The Ants: Underground Kingdom Guide: Tips, Cheats & Strategies to Grow Your Kingdom Fast and Build a Mighty Colony

The Ants: Underground Kingdom is the latest title from Seven City, a Hong Kong-based company who started being active in the mobile gaming industry less than a year ago. With 5 other games in its app portfolio that span across different genres, The Ants: Underground Kingdom stands as Seven City’s most popular game, banking well over a million downloads less than a month after its launch.

There are a plethora of base-building strategy games out there, especially on mobile. The Ants: Underground Kingdom sets itself apart beyond what the game’s title implies and offers a detailed and deeply strategic gameplay to match its amazing graphics. Base-building strategy game enthusiasts and beginners alike will certainly revel in new and exciting experiences as they grow and develop their own colonies and wage war against other insects and creatures as well as other colonies.

While The Ants: Underground Kingdom is surely enough an enjoyable and immersive adventure to dive into for everyone, it does require a lot of time and patience to fully experience and enjoy. Just like most strategy games, the world set before you in The Ants: Underground Kingdom is a treacherous one.

There is cooperative gameplay as alliances exist, and the competitive gameplay part stems not just between colonies, but between alliances as well. In essence, every colony around yours is considered an enemy, unless you are a member of an alliance and have your camp along theirs.

There are certainly a lot of mechanics and features to learn but The Ants: Underground Kingdom provides a very helpful tutorial and a help guide that makes the learning part easier. The controls and interface are very user-friendly as well. Learning all the basic is actually a lot easier compared with choosing and implementing a strategy towards your colony’s growth and development as well as long-term survival.

If you have just started running your colony in the game and would like to jumpstart on things and dominate the land, check out our The Ants: Underground Kingdom guide, as it has numerous tips and strategies you will need to outsmart and outlive your enemies!

1. Follow The Chapter Quests

The initial minutes of your dive into the world of The Ants: Underground Kingdom will be full of information absorption as you try to understand each new concept and structure that comes into play. Considering the tremendous pace of growth your colony will experience early on, it will likely become a bit confusing as what to prioritize next as several tasks are completed on new opportunities for growth and expansion become available. The Ants: Underground Kingdom makes it easy enough to lodge main tasks that are recommended for you to take on, and this comes in the form of chapter objectives that serve as your campaign quest.

You can and should deviate from the given chapter objectives at some point but for starters, it is best to adhere to the set of tasks. You can see one of the missions at the lower left side of the screen but if you tap on the exclamation mark to its left, you will see the complete list of tasks for the chapter. You do not necessarily have to accomplish the set objectives in a specific order. The chapter will be completed once you accomplish all the objectives. Rewards are earned from each objective you complete and more are provided if you complete the entire chapter.

Beyond having the chapter objectives serve as your initial guide towards progressing through your adventure as well as earning more of the resources you need to expand and develop your colony, the chapter quests very much center on upgrading the Queen, which is rudimentary to unlocking more structures and features. Focusing on chapter quests ultimately cause for expansion and you would want nothing more than expand your colony fast and efficiently early in the game.

Some chapter quests are not as straightforward, particularly structure upgrades that are dependent on other structures. This in a way forces you to perform some upgrades on existing structures, which may also involve building new ones as well.

The most critical mission stands towards the end of the 7^th chapter where you will need to upgrade the Queen to level 8. Doing so will automatically take down your newbies shield, which should last for more than 6 days since the start of your adventure unless you choose to attack another camp before then.

2. Always Multitask And Strategize On Development

The requirement to multitask is a fundamental aspect of every base-building strategy game. While it holds true that you have much liberty to play at your own pace and still make progress every step of the way, the presumption that all other colonies are working harder and progressing faster should very well keep you on your toes.

For one, there are players who started about the same time you did but some of them may be more experienced than you are and may find it easier to develop their respective colonies faster. On the other, there are players who started building their colonies ahead of you so part of your immediate goal is to be able to catch up to them.

