Hello to you, fellow Gnomad! Are you ready to turn your rookie gnomes into seasoned veterans? You've come to the right place! This guide will take you through some of the standard methods of fighting in Gnomoria, as well as some more advanced techniques. The headers in each section have been provided here for quick reference.


Index

Choose Your Gods is where you choose the color of the god your gnomes fight for! It contains a handy color reference for statues, and will add a little immersion to your game. Lead was left out, but fits in between Iron and Tin. Feel free to skip ahead to 'Starting Military' if you prefer, you won't miss out on any military knowledge.

Starting Military provides three ways of starting the game militarily, and information about your first attacks.

• The Hired Mercenary Method
  
• The Militia Method
  
• The Procrastinator Method

Military Trajectory contains basic information about enemies, weapons, and armor, as well as information on how to plan your military progress.

• Enemies
  
• 1-Handed Melee Weapons
  
• 2-Handed Melee Weapons
  
• Ranged Weapons
  
• Other Attack Types
  
• Weapon Quality
  
• Armor Type
  
• Armor Quality - Light Armor
  
• Armor Quality - Heavy Armor
  
• Crafting Quality - Weapons & Armor
  
• Crafting Quality - Item Worth & Trade Value
  
• Key Stats

Perks as Traditional Classes goes over each perk as described in-game, from the wiki, and an approximation of the traditional class associated with each perk.

• Position Perks
  
• Formation Perks

End Military contains military setups for later game, after you have enough gnomes to fill out a full squad of Soldiers.

• Soldier Squad
  
• Training Our Gnomes
  
• Sniper Squad
  
• Weapons and Armor of Our Workers
  
• Robot Army
  
• Traps
  
• Return of the Procrastinator!

Traps, Tricks, and Treachery provides a few details on the tactics behind your walls, entrances, and mechanisms and how they relate to your military.

• Walls
  
• Brains, Not Brawn
  
• Run the Gauntlet!

Enter at Your Own Peril!

• Mechanical Wall Entryways
  
• Hatch Entryways & Handcranks
  
• One-Way Entries

Advanced: Early Training, Montage-style looks at the importance of training your gnomes early on with the Way of the Gnome perk for increased Dodge.

Advanced: Tanks & Variety looks at Tower Shield military setups, and briefly touches on how to add variety to squads.

• Tower Shield Squads
  
• Adding Variety

Advanced: Varied Squads & Unit Types goes more in-depth into Varied squads, and provides uncommon unit types and variants on them.

• Bruisers & Crushers
  
• Commanders
  
• Rogues & Covert Ops
  
• Scouts & Night Squads

Advanced: Golem Farms provides an overview of how to create a Golem Farm, and some things to consider before you make one.

• Golem Cores
  
• The Golem Farm

The final section is credits and thanks.

This guide is not intended to tell you how you must play, but is an accumulation of knowledge gained through failure and fellow Gnomads. Let's dive in.

This section is for anyone who wants to add a little immersive element to their game, or just a handy color reference sheet. Choose the statue color of the god your gnomes worship! I attributed each statue to a god, but this in no way reflects any outcome or lore of the game. Feel free to make up your own gods instead!

Here is an image with each statue placed and numbered in color order. Starting from the left, I placed a black-white color scale, then ordered according to ROYGBIV. Please forgive any failures in the precise color order, I eyeballed it to the best of my abilities.

BLACK-WHITE
1. Basalt - Wuzzle, God of Night
   
2. Iron - Shamwow, God of Warriors
   Lead (not shown) - Findle, God of Change
   
3. Tin - Bumper, God of Crafting
   
4. Granite - Yumpkin, God of Mining
   
5. Silver - Twinkleberry, God of Light
   
6. Platinum - Huffleplumpkin, God of Creation
   
7. Marble - Sockpopolous, God of Healing
   ROYGBIV
   
8. Copper - Doodle, God of Blood
   
9. Apple Wood - Roomba, God of Fertility
   
10. Sandstone - Razzledaz, God of Deserts
    
11. Pine - Cuddlyburr, God of Forests
    
12. Bronze - Onipony, God of Day
    
13. Birch - Fixizoozle, God of Animals
    
14. Gold - Robert Plant, Golden God
    
15. Malachite - Giggles, God of Goblins
    
16. Serpentine - Zafonoodle, God of Reptiles and Insects
    
17. Steel - Dave, God of War
    
18. Lapis Lazuli - Muddypuddle, God of Water
    
19. Bauxite - Boxen, God of Destruction
    
20. Rose Gold - Twinklenips, Goddess of Love

Your starting military is important as you will begin getting attacked in Summer Year 1. Mants will start spawning some time in Year 2. We need to prepare ourselves for these attacks. But how do we do that?

Let's begin by clicking the Military tab at the top of your screen. On the right side of the menu that pops up, click Uniforms. This is where you will begin tailoring your military into what you want it to be. There are 3 typical ways to start off your military:

• The Hired Mercenary Method
  
• The Militia Method
  
• The Procrastinator Method

The Hired Mercenary Method

The standard for most starting Kingdoms. When you start up any game, you'll spawn with 1 copper helmet, 1 copper breastplate, and 1 copper single-handed weapon. Click Stocks at the top of your screen to find out which weapon you have - sword, hand axe, or hammer. Once we know what we have, we can create a proper Uniform for our single Hired Mercenary.

To create the Hired Mercenary, create the following Uniform. Remember to choose the one-handed weapon you spawned with. Upon completion of our Carpenter workshop, create a wooden shield for our mercenary to defend himself with.


Next, click Positions. Create the following Position. The Disarm perk will mitigate the incoming damage against our semi-armored gnome. An enemy without a weapon is a substantially reduced threat.


Now click Formation. Create the following Formation. The Best Defense perk will increase our gnomes damage as we add more gnomes to the squad.


Finally, let's assign one of our gnomes to be the mercenary. Click Squads to create the following squad. When assigning your first gnome, find the ones with the highest skill level of the weapon you spawned with, then choose the gnome that would be least detrimental to your production.


It's important to keep your Military gnomes and your Worker gnomes seperate. Create a Soldier profession for all your Military gnomes, checking Horticulture, Woodcutting, Mining, Farming, and Hauling. Horticulture and Farming increase Nimbleness, Woodcutting slightly increases axe skill, Mining slightly increases hammer skill, and Hauling for cleaning up.


Benefits: By creating one armored gnome, we can at least put up a fight against our stronger enemies.

Downsides: Potentially one less gnome geared for early production, and a possible loss of a skilled laborer. Still might not be enough to defeat our enemies. We may need to supplement our Mercenary with a Militia.


The Militia Method

The Militia Method is another common starting military, and is not mutually exclusive from the Mercenary Method. In fact, using the Militia Method is essential to keeping your worker gnomes from certain doom. By assigning our workers into a Militia, we can set them to run away from fights, but still survive should they get caught up in a brawl. Accidents do happen, let's minimize our losses.

Further uses and benefits of the Militia Method are expanded on in the Advanced Techniques, Early Training section.

To use the Militia Method (sometimes called the Monk Method when training early), we want to strip down our gnomes so they aren't wearing any armor or carrying any weapons. Click Military>Uniforms. Create the following Uniform.


