In this section, you’ll learn about the game’s basic mechanics.
By the end, your base will be churning out resources and your army will be ready for PvP battles.
Pro tip: Complete the game’s tutorial for a huge bundle of resources!
Enter a text-based world of battles, where armies are trained and guilds fight for supremacy.
PvP, base management, and strategic incremental gameplay awaits!
Ready to become an Overlord and grow an almighty army? Read on!
By the end, your base will be churning out resources and your army will be ready for PvP battles.
Pro tip: Complete the game’s tutorial for a huge bundle of resources!
Enter a text-based world of battles, where armies are trained and guilds fight for supremacy.
PvP, base management, and strategic incremental gameplay awaits!
Ready to become an Overlord and grow an almighty army? Read on!
Before entering the world of Overlord, you’ll need to choose a race.
There are five to choose from, with each providing unique, permanent modifiers.
You can’t change your race, so choose wisely!
These modifiers suit different playstyles, so it’s best to choose one that fits the strategies you plan to focus on.
Orcs are ideal if you plan to be aggressive in PvP battles.
Humans get extra gold, perfect if you plan on getting resources from the market.
Elves’ increased dodge chance make them less likely to lose resources in battle.
Dwarves’ increased defense makes them less likely to lose when attacked.
Undead increased population helps them grow their army faster.
There are five to choose from, with each providing unique, permanent modifiers.
You can’t change your race, so choose wisely!
These modifiers suit different playstyles, so it’s best to choose one that fits the strategies you plan to focus on.
Orcs are ideal if you plan to be aggressive in PvP battles.
Humans get extra gold, perfect if you plan on getting resources from the market.
Elves’ increased dodge chance make them less likely to lose resources in battle.
Dwarves’ increased defense makes them less likely to lose when attacked.
Undead increased population helps them grow their army faster.
It may seem overwhelming at first, but your base of operations gives tons of vital information at a glance.
Here, you’ll find the game’s tutorial alongside:
Here, you’ll find the game’s tutorial alongside:
- The number of resources your workers have generated and stored
- Combat statistics
- Your base’s population of soldiers, horsemen, and workers
- Your attack / defense stats and their upgrades
- The number of workers allocated to each resource and their output
- Membership information and unclaimed rewards
- Quests
- The status of your active hero
- Active spells, ultimates, and modifiers
Power is the most important resource in the game. It determines your rank on the leaderboards, the number of dungeons you’re able to access, and makes you more appealing to player-made guilds.
If you plan to make a guild yourself, a high power level will help it stand out to other players.
Power is calculated by adding your attack and defense together, then dividing by 2.
To boost your power, you’ll need to get familiar with the game’s second most important resource - your base’s population. Every 8 hours, you’ll get a handful of newcomers, and it’s your job to turn them into soldiers, horsemen, or workers.
Your playstyle will determine where the majority of your population goes, but to start with, a large number of workers is recommended. Split them evenly between gold, wood, metal, and food, or focus on one resource in particular - the choice is yours.
Beware that you have a limit of maximum untrained citizens you can have.
If you plan to make a guild yourself, a high power level will help it stand out to other players.
Power is calculated by adding your attack and defense together, then dividing by 2.
To boost your power, you’ll need to get familiar with the game’s second most important resource - your base’s population. Every 8 hours, you’ll get a handful of newcomers, and it’s your job to turn them into soldiers, horsemen, or workers.
- Soldiers boost Attack and Defense, but can be stolen by enemies if you lose a PvP battle.
- Horsemen only boost Attack, but cannot be stolen.
- Workers are responsible for gathering resources.
Your playstyle will determine where the majority of your population goes, but to start with, a large number of workers is recommended. Split them evenly between gold, wood, metal, and food, or focus on one resource in particular - the choice is yours.
Beware that you have a limit of maximum untrained citizens you can have.
