Cities & Knights Strategy Masterclass

The resources most players look for are ore and wheat, because if there’s two things that are important in Cities & Knights, they’re commodity production and cities.

In order to get as much commodity production as possible, you need more cities, which explains the ore and wheat. And paper and cloth are the best commodities in the game.

The main early goals of the strategy are upgrading the science and trade path of the city calendar, with the paper and cloth cards, as well as building that second city.

The level 3 Science upgrade called Aqueduct is a priority, but so is - of course - defending your city against the barbarians.

Your main early goal with this set-up is building a second city as fast as possible.

You essentially use the same resources as many other strategies, like Ore-Wheat-Paper-Cloth, but then in reverse. Your city is on ore and wheat, and your settlement is on the spot you actually want your city to be in.

Your aim is to build a second city rather quickly. A good trick is to build the second city right before the barbarians arrive, to make your opponents lose their cities.

This is the most controversial tactic in the game. You intentionally allow the barbarians to sack your city. While your opponents are wasting resources on knights, you are funneling every single card into the Science track. You are essentially trading 1 Victory Point (the city) for the most powerful engine in the game: The Aqueduct.

The logic is that a city can be rebuilt, but the head-start on the Science track is permanent. Once you unlock the Level 3 Science ability, you will out-produce the rest of the board by 2-to-1. It's an "all-in" move that works best when you have limited numbers on the board.

The set-up primarily focuses on the cloth production over the coin production, because cloth is simply much stronger. You really want multiple hexes producing cloth when going for Ore-Wheat-Cloth.

This set-up is really good! You can defend easily, you have access to the least competitive metros and you can city up fast. The main downsides, however, are a difficult path to get the Aqueduct and a loss of mobility because of the lack of wood and brick, but the many progress cards from the trade path allow for great flexibility to cover up for both.

Playing without Wheat is an advanced maneuver designed to block opponents. Since Wheat is the most common requirement in C&K (knights, settlements, cities), taking the spots your opponents need—even if you can't use the Wheat—is a powerful denial strategy.

To survive, you must rush the Science path. The Aqueduct becomes your Wheat factory. Every turn that your numbers aren't rolled, you simply select Wheat. This allows you to maintain your knights and expand without ever actually owning a Wheat hex.

You don't need a Metropolis to win. The Expansion strategy focuses on "Defender of Catan" points. By building many settlements and upgrading your knights to level 3 early, you can farm the 1-point victory cards every time the barbarians attack.

Pair this with the Longest Road, and you can reach 13 points before the "tall" players even finish their second Metropolis. This is a high-speed strategy that relies on keeping your opponents defensive while you sprint toward the finish line.

When you are the first player to place, you often get forced into a corner. The Coastal OWP strategy turns this weakness into a strength. By settling on the coast, you secure high-yield Science production (Paper) while limiting the number of neighbors who can cut you off.

Combine this with a Wood port. Since you're on the coast, ports are accessible. Use your high Wood production to trade for the sheep and brick you're missing. It’s the most efficient way to play from a "bad" starting position.

Most players think playing without Ore is suicide. However, the world's #1 player actually prefers it over playing without Wheat. The logic is that Ore can be "found" through progress cards like "Mining" or "Merchant," but Wheat is needed every single turn to keep your knights alive.

With no Ore, you focus entirely on Paper. Once you reach the Aqueduct, you "wish" for Ore every turn you don't produce. Within 5-10 turns, you will have enough Ore to build your cities, catching the table completely off guard.