Notice how they have no armor or weapons? This is to make sure we get ample use out of the Way of the Gnome perk, found in the Positions tab. The Way of the Gnome increases all our key stats when no weapons or armor are equipped - perfect for keeping our workers safe from harm. Create the following Position.


Now click Formations. Create the following Formation and assign your gnomes. We use the Keep Your Eyes Open perk because all others require a weapon equipped. The extra vision range will be helpful in the dark as well.


Benefits: Setting our workers to a Militia squad allows them to escape a fight, and survive for longer if they get caught up in one.

Downsides: None - use this every time. Gearing up all of your gnomes straight away with stone swords and wooden shields may seem useful, but the quality of those items are so poor, the risk of death outweighs any potential gains.

The Procrastinator Method

The easiest method - initially. The key to it? Do nothing! Don't even bother with the military! Whatever happens, happens! When we need to, we'll think of something.

This method is most used when you've already built a wall around your base before the end of your first Spring. A wall will keep all enemies at bay, so long as there is no direct route inside. If you do build a wall around your base, take note that most enemies will linger for about 3 days outside your walls. Be wary, though! Goblin Tunnelers can circumvent your walls, and you may end up with some Goblins in your mines. Be careful procrastinating - you never know what might make it through.

Benefits: Allowing your gnomes to free their minds of all fear is useful enough, right?

Downsides: Total annihilation. Worth it.

------

By choosing one, or incorporating parts of all of these methods, you'll be on your way to slaughtering with the best! But what happens when we get more gnomes? I want an army, damnit! Let's move on to the next section to see where to go from here. Setting a military trajectory can help you make important decisions while managing your Kingdom.

Your military trajectory should end with the highest quality of the weapons and armor of your choice. What you choose depends on the types of enemies you know you'll be facing, and the type of damage you want to cause/prevent. All weapons can be used to block attacks as well. Any blocked attack deals no damage.

The main point of deciding your trajectory is to place goalposts for your labor production. You can change your trajectory whenever you like, should you happen upon a particularly abundant ore vein, get enough of a certain hide, etc.

A typical armor quality trajectory goes Copper>Bronze>Steel for metal weapons and armor. For leather armor, a typical trajectory goes Non-Bear Animal Leather>Ogre Leather>Two-Headed Ogre Leather. Some trajectories only have 2 progressions, and others just go straight for the best. Keeping a constant increase in quality of produced goods will have you stocking only top-notch armaments for your squads.

Enemies
Wild Animals - will not attack ranged units, can be deadly to unarmored gnomes.

Goblins - susceptible to all weapons, varying levels of armor and weapons increasing with Kingdom Worth.

Mants - heavily armored, resistant to bleeding, weak to blunt damage (hammers, shields), no armor or weapons, increases number spawned based on Food/Drink stocks.

Ogres - heavily armored, resistant to blunt, weak to piercing damage (swords, ranged).

Golems - vary in strength depending on material, can not bleed, weak to slash damage, spawns on area of 1000 or more unstocked Dirt, Clay, Raw Stone, Blocks, Logs, Planks, Ore or Bars.

Monsters - skeletons and zombies are typically as powerful as a lesser goblin, spawns in dark -8 or below, zombies will infect gnomes causing them to become zombies after death

Beetles - susceptible to blunt, resistant to piercing, very resistant to slash, spawns in dark -10 or below

Spiders - spawns in dark -78 or below, most powerful enemy in game

1-Handed Melee Weapons
Swords - 68.33 slash damage and 100 piercing damage, increased chance to cause bleeding, defends every 4 sec, can Parry (blocks swing/thrust attacks)

Axes - 100 slash damage, increased chance to cut off limbs, defends every 6 sec

Hammers - 125 blunt damage, defends every 6 sec, blocks swing (not thrust), increased chance to knock enemies down or back

Shields -100 blunt damage, chance to knock enemies back or daze them, attacks as though it was a weapon

2-Handed Melee Weapons
Claymore - 84.166 slash damage (this damage type is done first) and 84.166 blunt (second) damage in a single swing, notably different than their 1-handed counterparts and other 2-handed weapons

Battle Axe - 200 slash damage, double its 1-handed counterpart, swings half as fast

Warhammer - 250 blunt damage, double its 1-handed counterpart, swings half as fast

Tower Shields - 200 blunt damage, increased chance to knock back or daze enemies, does more blunt damage than 1-handed hammers and provides more protection while adding unique combat mechanics

Ranged Weapons
Pistols - 0-5 Range, 1 hand, low pierce damage (150), fast rate of fire (6 sec)

Blunderbuss - 2-8 Range, 2 hand, high pierce damage (600), slow rate of fire (12 sec)

Crossbows - 2-16 Range, 2 hand, medium pierce damage (300), fast rate of fire (6 sec)

Other Attack Types
Fighting - bite (piercing), kick (25 blunt), punch (15 blunt)

Prosthetic Fighting - punch (15% damage of Hammer of same metal composition), kick (25% damage)

Brawling - blunt damage based on size of carried item, can be anything from soil to tables to severed limbs (read the combat log for some epic stories of gnomes losing their limbs then bashing the enemies brains in with it)

Weapon Quality
Worst to best:

• Stone - poor quality, don't use
  
• Gold, Rose Gold, Platinum, and Tin - all have their damage multiplied by .5, don't use
  
• Silver - damage multiplied by .75, don't use
  
• Copper, Malachite - damage multiplied by 1
  
• Bronze - damage multiplied by 1.9
  
• Lead - damage multiplied by 3.4, penalties to slash and pierce -20%, bonus to blunt +25%
  
• Iron - damage multiplied by 3.4
  
• Steel - damage multiplied by 5.2

Armor Type
Bone Armor - not worth it, use only for aesthetics/selling

Metal Armor - great against slash, decent against pierce, poor against blunt, slows down wearer

Leather Armor - great against blunt, decent against pierce, poor against slash

Armor Quality - Light Armor
Worst to best:

• Bone Shirt - poor quality, don't use
  
• Skull Helmet - same benefits as Tin helmet - best against slash, decent against pierce, poor against blunt, 425 sustain
  
• Non-Bear Animal Leather - same benefits as Skull Helmet/Tin armor, in reverse - poor against slash, decent against pierce, best against blunt, 425 sustain
  
• Bear Leather - same benefits as regular Animal Leather, but with 950 sustain (double)
  
• Ogre Leather - 2x as effective against slash as Animal Leather, ~2x as effective against pierce, and ~2x as effective against blunt, 1800 sustain
  
• Two-Headed Ogre Leather - 4x as effective against slash as Ogre Leather, ~3x as effective against pierce, and ~3x as effective against blunt, 4800 sustain

Armor Quality - Heavy Armor
Worst to best:

• Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Platinum, and Tin - best against slash, decent against pierce, poor against blunt, 425 sustain - comparable to Non-Bear Animal Leather, reverse slash/blunt values
  
• Copper, Malachite - same benefits as previous, 950 sustain - comparable to Bear Leather, reverse slash/blunt
  
