Call of Dragons City Attack Guide: Raiding, Scouting & Rally Strategy

Attacking another player’s city in Call of Dragons can produce resources, remove an enemy position, or support a larger Alliance war. It can also destroy a costly number of troops if you choose the wrong target.

A successful city attack therefore starts long before your Legions reach the enemy Wall. You need to scout the target, evaluate its defenses, understand the purpose of the attack, choose between a rally and a solo attack, and know when the potential reward does not justify the losses.

This Call of Dragons city attack guide explains how to approach raiding as a calculated PvP decision rather than simply sending every available Legion toward an enemy city.

How City Attacks Work in Call of Dragons

City combat is different from normal open-field fighting. You are attacking a fortified position rather than another Legion moving around the map, and that makes defensive strength, troop losses, scouting information, and reinforcement potential much more important.

There are two basic approaches:

• Solo or swarm attack: one or more players directly send individual Legions against the city.
• Rally attack: an Alliance member starts a rally and other players contribute troops before the combined force attacks.

For meaningful targets, a well-organized rally is normally the more sensible approach. Directly swarming a well-defended city can cause severe losses without creating enough strategic value to compensate for the troops and healing resources spent.

Scout Before You Raid a City

Scouting should be the first step of almost every planned city attack. The goal is to reduce uncertainty before committing troops.

A scouting report can help you evaluate important information about the target, including its defending forces and garrison situation. Use that information to decide whether the city is vulnerable enough to attack, requires an Alliance rally, or should simply be ignored.

What Should You Look for?

• Defending troop strength: avoid assuming city power alone tells you everything about its current defenses.
• Garrison strength: a properly developed garrison can turn an apparently attractive target into an expensive mistake.
• Available resources: if your purpose is resource raiding, make sure the potential loot justifies the fight.
• Nearby enemies: an apparently isolated target may be close to players capable of responding quickly.
• Alliance position: consider whether the city sits inside an area where your Legions can safely operate and retreat.

Do not assume that every resource owned by the opponent can be taken. Resource protection mechanics can limit how much value is actually exposed to attackers.

Choosing the Right City to Attack

The best raid target is not automatically the weakest city on your screen. A useful target should satisfy a clear strategic objective.

For resource-focused raiding, prioritize scout-confirmed value rather than attacking simply because a player appears weaker.

Solo Attack vs Rally: Which Is Better?

When a Solo Attack Can Make Sense

A solo attack is most reasonable when the scouting report shows an exceptionally weak target and the expected risk is low. Even then, consider the cost carefully.

Solo city attacks become progressively less attractive when:

• the enemy has a capable garrison;
• significant troops remain inside the city;
• other enemy players can reinforce quickly;
• your Legion is not designed for the job;
• the resources available are too small to compensate for losses.

Why Rally Attacks Are Usually Better

A rally combines troops from multiple Alliance members under one rally leader. Against significant city targets, this provides a much stronger way to concentrate force than repeatedly throwing individual Legions at the defenses.

Before launching a rally, the Alliance should decide:

• who has the strongest appropriate rally setup;
• which troop type and Hero combination the rally will use;
• who will fill the rally;
• who will remain in the field to screen enemy reinforcements;
• whether a second rally or field pressure is necessary;
• what condition should trigger a retreat.

A rally should have a specific objective. Starting one simply because the button is available is a good way to consume troops without accomplishing anything meaningful.

Understand the Cost of Attacking a City

City attacks can create significantly harsher troop consequences than routine field combat. After combat, troops can end up as lightly wounded, severely wounded, or dead.

This makes sustained city warfare expensive. Losing troops does not merely reduce your power for the current battle; replacing those troops also consumes training time and resources that could have been used elsewhere.

Before attacking, ask:

• What do we gain if this attack succeeds?
• How much troop loss can I realistically replace?
• Do we need this city removed for a strategic reason?
• Could the same objective be achieved through open-field control?
• Are we attacking for actual resources or merely because an enemy is nearby?

For newer and lower-spending players in particular, avoiding an unnecessary city attack can be a better strategic decision than winning an expensive one.

City Walls, Watchtowers, and Durability

An enemy city is not simply a stationary Legion. Its defensive structures also matter.

Successful attacks interact with the city’s defenses and Wall durability. Continued successful attacks can cause the Wall to burn and lose durability. If its durability is eventually reduced to zero, the city can be forced away from its current position.

That means city attacks can have a strategic purpose beyond stealing resources. During Alliance warfare, forcing an enemy city out of an important location may help clear space, remove pressure from an objective, or disrupt enemy positioning.

However, this should be an Alliance decision when the target is well defended. The troop cost of repeatedly attacking a strong city can be much greater than the value of removing it.

How to Time a City Raid

Timing remains important, but not for the simplistic reason given in the old version of this guide. There is no universal “best hour” when every server becomes safe to raid.

Instead, look for a tactical timing window:

• the target has been properly scouted;
• its strongest Legions are occupied elsewhere;
• your Alliance is online and prepared;
• your rally can fill quickly;
• enemy reinforcements can be intercepted;
• the attack supports a larger territorial or war objective.

In major wars, attacking while the opponent is already committed elsewhere can create a local numbers advantage. But good timing still does not rescue a fundamentally bad target.