Allocating workers to gold, wood, metal, and food will generate those resources every 15 minutes. The more workers you have, the more resources you’ll get, and the number you can expect to receive is displayed in the home base.
Resources are used to upgrade your attack, defense, and resource factories. Attack and defense upgrades are quite expensive, so you’ll need plenty of each resource to afford them, but upgrading your factories is a lot cheaper - gold factory upgrades only require wood and metal, for example.
Upgrades are a great way to boost your power and growth. Attack and defense upgrades boost their multipliers by 0.01, while resource gathering multipliers go up by 0.02 with every upgrade. It quickly adds up to some huge boosts!
Workers aren’t the only way to get resources either. Other ways include:
Resources are used to upgrade your attack, defense, and resource factories. Attack and defense upgrades are quite expensive, so you’ll need plenty of each resource to afford them, but upgrading your factories is a lot cheaper - gold factory upgrades only require wood and metal, for example.
Upgrades are a great way to boost your power and growth. Attack and defense upgrades boost their multipliers by 0.01, while resource gathering multipliers go up by 0.02 with every upgrade. It quickly adds up to some huge boosts!
Workers aren’t the only way to get resources either. Other ways include:
- Opening your daily rewards
- Opening mystery boxes like the Beginner’s Gift for completing the tutorial
- Purchasing them from other players in the market
- Stealing them from other players in PvP battles
You’ll unlock your first Hero as part of the game’s tutorial, with enough gems left over to purchase a second. It’s worth noting that subsequent heroes get more expensive - the first costs 50 gems, second costs 75, third costs 113, fourth costs 169, fifth costs 253, sixth costs 380, and so on.
Every hero comes with two permanent buffs and a powerful ultimate ability that stacks with your racial bonuses. Like race, heroes should be chosen wisely depending on your playstyle.
Every hero comes with two permanent buffs and a powerful ultimate ability that stacks with your racial bonuses. Like race, heroes should be chosen wisely depending on your playstyle.
Your race and active hero may provide permanent modifiers, but they aren’t the only way to get a boost.
In the top right, next to the notification bell and battle log, you’ll find a spellbook. Opening it provides a list of spells that provide a bonus based on the number of gems you’re willing to spend on them - 5, 15, or 25 respectively - before cooling down for several hours.
The spells typically stay active for two hours, and multiple can be active at the same time.
The spells currently in the game have been listed below:
In the top right, next to the notification bell and battle log, you’ll find a spellbook. Opening it provides a list of spells that provide a bonus based on the number of gems you’re willing to spend on them - 5, 15, or 25 respectively - before cooling down for several hours.
The spells typically stay active for two hours, and multiple can be active at the same time.
The spells currently in the game have been listed below:
- Crit Damage - Affects the amount of damage done by critical hits.
- Crit Modifier - Chance to land a critical hit with increased damage
- Dodge Modifier - Chance to avoid losing resources and soldiers in battles
- Energy Capacity - Affects the maximum energy capacity
- Energy Regen - Affects the amount of energy you regenerate
- Hero EXP - Affects the amount of EXP heroes gain while training
- PvP Loot - Affects the amount of loot from PvP
- Workers Gold - Affects the amount of gold you gain from workers
- Workers Metal - Affects the amount of metal you gain from workers
- Workers Wood - Affects the amount of wood you gain from workers
- Workers Food - Affects the amount of food you gain from workers
Ready to battle your fellow players? It’s a great way to get some extra resources!
On the Ranking page, you’ll find several players around your power level. Clicking them will reveal some extra details and an ‘attack’ button where you can use soldiers, energy, and food to start a battle against them.
Energy and food will gradually regenerate every 15 minutes, but you can attack a target for their resources as many times as you’d like. Note that you can only steal a person’s soldiers five times a day before having to target someone else, however.
Victory is not guaranteed. Attackers will win if their Attack power is higher than the defender’s Defense, and defenders will win if the opposite is true. Attackers and defenders have a chance of triggering a critical hit that can turn the tide of battle, too.