• Bronze - ~2x as effective as Copper against slash, ~2x as effective against pierce, 2x as effective against blunt, 1800 sustain - comparable to Ogre Leather, reverse slash/blunt
  
• Lead/Iron - Lead and Iron are ~2x as effective as Bronze in all areas, 3200 sustain - no comparable Leather
  
• Steel - ~3x as effective as Bronze against slash and pierce, 4x as effective against blunt, 4800 sustain - comparable to Two-Headed Ogre Leather, reverse slash/blunt

Crafting Quality - Weapons & Armor
Worst to best:

Damage and Armor Health are multiplied by
• Poor - x .9
  
• Average - x 1
  
• Fine - x 1.1
  
• Superior - x 1.2
  
• Masterful - x 1.4
  
• Legendary - x 1.8

Crafting Quality - Item Worth & Trade Value
Worst to best:

Worth and Trade Value are multiplied by
• Poor - x .9
  
• Average - x 1
  
• Fine - x 1.5
  
• Superior - x 2
  
• Masterful - x 3
  
• Legendary - x 5

Key Stats

• Fitness - how long your gnome will fight and is included in 'Damage' formula; raised by mining (and raises mining), training, and real combat - especially in armor
  
• Nimbleness - increases dodge ability and move speed and is included in 'Damage' and 'Defense' formulas; raised by Horticulture
  
• Focus - raised by training and real combat, and is included in 'Miss' formula (along with weapon skill level)
  
• Dodge - raised by Nimbleness, perks, training, or real combat; can not dodge more than once every 1.5 seconds (unless Way of the Gnome perk chosen); if no open adjacent tiles, dodge rate goes down; slightly affected by heavy armor; included in 'Damage' and 'Defense' formulas

Exact values for Armor Qualities can be found on the wiki[www.gnomoriawiki.com].

This section is designed to incorporate the language from both in-game and directly from the wiki [www.gnomoriawiki.com]to clarify the perks, and includes an approximation of the traditional RPG classes that might be associated with each. It is listed first by the in-game description, then by the wiki, then class. The class listing is not intended to affect anything in-game or any lore, but provide a measuring stick to gauge whereabouts each perk is intended to help. I came as close as I could to accurate class descriptions. If you don't like any, feel free to make up your own.

Position Perks

Highlander

• Game: Increased 2 handed melee damage and chance to decapitate when no armor is equipped
  
• Wiki: Increases damage by 40%. It's supposed to triple the chance to hit the neck but looking through it I think that part isn't working
  
• Class: Barbarian / Highlander / Berserker - 2 Handed weapon specialty

Frenzy

• Game: Increased attack speed when wielding 2 weapons, but decreased chance to defend
  
• Wiki: Attacks 20% faster. Decreases defensive skills by 50%
  
• Class: Thief / Rogue / Berserker - dual-wield specialty

Way of the Gnome

• Game: Increased attack speed, attack damage, dodge chance and dodge rate when no armor or weapon is equipped
  
• Wiki: Damage is multiplied by 1 + Fighting skill divided by 25. Attack speed is increased by Fighting skill %. Dodge skill is multiplied by 1 + raw dodge skill divided by 200. Normally gnomes can only dodge every 1.5 seconds. WotG takes the adjusted Dodge skill from above and increases the dodge rate by the skill%.
  
• Class: Monk / Militia / Civilian - naked focus

Scout

• Game: Increased move speed and vision range with a torch
  
• Wiki: Moves 20% faster. Torches and natural vision light up an area with a 25% longer radius
  
• Class: Scout / Ranger / Patrol - move speed / line-of-sight focus

Guard

• Game: Increased block chance and rate
  
• Wiki: Adjusts Shield skill when blocking by 1 + raw shield skill divided by 200
  
• Class: Guard / Soldier / Tank - Shield specialty

Marksgnome

• Game: Increased ranged weapon range and accuracy
  
• Wiki: Increases max range by 50%. Decreases chance to miss by 20%
  
• Class: Sniper / Marksman / Ranger - Ranged specialty

Sharpshooter

• Game: Ranged damage increases with distance
  
• Wiki: Increases damage linearly from half max range to max range by 0-20%
  
• Class: Sniper / Marksman / Ranger - Ranged specialty

Finish Him

• Game: Target nearby fallen enemies and do additional damage
  
• Wiki: Targets nearby enemies with the Fallen Over status and does 20% bonus damage to them.
  
• Class: Crusher / Bruiser / Paladin - crippling focus: target

Knock Em Down

• Game: Higher chance to hit legs and feet
  
• Wiki: Increases chance to hit legs and feet by 50%
  
• Class: Bruiser / Bully / Crusher - crippling focus: fight mechanics

Disarm

• Game: Higher chance to hit hands and arms
  
• Wiki: Increases chance to hit arms and hands by 50%
  
• Class: Weaponmaster / Swordsman / Recruit - crippling focus: damage output

Aim for the Eyes

• Game: Higher chance to hit eyes with ranged weapons
  
• Wiki: Increases chance to hit eyes by 50%
  
• Class: Crossbowman / Sniper / Ranger - crippling focus: fight mechanics

Taunt

• Game: Nearby enemies have a chance to change target to you
  
• Wiki: Every 2 seconds, enemies within 5 tiles and has line of sight to this gnome has a 50% chance to change targets to this gnome. They won't change targets if they are taunted by a different gnome. Once taunted they wont change targets unless they lose LOS (either by obstacles or distance)
  
• Class: Tank / Soldier / Paladin - aggro focus

Commander

• Game: Target takes increased damage from other squad members when no helmet is equipped
  
• Wiki: Other squad members do 10% increased damage to Commanders target. (Max of 10% regardless of how many squad members are attacking target, thanks to Piratebear in comments for pointing this out)
  
• Class: Leader / Hero / Commander - support focus: damage increase

Survival Instinct

• Game: Increased move speed and dodge chance while bleeding
  
• Wiki: Dodge skill and move speed increased by 40%
  
• Class: Survivor / Wastelander / Scavenger - escape focus

Sneaky

• Game: With a melee weapon equipped and wearing leather or no armor, this gnome decreases enemy vision range and has bonus melee damage when target has a different target
  
• Wiki: Increased damage by 20% and enemies will only see this gnome if they are adjacent
  
• Class: Rogue / Thief / Blademaster - damage focus, threat avoidance

Conservationist

• Game: Chance to not consume ammo when firing
  
• Wiki: 50% chance to not consume ammo when firing
  
• Class: Sniper / Musketeer / Brigadier - Ranged specialty

Swashbuckler

• Game: Increased parry chance and increased pistol damage while in melee range
  
• Wiki: When defending with Sword (parry, block) Sword skill is adjusted by 1 + raw skill / 200. Pistol damage increased by 20%
  
• Class: Pirate / Swashbuckler / Captain - damage focus, damage mitigation

Formation Perks

Keep Your Eyes Open

• Game: Increased vision range for each active position
  
• Wiki: Each member adds 5% increased vision radius (max 25%)
  
• Squad: Patrol / Militia / Monk

Shield Wall

• Game: Increased block chance and block rate
  
• Wiki: Each member with a shield adjusts shield skill and block rate by 2% (max 10%)
  
• Squad: Tanks / Paladins / Soldiers

The Best Defense...

