Songs of Conquest is an amazing game to scratch that Heroes of Might and Magic 3 itch you might be having. You probably know that I consider it to be the greatest game EVER, so I’m always happy to check out alternatives.
And Songs of Conquest is a really solid game that feels like HoMM3, but at the same time infused with its own personality and new features. In other words, the perfect game to play while waiting for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.
But we’re here today to talk some strategy, not just praise SoC. So, check out this full guide to Songs of Conquest – it will help you master the gameplay basics, explore faction specialties, and pick up useful tips along the way.
Note: This guide is based on the single player experience, focused mostly on the Campaigns. For PvP, I will have another guide published soon, as some things change there.
1. Always explore!
Unlike Heores of Might and Magic 3, you don’t get a bonus if you complete a map quickly. Therefore, you should take your time to explore each map thoroughly and get all the resources and goodies laying around.
Remember, if you don’t loot, your opponent will, and you’ll be on the losing end!
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2. Maximize movement
Movement is extremely important in Songs of Conquest. Therefore, the more your Wielders can move, the better you will do. So take advantage of skills that increase movement – but also all the structures that increase movement rates for a few turns (and revisit them often).
Just like in Heroes 3, getting a secondary Wielder early on is also important. This way, your Main Wielder will be able to focus on combat and looting the important things (XP, Movement boosts, get new troops and so on) while the secondary will gather resources and other less-important loot.
Pro tip: Use the ALT key like your life depends on it! It highlights interactable objects, and it can even reveal hidden treasures behind trees, rocks, and other map elements you might miss otherwise.
Another Pro tip: Some Wielders have passive abilities that benefit from being near each other. It’s not always necessary to spread your Wielders across the map, especially if you can stack up some passives during tough fights or when controlling critical resources.
3. Planning and strategy: get your ducks in a row
Before you go building an army willy-nilly, take a moment to plan.
- What units are you aiming for?
- Which research paths do you want to pursue?
You must focus on a select number of units you can easily produce. This way, you will always have them at hand, but also save resources in the long run by not investing in troops that you will never need.
If you’re just starting up, don’t be afraid to experiment during your first missions. You will find that Militia is easy to get and cheap… but relatively worthless in the long run.
Another thing you should get used to is keyboard shortcuts. I have a list of all the SoC key bindings to get a head start in this area as well.
4. Build everything in your settlement
Each settlement has a limited number of building slots, depending on its size. Here is the total number of structures you can build, based on your Settlement’s size
- Small Settlements: 2 small and 1 medium slot
- Large Settlements: 3 small, 2 medium, and 1 large building slot
- Towns: 7 small, 3 medium, and 2 large building slots
Since you will always have to choose and prioritize, make sure you do so at the beginning of the game/mission. You will soon start establishing a solid build strategy.
Many players overlook economic buildings in favor of unit production. Prioritize building infrastructure (like Markets and Lumber Mills) early on. This way, you will ensure the resources needed for actually being able to purchase those units when you need them.
Here are some other things you should think about:
- Low on rare resources? Build multiple markets (up to 5). Markets improve your trade rates, making it easier to trade for resources (like in HoMM games).
- Running out of units? Reinforce your armies with rally points, focusing on one unit type to strengthen your forces faster.
- Enemy closing in? Build towers. These can deal a serious blow to advancing enemies like Cheluns or Necromancers. Even if you can’t eliminate an entire army, weakening them before the battle makes your life a lot easier later on.
Speaking of Towers…
Position them strategically near key choke points, and if possible, upgrade them with magic-based defenses when defending against larger armies. The longer you can stall your enemy, the better defenses you can buy.
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5. Artifacts: The Good, The Bad, and The Sellable
All artifacts are useful in SoC, but some are better than others. And I’m not speaking only about those that give you better stats.
However, even low-value artifacts are useful and should always be gathered. First, give duds and not-so-great ones to secondary Wielders. And if you still have some left – sell them at the Artifact Shop.
Right now, the best artifacts in the game are:
- Boots: They boost movement and, since movement is king, these are high value items.
- Orange-quality artifacts (Gloves of Eternity, Rod of the Roots) as they give special effects.
- Spell damage resistance items like Glimmerglove can be a game-changer against powerful enemy Wielders.
- Resource-gathering artifacts are useful too, but always give them to secondary Wielders.
- Essence generation items and initiative-boosting artifacts can also be useful by giving you more options in terms of spells early on – or letting your troops move first.
For more details, the in-game Codex is a handy reference to check the effects of artifacts and plan your Wielder loadouts.
Pro tip: Some artifacts give smaller bonuses but stack well with others. Keep an eye out for combinations that might not seem powerful on their own but can significantly amplify your unit stats or resource gathering when combined.
