How To Play As Every King In 9 Kings
9 Kings has, incidentally, more than a few Kings for you to use. Each of these Kings has access to their own unique card, and are also more likely to gain their own class of cards throughout a run, helping you to make a focused build out of their cards.
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Each King has a few strengths, and creatively leaning into those strengths is often the easiest path to victory. That doesn’t necessarily mean sticking with your own King’s cards and no one else’s; it’s good to have a baseline knowledge of every King, so you know when to borrow cards to use in your own build.
King Of Nothing
The King of Nothing is a little bit misleading, because there are some strengths that are easier to lean into with this King than in others. That being said, there aren’t many particularly flavorful options with this King, and many of his cards are meant to blend well with other builds.
Every King Of Nothing Card
Here’s every card available to the King of Nothing by default:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Castle |
The King of Nothing’s central location. This fires an area-of-effect damage attack at enemies. |
|
Soldier |
A good-at-nothing, bad-at-nothing melee Unit. |
|
Paladin |
A highly defensive melee Unit. |
|
Archer |
A low-power, high attack speed ranged Unit. |
|
Scout Tower |
A highly effective damaging Tower. |
|
Farm |
Adds one or more Units to adjacent tiles every turn. |
|
Wildcard |
Can level up any card that’s already placed in your Kingdom. |
|
Blacksmith |
Increases the attack power of adjacent Units and/or Towers every turn. |
|
Steel Coat |
Negates one instance of damage for a Unit. |
The King of Nothing has no unique perks.
King Of Nothing Strengths
The King of Nothing is a good King to play for players new to the game. He’s a very flexible option, allowing you to incorporate cards from other Kings without worrying too much about whether they’re going to synergize with you.
It might be difficult to find a particular niche with this King, but it won’t be difficult to be at least somewhat effective at anything.
King Of Spells
The King of Spells is very dependent on utilizing and stacking enchantments on Units in order to be effective. There are multiple different playstyles you can adopt with the King of Spells, but most of them are going to rely on those enchantments.
Every King Of Spells Card
Here are all nine cards available by default to the King of Spells:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Citadel |
The King of Spells central location. This fires a lightning bolt at enemies, dealing damage in a small AoE. |
|
Wizard |
A slower-firing ranged Unit, capable of high damage per shot. |
|
Warlock |
A high-health melee unit that deals AoE damage. |
|
Static |
An enchantment that deals a chain of damage to enemies hit by the Unit. |
|
Offering |
Destroys whatever is on a tile, and gains you three Tome cards. |
|
Combustion |
An enchantment that deals AoE damage equal to 20 percent of your Unit’s attack when it kills an enemy. |
|
Shaman |
A Unit that does not attack, but buffs the attack of all of your other Units for every attack power that it has. |
|
Library |
Has a chance to multiply the enchantments on every adjacent Unit, per turn. |
|
Spire |
Heals your lowest-health Unit constantly throughout the battle. |
Unique King Of Spells Perks
The King of Spells has access to three unique perks:
|
Perk |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Mystic |
You start the run with an extra enchantment in your hand. |
|
Ruthless |
Your Citadel has a chance to deal infinite damage on a strike. |
|
Scholar |
Your Libraries are placed at level two. |
King Of Spells Strengths
The King of Spells can create some outrageously powerful Units, but doing so is going to require smart placement of Units and Libraries, to make use of their powerful enchantments. Other Kings have enchantments that can fit well into this, and you’ll want to keep an eye out for them.
You’re also going to need things like Forests and Farms to ensure that your Units keep pace with the mid and late game.
King Of Greed
The King of Greed revolves around making money, and spending less money. Having money and earning money is often going to make certain cards more powerful, though that’s not the only thing important, mechanically.