• Game: Increased melee weapon damage for each member with a melee weapon
  
• Wiki: Each member increases melee damage by 2% (max 10%)
  
• Squad: all Melee weapon squads

Firing Squad

• Game: Increased ranged weapon damage
  
• Wiki: Each member increases ranged damage by 2% (max 10%)
  
• Squad: all Ranged weapon squads

Fire At Will

• Game: Increased ranged attack speed for each member with a melee weapon
  
• Wiki: Ranged attack speed increased by 8.3% per member with a melee weapon. ex 4 melee gnomes increases 1 ranged gnomes attack speed by 33% and 1 melee gnome increases 4 ranged gnomes by 8.3% each.
  
• Squad: Varied squads

Suppressive Fire

• Game: Decreased enemy defense in melee combat for each member with a ranged weapon
  
• Wiki: Adjusts melee weapon skill by 8.3% per member with a ranged weapon
  
• Squad: Varied squads

Your ending military should make fighting the enemies at your doorstep simple. So where do we go from here? As our Kingdom grows, so do our options. We can:

• create a full Soldier squad
  
• train our Soldiers
  
• create a full Sniper squad
  
• equip our workers with better armor and weapons
  
• create a Robot Army
  
• create traps and mechanisms to do our killing for us
  
• keep doing nothing

Soldier Squad

Creating a single squad of 5 fully armored Soldiers can stave off any threat. I have had 5 Soldiers in full Steel take out wave after wave of Goblins, Ogres, and Mants with no loss of life. Let's create a Soldier squad now.

Create the following Uniform for your Soldier squad. Remember to choose the best type of armor you have available. Aiming for 5 fully Bronze armored Soldiers is a great start.

Next, create the following Position. Selecting the Disarm perk helps keep our enemies as harmless as we can get them.

Finally, create the following Formation and assign your gnomes to the squad. Remember to only assign gnomes you've given the Soldier profession to!

Benefits: This is the backbone squad of any Military in Gnomoria. You can create endless squads of these guys, as they are the brunt of your armed forces.

Downsides: It requires you to dedicate this gnome away from production. Aside from the loss of a laborer, this is the basic armed forces unit.

Great work! You're now set with a standard squad of 5 soldiers. We'll need to make sure they're proficient in their weapons and armor skills. To do this, we'll have to train them.

Training Our Gnomes

At a first glance, it may seem prudent to have all of our gnomes training. Increasing those skills can only help, right? We may think so, but having our Militia train at a Training Grounds for 8 hours a day detracts from their time working, leading to a less productive Kingdom. Once Winter hits, if we find our gnomes are idling, we can have them train during the season. Don't forget to take them out of training once Spring rolls around. For now, let's just train our Soldiers.

Setting our Soldiers to train at least 8 hours a day helps level their skills. Fighting real enemies levels it faster, but since there are lulls between attacks we can use this time to train. As a rule, I will have my Soldiers train for at least 3 years before I have them take on any real enemies. That's just me, you may feel they're ready sooner or later - it's entirely up to you.

Maintaining a good wall around your base will keep your enemies at bay long enough for your gnomes to train. Mining out a wall to let in Ambassadors, Merchants, and Gnomads is helpful, but remember to rebuild a wall in its place.

This topic is expanded on in the Advanced: Early Training, Montage-Style section.

Benefits: Bolstering the weapon and armor skills of your army is crucial. Don't underestimate the power of Training.

Downsides: To train any military unit requires a Training Grounds to be built, and 8-24 hours (depending on how many of the 3 available time slots you designate for a squad) of their time that isn't being spent patrolling, guarding, killing enemies, sleeping, or gathering resources. This shouldn't deter you from using the Training Grounds, as they are key to a well-prepared squad.

Sniper Squad

With a proper wall around our base, we can have our Sniper squad patrol the tops of the wall, spotting and killing any enemies in shot range. Let's create a Sniper Uniform, like so. Be sure to choose the weapons and materials you have available. For the Sniper squad, I recommend using either Blunderbusses or Crossbows for the range.
Next, let's create the Sniper Position. The Marksgnome perk increases our range by ~55%.

Finally we'll create the Sniper Formation and assign our gnomes. The Firing Squad perk increases our damage by 2% per squad member.

Now we have some Snipers to pick off our enemies one-by-one! Sweet!

Benefits: Ranged units are the unsung heroes of the fray, often one-shotting fully armored enemies given the proper equipment. Keeping a constant patrol of ranged units around the walls of your base staves off the need for training. By picking off the Wild Animals that spawn around your base, you're guaranteed full skill increases and a steady supply of meat, bones, and hides.

Downsides: Ranged units need to be quick to get in position and escape any charging enemies. Use leather armor.

Weapons and Armor of Our Workers

Equipping our worker gnomes with Leather Armor may prove useful late-game when you decide you want to leave your base open. Keeping your Workers in Leather Armor means they won't be slowed down by bulky metal armor. In this case, providing good quality Leather Armor and a Flintlock Pistol will give our workers a nice defense and offense, without disrupting the gnomes ability to work.

Let's go over how we might want our new Militia to look. Create the new Uniform, like so. Again, only use the items you have available to you.

Next, create the Position. Since our gnomes are no longer naked, the Way of the Gnome perk doesn't help us. Let's give them Survival Instinct to ensure a speedy escape from all baddies.

Finally, let's create the Formation and assign. The Suppressive Fire perk will be useful should our workers stumble on a fight.

Always seek to upgrade to the best you can! Equipping Soldiers with the best weapons and armor is key to your survival.

Benefits: Gives our workers more protection, at cost of Way of the Gnome benefits.

Downsides: Requires large amounts of leather, bars, fibers, and ammo.

Robot Army

Why have our gnomes risk their precious lives? Get the robots to do it! Once automatons are researched at your Tinkering Bench, you can create a fabulous robot army to do your bidding. Keep in mind that each robot runs on coal. Don't build more than you can supply!

The type of metal an automaton is made of decides the automatons starting skill levels, and thus subsequent power.

To create a Robot Army squad, create a new Position and give it the Militia Uniform you already have. Using the Way of the Gnome perk may give them the same boosts as your gnomes, though I have yet to confirm this. Your Robots can not equip any items, regardless of the Uniform you choose.

Next, create the Formation and assign. Staying with the Militia format, give it the Keep Your Eyes Open perk.
You've now got a Robot Army! You can set them to Train, Patrol, or Guard 24/7, as they do not need sleep. Don't forget to keep an eye on your coal supply!

Benefits: No threat to gnomes; automatons can be rebuilt

Downsides: Can't wield weapons or wear armor. Expensive repairs. Heavily coal-reliant. Stockpile extra.

Traps

This is gone over more in-depth in the next section.

Return of the Procrastinator!

As always, we still have the option of being a lazybones. Why not? We've made it this far. Quit bugging me, I'll do it eventually!

For now, let's move on to some alternatives to the Military panel.