Control the Area Around Your Rally

One of the biggest city-attack mistakes is focusing entirely on the rally while ignoring everything happening around it.

Your Alliance’s open-field Legions should protect the operation by:

• preventing enemy Legions from freely approaching;
• pressuring enemy reinforcements;
• protecting allied players joining or reinforcing the attack;
• watching for enemy counter-rallies;
• maintaining a safe retreat route.

A powerful rally without field support can still become vulnerable if the enemy controls the surrounding area.

Best Troop Approach for City Raiding

There is no universal troop type that automatically makes a city raid profitable. Your choice should match the Hero pairing, rally setup, target, current battlefield, and Alliance strategy.

Avoid the old assumption that “Cavalry equals raiding” in every situation. Mobility is valuable for scouting, field movement, and disengagement, but a major city rally should be built around the actual strengths of the rally captain and formation.

For organized attacks:

• keep troop composition compatible with your Hero bonuses;
• avoid filling important rallies with random troop types;
• use a rally leader designed for the intended combat role;
• coordinate participating players before the rally launches;
• preserve enough troops for the battles that follow.

Resource Raiding: When Is It Actually Worth It?

Resource raiding is most attractive when you find a target with meaningful lootable resources and weak enough defenses that your expected combat cost remains low.

The basic decision process is simple:

1. Scout the city.
2. Evaluate its defenses and resources.
3. Estimate the risk of reinforcements.
4. Choose solo or rally based on the target.
5. Attack only when the expected value justifies the losses.

Remember that Storehouse protection affects resource vulnerability. A city possessing a large resource total does not necessarily mean all of those resources are available for you to take.

When You Should Not Attack a City

Knowing when to avoid combat is one of the most valuable parts of a good raiding strategy.

Consider abandoning the attack when:

• the scouting report shows much stronger defenses than expected;
• the target has little meaningful loot;
• enemy reinforcements are already arriving;
• your rally cannot fill properly;
• your Alliance loses control of the surrounding field;
• your hospital and troop reserves are already under pressure;
• the attack no longer contributes to the war objective.

Do not turn sunk cost into additional losses. The troops already committed to a failed operation are not a reason to keep feeding more Legions into the same bad fight.

Common City Attack Mistakes

1. Attacking Without Scouting

This turns target selection into guessing. A city that looks weak can still contain enough troops or defensive strength to make your attack expensive.

2. Swarming a Strong Garrison

Repeated solo attacks can burn through troop reserves rapidly. Use organized force when the target actually warrants an attack.

3. Chasing Resources at Any Cost

Losing a large number of troops for a modest amount of loot is not efficient raiding.

4. Ignoring Enemy Reinforcements

A scouting report describes the target at a particular moment. The battlefield can change while your troops are marching.

5. Starting a Rally Without Alliance Support

A rally that cannot fill, cannot be reinforced, or has no field protection is much less threatening.

6. Forgetting the Larger War

Destroying one enemy position is meaningless if your Alliance loses the more important objective somewhere else.

Advanced City Attack Strategy

Create Pressure Before Committing

Instead of blindly committing to the first available city, control the nearby field first. If the enemy is forced to respond elsewhere, your Alliance may create a better opening for the actual attack.

Separate the Target From Reinforcements

An isolated city is easier to pressure when friendly Legions can intercept enemy players attempting to reinforce or defend the area.

Use Multiple Objectives

During larger wars, pressure on more than one location can force opponents to split their attention. This only works when your Alliance leadership coordinates the operation rather than allowing every player to choose a random target.

Know Your Exit Before You Attack

Before committing, identify where your field Legions will retreat if the enemy counter-pushes. Preserving a usable army for the next engagement is often more valuable than extending a failed attack.

FAQ

How do you attack a city in Call of Dragons?

You can attack another city directly with individual Legions or participate in an Alliance rally. Scout the target first and evaluate its troops, garrison, resources, and surrounding battlefield before committing.

Should I solo attack or rally a city?

Solo attacks are most reasonable against clearly weak targets. Against stronger cities, an organized rally is generally more efficient than repeatedly swarming the defenses with individual Legions.

Can you loot resources from other players in Call of Dragons?

Yes, city attacks can be used to obtain vulnerable resources. However, resource protection mechanics mean not everything owned by the target is necessarily available to loot.

Is raiding cities worth it for free-to-play players?

Only selectively. Training and replacing troops is expensive, so lower-spending players should be especially cautious about attacking fortified cities merely for resources.

What happens when a city’s Wall reaches zero durability?

Repeated successful attacks can reduce Wall durability. When it reaches zero, the city can be displaced from its current map position, making city attacks potentially useful for territorial warfare as well as resource raiding.

What is the biggest mistake when raiding a city?

Attacking without a clear risk-versus-reward calculation. A city raid should have a purpose: obtaining worthwhile resources, removing an important enemy position, or supporting a broader Alliance objective.

Conclusion

Effective raiding in Call of Dragons is less about launching the biggest possible attack and more about choosing the right target at the right moment.

Scout before committing, distinguish weak resource targets from fortified war targets, use rallies when the situation requires organized force, control the field around the attack, and always compare potential gains against troop losses.

Most importantly, remember that not every city needs to be attacked. A disciplined Alliance that knows when to engage, reinforce, retreat, or ignore a low-value target will preserve more fighting power for the battles that actually decide the war.