In addition to the newbie peace shield, there are plenty of in-game events that can tremendously boost your progression early on. These perquisites, in combination with an efficient multitasking routine, will help you keep up or even overtake other colonies in terms of growth and progression. Multitasking in The Ants: Underground Kingdom goes beyond what can be monitored on the activity panel at the left side of your screen although the most important ones are there.

First off are the builders. You will only start with a builder but as you reach higher levels and create additional Worker Ant Nests, you can have a maximum of 4 builders to handle supplies and construction. Note that putting up a new structure does not count against the available builders you have. Each builder will only be occupied when they tend to upgrades of existing structures or in the process of supplying materials to the Feeding Ground or Leaf Cutters.

The idea early on is to adhere as much as possible to the required upgrades based on the campaign missions. At some point in your progression, however, you will begin to see notifications on the build icon at the lower right side of the screen.

Depots or storage structures for resources as well as extra copies of springs, woodlouse colonies, and the like will become available although will not form part of the objectives listed under the chapter quests. For efficiency, build whatever is available as soon as they pop up and upgrade some as well if you have extra builders.

The way you prioritize upgrades across your camp should be based on your availability and length of time spent online. If you are planning on staying online for long periods of time, going for upgrades that take relatively short times to complete are the best. Upgrades that take hours to be finished are always best saved for when you take time away from the game.

The Evolution Fungi serves as the research center or academy of the colony. This is where researches can be performed to boost the performance of your colony across various disciplines. The initial nodes to research on form part of the early chapter objectives.

As you make further progress, you will naturally have full liberty as to which nodes or sections to focus research on. This is essentially a preparatory phase for choosing the role you want to take. Classes are available for each colony in The Ants: Underground Kingdom and you will have to choose 1 of 3 classes once you upgrade the Queen to level 7.

Before you decide, make sure to click on each available group within the Evolution Fungi page. Some of the nodes down the line require a certain level of previous nodes to be researched first. Likewise, the items you can research also depend on the Evolution Fungi’s level, which means that you have to squeeze in upgrades for this important structure from time to time.

Underneath the builder and evolution activities at the upper left side of the screen is the march unit icon. These are the groups of armies you send out for a variety of reasons. Considering the other activities to monitor, this can be left not as fully utilized as the other two as sending out troops cost stamina and you would want to keep a healthy supply in stock for emergencies.

There is a quick shift of view from within your colony to the outside world that you can activate with the button on the lower right side of the screen. Once in the outside world, you can manually scan your surroundings for NPCs or resource spots or use the search button at the left side of the screen to automatically search for specific items.

Note that both creatures and resource spots in the outside world has levels. Some creatures require you to rally with friends to accomplish and you need to beat the lower level to challenge the next higher level. For the resource spots, higher level ones have more resources and take longer to empty out.

The Guardian Barracks, Shooter Barracks, and Carrier Barracks show a single ant icon at the left side of your screen if troops are available to train. Training should be continuous as well and you should not worry about training lower level units early on. With evolution research, you should eventually be able to mutate the lower level troops into their higher grade counterparts.

In addition to building new structures that do not reflect on any queues, there are also excavations you have to perform when an expansion becomes available. There are plenty of resources stashed that you can discover through excavating soil within your colony and it provides more open space for you to tidy up your camp’s layout and design.

3. Keep Your Colony Tidy

Relative to the above tip, keeping your colony neat and tidy forms part of your duties and responsibilities as its commander. As you unlock more space and build more structures, it will naturally lead to an unorganized camp where some areas are congested while others have so much open space. At some point, you will have a challenging time looking for specific structures you need to tend to, so as soon as you can, you should start keeping everything as tidy as possible.

There will be a lot of digging to do early on but some areas will be left for you to dig at your own time. As you sit idly waiting for queues to finish, you can tend to digging as much as you can to uncover treasures, new structures, or just more open space.