Walls

Let's begin with walls. Properly walling yourself in is essential to maintaining a safe work environment for your gnomes. Make sure there are no direct routes in or out of your base, as this will be taken advantage of by your enemies. Until you research Mechanical Walls and Windmills, you'll have to mine a hole in your walls every time you need to access the outside areas.

When building your walls, consider how much land you need inside, and how far you want to see outside. You don't need to get the exact wall size you want to start off. You can always expand your walls after an attack, just make certain there are no holes by the next onslaught. Expanding to within 15 tiles from the maps edges can allow you to spot any enemies in the daytime (and any at night, provided you have built torches along the borders). This is much easier said than done on maps with elevated terrain, so don't try too hard to meet the maps extremes. Good line-of-sight is your primary goal.

Once you have the perimeter length you desire, you'll want to upgrade the quality of the wall. Using stone blocks of any kind will prevent goblin tunnelers from entering. If you'd like to use the wall as a walkway for a patrol route for your Sniper squad, keep your walls at a max of 1 block high. Gnomes can only fire at a 45 degree angle down, provided they have the line-of-sight. This gives any enemies spawning a serious problem, and a substantial gain for you. See here how well this setup works.

A horde of goblins and two-headed ogres spawned, and more than half got cut to ribbons without one fighting back. The Sniper squad patrol route runs around the entire base, allowing my gnomes to spot all enemies with ease. At each corner, a small stockpile of Ammo is placed for quick reloading. Spotting the Mant Scout every time makes late-game processor lag almost a non-issue.

As you can also see in the picture, I have a rail fence around the border of my base. The only entrance in the fence is by the entryway to my base, where I keep my Soldiers training. This means any enemies who want to come into my base have one point-of-entry, bottlenecking them to be slaughtered with ease.

Benefits: Walls protect you from your enemies. They can also provide a higher vantage point for general sight and ranged units.

Downsides: If you underestimate how long it will take your gnomes to finish, you may be faced with an invasion. Start small, expand immediately after a goblin or Mant attack (preferably both), and know your limits. Keeping an eye on your soil stocks for a quick wall will save you some trouble down the road.

Brains, Not Brawn

There is another method of surviving that does not require an armed squadron of gnomes! Using the miracles of science and engineering, you can create a nightmarish corridor fit for a horror movie! When your Engineer has tinkered out Mechanical Walls, Windmills, and Levers, you can kill groups of enemies in a single blow. By giving the walls around our base a 4 block width, we can snake a route blocked by doors and beset with traps. That right-most lever shown in the next section of this guide opens a pathway to my trap entryway, seen here completely open.

The green floor pieces are open Mechanical Walls, controlled by the adjacent windmills and Malachite Lever. When I open the trap entryway, enemies will pour into the corridor, all collapsing onto the single tile in front of that first doorway. You can see in the picture each pocket has a wall torch - so I can see in at all times, and a door - to collapse all enemies onto the Mechanical Wall. When you want to destroy your foes, have one of your gnomes switch the lever for a devastating effect.

You can now see how this looks closed. All enemies in front of a doorway when the lever was pulled are instantly crushed against the floor above. This method only works with a floor placed above, as seen in the picture with Sniper patrol routes. Alternatively, any enemies not crushed are now trapped between walls, dying either of thirst or starvation - brutal. It is worth noting that this method of killing does not discriminate. Workers, Soldiers, Merchants - all will be killed if caught in this death trap.

Run the Gauntlet!

To expand on the Crushing Trap method, some players like to create a Gauntlet for their enemies to run. This provides both a longer distance for gnomes leaving your Kingdom to travel before actually exiting, and a longer distance for your enemies to enter as well. The longer it takes a gnome to leave your Kingdom once a route is available, the more time you have to close it should enemies be rushing in. This can prevent unnecessary gnome deaths. A Gauntlet also provides ample area to place self-powered traps, and using a Rail or Picket Fence to snake a route allows your ranged gnomes to fire plenty of shots at your enemies (fences act as walls, but can be fired over). Here is an example of a Gauntlet and Crushing Trap used in conjunction with each other, floors hidden to show connections.


The innermost lever is used for the Crushing Trap, while the Main Entryway lever controls both the Trap Entry (Main Entryway), and the Trap Exit (Entrance to the Gauntlet). In the picture, you can also see crushed Mants from the trap.

Benefits: No Military requirement. You can have all the benefits of killing your enemies, minus the risk and the fighting skill levels.

Downsides: This one can be tricky. You have to know the approximate timing of your gnomes, and be certain none of your gnomes will try to leave to collect an item outside your base. As your Kingdom Worth increases, more powerful enemies will come through, breaking down doors faster each time. Practice will help attune you to how quickly your gnomes act, and how you should set up a Crushing Trap that works for you.

Let's look at some possible Entryways, and find one that works best with your playstyle.

Mechanical Wall Entryways

When building our entryway, consider what you'll need nearby. In the entryway provided below, we can see exactly how an enemy would enter. Mechanical walls require 20 power to function properly. Keep this in mind when building your entrance.

The lever to the left of the left-most malachite mechanical wall opens the main entryway. The lever to the left of the right-most malachite mechanical wall opens the trap entryway. Having both gives you more options to play with. Try out which you like. The trap entryway will be gone over next. For now, let's look at the main entryway.


The main entry goes into an anteroom with some visible self-powered traps blocked by a door. Doors must be beaten down by enemies, causing them to stack on top of each other to attack it. Once they break through, they're met by a few Steel-clad Soldier gnomes, training their faces off. The crates in the main room contain 120 bandages, perfect for any sustained fights. Behind them is a single crate of food and single barrel of drink. This simple method gives us complete control over when our base is open, and a secure way to handle it remaining open.

Benefits: A working mechanical wall entryway is paramount to any established Kingdom. Mining out and rebuilding our walls is unreliable in its speed. This method lets you control the incoming and outgoing traffic as you see fit.

Downsides: Any entryway you make will also be the exit for your gnomes. If you open your mechanical wall to let in a Merchant, an uncollected item outside your walls may trigger a gnome to collect it. If a goblin horde should spawn while you're waiting for that gnome to return, you may lose a few gnomes before you get that wall closed. More power-reliant; components must be researched

Hatch Entryways & Handcranks

A simple Hatch entrance can have its own upsides, though they may be hard to notice at first. Hatches require only 10 power to function meaning we can find some use for the Handcrank, which only outputs 10 power. In the example provided below, we can see the benefit of a simple Hatch entryway. This method can also be accomplished with 1 Handcrank, provided it is immediately adjacent to it.


Each Handcrank requires a gnome to be turning it for power, and this whole system requires 15 total power to perform. With 2 Handcranks, we can safely control entry and exit with complete accuracy. These 2 Handcranks (20 output) exceed the power requirement by 5, meaning an axle (1 power required) or gearbox (3 power required) could have been placed anywhere along that bridge.

The reason this works so well is the gnome turning requirement. Say a merchant has spawned with goblins lingering outside your base. You can set one gnome to turn the first Handcrank, outputting 10 power - not enough to power our system. Now you set a second gnome to turn the second Handcrank. A pathway has opened to your Kingdom, and both the merchant and goblins are charging in. It looks like the merchant will make it, but the goblins are right on his heels. If we had used a lever, we would have to wait valuable seconds after setting the job 'Pull lever' for a gnome to respond, then have to wait based on the gnomes Mechanic skill. Using the Handcranks, our system will immediately stop acting as a floor once we hit 'Stop turning crank'. This is useful also if you notice any worker gnomes rushing out to collect an item.

