Prescriptive Power

A lot of players seem to struggle deciding which bonuses in the Obelisk of Power they should prioritise. Whilst I am normally hesitant to be so prescriptive in this case I will give a list of desirable bonuses and a suggested order of learning. I won't be listing any of the bonuses required along the way, I'm sure you can manage that on your own.

Wait... you do know that you only need to train each prerequisite to level 8 or 10 before the next bonus becomes available right? Right.

1) Discovery Speed 20/20
2) 1st Additional Raid Attempt 10/10
3) Discovery Speed II 20/20
4) 2nd Additional Raid Attempt 10/10
5) 3rd Additional Raid Attempt 10/10
6) Combat Experience 20/40
7) Food Consumption 80/80
8) Darkening Cost 50/50
9) Combat Experience 40/40

These are your core bonuses. If you are someone who uses settlements often you may at this point want to pick up Maximum Settlements 30/30, for everyone else I would start looking at Training Times.

When selecting units to apply runes to, consider that all the bonuses reach the same final percentage (12%) but there are a varying number of levels, 40 or 50, so that means the 50 level units require a greater investment of runes and time for the same result as a 40 level training time bonus, but other units have many more units before it that you will be required to level up partially before you can level the one you want.

With that said my suggested Training Speed units are:
Griffins
Golems OR Demons
Knights OR Great Lords
Pikemen OR Paladins
Nomads
Archers
Warlocks
Wyverns
Huntresses
Great Lords OR Knights
Paladins OR Pikemen
Undead Dragons
Silent Ones
Demons OR Golems

By which point you may want to start looking to improve the movement speed of certain units, but that's for a later date.

Espionage

Spying out locations is an important part of rss farming and pvp and whilst the fundamental method of sending Silent Ones towards your target doesn't change there are a number of variations that you can use to improve your chances of success and to confuse or confound your enemies.

Farming: This is going to form the majority of your spying work and will quickly become the largest portion of your in-game time expenditure. Always spy out your farms before you send a raid, you never know if it has been farmed recently or if reinforcements have been sent there for some other purpose.

Settlements: Usually a good idea to send one or two to any settlements you might be wanting to capture. Although be aware that the resource cost of losing a Silent One adds to the time needed to recoup any losses you might incur owning a settlement. This is also why it's a good idea to have your settlements defended by Silent Ones, the loss of a spy is often a good deterrent.

Castle Building

Overview
A strong castle is critical to your ability to fight over the long term. You should always have your craftsmen working on upgrades, and when they are working you should be thinking about the next upgrade, how long it will take and ensuring you have kept or gathered enough resources to build it before it finishes. Wasting time asking for caravans or farming for rss because you spent everything on more units is a dumb move.
If you are ever planning on buying sapphires I suggest getting them as early as you can and using them to buy more craftsmen before anything else, it will help you the most over the long term.

Keep
The keep is the centrepiece of your castle. It does everything and nothing. The keep adds a whole 191 to your food production, this will remain the same regardless of the level of your keep.

Unit Analysis

Below is a chart that compares statistical values, given and derived between the different built combat units.
Whilst most of the values are self explanatory the derived values need some explanation.

Adjusted Cost Per Hour: The build cost per hour based on an average of the Gold, Iron and 3/4 Food cost multiplied by the number of Units built per hour. This value is for comparison purposes and includes the assumption that Gold and Iron are equally valuable and that Food is only 3/4 the value of Gold or Iron. This is an arbitrary value based on the relative ease of raiding for food.

Be a Paragon

Paragon Status is a temporary boon that affects various in-game attributes, from combat performance to unit speed and rss generation. You can see exactly what you get at each level by tapping on the crown at the top of your screen.

There are 10 levels of Paragon Status, each one requiring a near geometric increase in points. When you can a new level of Paragon you will have an automatic 24 hour activation, however this activation won't take place if you already have an automatic activation running (particularly noticeable at lower levels).

Additionally you can activate paragon status by using an aptly named Paragon Activator. These activators come in a variety of durations from 30 minutes to 30 days. Tokens can be bought or gained through quests, tournaments and Gifts from Amelia. Unless you are paying for it you will be unable to keep Paragon Status running non-stop.

Dramatis Personae

Feeling confused with all the names used in the game? Here's the run down on each of them.

Lord Oberon: The level 124 Lord who sets you the goal of becoming the defender of Stormfall. You can find him at X:0; Y:0 but he can't be interacted with.

Lady Amelia: Amelia is your guide, tutor and aide. Listen to her closely and consider her suggestions wisely.

How To: Battlegrounds

The first thing to be aware of is that Battlegrounds exist for two purposes. The first one is to drive the Rise of Balur storyline. Your battleground level determines your maximum Saga Quest level. The second reason is to convert your armies into more powerful units via Spoils of War. This conversion is based on chance, the only details of which are found in the game's Guide.

The second thing to be aware of is that you will lose troops, lots of troops. Unlike PvP where you will often save a third to half of your force should you lose a fight (unless facing an overwhelming force) in BGs your army will fight to the death.