Every King Of Greed Card
Here are all nine cards that the King of Greed has access to by default:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Palace |
The King of Greed’s central location. This deals infinite damage to a single target, and has the chance to reward you Gold. |
|
Beacon |
Increases the attack speed of adjacent Towers and Units. |
|
Vault |
Gains you extra Gold per turn. |
|
Dispenser |
A Tower that gains in attack speed for each Gold you earn. |
|
Midas Touch |
Gives your Units the chance to reward you with Gold each time they kill an enemy. |
|
Mortgage |
Destroys whatever is on the target tile, and rewards you with Gold for each level the target had. |
|
Over-Invest |
Spend gold to amplify the stats of your target by 15 percent. |
|
Mercenary |
A strong melee Unit that has more Units present on the tile, depending on the amount of Gold that you have. |
|
Thief |
A melee Unit that jumps to the enemy backline to attack. |
Unique King Of Greed Perks
The King of Greed has three unique perks:
|
Perk |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Nepobaby |
Start your run with extra Gold. |
|
Oligarch |
Start your run with extra Vault cards in your hand. |
|
Peddler |
Purchase cards from the Merchant for free. |
King Of Greed Strengths
The King of Greed can be pretty easily built around maintaining a high amount of Gold, and buffing their Units and Towers attack speed. Placing Beacons near your Palace and Units is going to make them very effective when it comes to damage, and your Dispenser is going to be constantly improving in that department, too.
The King of Greed will need help when it comes to strengthening their Units defensively; consider keeping the King of Nature and/or the King of Nothing around for their Farms and Forests.
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King Of Blood
The King of Blood has a lot of Units that can be considered cannon fodder, but it’s all for a purpose. Their Demons can become absurdly powerful throughout the course of a run, while their fodder can actually become pretty useful, with the right support.
Every King Of Blood Card
The King of Blood has some of the more unique cards available by default:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Pagoda |
The King of Blood’s central location. This summons Imps onto the battlefield. |
|
Bomber |
This Unit runs at the enemy and explodes. |
|
Imp |
This is a relatively weak melee Unit, but it does have a high Unit count. |
|
Carnage |
This is an enchantment that causes a Unit to explode for 10 percent of their health as AoE damage when they die. |
|
Sacrifice |
This destroys the card on a tile, but levels up adjacent tiles. |
|
Vampirism |
This heals a Unit based on a percentage of the damage that they deal. |
|
Mangler |
This feeds on adjacent Units, but gains in power each time that it does. |
|
Cemetery |
This replaces adjacent Units with Imps when they die. |
|
Demon’s Altar |
This summons a Demon that gains in strength each time an allied Unit dies. |
Unique King Of Blood Perks
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Cultist |
This starts your run with an extra Imp card in your hand. |
|
Pagan |
This starts your run with a Demon Altar already placed in a random corner. |
|
Summoner |
This increases the strength of any summon (namely Demons) by 10 percent. |
King Of Blood Strengths
The King of Blood excels at throwing a monumental amount of Units at the enemy with the expectation that they’ll die, all to strengthen their Demons. Those smaller Units can become quite powerful themselves; particularly Bombers.
Bombers can be given enchantments like Combustion to increase their damaging effect, as well as improved dramatically through certain Royal Decrees, such as ones that improve movement speed or AoE damage area.
King Of Nature
The King of Nature has a very different focus than the King of Blood; rather than using Units as fodder, the King of Nature is largely centered around getting as much value out of every Unit as possible.
Every King Of Nature Card
The King of Nature has a few cards that are very valuable to almost any build:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Treant |
This is the King of Nature’s central location, and both damages enemies and heals allies. |
|
Mycelium |
A Tower that creates more spores the longer it exists, damaging enemies every battle. |
|
Clone |
This becomes whatever card you play it on. |
|
Elf |
A ranged Unit that deals heavy-but-slow damage to the furthest enemy Unit. |
|
Boar |
This is a melee Unit that allows adjacent Units to ride on it, buffing the rider Unit’s stats by one percent for every health that the Boar has. |
|
Orchard |
This is a Tower that traps and damages enemy Units. |
|
Procreate |
This creates nine more of any Unit on a tile. |
|
Forest |
This buffs the health of adjacent Units every turn. |
|
Poison Vial |
This applies one stack of Poison every time a Unit attacks an enemy. |
Unique King Of Nature Perks
The King of Nature has perks that can help get your run off to a strong start:
|
Perk |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Healer |
This improves your Treant’s healing ability. |
|
Pollinator |
This starts your run with a Mycelium on a random corner tile. |
|
Tenacious |
This gives you one Treant card each time you lose a life. |
King Of Nature Strengths
The King Of Nature is good at creating powerful Units that are difficult to put down. Smart placement of their Forests and Boars can create Super-Units that can make a really powerful central focus to your build.