Once everything has been cleared up, it is time to rearrange your existing structures. Everything can be moved save for the Queen and the resource spots. Simply tapping and holding on the structure will initiate the action for you to move them about.

A common system commanders employ center around grouping related structures together. For resource spots as an example, placing their respective depots nearby is recommended. You can bundle together all 3 barracks and so on. Placing Worker Ant Nests at the center of your colony will generally make it easier for them to travel to places they need to be. Of course, as your Queen reaches higher levels and more buildings become available, retouching on your camp’s layout becomes necessary as well.

4. Join An Alliance And Stay Active

Alliances, guilds, factions, and similarly-named player groups have long become an essential feature common in online games. Though previously attributable only to MMORPGs and strategy games, alliances have become an important extension of every game’s social aspect, regardless of the game’s genre.

At this point, there is no longer a question of whether or not you should join one but rather, whether you should start your own or join an existing one. As alliances always provide tons of perks and rewards without much cost or no cost at all, it has become disadvantageous for any player to choose to be outside of one.

While you can still enjoy most games even if you choose to live outside of an alliance, the same does not hold in a base-building strategy game like The Ants: Underground Kingdom. As strategy games are often centered around battles between alliances more than skirmishes between players, it is necessary to align yourself with like-minded people to survive the harsh environments.

Fortunately enough, the alliance system becomes available in The Ants: Underground Kingdom early on and while some alliances may require approval prior to joining, some will readily welcome you with open arms. There is, of course, an option for you to start your own alliance but if you are a beginner and have limited time on your hands to fully manage at group of at least 50 people, then you are better off joining an existing alliance first.

One of the most important perks of being in an alliance is the ability to provide aid to one another as far as upgrades and researches are concerned. As an alliance member, the next thing you will see once you initiate a building upgrade or a research will be an icon to call for assistance from your fellow alliance members.

Every alliance member who sends help will cut down construction and research time. Every help you send contributes to earning you points that determine the salary you earn each day. Beyond activity, attendance and contributions also determine your salary.

There is an alliance evolution that can provide additional buffs for each member of the alliance to enjoy. Even if it is not a requirement, it is best to donate as much as you can to ensure a speedy progression of research and help strengthen your alliance further. Gifts also form part of the usual benefits you will regularly receive based on how active you are within your alliance.

Rallies are not important just to take on stronger creatures in the open world that are too strong for you as rallies can turn the tide of battle whenever you choose to invade another colony that is stronger than yours. In line with this, rallies are best coordinated with the alliance chat, so be sure to take an active role in providing help and engaging in alliance conversations.

5. Choose The Right Class For You

One unique element in The Ants: Underground Kingdom comes in the form of choosing classes to specialize in. Once your Queen reaches level 7, you will be made to choose from 1 of 3 different classes. Although you can switch classes later on, it can only be done at specific milestones with your Queen’s levels and you will have to start back at class level 1 again. As such, it is best to think thoroughly enough before deciding on a class to go with.

To be honest, there is no such thing as a best class in The Ants: Underground Kingdom. The Cultivator, Herder, and Raider each has its strengths as well as accompanying sets of limitations. What matters here is that you choose a class that best suits your preferences and play style considering the war ahead of you.

The Cultivator specializes in amassing resources. Choosing the Cultivator class unlocks a unique building called the Resource Processing Site, which can tremendously boost resource production as well as generate its own set of resources instantly from time to time. The Cultivator also has the innate ability to protect more of the colony’s resources from plundering.

Gathering Speed for Cultivators is increase by 50% and the load of troops gathering resources outside the colony is also doubled. On the downside, however, Cultivators have a 30% reduction in the troops’ attack power, defense power, and march speed when invading. This class is definitely best for those who prefer resource-gathering over combat and plundering.