With that in mind, equipping your soldiers with gear from the Armory and protecting resources in the Bank is recommended. If you do lose, some of your resources and soldiers will be taken; increase your Dodge stat to minimize the number of resources lost.
The amount of loot you get is directly tied to your population. Attacking players of a similar size is better than hunting players at the bottom of the leaderboard.
On the Ranking page, you’ll find several players around your power level. Clicking them will reveal some extra details and an ‘attack’ button where you can use soldiers, energy, and food to start a battle against them.
Energy and food will gradually regenerate every 15 minutes, but you can attack a target for their resources as many times as you’d like. Note that you can only steal a person’s soldiers five times a day before having to target someone else, however.
Victory is not guaranteed. Attackers will win if their Attack power is higher than the defender’s Defense, and defenders will win if the opposite is true. Attackers and defenders have a chance of triggering a critical hit that can turn the tide of battle, too.
With that in mind, equipping your soldiers with gear from the Armory and protecting resources in the Bank is recommended. If you do lose, some of your resources and soldiers will be taken; increase your Dodge stat to minimize the number of resources lost.
The amount of loot you get is directly tied to your population. Attacking players of a similar size is better than hunting players at the bottom of the leaderboard.
If you find yourself enjoying Overlord.GG, a membership is a win-win. For $7 a month, you’ll support the game’s creator and get the following bonuses:
- 400 Gems
- The ability to filter auction listings
- 2 more daily quests
- +20% permanent hero EXP bonus
- A cool name decoration and animation
- 5 more auction listings
- 5 more loadouts
- 2 more daily bank deposits
- 6 more hours before auction listings expire
- 12 more hours before marketplace listings expire
If Heroes weren’t cool enough already, they can also equip runes to get even more powerful - as long as they aren’t training in a dungeon.
Runes are mostly unlocked from winning PvP battles, but can also be obtained by reaching Hero level milestones, unlocking tier-4 achievements, and purchasing them from the player-run Auctions.
Runes appear in five rarities - common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary - with the highest rarities usually having the most powerful effects. The bonuses they give are super varied - you can find runes to boost critical damage, defense, the length of spells, energy capacity, and much more.
A rune’s quality is its most important stat, showing how close the rune is to perfection. A rune of 100% quality may boost gold production by 10%, but the same rune at 50% quality would only boost it by 5%. Heroes can hold five runes at once, making runes incredibly useful for strategic gameplay.
Upgrading a rune won’t improve its quality, but the bonus it provides and its rarity will increase. This requires shards, which you can get from destroying runes that you don’t want.
If you find a rune that’s almost perfect (and can still be Forged), you can take it to a Camp. The three types of camp are:
Runes are mostly unlocked from winning PvP battles, but can also be obtained by reaching Hero level milestones, unlocking tier-4 achievements, and purchasing them from the player-run Auctions.
Runes appear in five rarities - common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary - with the highest rarities usually having the most powerful effects. The bonuses they give are super varied - you can find runes to boost critical damage, defense, the length of spells, energy capacity, and much more.
A rune’s quality is its most important stat, showing how close the rune is to perfection. A rune of 100% quality may boost gold production by 10%, but the same rune at 50% quality would only boost it by 5%. Heroes can hold five runes at once, making runes incredibly useful for strategic gameplay.
Upgrading a rune won’t improve its quality, but the bonus it provides and its rarity will increase. This requires shards, which you can get from destroying runes that you don’t want.
If you find a rune that’s almost perfect (and can still be Forged), you can take it to a Camp. The three types of camp are:
- Chaos, where a rune’s effect and quality are changed
- Aspect, where a rune’s quality stays the same but effect changes
- Purity, where a rune’s effect stays the same but quality changes
Everyone wants runes - and that’s where Auctions come in.
