Part of the Buildings Series (Hub):

City Hall Requirements: Every level and what it unlocks.

City Layout Guide: Arranging the city properly.

Rise of Kingdoms Beginner Guide: The wider roadmap.

Quick Answer

City Hall first, always. Then whatever City Hall needs for its next level. Then Academy, then Hospital, then troop training buildings. Resource buildings come last — map gathering out-produces them so heavily that filling your city with farms is a beginner trap.

Overview

Your city is a dependency graph with City Hall at the root. Every other building is capped at your City Hall's level, so a City Hall upgrade unlocks headroom everywhere at once. Almost every "what should I upgrade" question resolves to "whatever unblocks the next City Hall".

The Upgrade Order

1. City Hall

The level cap for everything. It gates troop tiers (T2 at 8, T3 at 16, T4 at 21, T5 at 25), resource production caps, march queues and the buildings you are allowed to construct. If City Hall can be upgraded, upgrade it. Full detail: City Hall requirements.

2. Whatever City Hall demands next

The upgrade panel lists the exact prerequisites for the next level — usually your Wall plus a number of other buildings at a given level. Build only what is on that list. Upgrading buildings City Hall does not need is deferred progress.

3. Academy

Research is the best power in the game — permanent, and it gates troop tiers alongside City Hall. The Academy should never be idle, which means keeping it levelled enough that you always have something worth researching.

4. Hospital

Hospital capacity decides whether wounded troops are healed or dead. Undersized hospitals are how new governors lose a month of training in one fight. Upgrade before your first real war, not after.

5. Troop training buildings

Barracks, Stable, Archery Range and Siege Workshop set your training speed and batch size. Level the one matching your chosen troop type; the others can lag.

6. Wall

Defensive stats plus it is a frequent City Hall prerequisite. Usually upgraded because City Hall demands it rather than for its own sake.

7. Storehouse

Protects resources from being looted. Underrated once you start holding real quantities — anything above the protected cap is free loot for whoever attacks you.

8. The buildings that unlock systems

Three buildings are easy to ignore and shouldn't be, because each opens a system rather than a stat:

Trading Post (City Hall 12) — how a farm account sends you resources. Its level sets the transfer tax, so a farm's Trading Post is worth levelling well past what looks reasonable.
Blacksmith (City Hall 16) — equipment forging, a whole progression system, a serious gold sink, and a passive material generator you should never leave idle.
Courier Station (City Hall 6) — lets you buy speedups with resources.

9. Resource buildings, last

Farms, lumber mills, quarries and gold mines produce a trickle compared with map gathering. Level them when you have spare builder time and nothing better queued.

Buildings People Overrate

Resource buildings. Worth repeating. Your economy is on the map, not in your city.
Decorative and utility buildings that do not appear in a City Hall prerequisite list.
Every troop building at once. Pick your troop type and commit — see troop types and counters.

Buildings People Underrate

Hospital. Capacity is the difference between injuries and deaths.
Storehouse. Free protection against the most annoying way to lose resources.
Academy. Boring, and the highest-value building in the game after City Hall.

Speeding It All Up

Alliance help. Every tap from an alliance member cuts your timer. In an active alliance this is worth hours a day, which is why alliance quality matters so much — see the alliance guide.
Time construction events. Starting your biggest upgrade during a building event pays you twice. Check the event calendar.
Second builder. If you have one, both queues should always be running.
Speedups. Spend them on the upgrade that unblocks City Hall, not on whatever is convenient. See the speedups guide.

FAQ

What should I upgrade first in Rise of Kingdoms?

City Hall, then the specific buildings it requires for its next level. Everything else waits.

What are the building requirements in Rise of Kingdoms?

Each City Hall level requires a set of other buildings at specified levels, listed in the upgrade panel. See City Hall requirements for the pattern and the levels that matter.

Should I build more farms?

No. Map gathering with dedicated gathering commanders produces vastly more than in-city farms.

Does building placement matter?

Functionally, no — output is identical wherever a building sits. It matters for how fast you can navigate your city daily. See the city layout guide.

How do I level up City Hall faster?

Alliance help, a second builder, timed construction events, and only building what City Hall actually requires.

Key Takeaways

City Hall is the root of the dependency graph. It goes first.
Build only what City Hall's next level requires.
Academy and Hospital are the two most underrated buildings.
Resource buildings are last — your economy is on the map.
Alliance help plus build events is the cheapest speed you will ever get.

Rise of Kingdoms Buildings Guide: What to Upgrade and in What Order