb to hurl explosives at oncoming enemies from atop a tower.

Bombers are, in many ways, the antithesis of the Rockthrower. Their fire rate is mediocre, their range is abysmal, but they inflict horrific damage. Due to the Bomber's short range, you should not expect a bomber to be able to shoot across the fortress as Archers might, unless they've had a couple training upgrades at the barracks. If you're going to use Bombers, put them in all four towers to ensure that no matter which angle the enemy comes from, there's someone there to give them a warm welcome.

Bombers excel at blasting crowds and single, tough enemies with equal ease. Every bomb they throw has a blast radius and can damage several tightly packed enemies. Due to the sheer damage that bombs inflict, most foes will be wiped out after a couple of tosses, and even Bosses can be severely dented or blown to smithereens under a sustained volley.

The Bomber's weakness is, as mentioned, its short range. Ranged enemies can plink away at your fortress from outside the Bombers' reach, especially if you haven't upgraded them much. This makes it imperative that you hunt down ranged enemies personally.

Combining the longest reach available with damage second only to the Bomber, the Catapult is an outstanding piece of Goblin engineering. The flaming projectiles lobbed by the Catapult can strike just about anywhere on the battlefield with surprising accuracy, ensuring that no foe can escape the reach of your Goblins.

While all this may make the Catapult sound like the perfect weapon, and it is very good, it has two weaknesses; one minor and one major. The minor weakness is the fact that it's the costliest of the four weapons to upgrade - specialized artillery training and high-torsion rope gets expensive. The bigger of its two weaknesses is its fire rate.

The Catapult is the slowest weapon to fire. While it can hit nearly anywhere on the battlefield, it cannot manage a sustained assault. Further, Goblin Catapult operators aren't the greatest at prioritizing targets, which means that a catapult shot may be wasted on a weak enemy, leaving a long delay before the catapult can fire again. Catapult shot also lacks the splash damage of a Bomber's bombs, meaning that each projectile only hits one enemy.

Catapults are best in the late-game, where high-health enemies are plentiful, as are ranged enemies that you want to be able to engage no matter where they try to snipe from. You may want to be proactive about winnowing out small, weak enemies out of the invading armies, to ensure that your Catapults focus on targets that actually matter.

Of course, defense towers are only one way to protect your precious Fortress...

Called from the Tavern, a Fortress can support a small strike-team of Orc Mercenaries to assist in its defense. Each mercenary is hired at the Tavern, and its level increases the number of mercenaries you can have, their combat capability and their price. Mercs from a level-1 Tavern cost 300 gold each (max of 2), 900 gold each from a level-2 tavern (max of 3), and 1,500 gold each from a level-3 tavern (max of 4).

Orc Mercs are a stiff investment. It takes quite a bit of gold to replace one if one should die. They can be suicidal - they will not back down from a fight, no matter how badly they're losing. To protect your investment, you'll want to fight alongside them and absorb a few blows for them. Fortunately, they're fully healed if they return to the Tavern.

It's important to note that Mercs always emerge from the east entrance of your Fortress, and engage the closest foe in melee combat, only moving on once their current victim is dead or they're prevented from attacking it. Though they can go anywhere on the battlefield, they're vulnerable to ranged enemies and can wander outside the protection of your towers.

If you purchase Mercenaries, then upgrade your Tavern, your existing mercenaries are upgraded for free. This can save you a lot of gold in the long run, as you only need to pay full price for new mercenaries. When deciding whether to hire mercs, only hire if you can afford your current maximum amount, that way there's less chance of any one of them dying.

Beastman nomads are a constant threat to Goblin Fortresses across the land. They come in waves, each one more ferocious than the last. So what's a Troll to do? Well, fight them off, obviously, but knowing a bit about the hordes can help you deal with them more wisely.

In rough order of appearance...


Ratmen are chaff. Even the most undeveloped of Trolls can probably smack one to death with a single ordinary attack, and special attacks can wipe out several at once. If you have the Wheel or Quake abilities, they'll obliterate entire attack waves of Ratmen at once. In Survival, they appear from wave 1, and start to be phased out around waves 5-7, becoming virtually nonexistent by wave 15.


