Rise of Kingdoms City Hall 25: the full road from 16 to 25

The numbers on this page come from RiseofKingdomsGuides' City Hall table (January 2026) and Pocketgamer's City Hall guide, which agree on every requirement and cost below. Times are base times before any speed bonus. If you are earlier in the game, start with the beginner guide and the Rise of Kingdoms hub.

City Hall 16 to 25 requirements and costs

Each listed building also needs its own chain of requirements, and the Wall must match the building level. Sources do not list a gold cost for the City Hall itself; gold is spent on the other buildings and research along the way.

The total resource bill

Adding up the five upgrades from City Hall 20 to 25 (levels 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25) gives roughly:

That is for the City Hall alone. The prerequisite buildings at each step roughly match it again, and research on top. Two conclusions follow: City Hall 25 is mostly a resource problem, and building speed bonuses (research, alliance tech, VIP, civilization) cut the time from months to something manageable. The 126 day base timer for level 25 is the reason players stack every building speed buff they can before starting it.

Order of work from 16 to 25

1. Always upgrade the prerequisite first, then the Wall, then the City Hall. The table shows the one non-Wall building each level needs; open its upgrade to see the chain under it.
2. Hit City Hall 16 early. Tier 3 troops are the first big jump in fighting power.
3. Push to City Hall 21 before your first serious KvK if you can. Tier 4 troops and their unique variants change how fights go.
4. Use the 4th and 5th march queues. CH 17 and 22 add march slots, which means more gathering marches and more resources.
5. Research building speed in the Academy whenever the research queue is free.
6. Save speedups for events. Spend them in Mightiest Governor and similar events so you get rewards for spending them, see the events calendar.

The Master's Blueprint and the last step

City Hall 25 needs one Master's Blueprint on top of resources. More blueprints are needed later: 16 buildings need a blueprint for their own 24 to 25 upgrade, while the Castle, Scout Camp and Watchtower do not. Guides list different gem prices for a blueprint in the shop, so check in game. Watch for blueprints in event rewards and do not spend gems on them until you are ready to start the upgrade.

After City Hall 25: the road to tier 5

I Unlocked T5 in two days to take revenge for my son (official channel)

City Hall 25 alone does not unlock tier 5. According to RiseofKingdomsGuides' tier 5 guide (January 2026) you also need:

• Academy 25, which requires almost every other building at level 25, including the Castle.
• The whole Economic research tree.
• The Military tree up to the tier 5 node you want, which runs through Combat Tactics, Defensive Formation and Herbal Medicine at level 10 and Cartography at level 5.

That is why many players treat City Hall 25 as the halfway point. Plan research early so the Academy is never idle, and gather constantly: the farming guide covers gathering commanders, gem deposits and alliance territory bonuses.

What changes at City Hall 25

Reaching 25 changes how the game feels. Your city takes its final look, your power jumps, and your goals move from buildings to research, equipment and commanders. It also changes how others see you: in many kingdoms City Hall 25 is the minimum for serious KvK roles and for some alliance positions. Expect leaders to ask more of you once you reach it.

Mistakes on the road to 25

• Starting City Hall 25 without the blueprint. Check for the Master's Blueprint before you gather the resources, not after.
• Letting the Academy sit idle. Tier 5 needs the whole Economic tree. Research is the queue that decides how long you wait after City Hall 25.
• Building the Castle too late. Academy 25 needs the Castle at 25, and the Castle needs thousands of Books of Covenant. Start collecting early.
• Spending speedups on small upgrades. Save them for the long timers and use them in events.
• Losing resources to raids. A full Storehouse protects only part of your stock. Shield up when you are saving for a big step.

Each of these mistakes costs weeks rather than days, because the timers at this stage are so long. The best players treat City Hall 25 as a project with a plan, not as a button to press when it lights up.

How to speed up the climb

• Building speed sources stack: Academy research, civilization (China has +5 percent building speed, Egypt +1.5 percent), VIP level, alliance help and commander buffs where available.
• Resource sources: gathering in alliance territory, farm accounts, alliance gifts, events and the resource packs you get from quests and barbarians. More in the alliance guide.
• Do not over-train troops between City Hall levels. Training eats the same resources. Train before KvK, not while you are saving for a City Hall step.
• Upgrade during the right event. Power and building events reward finishing upgrades. Start long upgrades so they finish inside an event window.

Checklist before you press upgrade on 25

1. Trading Post and Wall at 24, with all their own requirements done.
2. 82.2M food, 82.2M wood and 36.0M stone in the city, plus a safety margin for anything you want to train or research at the same time.
3. One Master's Blueprint.
4. Every building speed bonus active: research done, alliance tech done, any building speed buff you can trigger running.
5. An event window. If a power or building event is a few days away, wait and start the upgrade so it finishes inside it.
6. A shield plan. A city saving that many resources is a juicy target, so keep a peace shield ready when you go offline.

Then spend speedups in the order your events reward: building speedups during a building or power stage, universal speedups only if the event pays for them. More on that in the events calendar.

Do not forget the rewards. Pocketgamer lists 200,000 stone, 50,000 gold, a Master's Blueprint and 500 gems as the City Hall 25 upgrade rewards, so the next blueprint you need for another building is already covered.

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