On the Heroes page, you can ‘list’ runes for other players to buy. The listing will remain up for 6 hours, and you’ll get the rune back if nobody buys it.
When sending a rune to auction, you’ll have total control over the minimum bid (basically, the lowest amount of gold you’d be happy to get for it) and buyout price, which lets high-rollers that don’t want to get into bidding wars buy the rune outright.
On the Heroes page, you can ‘list’ runes for other players to buy. The listing will remain up for 6 hours, and you’ll get the rune back if nobody buys it.
When sending a rune to auction, you’ll have total control over the minimum bid (basically, the lowest amount of gold you’d be happy to get for it) and buyout price, which lets high-rollers that don’t want to get into bidding wars buy the rune outright.
As mentioned in the ‘getting started’ section, your power level will unlock Dungeons that are used to level up your Hero.
Power isn’t the only requirement, however. You’ll also need to train your Heroes until their levels add up to a number matching or surpassing the dungeon’s ‘Hero Levels’ requirement. The easiest way to boost your levels is to buy a new Hero and rush them through their first few levels.
Your active Hero can be sent into Dungeons for a 2-hour training session, and it’s definitely worth the effort - leveling up Heroes makes their buffs and ultimate abilities even stronger. While training, the hero’s buffs are disabled, but ultimate abilities can still be activated before going on cooldown for several hours.
All dungeons will cool down and be inaccessible for 6 hours when the hero has finished training, but
Boosting your Hero’s power is the main appeal of dungeon delving, but you can also find powerful Artifacts within. The higher the dungeon’s level, the more likely you are to get an artifact from it when your Hero has finished training.
Artifacts are, basically, extra-powerful Runes that don’t rely on Heroes to work. Three can be equipped at a time, and unlike runes, artifacts’ buffs are active at all times.
Like runes, artifacts also have quality levels, but offer an element of risk and reward as they increase one stat and decrease another. They can also be salvaged for a large number of shards.
Power isn’t the only requirement, however. You’ll also need to train your Heroes until their levels add up to a number matching or surpassing the dungeon’s ‘Hero Levels’ requirement. The easiest way to boost your levels is to buy a new Hero and rush them through their first few levels.
Your active Hero can be sent into Dungeons for a 2-hour training session, and it’s definitely worth the effort - leveling up Heroes makes their buffs and ultimate abilities even stronger. While training, the hero’s buffs are disabled, but ultimate abilities can still be activated before going on cooldown for several hours.
All dungeons will cool down and be inaccessible for 6 hours when the hero has finished training, but
Boosting your Hero’s power is the main appeal of dungeon delving, but you can also find powerful Artifacts within. The higher the dungeon’s level, the more likely you are to get an artifact from it when your Hero has finished training.
Artifacts are, basically, extra-powerful Runes that don’t rely on Heroes to work. Three can be equipped at a time, and unlike runes, artifacts’ buffs are active at all times.
Like runes, artifacts also have quality levels, but offer an element of risk and reward as they increase one stat and decrease another. They can also be salvaged for a large number of shards.
Finding yourself with too many resources and not enough gold? Do you have too much gold, and not enough resources? Pay a visit to the player-run Market!
Inside, you’ll see all the active listings made by fellow players. To sell resources yourself, you’ll need to click the small ‘+’ near the name of each resource. Don’t worry about having your sales stolen by attackers, though. The gold you make will be sent to your Bank for safekeeping.
You can only sell the resources that are currently in your bank, and can only buy resources with the gold in your bank.
Resources in the bank cannot be stolen by attackers. You can make five deposits every 8 hours, but are only able to send 50% of your resources to the bank per deposit.
Withdrawals, however, are free! You can take as much of the resource back as you’d like, but be careful - players with a lot of gold are prime targets for attackers.
Beyond resources, the market also sells mystery boxes that can be purchased with gems. Hover over the small ‘i’ to see exactly what they have inside, but note that the stats of the rune or artifact you’ll get from them are randomized.