Mandrills are a step up from Ratmen, and begin to comprise the brunt of the enemy force starting at wave 4 of Survival. They are bog-standard melee fighters with no special traits whatsoever, and should be easily dispatched with a couple strikes or a special attack.


Regular Gnolls show up around wave 8, two waves after they start appearing as Bosses. They start replacing Ratmen as light, fast-attack units, though they never quite manage to swarm as much as Ratmen do. They're less durable than Mandrills and can be swatted with ease - they're only a threat to forts that don't have at least one tower yet.


Rhinos are among the toughest normal melee fighters, with durability second only to bosses. They pack a noticeable punch, too. They show up around wave 9, and if you've been remiss in Troll upgrades, they can be a nasty shock. Don't expect single special attacks to wipe them out, it's gonna take repeated hits to bring a Rhino of any kind down. Either engage them personally, or make sure you have a full complement of towers on your fortress to wear them down.


Starting at wave 10 of Survival, your first ranged enemy should show up - the Bison. Their range is short and they're less-than-resilient, but you can take a lot of damage from them if they spear you repeatedly while you're distracted with something else.


At wave 12 of Survival, Mandrills start to break out the siege equipment. Mandrill catapults are easily destroyed, but have enough range that getting to them before they hit you can be difficult, and they hit fairly hard. Fortunately, just like your catapults, they're slow to fire. Prioritize them if you're using Rockthrowers or Bombers, as they're able to outrange your towers unless they're heavily upgraded.


What's worse than a spear-throwing bison? A halberd-throwing Rhino. Appearing at Wave 14, they have better range than their smaller cousins and are impressively durable, being Rhinomen. Until they actually attack, they can be hard to tell apart from their melee-oriented brethren unless you examine them closely and notice the halberd.


Appearing around wave 15 is the first of the Buffalomen. The longest-ranged range unit in the Beastman army, they require a moment to set up, but once in position they'll lob bolts at you or your fort rapidly. Take them out first if you're using short-ranged towers, like Rockthrowers or Bombers. Unlike catapults, Ballistae can endure a few hits, though they seem to be a bit less durable than Rhinoman halberdiers.


Strong, durable, and easily confused for a Rhinoman Halberdier until you notice the different horns, these cretins prefer to rush you in melee, starting at Wave 16. They hit hard, can endure a worrying amount of punishment, and aren't exactly slow, either. Don't take these guys lightly, and if there are no ranged enemies around, prioritize beating them down first, as they're almost as tough as some bosses.


Identified by their crude battle standards and impressive stature, bosses are special, super-tough variants of other enemies. They come in Gnoll, Mandrill, Bison, Rhino, and Buffalo varieties. They are always strictly melee only, even if the enemy type they came from is strictly ranged. Their main purpose is to absorb repeated blows from your towers so that their allies can swarm your fortress. You'll need to clean out the chaff around them, since although they deal increased damage, they're still just one enemy hitting your fort. Fortunately, they're slow-moving and easily kited with Taunt, and drop lots of gold and materials if you can kill them and loot their corpses.

Time management when there's not enough time to be had is the chief difficulty of defending a fortress under siege. Managing your time between waves is almost as important as your strategies during them.

Here's some tips that will help you better get a handle on fortress management.

Spacebar. Use Spacebar. Use it frequently. Use it religiously. Use it between waves. Use it in combat. Any time you don't know exactly what you want to do, and sometimes even when you do, hit the Spacebar button to give yourself time to think about and issue the commands. You can reassign Goblins in your fortress, queue upgrades, and give your Troll movement and attack orders while paused. This lets you do multiple things at once, and helps you make the most of your precious time between waves. This, more than anything else, is crucial for defending your fort capably.

Do not just set your Goblins to an even mix of tasks, then forget about them, and expect to succeed. You need to manage their tasks by hand, frequently, and shift them according to your needs. If you need something built, a minimum of four goblins should be on that project. If there are uncollected corpses on the field, every Goblin needs to be on looting duty until all of the bodies are en route back to the Fort. If there's nothing else to do, every goblin needs to be either harvesting Lumber, Iron, or Stone depending on what you need and have available. If your Fortress needs fixed, you need at least three Goblins doing that as soon as Looting is done. Learn to pause the game and reassign your Goblins manually, and you'll get a lot more done.