Try to get Mycelium out as early as you can; if you want more than one Mycelium out, focus on getting multiple out before you level them up. Their spores accrue between years, meaning the older they are, the more valuable they are.
King Of Stone
The King of Stone is largely built around making Towers that do the bulk of its damage. It does have some very powerful Units as well, but they’re usually not going to be the central focus of this King.
Every King Of Stone Card
The King of Stone has a ton of cards devoted to strengthening Towers:
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Stronghold |
This is the King of Stone’s central location, and it spawns Towers on the battlefield that deal damage. |
|
Cauldron |
This allows adjacent towers and Units to apply Poison each time it hits an enemy. |
|
Trebuchet |
This is a Tower that fires more projectiles, the more constructions that you have in your Kingdom. |
|
Quarry |
This buffs the damage of all of your Towers every turn, regardless of where they’re located. |
|
Earthworks |
This refunds the card(s) on a tile, and unlocks the adjacent tiles to the target. |
|
Ballista |
This is a very slow-firing Unit that deals some of the highest damage available by default to a Unit. |
|
Trapper |
This Unit lays traps behind your backline that accrue between years. |
|
Wallmaker |
This creates a Wall around your Kingdom that enemies must destroy before they can advance. |
|
Flamethrower |
This is a Tower that moves onto the battlefield to light enemies on fire. |
Unique King Of Stone Perks
The King of Stone has perks that entirely revolve around playing with Towers:
|
Perk |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Impervious |
This gives you two Wallmaker cards every time you lose a life. |
|
Tactician |
This starts your run with one random Tower in your hand. |
|
Warden |
This starts your Stronghold off with an extra level. |
King Of Stone Strengths
The King of Stone is mostly predicated upon putting out a lot of Towers, and buffing them throughout the run. This is often going to work great in the early game, but in the late game, you’re going to need something to slow down the enemy force.
Walls and Defender can often do the job of slowing down the enemy, provided you’ve got enough Walls, and buffed your Defenders with Forests (and possibly enchantments).
King Of Progress
The King of Progress is probably the most complex King, but can be an extremely powerful King if you plan well enough in advance.
Every King Of Progress Card
The King of Progress has cards that synergize very well with each other, but require specific placement and order to work to their fullest.
|
Card |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Mothership |
This is the King of Progress’s central location, and moves onto the battlefield to damage enemies. |
|
Executioner |
This is a ranged Unit that attacks the enemy with the lowest health. |
|
Defender |
This is a passive melee Unit that has high health and reflects the damage that it takes. |
|
Lab Rat |
This is a low-strength melee Unit that can level indefinitely, and automatically levels every time an adjacent tile levels. |
|
Concabulator |
This levels up all of your other tiles when it reaches level three, after which it can be safely destroyed. |
|
Reinforce |
This buffs the attack of a Unit by one percent every time any tile levels. |
|
Precision |
This ensures that a Unit’s attack is critical. |
|
Converter |
This turns enemies into Rats, and does not need to kill enemies to do so. |
|
Overhaul |
This destroys the target, and levels up two random tiles, with the amount of tiles leveled increasing every time you use Overhaul. |
Unique King Of Progress Perks
The King of Progress does not have the best perks, but they can be a nice supplement to playing their powerful cards strategically.
|
Perk |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Admiral |
This increases the Mothership’s movement and attack speed. |
|
Innovator |
This starts your run with an extra Reinforce card in your hand. |
|
Opportunist |
This gives you one Gold every time you level up a tile. |
King Of Progress Strengths
The King of Progress generally requires more thought-per-turn than other Kings, specifically if you’re looking to level up some outrageously powerful Lab Rats. Doing this is going to require a revolving door of constantly leveling tiles adjacent to them, but if you support the Rats well enough, that can lead to some seriously powerful vermin.
Placing Boars next to Lab Rats can create both a very fun image, and very powerful Rats.
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