Ikariam

Ikariam has a lot of buildings you can choose to build on your island you first start off with. At the start you will have a few buildings you are able to build but as you progress through the game, you will unlock a variety of buildings.

* Academy
* Barracks
* Embassy
* Hideout
* Museum
* Palace
* Ship Yard
* Tavern
* Town Hall
* Trade Post
* Wall
* Warehouse
* Workshop

The above buildings are the main ones in Ikariam. The other type of building I have missed out are Wonders which are Island buildings in Ikariam. Each wonder can offer a different power to the people, both an Enduring Gift and a temporary gift, which is known as a Blessing.The difference between these two gifts in Ikariam is that Enduring Gifts never cease. They can affect such things as the army building, defense and mining. Blessings on the other hand are given by the Gods in Ikariam when the gifts given by the people on the Ikariam Island reaches a certain threshold and they last for 24 hours.

In Ikariam are five resources distributed over the islands of the world: Building Material, Wine, Marble, Crystal Glass and Sulphur.

Building Material is very important for all building upgrades - without this you can't upgrade any of your city buildings.

Marble is very important for almost everything - with it you can upgrade your buildings (except Academy).

Crystal Glass - this is needful for Academy upgrades, researches, and unit upgrades.

Wine - without this you can't have big city, because wine is definitely important for maintain citizens happy.

And sulphur - this is important for units. With this you can recruit your army.

Every player must know some important things of keeping citizes happy. Here is some of those tips:

1. Upgrade you taverns and museums - every upgrade gives you some satisfaction without spending wine or cultural threaty.
2. Reserve your wine - don't waste it for stupid things, wine is the primal resource in Ikariam in my opinion.
3.Don't upgrade you town hall before you don't assure that you have enough wine for keeping citizens happy!
4. If your town hall is full of citizens, decrease your tavern wine spending to minimum - this option should keep your wine. After upgrading town hall, maximize your wine spending - after that, your growth will be much bigger and your town will be full much faster (be sure that you have enoguh wine for that boost!).
5.Keep researching - some of the researches gives you some bonus satisfaction.

Every player has his own strategies of keeping sitizens satisfacted, so find your best options.

In the Ikariam we have a lot of types of soldiers, ships, etc. But which types are the best in combat? I'll review all of those here.

Almost every type of troops have a special skill:

* Assault - The unit receives a 30% damage bonus if on the attacking side.
* Resistance - The unit receives a 30% armour protection bonus if on the defending side.
* Battering Ram - The unit can damage the town walls, if existent.
* Healer - The unit can avoid casualties on their side per battle round.
* Refresh - Each battle round the unit can give exhausted units their stamina back.

Of course, for defensive army the best skill is resistance, and for offensive army is assault. Let's see, which troops are the best for assaulting, and which are the greatest at defensing.

Defensive army

Resistance units

Phalanx

Steam Giant

Resistance ships

Ballista ship

Diving Boat

Take a look how much defensive points these units have:
Phalanx - 40
Steam Giant - 140
Ballista Ship - 28
Diving Boat - 155

With the upgrades in workshop these units should have:
Phalanx - 40 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 70
Steam Giant - 140 + 30 + 30 + 30 = 230
Ballista Ship - 28 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 49
Diving Boat - 155 + 30 + 30 + 30 = 245

So, this calculation means, that your all-star team should have Steam Giants and Diving Boats. Also, Doctors and Cooks don't intermeddle your army, so use them - they are very helpful. Also, don't forget to upgrade your town wall when you can - it gives you a defensive bonus for every unit you have.

Offensive army

Assault units

Swordsman

Bombardier

Assault ships

Flamethrower

Paddle-Wheel-Ram

Let's see into the following units attacking points.
Swordsman - 18
Bombardier - 200
Flamethrower - 40
Paddle-Wheel-Ram - 100

With the upgrades in workshop these units should have:
Swordsman - 18 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 30
Bombardier - 200 + 45 + 45 + 45 = 335 (oh my god!)
Flamethrower - 40 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 70
Paddle-Wheel-Ram - 100 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 160

In this case in you attacking army must be bombardier (definitely!) and Paddle-Wheel-Ram for a long distance pillaging. Also, as I said in the defensive army collumn, Doctors and Cooks could be a great improvement. If you want some variety in your army, you can use upgraded Gyrocopters - they are strong too.

Also, for beating enemy's town wall, ram engines should be a very good units in that. Build some Mortars, and those walls will fall ahead in seconds.