Imperial knight

Offensive Melee Special

A top-notch melee attacker with the highest strike power in its category, but extremely one-dimensional and numerically limited, as you can only acquire it from special offers or events. If you actively attack foreign castles and know how to slot it into the correct melee wave, it is a strong asset to your attacking army. For defenders or players who do not attack much, it makes no sense; it would just consume food and take up space.

143Attack

21Melee defense

8Ranged defense

28Speed

4Food upkeep

Quick overview

Type	Offensive, Melee
Source	Special
Game stage	Special
Cost	315
Recommendation	Situational

rating

Attack

Defensive

Cost

Speed

The Imperial Knight is a purely offensive melee unit with an impressive attack of 143, making it one of the toughest melee infantry you will encounter in the game. However, you pay for this elsewhere: its melee defense is only 21, its defense against ranged attacks is a miserable 8, and it consumes 4 food per unit. This is not a universal soldier for every situation, but a specialized offensive tool that takes castles, not one that defends them. Moreover, you do not recruit it from regular barracks, so do not count on it as a permanent army, but rather as a striking bonus for specific actions.

How to use it

In practice, you deploy it exclusively to attack enemy castles and camps, specifically in the wave where you push against melee defense. How it works in GGE: in the wave, your melee attack is compared to the wall's defense against melee, so a knight with an attack of 143 is most effective where the opponent has weak melee wall defense. It does not matter which specific defender is on the wall; the defensive value against your type of attack is what counts. With an attack of 143, it can break through even well-defended walls and serves as the heavy core of the attacking wave alongside regular swordsmen. Keep it away from defending your own castle; it is useless there, its defensive values are tragic, and it will just unnecessarily consume food.

What to combine it with

It works best as the offensive core of a melee wave alongside cheaper attacking swordsmen, allowing you to spread the strength across multiple waves rather than having all the striking power in one. For the second wave, deploy attacking ranged units for wall defense and complement it with siege engines (battering rams, towers) that will boost the overall attack of the army against the walls. Under a commander with a bonus to wall attack (breaching walls), you will turn it into a real gatebreaker, as that bonus targets exactly where the knight operates. Keep a specific ratio of around two to three melee waves of knights and swordsmen for one ranged wave, depending on how the target's defense is structured.

Weaknesses and what to avoid

Do not place it in defense; the numbers 21 and 8 speak clearly, it will fall before it can do anything. Do not mix it into a ranged wave; its strength is melee attack against melee wall defense, and you will gain nothing from it in a poor wave. And be cautious about the economy: the consumption of 4 food per unit adds up significantly with a larger army. Since you also acquire it from special offers or events, it is often numerically limited, so do not plan it as a mass-produced army, but save it for targeted attacks where that attack of 143 pays off.

Pro player tipInvest stars into the attack first, as it is rated 4 stars and that is its entire purpose, enhancing its main advantage even further. The cost has 2 stars, so with a cheaper upgrade, you will reduce recruitment costs, which is useful since, as an event unit, you only have it in limited numbers, and every saved resource counts. Invest in defense (2 stars) only if you have leftovers, as you still won't turn it into a defender. Its speed of 28 is comparable to regular infantry and slower than cavalry, so keep that in mind when planning to reach distant targets, so you do not send it unnecessarily far ahead.

Common mistakeA common mistake is to stuff Imperial Knights into the garrison of your own castle because they 'look expensive and strong.' An attack of 143 is completely useless in defense; defensive values count, and it has poor ones. Another classic mistake is to throw it into the wrong wave: the knight belongs in the melee wave, where its attack of 143 is measured against the melee defense of the walls, not in the ranged wave, where its number will not be utilized. A third mistake is relying on producing it in barracks on demand; it is an event unit, so you only have as many as you collect.

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