Rise of Kingdoms Commanders — the Full List of All Commanders in the Game (2026)

Information is current as of August 2026.

Commanders are the backbone of your army in Rise of Kingdoms: they lead troops in the field, hold garrisons, gather resources and fight barbarians. By 2026 the game already has more than 130 commanders of four rarity tiers, and Lilith regularly adds new ones. Below is the full list of all ROK commanders by rarity, with specializations. Every commander has a detailed article on Gurugamer: skills, talents, pairings, reviews and tips — click the name to open the guide.

How Commanders Work

4 rarity tiers: legendary (gold), epic (purple), elite (blue) and advanced (green). Legendaries are the strongest, but their sculptures are the rarest resource.
4 skills, unlocked with star levels. Epics and legendaries have a 5th "expertise" skill: it enhances one of the first four once all of them are maxed to 5.
3 specialties per commander — they determine the available talent branches: infantry, cavalry, archers, leadership, integration, garrison, gathering, peacekeeping (barbarians), conquering, support, mobility, skill, attack, defense and engineering (siege).
The main leveling rule: max the first skill to level 5 first, and only then raise the stars — otherwise the skill you need will "drown", and fixing that takes a pile of sculptures. Details in our beginner's guide.

Legendary Commanders (107)

The most powerful and the most expensive to level. They come from tavern golden keys, the Wheel of Fortune, "The Mightiest Governor", the Expedition and seasonal KvK events. Spend universal legendary sculptures only on those who don't drop from keys! The current meta top is in our article "Top 5 Legendary Commanders 2026", and the best pairs are in the "Best Commander Pairings" guide.

Commander	Specialization
Alexander the Great	Infantry / Attack
Alexander Nevsky	Cavalry / Skill
Alp Arslan	Archers
Amanitore	Archers / Conquering
Artemisia I	Archers / Garrison
Archimedes	Engineering
Attila	Cavalry / Conquering
Afonso	Engineering
Achilles	Cavalry
Ashurbanipal	Archers / Conquering
Babur	Engineering
Bai Qi	Infantry
Bertrand du Guesclin	Cavalry
Boudica Prime	Archers / Skill
Belisarius Prime	Cavalry / Mobility
Vercingetorix	Leadership / Support
William I	Cavalry / Attack
Hannibal Barca	Leadership / Conquering
Hector	Leadership / Support
Henry V	Archers / Conquering
Hermann Prime	Archers / Support
Gilgamesh	Archers / Conquering
Gonzalo de Córdoba	Engineering / Attack
Gorgo	Infantry / Garrison
Guan Yu	Infantry / Conquering
Gajah Mada	Engineering / Defense
John Hunyadi	Engineering / Support
Dido	Archers / Skill
Elizabeth I	Engineering / Skill
Joan of Arc Prime	Cavalry / Support
Zenobia	Infantry / Garrison
Ivan the Terrible	Cavalry / Combo
Ivar the Boneless	Infantry / Conquering
Imhotep	Infantry / Support
Heraclius	Leadership / Garrison
Ishida Mitsunari	Gathering
Casimir III	Gathering
Gang Gam-chan	Cavalry
Charlemagne	Leadership / Conquering
Charles Martel	Infantry / Garrison
Cyrus the Great	Archers / Attack
Cleopatra VII	Gathering
Constantine I	Infantry / Garrison
Lapu-Lapu	Garrison / Skill
Leonidas I	Infantry / Defense
Yi Seong-Gye (YSG)	Archers / Garrison
Yi Sun-sin (YSS)	Leadership / Garrison
Liu Che	Leadership
Lü Bu	Leadership / Conquering
Margaret I	Engineering / Support
Maria Theresa	Engineering / Skill
Matthias Corvinus	Leadership / Garrison
Mehmed II	Leadership / Conquering
Minamoto no Yoshitsune	Cavalry / Peacekeeping
Moctezuma I	Gathering / Support
Mulan	Peacekeeping / Support
Nebuchadnezzar II	Archers / Conquering
Pakal II	Infantry / Conquering
Pepin the Short	Gathering / Support
Pyrrhus	Infantry / Defense
Ragnar Lodbrok	Leadership / Conquering
Ragnar Lodbrok Prime	Leadership / Support
Ramesses II	Archers / Attack
Richard I the Lionheart	Infantry / Garrison
Saladin	Cavalry / Conquering
Sargon the Great	Infantry / Skill
Siyaj K'ak'	Archers / Conquering
Queen Seondeok	Gathering
Stephen the Great	Engineering / Skill
Subutai	Cavalry / Conquering
Suleiman I the Magnificent	Leadership / Conquering
Sun Tzu Prime	Infantry
Scipio Aemilianus	Infantry / Conquering
Xiang Yu	Cavalry / Conquering
Takeda Shingen	Cavalry / Mobility
Tamar of Georgia	Gathering
Tariq ibn Ziyad	Infantry / Conquering
Tokugawa Ieyasu	Infantry / Garrison
Tomyris	Archers / Conquering
Trajan	Infantry / Gathering
Thutmose III	Archers / Support
Wu Zetian	Leadership / Garrison
William Marshal	Cavalry / Conquering
William Wallace	Infantry
Philip II	Leadership / Support
Flavius Aetius	Infantry / Garrison
Frederick I Barbarossa	Leadership / Conquering
Hayam Wuruk	Archers / Garrison
Harald Sigurdsson	Infantry / Conquering
Huo Qubing	Cavalry / Skill
Honda Tadakatsu	Leadership / Skill
Cao Cao	Cavalry / Peacekeeping
Qin Shi Huang	Archers / Skill
Chandragupta Maurya	Cavalry / Conquering
Zhuge Liang	Archers / Skill
Genghis Khan	Cavalry / Skill
Choe Yeong	Archers / Garrison
Cheok Jun-gyeong (CJ)	Infantry / Attack
Shajar al-Durr	Archers / Skill
Shapur I	Archers / Conquering
Edward of Woodstock	Archers / Skill
Eleanor of Aquitaine	Cavalry / Garrison
El Cid	Archers / Skill
Aethelflaed	Leadership / Peacekeeping
Julius Caesar	Leadership / Attack
Jadwiga	Cavalry / Garrison
Jan Žižka	Cavalry / Garrison