You can also set one Handcrank to be turned constantly, leveling the gnomes Mechanic skill (decreasing the time it takes to pull levers, reset traps, etc.). Furthermore, digging a pit below is recommended should you decide you want to trap falling enemies. The example provided shows a simple method, but you can absolutely expand to create Trickle Feeders (limiting your enemies ability to cluster), or trap pits where your enemies are imprisoned within line-of-sight of some Ranged gnomes.

Benefits: Increased response time of Hatch systems when used with Handcranks; can also be done with Mechanical Walls but requires 3 gnomes unless 2 Handcranks immediately adjacent; Handcranks level Mechanic skill; low power requirement

Downsides: 2 gnome requirement; still can fail if not timed right; components must be researched

One-Way Entries

A One-Way Entry is useful for pits, Trickle Feeders, dropping aggro, and unassisted entry into your base. It is helpful when making a One-Way Entry to keep a Training Grounds nearby, as it is at least partly contingent upon letting one unit through. Let's have a look at what a One-Way Entry might look like. The power source is from the Windmills behind the system, connected by 1 axle, totaling at 35 required power.


Here we see our Soldier gnome venturing back across with our Main Entry closed. The first Pressure Plate he stepped on was set to 'Engage When Pushed'. This means that the first pressure plate will engage all of the hatches (making them act as floors) when stepped on. The second Pressure Plate he is about to step on is set to 'Disengage When Pushed'. Setting it to 'Engage When Pushed' is useful for creating trap pits. Upon stepping on it, the second pressure plate will briefly cause all hatches to open (no longer acting as floors) into the pit created below. By default, unpowered hatches do not act as floors. Powering the hatches and leaving them engaged lets all enemies and allies know there is an available route in and out of your base. Let's watch what happens when a gnome tries to leave our base, in this instance to collect something from outside.


We see the gnome step on the plate, lose his available path, then head out to perform a different task. I call this 'the bounce'. You'll notice gnomes will cycle through bounces until the items are collected, however you still have a handy one-way route into your base. Warning: May cause crashes with merchants bouncing.

Let's look at what happens when a worker gets caught up outside. In this scenario, I had left my Main Entry open to allow my gnomes to collect some materials. While they were still collecting, a horde of mants showed up. I quickly set my Main Entry lever to be pulled. Will my gnome make it in time?


He heads across the Hatch bridge. Once he steps on that second pressure plate, all mants drop aggro and change pathing to head into the Main Entry (where my squad of Soldiers are training, now triggered by 'Defend gnomes'). Fortune has struck me today, as my Soldiers rush out to meet the mant army, now stacking on top of itself right on my Mechanical Wall Entry. A perfect opportunity to crush these 30+ mants all at once. Just 2 well-trained Soldier gnomes (the others were sleeping) and a few cleverly-placed mechanisms have won me the day - a perfect addition to any Procrastinators toolkit!


Benefits: one-way entrance into your base for select units; should an enemy make it across with several others behind, the ones on the hatches when they open will be dropped into the pit below; can be used with other entries for added effect; if placed properly you can create one-way exits as well, practically automating entry/escape from your base

Downsides: will let enemies through - have a Training Grounds nearby; other techniques may better fit your playstyle

You should now have a grasp of some basic entryways and how we can use them to our advantage. Let's move on to some more advanced techniques.

Do you have the eye of a tiger? Are you ready for the thrill of the fight? Can you rise up to the challenge of your rivals? You better believe it.

Training your gnomes early can give you a critical advantage to later stages of play. This technique would be done while you still have the Way of the Gnome perk given to your Militia gnomes. Remember: your Militia gnomes are also your worker gnomes. Don't train them too hard or they won't have time to sleep or work.

When training Military gnomes, they will gain boosts in the weapon skill of their opponent as well as the weapon they have equipped. Any spectators will gain small skill increases in the weapons of both sparring gnomes, as well as their own. For example, if a gnome with a sword (A) and a gnome with an axe (B) spar while a gnome with a hammer (C) spectates, they will all gain certain boosts. A and B will gain boosts to Dodge, Armor (if they're wearing any), Focus, Fitness, Sword (A will get a larger increase), and Axe (B will get a larger increase). C will gain boosts to Sword, Axe, and Hammer.

Since our Militia has no armor or weapons, spectators and sparring gnomes will gain increases to Fighting skill, however only the sparring gnomes will gain Dodge boosts.

The reason training your gnomes early (or at least training them before you give them any weapons and armor) pays off so well is because of the Way of the Gnome perk. The exact benefits are as follows:

• Damage increase - damage is multiplied by 1 + Fighting Skill divided by 25.
  Ex. Fighting Skill of 25 = 1 + (25/25) = 2x Damage
  
• Attack Speed increase - speed is increased by Fighting Skill in percentage points.
  Ex. 10 Fighting Skill = 10% attack speed
  
• Dodge Skill increase - dodge skill is multiplied by 1+ Dodge Skill divided by 200.
  Ex. Dodge Skill of 50 = 1 + (50/200) = adjusts Dodge Skill to 62.5. The higher the Dodge Skill, the more benefit. 100 Dodge Skill adjusts to 150. 200 Dodge Skill adjusts to 400. You can start to see the tangible benefits of this perk.
  
• Dodge Rate increase - normally, a gnome can only dodge once every 1.5 seconds. The greatest benefit of the Way of the Gnome perk is this increase. This perk takes the Dodge Skill calculated from above (including the increase from itself), and increases Dodge Rate by that number in percentage points.
  Ex. 100 adjusted Dodge Skill = 100% Dodge Rate increase, or 2x as fast (allows dodge every .75 seconds)

Benefits: Training our gnomes at a Training Grounds when they all have Way of the Gnome means they will be dodging each others' attacks at an increased pace. A gnome only levels their Dodge Skill when dodging, so this increased rate will help our gnomes boost that rate much faster than they would otherwise be allowed, without risking them in a real fight. This is the very essence of the Training Montage! The attack speed increase will level our Fighting Skill faster as well.

Downsides: If you don't have a proper grasp of how training works, this may lead to a serious decrease in production. Be sure to train your workers only in the slots you feel would harm production least. One 8-hour stretch is enough, and Winter is a great time to get any Farmers or Woodcutters training. Don't forget: your gnomes need to sleep, too!

Thanks to redditor gcook725 for helping clarify this section.

This section is intended for use once you feel comfortable knowing your gnomes' abilities, skills, and general combat. For new players, trying these techniques may be less beneficial or downright detrimental to your Kingdom when used improperly. Keeping that caveat in mind, let's look at some of the more advanced techniques you can use for your Military strategy.

We'll begin with a full squad of Tower Shields, then look at what a Mixed or Varied squad looks like.