Inside, you’ll see all the active listings made by fellow players. To sell resources yourself, you’ll need to click the small ‘+’ near the name of each resource. Don’t worry about having your sales stolen by attackers, though. The gold you make will be sent to your Bank for safekeeping.
You can only sell the resources that are currently in your bank, and can only buy resources with the gold in your bank.
Resources in the bank cannot be stolen by attackers. You can make five deposits every 8 hours, but are only able to send 50% of your resources to the bank per deposit.
Withdrawals, however, are free! You can take as much of the resource back as you’d like, but be careful - players with a lot of gold are prime targets for attackers.
Beyond resources, the market also sells mystery boxes that can be purchased with gems. Hover over the small ‘i’ to see exactly what they have inside, but note that the stats of the rune or artifact you’ll get from them are randomized.
Every 8 hours, a new event will appear on the Ranking page.
These can be positive or negative, generally shaking up the gameplay for the next several hours. Events impact all players, no matter which city they’re in,
Potential events include:
These can be positive or negative, generally shaking up the gameplay for the next several hours. Events impact all players, no matter which city they’re in,
Potential events include:
- Increased / Decreased Defense Power
- Increased / Decreased Attack Power
- Increased / Decreased Energy Regeneration
- Increased / Decreased Metal Production
- Increased / Decreased Wood Production
- Increased / Decreased Gold Production
- Increased / Decreased Food Production
Achievements are a great way to unlock gems, runes, avatars, and titles - just for playing the game! You can see them by clicking your profile in the top-right and visiting the achievements page.
There are 96 achievements up for grabs, ranging from collecting daily rewards to enslaving enemy soldiers in battles and much more. Beyond the bragging rights that come from unlocking them all, you’ll be rewarded for seeing everything the game has to offer - and can see how much you’ve accomplished.
The rewards, listed below, are definitely worth the effort - keep achievements in mind as you work on growing your army!
Each achievement has four tiers; the rewards get better with each tier.
There are 96 achievements up for grabs, ranging from collecting daily rewards to enslaving enemy soldiers in battles and much more. Beyond the bragging rights that come from unlocking them all, you’ll be rewarded for seeing everything the game has to offer - and can see how much you’ve accomplished.
The rewards, listed below, are definitely worth the effort - keep achievements in mind as you work on growing your army!
Each achievement has four tiers; the rewards get better with each tier.
- Tier 1 - 10 gems, tier 2 unlocked
- Tier 2 - 25 gems, new avatar, tier 3 unlocked
- Tier 3 - 100 gems, new title, tier 4 unlocked
- Tier 4 - 250 gems, epic rune
If you find that PvP just isn’t challenging enough, or that resources aren’t coming as quickly as you’d like, then you should pay a visit to the Travel section.
Here, you’ll find the game’s cities. Each one has a different niche, with Ravenhold offering 50% more gold in exchange for 25% less of every other resource. Frequent travel is recommended once your Heroes are a high enough level to get you into other cities, but note that traveling costs 250 energy and has a 4-hour cooldown.
The resources aren’t the only reason to visit a new city, however.
If the shrine boosts resource gathering, PvP becomes even more lucrative - it’s a win-win for the community!
Here, you’ll find the game’s cities. Each one has a different niche, with Ravenhold offering 50% more gold in exchange for 25% less of every other resource. Frequent travel is recommended once your Heroes are a high enough level to get you into other cities, but note that traveling costs 250 energy and has a 4-hour cooldown.
The resources aren’t the only reason to visit a new city, however.
- PvP is restricted to your current city
- Each city has different camps, with better runes the further you go
- Shrines are different for each city
If the shrine boosts resource gathering, PvP becomes even more lucrative - it’s a win-win for the community!
‘Strength in numbers’ isn’t just a saying. In the world of Overlord, Guilds are the difference between destroying your enemies and being destroyed.