Epic Commanders (20)

The workhorses of free-to-play: they drop from silver and golden keys and are easy to level to "expertise". Sun Tzu, Joan of Arc, Osman, Pelagius and Belisarius have been the backbone of first marches for years. Who to level in 2026 — see our epic commanders tier list.

Commander	Specialization
Baibars	Cavalry / Conquering
Belisarius	Cavalry / Mobility
Boudica	Archers / Peacekeeping
Björn Ironside	Infantry / Conquering
Wak Chanil Ajaw	Gathering
Hermann	Archers / Garrison
Diaochan	Peacekeeping / Support
Catherine de' Medici	Engineering / Skill
Joan of Arc	Support / Gathering
Kira	Archers / Peacekeeping
Kusunoki Masashige	Archers / Garrison
Lohar	Peacekeeping / Support
Matilda of Flanders	Gathering
Narses	Engineering / Defense
Osman I	Leadership / Conquering
Pelagius	Cavalry / Garrison
Pericles	Infantry / Garrison
Sun Tzu	Infantry / Skill
Scipio Africanus	Leadership / Conquering
Eulji Mundeok	Infantry / Garrison

Elite Commanders (5)

The blue commanders of the early game. They quickly become outdated in battle, but the gatherers (Gaius Marius, Constance, Šárka) work on resource points all game long — level their "Gathering" branch and send them out with siege troops.

Commander	Specialization
Gaius Marius	Gathering
Constance	Gathering
Lancelot	Cavalry / Mobility
Tomoe Gozen	Archers / Attack
Šárka	Gathering

Advanced Commanders (4)

The starting green commanders. The weakest of all, but Centurion is useful for gathering until your epics are leveled.

Commander	Specialization
Dragon Lancer	Cavalry / Peacekeeping
Markswoman	Archers / Peacekeeping
City Keeper	Infantry
Centurion	Gathering

How to Get Commanders

Tavern: silver and golden keys — the main source of epic sculptures and basic legendaries.
Wheel of Fortune and "The Mightiest Governor": the kingdom's seasonal legendary commanders.
Expedition: medals for Aethelflaed and others — the only way to max a legendary for free.
KvK and "Lost Kingdom" events: sculptures of new commanders for seasonal achievements.
Prime versions of classic commanders (Hermann Prime, Joan Prime, Belisarius Prime and others) come out in separate events and are noticeably stronger than the originals.

Community Tips

Experienced players are unanimous: don't spread yourself thin. One pairing of "legendary 5511 + expert epic" beats five half-leveled commanders. Beginners are advised to start with epics (Sun Tzu + Joan of Arc cover field fights, barbarians and gathering), save legendary sculptures for your season's meta, and check fresh tier lists before major investments — the ROK meta shifts with every new commander. Universal sculptures poured into a "key-droppable" commander are the most common regret in player stories: don't repeat that mistake.