The Ultimate Kronos Guide
By Acid_Action · titans
Execute five-Citizen Krush openings, relocate production with Time Shift, and switch between aggressive and economic plans as the game develops.
Introduction
The Ultimate Kronos Guide — with inspiration from Salient. This guide covers various strategies with variations, when and where to use them, and finishes with the 10 Commandments of Kronos.
Key abbreviations: Crax = Counter Barracks, Rax = Barracks, TS = Time Shift, DM = Dwarven Mine, HD = Hunting Dogs, FH = Fast Heroic, TT = Titan
5-Villager Krush
One of the best strategies in the game when used correctly. Can be used on any land map. Contrary to popular belief, it requires a lot of micro — more than Isis FH or Thor raids.
Build Order
Food
Food
Build Manor → Food
Food
Food
Advance ~3:30-3:50 depending on map
Execution
Time Shift your temple near the enemy. Valor your Oracles. Auto-queue Prometheans and attack. Upon advancing, build a Counter Barracks + Manor at gold and TS it over ASAP. Build 2nd Counter Barracks at wood, TS over. Auto-queue Turma and raid constantly — idle army is bad.
Economy after advance: 1 villager to food (total 2), then wood, gold, wood, gold, 2 food, then more to wood and start farms.
Best on: Low hunt maps (Oasis, Savannah, Ghost Lake, Alfheim)
High Hunt Variation (vs Norse/Greek)
Same Classical approach but build Manor + Counter Barracks at gold (TS), plus a Barracks at wood (TS). Make Murmillo as well as Turma — needed vs Hersirs/RC/Hoplites/Hippikons.
Economy: 4 food total, then gold, 2 wood, gold, food, rest to wood + farms. Gets Murmillo out quickly.
6-Villager Krush
Same principles but slightly later advance with stronger eco. Advance ~3:55-3:58.
Build Order
Food
Food
Food
Chop 5 wood (1 hit on tree) → Manor → Temple → Food
Food
Food
Advance
Switch to 3 wood, 2 gold, 1 food. Then send 2 to food, 2 to gold, 1 to food, rest to wood + farms.
Two paths from this BO: Either add a Barracks for Murmillo alongside your 2 Counter Barracks Turma, or skip it for a faster ~13 minute Heroic.
Krush Technique
Don't waste units — attack his hunt first, try to keep him on only herdables
Use Prometheans on food while Time Shifting your Counter Barracks over
Find his gold mine and TS your 2nd Counter Barracks near it
Keep massing army and raiding food/gold (wood if Greek)
Watch ALL gold mines
Pro tip: TS Manors near gold mines for LOS — you can keep all army together while knowing when he moves
Anti-Norse Variation
Run in with first 2 Prometheans and deconstruct his temple. Keep attacking his Ulfsark with Prometheans. No alt-S means he can't build a temple. This can delay his temple until 7+ minutes. Only works vs Norse and only with 5-villager rush.
4:30 — 7 Villager Rush
The most commonly used Atlantean strategy. Very effective in every situation on every land map.
Build Order
Economic Guild → Hunting Dogs → Food
Food
Wood
Gold (build Manor at 25 gold)
Food
Food
Gold
Advance — switch 2 food villagers to wood, get eco upgrades
Upon advancing: build Barracks + 2 Counter Barracks. Auto-queue Turma/Turma/Murmillo/Prometheans. Arrange eco: 3 food, 2 wood, 2 gold.
Economy: Wood, food, 2 gold, rest to wood + farms.
High Hunt Variation (vs Norse/Atlantean)
Same BO, but build 2 Barracks + 1 Counter Barracks for Murmillo/Murmillo/Turma/Promethean. Eco: 4 food, 2 gold, 1 wood → then food (total 5), wood, 2 gold, rest to wood.
4:30 Rush Technique
Containment is key. Attack all outside food sources first. Keep him in his base
Immediately pressure gold and wood — fire Turma from behind trees, attack towers/houses with Murmillo
Scout the entire map fast, watch all mines
Know when he moves to 2nd gold and cut it off
Key point vs Egyptian/Greek: Let yourself get popped at 75/75, THEN build another TC before your next house. This lets you boom faster — you can have max army at 130/130 by the time they need their 2nd mine.
4:40 — 2 Dock Rush
A self-developed favorite strategy.
Build Order
Build Dock → Wood
Food
Food (build Manor with wood villager at 107 wood)
Wood
Food
Food (build Temple at wood)
Gold
Advance
Build 2nd dock + Manor with water villager. Arrange other 6 villagers: 4 wood / 2 gold. Time Shift temple near enemy docks, auto-queue Prometheans + Valor Oracles. Auto-queue ships from both docks. Quickly build Barracks + Manor before your 3rd/4th ships. TS Barracks over, make Murmillo ASAP. Destroy docks and fishing. Build Counter Barracks for Turma raids. Keep him off gold and food.
Economy: Villagers to gold until 5, then 2 food, 2 wood, then wherever needed.
5:05 — 2TC Build (High Hunt Only)
Build Order
Economic Guild → Hunting Dogs → Food
Food
Wood
Gold (Manor at 25 gold)
Food
Temple → Wood
Gold
Build 2nd TC
Advance
Matchup & Map Reference
Recommended Strategies by Matchup
| Opponent |
High Hunt |
Low Hunt |
Water |
| Egyptian |
4:30 or 5:05 2TC |
3:30 Krush or 5:05 2TC |
4:40 dock rush |
| Norse |
3:35 Krush or 4:30 |
3:35 or 3:55 Krush |
4:40 dock rush |
| Greek |
4:30 |
3:55 Krush |
4:40 dock rush |
| Atlantean |
5:05 2TC or Boom |
3:55 / 4:30 / Boom |
4:40 dock rush |
Highland variation: Use 4:20 (same as 4:40 principle but skip last villager, advance ASAP with idle TC time). Norse advance ~5:10 on Highland — the extra 25 seconds matters.