6. Skills and Powers
When it comes to your main Wielder (the main one you will use to crush enemies), you need to focus on Combat Skills, but also Command – the more units you can bring into battle, the better. Plus, you get more Essence for your spells, too!
Apart from these, I suggest investing in the March skill as well. We already discussed how important movement is.
Top skills for your main Wielder:
- Magic skills: These are crucial for enhancing your spellcasting. Depending on your faction, or your preferences when it comes to spells, prioritize 2 magic skills. You can go up to 3 if you want to fully specialize in magic (although, generally, I prefer 2).
- Magic Resistance: Only useful for fighting other Wielders, but vital imho. You should also get the first level of the other types of Resitance skills.
- Command: More units mean more essence. Even a single creature in a unit stack grants full essence, so this skill is always worth investing in. It’s not just about magic, though: more units make you stronger and makes it easier, overall, to win battles.
- Combat Training: This opens the door to a multitude of other Skill Options, so you might want to be careful about it and get it only after you’re 100% sure you’ve locked in your magic skills. But it’s a must have one as all your troops will deal more damage, plus they will get +1 retaliation at Tier 3.
- Guard: Most units in the game deal melee damage, so this can be helpful if no other options are available. The same goes about attack-boosting skills.
Unit Essence Synergies: If your army relies heavily on casting, focus on Wielders who can synergize well with your units’ natural essence generation.
For example, an army full of casters paired with a Wielder specialized in Arcane or Creation Magic can keep your spell pool high, allowing you to cast continuously during combat.
Mystic Might: On some maps, it might be worth investing in Ritual Circle structures if available. These are rarely mentioned but can empower your spells to a much greater degree and could make the difference in tough fights, especially if you’re up against high-essence Wielders.
Skills to avoid on your main Wielder:
- Raider: This can trap new players, as it seems like a good skill. But in reality, it’s not great (plus, it lets the AI build up their defenses too, which is even worse).
- Scouting: Pretty much useless, like in Heroes of Might and Magic games.
- Impressive: This rarely works out. Most units won’t join you, so it’s a waste of skill space.
- Channeling / Melee / Archery: Since these only affect a specific type of unit, I usually skip it for more generic skills. If you are 100% sure you will only use one type of unit (or most of your troops will be of that type), it might be a good investment… although you have better options overall.
- Essence Leech: While I am all-in on magic, this skill is not useful.
- Learning – a situational skill. If you get it early in the game, it might be useful since you will get more XP. But still, I consider it a waste of skill space and I don’t recommend getting it.
- Tutor: you can speed up the XP gains of secondary Wielders… but it’s a waste of space for your main one.
- Prepared: While moving first is usually a good idea (plus you get +1 Movement at Tier 3 of this skill), I usually avoid Prepared as there are better skills in SoC.
A final note about skills: Visit the Mystic Hermits when you encounter one. They provide you with useful skills, but the nature of the skills varies: in campaigns, they’ll offer a static skill designed to help with the specific map, while in skirmishes, it’s random.
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7. Powers: What to get
Powers are earned in Songs of Conquest every eight levels. These are, obviously, extremely useful, but also rare. Here are my favorites and comments on Powers you should get:
- Attuned: I think you already know that I consider magic extremely important, so a Power that gives you extra essence will be always highly prioritized.
- Brutal – You’re not going to be an all-in mage, so getting some actual damage boosts for your troops is always welcome.
- Speed of Winds: Troops that move more are always better. This is a great power, especially since it will eventually boos initiative too.
- Farsight – this is situational, depending on how you plan to build your army. It’s usually useful just early on (or on smaller maps) because eventually, your main troops will be melee units.
- Rigor: Grants extra survivability, so it’s a decent choice – although I would choose any of the above if I had the option to do so.
- Levy: A great choice for secondary Wielders, as it boosts army growth.
Powers you can skip:
- Essence Burst: Particularly useful in shorter battles, as it gives you an instant boost of essence. However, it becomes useless later on in battles that last longer… so I would personally skip this one, even though it’s magic-related.
- Essence Shield: Again, not something useful for the long-term. The initial protection is good, giving you time to get closer to the ranged units while getting less damage, but not that good.
- Eager: Good skill, but if you get Speed of Winds, it’s not as useful especially for late game, longer battles.
8. Conquest mode tips
While all the tips I am sharing in this guide apply to the conquest mode, I want to address a few things specific to this mode and not necessarily the campaign.
The main goal is to minimize troop losses during neutral battles, giving you the upper hand when it’s time to face off against an enemy Wielder/Settlement.
Time your engagements
Try to fight other players with a full army. Also, if you are close to getting to a new level (especially if that one unlocks a new Power), then try to get the XP somehow (fighting neutrals, for example).
