Resource Types

Rise of Nations has 6 resource types: Food, Timber, Wealth, Metal, Oil, and Knowledge. Each of these resource types has a very distinct purpose. To help you plan out your economy, this section also describes which resources are necessary to improve your economy. It takes money to make money, and after reading this section you'll know what resource types are necessary to increase the income of each resource.


 Food


This resource will be important for growing your economy and most of it will go back into creating more Citizens. Only slightly less important are the technologies you'll research which use Food: Age Advancements, Civic Techs, Lumber Mill upgrades, and Temple techs, among others. Lastly, Infantry-based armies (except Archers) will require food to train, so Food can be an important resource for those seeking to train early armies.

Fishing is the most efficient way of increasing your Food income. It only requires Timber to construct Fishing Ships, which gather both Food and Wealth (Food and Metal in the case of Whales). Spending a moderate amount of Timber to gather +10 of two resource types is very efficient, especially early in the game. Many players research Science I first, then Civic I. If you have water near your capital City, it may be better to research Commerce I instead of Civic I since you'll be able to quickly and cheaply increase Food and Wealth income.

Farming requires both Timber and Food (since you'll need to create a Citizen to work the Farm). It's definitely the most common method of gathering Food and while not as efficient as Fishing, it's much safer since you'll build your Farms right next to your City thus allowing your Citizens to run inside the City should they come under attack - Fishing Ships don't really have a means of fending for themselves unless you actively control the seas.


 Timber


This is another very important resource for growing your early economy. Most of your early Timber will go into producing the many Farms you'll need to get your Food income off the ground. It also goes into Markets and creating Merchants that harvest rare resources.

Once Classical Age is reached, you'll have a lot of things you'll want to spend Timber on but the most important of these is making a University in each of your Cities (you should have a 3rd City at or around the time you reach Classical Age). Soon after your Universities go up, you'll probably want to invest in some military training buildings like Barracks and Stables, which also cost Timber.

Starting in Medieval Age, University upgrades will also become available for a significant amount of Timber. These are extremely important for your Knowledge income.

Increasing your Timber production will primarily require Food, both to create Citizens to work at the Woodcutter's Camps and to build the camps themselves. Keeping your Timber income maxed is helpful, so ensure that you always spend your extra Food on filling Woodcutter's Camps.


 Wealth


Wealth is a much harder resource to gather than Food or Timber, at least throughout the early portions of the game. For this reason, it's very important that you get a Market and Caravan up very early in the game (usually immediately after you create a 2nd City).

One of the most important places to spend Wealth is on Scholars, which are built from Universities and increase your Knowledge income. Science techs, Archers, and market trading also require Wealth.

Market trading in particular is a valuable tool in the flexibility of your economy, as it allows you to immediately get whatever resources you need.

Timber will be the primary requirement for increasing your Wealth income. Markets require Timber; Caravans require Timber and Food. Temples give you a one-time bonus of Wealth, but this bonus is usually somewhat less than the current price Timber will sell for at the Market.

The last information you'll need to know about increasing your Wealth income is that Caravan trade route profit is based partially on how many buildings are at each of the two Cities. This means that once a trade route is established each building created at that City will increase the income brought in by the trade route.


 Metal


Metal will come into play after Classical Age is reached and is necessary for heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, and many post-Industrial Age military vehicles. Forts and military techs at the Library also require Metal. Even if you plan on doing an economic boom, it's generally a good idea to put some resources into collecting Metal, since it's usually great to sell for Wealth (which will let you create more Scholars). Check prices though, as Metal can get so cheap it's not worth selling.

Later in the game, you'll need Metal for almost any military strategy you choose, so be sure to mine each of the mountains in your territory by the time you hit Industrial Age - you'll want it for the Tanks and Airplanes, among other things.

A moderate amount of Timber is necessary to create a Mine, and then you must use Food to create the Citizens necessary to work the mine. Building Smelters costs Food and Timber and will increase the gather rate of any Mines within that City's radius.


 Oil


Once you hit Industrial Age, one of your first priorities should be constructing Oil Wells at most, if not all of the oil patches in your territory. Oil is necessary for the last two age advancements and many important military units and buildings, not to mention Nuclear Missiles once you reach Modern Age.

Oil tends to be very limited in quantity and it's often a good idea to simply buy a large quantity of it once you reach Industrial Age. Even with Oil coming in at the Commerce Limit, buying more is often wise because there are so many powerful things to do with it.

Timber and Metal are necessary to construct the Oil Wells, and the ramping cost is pretty steep. You'll only need a single Citizen to work the Oil Well, but if your Food or Timber incomes are maxed at this point in the game (which they should be) you can simply pull an existing Citizen off of those tasks to make and work at the well.


 Knowledge


Knowledge directly affects how fast your nation will make advances. Most players agree it's the most important resource in the game. It's also the hardest gather rate to increase since Scholars require Wealth, and Wealth comes in slowly throughout the early parts of the game. This means that you should immediately construct Universities at each of your Cities once you reach Classical and you should attempt to keep your Wealth income high as well, to afford those costly Scholars.

An interesting way to save Knowledge costs is to research many Library techs before reaching Classical Age. Prior to Classical Age techs in columns 2-8 of the Library don't cost any Knowledge. On the other hand, the non-knowledge price is always much higher. For example, you can choose to research Commerce 2 in Ancient Age for a very steep Food and Timber cost, or you can research Classical Age earlier and construct two Universities. The one-time Knowledge boost from these two Universities will be enough for you to afford Commerce 2, even though it costs Knowledge. The first method often results in better Food and Timber incomes while the second method gives you a headstart on Knowledge income (while they were researching Commerce 2, you were going up an Age). It's debatable which method is better, though many experts feel that getting Commerce 2 in Ancient Age is the best way to go.

Wealth and Timber will be necessary to construct Universities, which allow you to create Scholars which gather Knowledge. Scholars cost Wealth and later in the game have a very steep ramping cost - your first 7 will be relatively cheap, but they'll keep getting more and more expensive. 7, of course, is the number of Scholars which fit in each University.

Supremely important in increasing your Knowledge income are the University upgrade techs such as Literacy. These techs increase the rate that each of your Scholars collects Knowledge, but will cost a lot of Timber to research. These upgrades become available as you research Science and Age Advancement technologies, so if you're trying to race through the Ages you'll want to plan ahead with that in mind.

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