Every Rise of Kingdoms (ROK) player knows that commanders are the most important part of the game. They all serve different purposes like open field fights, rallying, garrison, and Barbarian hunting (PVE). If you pick out the right primary commander and pair him/her with the proper secondary commander, you can do wonders in this game.
Below there is a full guide on commander pairing in Rise of Kingdoms for different tasks along with tier list ranking.
Note: These pairings change over time, especially when there are new legendary commanders added to the game. We will try to keep this list up to date. As of now, it’s updated till new archer commanders Boudcia Prime and Henry V.
Best Commanders Tier List – Updated with new Commanders
Updated on: 20, July 2022
- Best open field commander pairing in Rise of kingdoms
- Best garrison commander pairing in ROK
- Best garrison to defend Attila & Takeda(Cavalry Rally)
- Best garrison to defend Xiang Yu & Chandragupta Maurya(Cavalry rally)
- Best garrison to defend Xiang Yu & Alexander Nevsky/Atilla Nevsky(Cavalry rally)
- Best garrison to defend Ramesses & Nebuchadnezzar(Archer rally)
- Best garrison to defend Gilgamesh & Nebuchadnezzar(Archer rally)
- Best garrison to defend Boudica Prime & Henry V based pairings(Archer rally)
- Best garrison to defend Guan Yu & Harald Sigurdsson(Infantry rally)
- Best garrison to defend Pakal & Harald Sigurdsson(Infantry rally)
- Best garrison for city defense
- ROK epic commander garrison pairing
- rise of kingdoms commander pairing for Rally
- What are the best commander combos in Rise of Kingdoms?
Best open field commander pairing in Rise of kingdoms
There is no doubt that almost everyone likes open-field battles. It’s so much fun and doesn’t give you dead troops. Of course sometimes lag comes in during those huge murder ball fights and you end up with huge hospital bills. Here is the best commander pairing for open field fights in the rising of Kingdoms.
Cavalry commanders pairing

Alexander Nevsky & William
Pros
- Insane Skill damage
- AOE Damage
- Fast March speed
- Survivability
Cons
- None, This combination has everything you need for an open field. This is a must-have March if you prefer open field fights.
Alternative: Xiang Yu & William
Why not Nevsky and XY? – Both of these commanders have Defense reduction on active skill and that debuff doesn’t stack up. So, it is better to use them separately. Now we have honda, you can use Nevsky with William and Xy with honda to get the most out of your pairings.
Infantry commanders pairing


Guan Yu & Scipio Prime
Pros
- Great value in murder balls
- So much Skill damage
- Crazy good AOE value
- Gives shields to allies as support
- Fast Skill cycles
- great march speed for infantry
Cons
- Not as tanky as guan and Leo’s pairing
- Guan Yu marches get targeted a lot by enemy players. So, play carefully to avoid getting smashed by multiple marches
Alternative: Guan Yu & Leonidas
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Archer commanders pairing


Boudica Prime & Artemisia
Pros
- So much damage to output
- insane skill damage with AOE
- well balance between defense and offense
- Very good even against cavalry pairing
Cons
- This pairing has some complications read the note below
Note: Aside from XY and nevsky, There isn’t a march in the rise of the kingdom which can defeat Boudica prime and Artemisia. The reason this pairing works so well is the synergy between artemisia’s 4th skill and Boudica prime’s expertise skill. Boudica Prime’s expertise cancels Artmisa’s self-debuff while giving a 50% Damage boost and that kind of buff is no joke, But the problem is we don’t know if this will keep working or Lilith will change it with the next update. Either way, you should max out Boudica prime because you can pair with any archer commander and she will still give you the best trades.
Alternative: Boudica Prime & Pretty much any archer commander or Honda
Buff/De-buff support commanders pairing

Trajan & Aethelfled
Many players won’t like this option. But, if you are a low-power f2p player then you should definitely opt for this role. It will be a very big help for your allies and kingdom.
Pros
- Great buff and Debuff value which will give an advantage to you and your allies during battles
- Enough sustainability to stay longer on the field, which is very important for buffing/de-buffing March.
- Good DMG output scaling over time
- Works with mixed troops
Cons
- Everyone will be looking to target this pairing
- March speed
Alternative: Trajan & Alexander
For a more detailed open field commander pairing guide check here.
Best garrison commander pairing in ROK
The main goal of garrison commanders is to hold off enemies for as long as possible, hoping they will give up eventually. Here are some best garrison commander pairings that might help you in different situations.
Best garrison to defend Attila & Takeda(Cavalry Rally)


Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
Zeno and YSS were the number one garrison combination in the game for a long time. It used to handle almost every rally commander and still can handle Atilla and Takeda with ease. But now we have an even better option. Flavius Aetius is so powerful that when your enemy sees him as a secondary garrison to Zenobia they won’t even bother to do AT rally.
Best garrison to defend Xiang Yu & Chandragupta Maurya(Cavalry rally)
Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
There was a time when XY and Chandra were the current cavalry meta in Rise of Kingdoms. Now Nevsky is being used instead of Chandra. However, if you do get XY and Chandra rally then Zeno and Flavius will send them packing without even breaking a sweat.
Best garrison to defend Xiang Yu & Alexander Nevsky/Atilla Nevsky(Cavalry rally)
Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
There is absolutely nothing at the moment that can stop devasting skill damage of XY and Nevsky pairing. Alternatively, players are also using Atilla Nevsky and it’s the same story. You won’t even get decent trades against this pairing. So you can just try using Zenobia & Flavius Aetius and hope for the best.
Best garrison to defend Ramesses & Nebuchadnezzar(Archer rally)
Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
no one is using Ramesses/Nebu anymore but if they do then Zeobia & Flavius should be able to handle it pretty easily.
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Best garrison to defend Gilgamesh & Nebuchadnezzar(Archer rally)
Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
Zenobia/Flavius is the most powerful garrison right now but against Gilgamesh and Nebu they don’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, that’s your only option right now.
Best garrison to defend Boudica Prime & Henry V based pairings(Archer rally)
Zenobia & Flavius Aetius
Boudica Prime and Henry V have lots of pairing options for a rally and most of them all work really well against Zenobia/Flavius. Once again your hands are tied and you gonna have to rely on Zeno and Flavius.
Best garrison to defend Guan Yu & Harald Sigurdsson(Infantry rally)

Amanitore & Artemisia
Aside from artemisia, there wasn’t any good Archer garrison commander. That’s why Zenobia and Wu Zetian were being used. But now we have a better option as new archer garrison commander Amanitore has entered the game. Amanitore and Artemisia is a very tanky garrison combo and it can shred any infantry rally into pieces. Not just that, it can also handle XY and Chandra rally to some level.
Best garrison to defend Pakal & Harald Sigurdsson(Infantry rally)
Amanitore & Artemisia
Currently, Nevsky and XY are rally meta but for some reason, if your enemy decides to do an Infantry rally with Pakal and Harald, then just put Amani/Artemisia inside the garrison and just chill. Those two will handle infantry without breaking a sweat.
Best garrison for city defense

Yi Sun-sin & Theodora
For the city defense, you want commanders that can utilize mixed troops types. YSS and Theodora pairing has high nuke damage to melt the rally, defense stats, damage reduction, shield, and debuff removal to hold off enemies for a longer time. Aside from that they also have AOE and Counter damage to work against swarming. So all in all this combination is perfect to defend your city.
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ROK epic commander garrison pairing
None. Awfully lot of f2p players dream of garrisoning with the epic commander, we suggest don’t do it. It hurts your ally and kingdom and creates lots of troubles for the people who are managing kvk for your kingdom.
rise of kingdoms commander pairing for Rally
Best Archer rally pairing

Gilgamesh & Nebuchadnezzar/ Boudica Prime & Henry V-based pairings
Even again new garrison meta Gilgamesh/Nebu works really well. Aside from that new Archer commander Boudica Prime and Henry V’ Paired with different archer commanders is also very effective against Zenobia and Flavius. So at the moment, there isn’t much to worry about for the archer players. You can try a bunch of new archer pairings like Henry and Gilgamesh, Boudica Prime and Nebu, Henry and Boudica prime, and a bunch of others, and they all will get through any garrison.
Best Cavalry rally pairing

Xiang Yu & Alexander Nevsky
XY & Chandra Gupta were a really good combo, but with the arrival of Nevsky, things have changed quite a bit. XY and Nevsky are able to do some insane skill damage while significantly de-buffing the garrison. Currently, there is no garrison in the game that can stop these titans. Alternatively, Atilla Nevsky can also be used to achieve the same results.
Best Infantry rally pairing

Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal & Harald Sigurdsson
Previously, Guan and Harald were the best options, but with the release of Pakal, we have a better rally pairing for infantry. Now you should use Pakal primary with the same Harald secondary to get the best results. Pakal Provides more tankiness to the rally while still maintaining solid damage output. It’s also very good against swarming. Alternatively, you can also use Guan and Pakal secondary for big damage numbers.
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What are the best commander combos in Rise of Kingdoms?
For open filed Guan Yu with Scipio Prime, For Garrison Zenobia With Flavius Aetius, and for Rally Xiang Yu with Alexander Nevsky.
XY/Honda or XY/Saladin?
XY/Honda will be much more suitable for big group fights. However, XY/ Saladin will be much better choice if you are f2p and prefer to support your ally(don’t worry it will still do tons of damage)
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