Creating a guild yourself costs 200 gems, but you can request entry to other guilds for free. The higher your power level, the more likely you are to be accepted, but expect to pay taxes every 24 hours. The exact amount of gold you’ll need to pay is set by the guild leader.
Guild leaders won’t just leech your gold for the fun of it, however. They can cast spells that buff all members and even declare wars against other guilds. Don’t try to get away with tax evasion, though - guild leaders and their deputies can see and remove members that dodge taxes.
Attacking other players also contributes some EXP to your guild, increasing its power and member capacity. The more you contribute to your guild, the more you’ll get back from it - 10% contribution will boost your attack and defense by 10% during PvP, for example.
When guilds declare war against one another, points for attacking the opposing guild’s members. The guild with the most points at the end of the war is the winner, and they’ll get a nice chunk of guild EXP for their effort.
Creating a guild yourself costs 200 gems, but you can request entry to other guilds for free. The higher your power level, the more likely you are to be accepted, but expect to pay taxes every 24 hours. The exact amount of gold you’ll need to pay is set by the guild leader.
Guild leaders won’t just leech your gold for the fun of it, however. They can cast spells that buff all members and even declare wars against other guilds. Don’t try to get away with tax evasion, though - guild leaders and their deputies can see and remove members that dodge taxes.
Attacking other players also contributes some EXP to your guild, increasing its power and member capacity. The more you contribute to your guild, the more you’ll get back from it - 10% contribution will boost your attack and defense by 10% during PvP, for example.
When guilds declare war against one another, points for attacking the opposing guild’s members. The guild with the most points at the end of the war is the winner, and they’ll get a nice chunk of guild EXP for their effort.
Nothing brings a Guild together quite like a common foe and the promise of a buff. That’s where Boss Raids come in.
Bosses appear on the guild’s page every 8 hours, where every member of the guild can use energy to attack the boss no matter their power level. The effectiveness of the attack will vary based on your power, however, ranging from 10% to 20% of the boss’s HP.
When the boss is killed, the whole guild will benefit from a buff for 8 hours. The strength of the buff ranged from 5% to 15%, and its effects are random but guaranteed to be useful. If the boss survives, the consequences are minor - you just won’t get the buff.
For balance, the boss’ HP and the buff it gives will scale with the guild’s level.
Bosses appear on the guild’s page every 8 hours, where every member of the guild can use energy to attack the boss no matter their power level. The effectiveness of the attack will vary based on your power, however, ranging from 10% to 20% of the boss’s HP.
When the boss is killed, the whole guild will benefit from a buff for 8 hours. The strength of the buff ranged from 5% to 15%, and its effects are random but guaranteed to be useful. If the boss survives, the consequences are minor - you just won’t get the buff.
For balance, the boss’ HP and the buff it gives will scale with the guild’s level.
When you find yourself atop a mountain of resources or just want to share a cool rune with one of your fellow guild members, the best way to do it is with a Trade.
Here, you can type in the username of a fellow player and specify the items you’d like to trade. Resources and runes are the only options currently available, but artifacts may become tradable in the future.
Only resources in your bank can be offered in a trade.
When you’re happy with the offer you’ve put together, click ‘Update’ and the other player will see the current status of the deal. They will then have several hours to accept, deny, or modify the deal by offering resources and runes of their own before it expires and is automatically declined.
When both parties are happy with the trade, clicking ‘Lock’ will finalize it.
Here, you can type in the username of a fellow player and specify the items you’d like to trade. Resources and runes are the only options currently available, but artifacts may become tradable in the future.
Only resources in your bank can be offered in a trade.
When you’re happy with the offer you’ve put together, click ‘Update’ and the other player will see the current status of the deal. They will then have several hours to accept, deny, or modify the deal by offering resources and runes of their own before it expires and is automatically declined.
When both parties are happy with the trade, clicking ‘Lock’ will finalize it.