Tower Shield Squads

Squads with Tower Shields are another core squad to the game. They are in the 'Advanced Techniques' section due in part to the sometimes varying degree of efficacy they bring, and the decreased total damage output.

The benefits of a 2H shield vs 1H shield are 4x block chance (saving gnome lives), 2x damage, and an increased knockback chance. Having a few gnomes trained with a high dodge chance will drastically reduce chance of damage or death. Remember: a blocked or dodged attack deals no damage!

To create a full squad of Tower Shields, click Military>Uniform. Create the following uniform. Remember to use the metals you have available to you.

Next, click Position. Create the following Position. You can see we're using the Guard perk. This maximizes the blocking ability of our Tanks, utilized to its fullest potential with a full squad of Tower Shields. When determining if a block is successful, a Tank with the Guard perk will have their block chance increased by 1 + the units raw shield skill, divided by 200. Example from the wiki[www.gnomoriawiki.com] - shield skill of 200 will be adjusted to 400 when determining if a block was successful.

The following perks may also be used to different effects:

• Taunt - 50% chance to taunt enemies within 5 tiles and line-of-sight. Occurs every 2 seconds. Your enemy will not change targets until they lose line-of-sight. This includes being taunted by other gnomes. Having multiple Taunts in the same squad reduces its effect, as it occurs every 2 seconds and taunted enemies can not change targets. However, if you have an army with multiple squad types (full Tank, full Soldier, full Sniper, etc.), this can be used to your advantage, as multiple groups of enemies will be taunted away from your other gnomes.
  
• Knock Em Down - increases the ability to knock enemies down.

Finally, lets create the full Tower Shield squad Formation and assign. Create a new Formation like so. You can see we chose the Shield Wall perk. This increases shield skill and block rate by 2% per squad member with a shield, totaling 10% to each stat. A welcome boost!

Benefits: full squad of heavily protected warriors, capable of either Taunting enemies away from other gnomes, or surviving lots of damage from multiple enemies. As stated earlier the Tower Shield provides 4x block chance, 2x damage (as normal shield), and an increased knockback chance.

Downsides: lower damage output than gnome with a weapon

Adding Variety

Now that we have our 3 main Military types (Soldiers, Snipers, and Tanks), we can add some variety to our squads. The example given is not the only one available - try out different combinations to see what works best for your playstyle. A Varied squad with a Tower Shield will make ample use of the Taunt perk. For any Varied squad with a Tower Shield, click Position and change the perk for your Tank to Taunt, like so. If using only 1 Tower Shield in your Leader Position, you may want to uncheck 'Assist Squad Leader' as it will be redundant.

Next, click Formation and create the following Formation. In this example, we chose the perk Fire At Will, increasing ranged attack speed by 8.3% per member with a melee weapon. Suppressive Fire would also work well, as it would adjust melee weapon skill by 8.3% per member with a ranged weapon. In this example, Fire At Will would work best if your Snipers were using Blunderbusses (reload time of 12 seconds), though an argument could be made that dual-wielding pistols might increase damage output by more. However, this is reliant on constant hits (no misses, no dodges), and close range (0-5 tiles) to the target.

Benefits: Mixing up the composition of our squads gives us control over the kind of military we want working for us. A single Varied squad might handle itself better against a group of goblins than an all-Soldier or all-Sniper squad. When training, a Varied squad will level the Weapon Skills of their current item and the item of the gnome they're sparring, even when spectating! Actual training increases these skills more than spectating, but is still useful to consider.

Downsides: If your Sniper gnomes are ready for a nearby battle, but your Tank gnomes are not, you may see some of your weaker military gnomes charge into the fray too fast. This is why Taunt can be a crucial perk to choose.

You can mix-and-match these 3 main types of military units to different effects. When you're comfortable with the basics of military strategy in Gnomoria, try out your own. You may find some of the other perks fit your playstyle better, such as using the Swashbuckler perk for your upgraded Militia gnomes, or the Sneaky perk (20% damage increase and won't be seen unless adjacent to an enemy) used with some dual-wielding, leather-wearing Rogues and a Tank or two with Taunt. Test what you works for you early-, mid-, and late-game. Taking note of which gnomes are dying most often when developing your squad will help you fine-tune your perfect strategy. Let's see what some of these Varied squads might look like.

Bruisers & Crushers

We'll begin with Bruisers and Crushers. These powerful gnomes charge into battle with a Warhammer, full metal armor, and 2 distinct perks aimed at knocking their targets down for the killing blow. These units are best used with a high level of the Dodge, Hammer, Armor, and Nimbleness skills, as they have no shields to block strong attacks. If you plan to create a Bruiser/Crusher squad down the line, pick out a specific set of gnomes early on and train them with the Militia/Way of the Gnome technique discussed in the Advanced: Early Training section. They will benefit from the extra Dodge you've afforded them.

Let's have a look at what the Bruiser/Crusher squad would look like. Click Military>Uniforms. Create the following Uniform. This is the uniform that will be used for both the Bruiser and the Crusher, despite being labeled only Bruiser.

The key difference between the Bruisers and Crushers lies in their Position perks. Click Position and create the following Position for the Bruiser. Note the Position perk - Knock Em Down. This increases the chance to hit legs and feet by 50%, knocking the enemy down.

Now create the Crusher Position, like so. Note the Position perk - Finish Him. This targets nearby enemies with Fallen Down status and does an increased 20% damage to them. These two perks work well in conjunction with each other.

Finally, create the Formation with the Best Defense perk and assign. You can have 3 Bruisers and 2 Crushers, vice versa, or place a Commander or Tank in the Leader position. We will go over Commanders next.

Benefits: Full squad of blunt damage, intended to quickly assassinate Fallen Down targets.

Downsides: No shields, requires substantial training before risk of death minimized

Variants: This squad type also works well with

• Tanks with Taunt/Knock Em Down
  
• Commanders
  
• Battleaxes/Claymores for extra chance to cut off limb/bleed
  
• Highlander perk for one or more members

Commanders

Commanders are a high-risk/high-reward unit type. Commanders are fully outfitted in your best armor, weapons, and shields - minus the helmet. This is because the Commander Position perk requires no helmet to provide up to 10% increased damage to your Commanders target from other squad members. These units are best used with a high level of Dodge, Shield, and Armor.

To create the Commander unit type, click Military>Uniforms. Create the following Uniform. You'll notice we've given our Commander a Tower Shield to provide some extra protection for our gnomes exposed head.

Next, create the following Position. We did not check 'Assist Squad Leader' as the Commander will be the leader of any squad. Other squad members should have 'Assist Squad Leader' checked to receive the increased damage bonus.

Benefits: 10% increased squad member damage is great, and may be worth the risk if our Commander has a high Dodge skill. Thanks to Piratebear in comments for pointing out damage is 10% max.

Downsides: No helmet equipped, chance for gnome death/damage bonus loss

Variants: This unit type also works well with

• Tanks with Taunt
  
• Rogues / any dual-wielding unit
  
• units with Highlander perk
  
• Immersion - what good army doesn't have a Commander?

Rogues & Covert Ops

Rogues are a fun, risky playstyle. They are outfitted completely in Leather armor (or none), and pump out tons of damage - so long as they aren't getting attacked. These units are best used with high levels of Dodge, Nimbleness, and a 1H weapon skill.