Assigning Loafers to useful tasks is a given, but if a Goblin is assigned to a task it can't do (being asked to build when they're no projects assigned, or if all available projects have the maximum number of goblins; being asked to repair when the Fortress is at full health; being asked to Loot when there are no bodies left on the field), it will simply idle in front of your Fortress's east entrance. Spot these idlers immediately and reassign them to a useful job.

When a wave ends, no matter how bad of a condition your Fortress or Troll is in, drop everything, pause the game, and assign EVERY SINGLE GOBLIN to looting. Corpses only persist for a limited amount of time, and your Goblins need to get out there and retrieve them before they rot.

The more Goblins you have looting, the more Corpses you can retrieve at once, and the more Gold and Materials you get as a result. Repairs and other tasks can wait until Looting is done, since Gold is necessary for literally every construction project and upgrade, and Materials are needed for improving weapons, workers, and your Troll. More is More, that's your motto.

When all of the corpses on the battlefield have been picked up or rotted, even if there's Goblins still carrying them back home, you can reassign everyone on Looting to other duties. Goblins carrying loot will deposit their loot safely before switching jobs (this applies to all resource collection jobs, not just Looting!)

Your Troll serves an important role in looting - coins and treasure chests are not picked up by looters, only by the Troll himself. Run your Troll around the battlefield after assigning everyone to loot, and grab all the loose coins and treasure you can get. Then (if you have it), set your Troll on Loot duty, and focus on the corpses furthest from your Fortress. These are the least likely to be picked up by your Goblin looters before they rot, and even if your Looting skill isn't good, it's better to get something from those corpses than nothing at all.

Yes, you do lose something in the conversion of goods (materials, lumber, iron, stone) to gold, and from gold back to goods, but using the Store can allow you to convert something you have a surplus of into something you have a deficit of, which can let you fill out the requirements of an upgrade far faster than you would otherwise. Enemies get harder with every wave that goes by; it's better to sacrifice wealth for time rather than the other way around.

I highly recommend against rushing enemy waves. Provoking the enemy early reduces the amount of time you have to safely collect resources, and it doesn't do much to reduce their numbers, as enemies will continue to arrive as the wave progresses. Resources = Wealth = Upgrades = Power, and you need all the power you can get in every wave in order to keep pace with later waves. Only rush waves once everything is at T3 and you're doing nothing but upgrading the Troll, as you're probably converting all available wealth into Gold and Materials for that purpose. Even then, it may be better to avoid rushing waves, so that you can collect more goods to convert into gold and materials.

It's usually safe for an upgrade to still be in progress when a wave starts. You won't benefit from the upgrade, but you also won't lose progress on it if your Fortress is hit. The exception is Tower upgrades. As mentioned before never upgrade or rearm a Tower when a wave is about to start. A Tower that's in the process of upgrading or rearming cannot fight, and does nothing to protect your Fortress. Start tower upgrade or rearming projects at the beginning of your between-wave downtime, not at the middle or end of it.

Goblin Upgrades from your Town Hall are fairly cheap and do wonders for improving productivity. Every upgrade not only increases the speed at which Goblins move, but also allows them to carry more per trip when harvesting resources. These upgrades also make them faster at building and repairing. This lets you get Fortress repairs and upgrades done faster, which saves you time, and allows you to spend more time accruing wealth, and thus power.

My thanks go out to FlyAnvil[www.flyanvil.com] and tinyBuild[www.tinybuild.com], for making the game in the first place. It's been pretty fun, even if it's got a few bugs, and its tutorial and instructions are kinda lacking. Hopefully this guide will help the latter.

Thanks to you, too, reader, for reading this guide and giving it a chance. I really hope it helps you enjoy this game more. If this guide can help even one person enter a wave better-informed, or pull a win out of a losing situation, or accomplish a goal they didn't think was possible, it's served its purpose.