Map-Specific Tips
| Map |
Notes |
| Alfheim |
Cliffs make it hard. TS towers onto cliffs for aggressive play |
| Anatolia |
Hard map. Dock rush and win one side by 6:30, then fight the other. Mass Murmillo for land superiority. Make 10 towers, TS 4 forward. vs Egyptian: just resign to save yourself 20 minutes |
| Ghost Lake |
Gold is often far away — good for Egyptian pressure. Be aggressive |
| Highland |
Temple in middle, dock rush. Control middle land bridges. Gold starve and go Titan fast |
| Marsh |
Starting gold determines strategy — if only 3k in LOS, your enemy likely has more (go 4:30+). If you have extra, rush harder |
| Mediterranean |
Dock rush, cut food/gold, GG |
| Midgard |
Full land + gold control early, then make ships ~8 min as distraction. Easy to gold starve |
| Oasis / Savannah / Tundra |
Open maps — rush hard, early aggression is key |
| Watering Hole |
Like Marsh — check starting gold. Good boom map |
Alternative Strategies
2TC Boom
Fun and effective surprise strategy. Example: used vs 1850+ Oranos rusher on Oasis — advanced at 6:00, he waited for a rush that never came. GG.
High Hunt Build
Eco Guild → Hunt
Hunt → Wood → Gold (Manor) → Gold
Wood (Temple at gold or wood)
Build TC → Hunt → Hunt
Advance ~6:00
Low Hunt Build
Food (no Eco Guild)
Food → Food → Gold → Wood → Wood
Build TC → Food → Food
Advance ~6:00
Don't get housed! Max at 130/130 before leaving base for 2nd gold. Can start Titan around 15 minutes if done well.
2TC Semi-FH Raids
Standard 2TC build, make Turma to ~100 pop for defense and raids. Heroic at 9-10 minutes, set up 2-3 Palaces, auto-queue only Destroyers and raid. Go Mythic with Vortex, spam Mirror Towers everywhere, Vortex your Destroyers + siege. Fun but only works on open maps vs sub-1800 players. Can work in team games.
Krush on Mediterranean (vs Norse/Egyptian)
Standard 3:30 Krush build, but TS temple to enemy's side and attack docks with Prometheans/Oracles. During advance, send a villager to build a DOCK. Eco: 1 food, 2 wood, 1 gold. Auto-queue arrow ships — with his dock killed by Prometheans, you can win water by 4:15 with 3 arrow ships. Then auto-queue fishing and TS Counter Barracks over for land pressure.
3-Villager Rush
Make 3 villagers and advance — simple. Build Temple + house with 3rd villager. Advance at 2:55-3:05. Can knock down enemy gold tower before they're prepared. Eco: 1-1-1 arrangement, first new villager to food, then wood, then gold.
Best vs: Egyptian. Doesn't work well vs Greek (ranged hero at 4 minutes). Less tested vs Norse/Atlantean.
Tips by Civilization
vs Atlantean: Early aggression is key. Murmillo are your best early unit. Spam Cheiroballista ASAP (cheap for Kronos). When enemy has lots of Cheiroballista, stop making Murmillo — saves food. If they mass Cheiroballista, run Turma THROUGH them so they keep turning for free shots
vs Norse: Keep him off hunt. Kill buildings and force fights. Murmillo dominate Norse units
vs Greek: Early aggression works — they'll overtake in score but you outspam them. Force them to build many gathering points early (expensive)
vs Egyptian: Gold starve or out-of-sync him. Run ~10 Turma at priests — kill 1 and run. vs mass Slingers: split Turma into groups of 3-4 and focus fire, minimize wasted shots
Difficult Situations
vs Egyptian Priest Spam / Hide-in-Base / Ancestors
Pressure hard, never let them reach outside hunt. Run from Ancestors immediately — don't lose units. The moment Ancestors ends, pressure their 2nd gold hard. Their eco will be weak — don't fear Migdol fire. Going Titan is key to winning.
vs Loki Hersir Raids
Leave 3-4 Murmillo + 1-2 Cheiroballista at home. Send the rest to hit his eco. Don't chase Hersirs with your whole army.
vs Zeus Centaurs
Same principle — leave a couple heroes at home, hit him hard. Run Prometheans/Oracles into his wood line.
vs Isis on Semi-Water (Midgard/Highland/Anatolia)
Tough matchup. Force Ancestors usage on defense: build 2-3 Barracks and mass Murmillo, kill buildings. By ~10 minutes you should be spamming from 2 TCs with lots of Murmillo + Turma/Cheiroballista on his gold.
The 10 Commandments of Kronos
Never have idle military while attacking
Always watch all the gold — TS a building near it for constant LOS
Never make a villager walk further than necessary — you lose a lot of resources
Always Time Shift Manors to outside resources to save villagers if raided
Destroyers and Cheiroballista are very cheap — use them
If your enemy is eating outside animals or getting gold uncontested — why? IT'S YOURS, GO GET IT!
It's always good to throw Turma spears over trees to disrupt his eco
If an enemy is running units through a narrow cliff or path, Time Shift something in the way to block them for easy kills
Have fun and don't apologize for playing Atlantean
Rush the absolute hell out of them (or boom if they expect the rush for sure)