Welcome to the Viking Online Strategy Guide. For detailed information on the statistics of every unit and spell in the game please refer to: http://swordsguide.wordpress.com/

Viking versus Viking is a very stable matchup so I recommend the following steps:

• Research Magic Upgrade 1
  
• Get your Workers up to 5 or 6
  
• Research Axe Throwers
  
• Build Axe Throwers and Workers
  
• Research Lightning Magic
  
• Research Rage Magic
  
• Research Magic Upgrade 2
  
• MAKE A CHOICE
  ----------- Get Berserkers if the enemy has a frontline with a small number of melee units
  ----------- Get Frost Hammers if the enemy has a lot of Berserkers or no front line at all
  
• Research Towers/Snowstorm/Magic3; Don't bother with Catapults as they are weak to Lightning.

Here are some additional tips regarding spell usage and the like:
You can counter Rage with Rage. Neither side will take damage but you can block their attack.
Building a Guard Tower will force the enemy to use Lightning on every Axe Thrower who climbs the Tower. Axe Throwers in Guard Towers are much more powerful than regular Axe Throwers. Lightning is effective at killing Workers who are in your field of vision. You can also chip away at the enemy's Axe Throwers, to do so, use on frontline Axe Throwers who are grouped with at least one other Axe Thrower in the same position, or on Axe Throwers who are in range to attack you and protected by melee.

Aztecs can be difficult to defeat. They have very fast basic units which can quickly reach your side of the map. Therefore it is best to rush building units, usually by making Axe Throwers after getting your Workers up to just 4. If their Dart Blowers are allowed to reach your Workers, the Workers will definately die. Generally it is best to rush a Tower once you get your units out, especially if the enemy is intending on doing the same.

Axe Throwers can beat Dart Blowers 1v1, but the poison will cause them to slowly die after the battle, so it is best to engage 2v2 or 3v3, so the last of your Axe Throwers don't get poisoned. Once you build a Tower, you will still want to make several units to protect it they can't solo the enemy.

To deal with Necromancers, Lightning Magic is a good early counter, you can destroy them before they summon any skeletons. If they have too many Necromancers don't do this. Lightning Magic is also good for killing Jaguars and weakening Sun Giants. This can also protect your Towers from Jaguar attacks when under construction.

To deal with Skeletons, you can research Rage Magic. If lots of Skeletons are attacking one of your Towers, you can Rage a group of units and have them destroy the lot. Late game you can use Catapults; they are much more helpful because Rage Magic is only effective when the Skeletons are bunched together in front of a Tower.

Berserkers are good to combine with your Axe Throwers if the enemy are making Jaguars. They are also needed to learn Heal Magic, which is one of your most helpful abilities. With Heal Magic you can Heal your frontline, as well as anything that gets caught in Poison Cloud. Rage is also helpful against Poison Cloud because your units can dash out of the area where the poison is and also I think that your units are invulnerable while in Rage form. Rage and Heal together are helpful against enemy Statues.

You will probably need to stop making Frost Hammers if the enemy can use Mind Control.
Use Snowstorm as necessary.

Remember that you can use the Thor's Hammer Ultimate. This deals area of effect damage twice (once in a medium area and once in a large area), then stays behind and counterattacks anything that hits it. It counts as a Tower which means it can prevent the enemy from using Boulder Ultimates against you. If you have a lot of units past your farthest Tower this is quite essential.

Generally against Chinese you want to open with Berserkers; they are effective early game against Swordsmen, Rocketeers, and mixtures of the two.

If the Chinese opponent is making Zen Masters, you instead want Lightning Magic and Axe Throwers. Have your Axe Thrower hit the Zen Master one time, then finish him with Lightning. Once you get 3 or more Axe Throwers in the same spot, you will no longer need Lightning to defeat the Zen Master and can just use your Axe Throwers. If the enemy has no units other than Zen Masters, you can block them with a Guard Tower, which they cannot harm by themselves.

Sometimes the enemy may use both Zen Masters and other units, like Swordsmen, at the same time; when this happens you want to time your construction of units like Bersekers to exploit the differences of the movespeed of the enemy units. The Swordsmen are faster than Zen Masters and will charge ahead until they are no longer protected by them.

Later on in the game you want Frost Hammers and Catapults. Frost Hammers give you area of effect stun and splash damage. This is fantastic for countering Swordsmen, disabling Terracotta Warriors, interrupting Zen Masters ability, and damaging grouped units. The best thing, however, is that Swordsmen who are stunned by Frost Hammers cannot deflect ranged attacks while they are stunned. This means that once you have a decent number of Frost Hammers, ranged units like Catapults and even Axe Throwers become much more viable.

Catapults are a great counter to Zen Masters, as their ministun can cancel their levitation trick. Also they are the most powerful unit in the game, and when paired with Frost Hammers are deadly. It is important to research Healing Magic so you can keep your expensive Catapults alive if the enemy chooses to use Arrow Rain or Terracotta Warriors on them. With Heal, the only thing that can harm a Catapult (if you have a proper frontline) is the Fire Dragon Ultimate.

One last note about Chinese: Pay attention to the spells the enemy uses and how many Buddhas they have. If the enemy has enough Mana for the Fire Dragon Ultimate, you will need Gold to rebuild your workers. Therefore, it is generally better to save Gold as opposed to spending it on the Level Three Magic Upgrade or the Hammer of Thor Ultimate.

Be sure to research all the Magic Upgrades. They are very helpful.

Often you will want to target enemy Workers with Lightning Magic. Lightning deals 70 damage and kills Workers in one hit.