Being prepared and properly timing battles will help you win more easily than otherwise.
Map recommendations:
- New Beginnings and Ashen Allies are good for starting out.
- In Section Challenges, try Three Roads (the easiest) and A Hot Deal, which teaches you the strengths of martial Wielders and reload units.
Recommended Wielders for Conquest:
Arleon Starters:
- Peradine: Creation Magic and a solid starting army.
- Lady Elisa Hammond: Strong army and specialty.
- Giandra Stormspire: Starts with Chaos Magic and a strong army.
Rana Starters:
- M’Sugna, Who Sees Beyond: Excellent starting army with Creation Magic.
- T’Chyra, Dragon’s Blood: A powerful Arcane Magic user, though his army isn’t as formidable.
Loth Starters:
- Doctor Marjatta: Arcane Magic specialist with a strong army.
- Ambertina: More focused on killing enemies for essence.
Barya Starters:
- Bihgli Satherdown: Starts with Chaos Magic and has Tinkerers, perfect for stalling rounds and building up destruction spells.
- Everthink: A strong starting army with Destruction Magic.
For secondary Wielders in any faction, look for Wielders who focus on resource production, army growth, or movement skills to complement your primary army.
Faction-specific tactics
While we can go in a lot of depth here (and I most likely will in a future guide), I wanted to address some quick but important things about factions, especially for Conquest Mode.
Arleon Faction Tips
Focus on buff synergy. Arleon units, especially knights and archers, benefit greatly from abilities that stack buffs, allowing your army to become progressively stronger as the battle drags on.
Use units like Longbowmen with range bonuses and protect them with Footmen to gain the upper hand with long-range attacks.
Rana Faction Tips
Use swarming tactics with low-tier units like Brambles or Toads, as they are easy to mass-produce and can overwhelm enemies, especially when supported by powerful magic from your Wielder.
Regeneration and poison abilities can turn the tide by wearing down the opponent’s stronger units over time.
Loth Faction Tips
Loth excels at attrition warfare. Focus on Necromancy and Dark Magic, and use ranged skeletons to build an ever-growing army of undead units.
Essence economy is your key here – accumulate as much as possible to cast powerful spells and mix that up with sacrificing lesser tier units.
Barya Faction Tips
Focus on building an economy early on that allows you to outlast and out-resource your opponents, ensuring you can reinforce constantly.
Use Tinkerers and Cannoneers effectively by stalling for time while your Chaos Magic builds up to powerful destruction spells. Not the greatest faction in the game and also the one I have played the least, so I would love to hear more of your thoughts about it.
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9. Advanced combat tips
Never use autobattle!
Or use it to see the possible outcome, knowing that if you suffer losses, you can most likely manual battle and have fewer losses.
Autobattle in Sogns of Conquest is only useful against neutral troops or very weak enemies that you can easily destroy.
Plus, if you’re just starting the game, each battle you play will count toward your total experience, so try to manually fight as many battles as possible – including the very simple ones.
Raze your settlements before losing a fight
If you are 100% sure that you’re going to lose a settlement you have, without the possibility of regaining it quickly, a solid strategy is to raze everything.
By “razing,” I mean selling all your built structures – this way, you will not only get some extra resources back (that you can use to reinforce your heroes or rebuild later), but you will also put your enemy in a tough spot, where they will have to rebuild everything themselves.
Tactical retreat
Even though early battles in the campaign are easy wins, it won’t always be the case. And an important lesson to learn is that you don’t always have to fight to the death.
If your army takes heavy losses but you’ve weakened your opponent a lot, retreating your Wielder can allow you to regroup and attack later with reinforcements, giving you a stronger position.
Use the terrain advantages at all times
I’m not sure how “advanced” of a tip this really is, that it has to be mentioned. Position ranged units on high ground for dealing extra damage (or receiving less) or behind obstacles to make it harder for the enemy to engage.
Similarly, forcing enemy melee units to march through choke points can severely reduce their effectiveness, allowing you to take them out one by one before they reach your troops.
And even though we don’t have a “wait” mechanic like we do in Heroes of Might and magic, simply waiting for the opponent to make the first move can sometimes be better than rushing head-first into battle with your melee troops.
10. Save your game constantly!
This is considered a cheat by many, but it’s a mechanic most gamers in most situations should swear by.
Have multiple save files for your current game and save constantly. Make sure to save before important battles or before making important decisions (e.g. exploring to the right or left on a map).
This can save you from a lot of headaches, and especially prevent premature defeats.
These strategies will help you win those campaign missions easily, but also improve your general gameplay. If you have additional tips and tricks for fellow Songs of Conquest players, let us all know!
Or just continue reading my guide to unlocking all achievements in the game.
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