To create the Rogue unit type, click Military>Uniforms. Create the following Uniform. You'll notice we gave them a full Leather armor set and 2 one-handed swords. The key to these guys lies in their damage output, and the Sneaky Position perk.

Click Position and create the following Position. The Sneaky perk gives these gnomes 20% increased damage, and enemies will only see this gnome if adjacent. Tanks are practically required for a squad with Rogues.

Let's look at what a squad with Rogues might look like in a Covert Ops squad. Click Formation and create the following Formation. You'll notice we gave the Best Defense perk, and only have 'Perform Attack Orders' checked. This means this squad will only attack when we tell it to attack - useful for picking off specific targets. When this squad is ready, test it out on a few Wild Animals. Note how long it takes your Tank to get to a fight, and how long it takes the Rogues. You may want to change entries/exits or raise the Nimbleness of your Tank.

Benefits: High damage gnomes, really fun when it works

Downsides: Devastating losses if these gnomes make it to a battle without anyone to pull aggro, requires quality armor and weapons, recommended high Dodge level

Variants: This unit type also works well with

• any 1H weapon will do the trick, use what you prefer
  
• Best Defense Formation perk
  
• Disarm and Frenzy Position perks for one or more
  
• many Varied squad types can benefit from a Rogue

Scouts & Night Squads

Some players like to give their patrolling gnomes torches, as night patrols need good line-of-sight to do their jobs. Let's create a Scout unit type. These units work best with high Dodge and Nimbleness, as their primary purpose is patrolling your borders to spot enemies. If put into a patrol squad, the Keep Your Eyes Open perk works well with this unit.

To create the Scout, click Military>Uniforms. Create the following Uniform. You'll notice we gave them a Torch in one hand, and a Flintlock Pistol in the other. This ensures our gnomes don't needlessly charge into melee combat. This can also be set by checking 'Avoid Enemies' in the Formation tab.

Next, create the Scout Position, like so. You'll notice we gave it the Scout Position perk, which increases movement by 20%, and torch/natural vision radius by 25%. I've checked all options because depending on the squad, all have some benefit to this unit type.

A full Scout patrol Formation would have 'Avoid Enemies' checked.

You can also add the Scout to a Night squad, intended to seek out and destroy any enemies hiding under the cover of darkness. Let's take a look at an example Night Squad. You can see we have in our Leader position we have a Commander, supplemented by a Tank with Taunt. Next is a Rogue with Sneaky, a Soldier with Disarm, and the man holding the candle - our Scout. His increased vision radius and 'Pursue Lost Targets' checked in the Position panel makes this Scout gnome useful at finding an enemy wandering the darkness.

Benefits: increased vision radius for patrols, good movespeed to catch enemies

Downsides: not intended for damage output, does not benefit from Best Defense Formation perk, can be rendered obsolete with placement of enough Torches outside (and inside) base, provided you have line-of-sight

Variants: This unit type also works well with

• Survival Instinct on one or more of your patrols
  
• Tanks with Taunt
  
• Ranged unit squads

The Robot Army technique definitely has its upsides, but there are downsides, too. Any damage they take will have to be healed with an Armor Plate, making repairs expensive. Also, Automatons count toward your Population total, making any jumps in Kingdom Worth not as beneficial come the first of any season. But even before that, we need a Golem Core to build one in the first place!

Golem Cores

Just what the heck are they? These little guys are a key component to creating an Automaton. They've got an estimated 30-40% drop rate from Golems, which spawn on raw materials in excess of 1000. That's a lot of mats! To get enough to get the benefits of many Automatons, we're going to need a way to steadily pump out a few Golems.

The Golem Farm

A Golem farm is essentially a Stockpile (usually Priority 1) of any type of raw material. This includes Dirt, Clay, Raw Stone, Blocks, Logs, Planks, Ore, and Bars. Uncheck the item box in the Stockpile menu, or undesignate the Stockpile to create the Golems, provided the requisite 1000+ raw materials are present. See here a basic setup for a Golem Farm.

Note that the Stockpile holds only Soil, so easy to kill Soil Golems will spawn. Even being such easy targets, spawning too many might overwhelm an unlucky worker gnome who stumbles in to collect some of the now unstocked Soil. This is why placing a Training Grounds nearby with some more heavily-armored gnomes may be useful. In the picture, I've shown how my Priority 1 Soil Stockpile contains all of my Soil, and provided a Priority 2 Soil Stockpile nearby. This ensures quick collection once undesignated (or unchecked). If you don't have another Stockpile for your gnomes to deliver the Soil to, they may not go near the room for awhile. Suspending this second stockpile may be useful, however, as Golems need about 4 days to spawn.

Here are a few things to consider when deciding on how to make your Golem Farm:

• Golem Core material type directly correlates to starting skills/strength of the created Automaton. Steel Bar Golems are the greatest threat, but from what I've read don't provide enough benefit to merit stockpiling 1000 Steel Bars. Try out different types and check your Automatons stats after creation.
  
• Golems will not spawn on Stockpiles with unstocked materials in crates.
  
• Golems still can pack a punch. I tend to create my Golem Farms after I've outfitted my worker gnomes with Leather Armor. Should one happen in with reinforcements far away, I like to minimize risk of skilled worker deaths.
  
• Keeping track of just how much material you have on a stockpile will help limit the number of Golems that spawn.
  
• Golem Cores have a 30-40% drop rate, meaning to get 5 Automatons, you may need to kill 20+ Golems. Sometimes you may kill 10 and not even 1 Core will drop. Don't get frustrated.
  
• Golems only spawn between 6 and 16 tiles away from your gnomes, between 0 and 2 floors away. They do not need to be underground, and can spawn in the light.

Benefits: Golem Farms provide a controllable supply of Golems, to be used either for combat training your gnomes (if you feel your gnomes are up to the task), or collecting Golem Cores.

Downsides: Potential loss of gnomes (if too many or too strong enemies); Automatons are added to your Population limit (checked at the first of every Season against your Kingdom Worth); Automatons are expensive (lots of coal, healing requires Armor Plates)

In closing, I'd like to thank RoboB0b for making this great game.

Thanks to redditor Sprinket for the suggestion on making this guide. Thanks also to redditors gcook725 and UFTimmy for their suggestions on how to improve this guide. Thanks to user Piratebear in the comments for noting an incorrect percentage.

If you haven't already done so, check out gcook725's awesome Glassworks mod[forums.gnomoria.com], now available on the Steam Workshop!

If you noticed any incorrect information, have any suggestions, or simply want to comment, I encourage all constructive criticism to make this the best guide available.

All images placed within this guide were created by the author, using GIMP and/or Paint.

For a detailed guide on how to efficiently manage your first Spring, check out my Unofficial First Spring Checklist.

For a detailed guide on all things production, check out my Unofficial Production Guide.

For a detailed guide on how to mod your game with multiple mods, check out my Unofficial Multiple Modding Guide.

Finally, thanks to you, fellow Gnomad for reading! If you felt this guide helped you, rate it up for more visibility to help other Gnomads!