The Herder gains access to a building called the Resource Channel, which can be an excellent support facility to provide resources to allies in need of it. The Herder boasts efficiency in generating honeydew, which is a vital resource, and gains 50% increased honeydew output from camp. Food supplied to troops cost 30% less and prices at the Ladybug Habitat are also reduced by 5%. The catch of choosing a Herder class comes from when you are plundered as twice as much resources will be lost. Troops that need healing also take 50% more time to fully recover.

Last, but definitely not the least, is the Raider class, which is most likely to be the most popular. Raider type colonies are built for specializing in plunders. An extra march unit is awarded to Raiders after unlocking the Special Raid Center, and this special march unit has boosted attack and defense stats, as well as the ability to plunder honeydews.

Ant troop load is also increased by 150% when invading and 40% of supposed casualties within the march are injured instead. Raider troops also heal twice as fast. For weaknesses, Raider class types have 30% less resource outputs and have 50% less troop load when gathering.

6. Venture Into The Outside World

Despite the overabundance of activities you need to tend to within your colony, it is an equally important aspect of management in The Ants: Underground Kingdom to venture through the outside world.

Although we have already touched on the marches available for you to perform actions such as attacking different creatures and gathering extra resources from resource spots, scouting the immediate surroundings can and should be the considerations for the initial and continuing developments of your survival strategy.

It’s basically predators and preys outside your camp and while you may serve as the former in some cases, you can be equally considered for the latter regardless of how strong you have grown your colony. To a great extent, being in an alliance wards of some threats against your colony’s survival but as bigger and more powerful, or even more tactically organized also exist, then there is no guaranteed refuge from potential invaders.

Whenever you leave the colony to scout across the immediate vicinity, you should always check on surrounding colonies and keep an eye out for the more active ones. Some colonies may have lower level queens than yours but may still have more resources, power, or both tucked within.

If you start eyeing for potential targets to invade for when you are ready, it is always best to consider those colonies that do not belong to any alliance. If, for some reason, you feel compelled to take on an allied colony, you should have a prior discussion with it amongst your fellow alliance members as such will most likely trigger an alliance war.

7. Accomplish Tasks For Extra Rewards

In addition to the resources you earn for completing objectives from chapter 1 through chapter 7 of the campaign, there are plenty of daily rewards you can earn from completing task objectives. There are daily tasks and main tasks provided and both sets of objectives all fall within the usual set of activities you engage in every day. For the most part, you may find yourself accomplishing a couple or several tasks on the list but peeking into both lists and letting them serve as your guide is recommended.

Daily tasks are supposedly the easier bunch to accomplish and are reset every day. Activity points are earned for every objective cleared and points unlock various rewards at the top of the page. You can essentially consider daily tasks as part of your daily routine once you have grasped all the basic features and mechanics of The Ants: Underground Kingdom.

On the other hand, main tasks are like milestones or achievements you reach across every aspect of your progress in the game. Some of the feats laid out here are easy to accomplish, but more challenging ones typically take their place as you claim rewards for the existing ones.

Both daily and main tasks are an excellent source of additional resources. Despite being able to generate your own basic needs and the having troops that can gather resources for you, every bit of opportunity to gain resources is an opportunity that should not be missed.

8. Check Your Inventory Regularly

The leftmost icon at the bottom of your screen is your inventory and while it may often have an indicator on it, it is possible for you to neglect visiting it with all the things you need to manage within your colony and the battles and scouting to partake in on the outside world. While additional packs of resources are often best kept in your inventory safe and away from possible plundering, there are plenty of items you need to familiarize yourself with as well as items best used sooner than later.

Items in the inventory are divided into resources, speedups, buffs, and others. Diamond packs from the resources tab are safe to open as these can be plundered. As a special currency in the world of The Ants: Underground Kingdom, getting diamonds out sooner than later can help you save up for emergency needs. As for the rest of the resource packs, only consume them as a last resort. There will always be more to earn each day but you need to be certain that you budget everything for emergencies.

Speedups can be sued without visiting the inventory and while the general behavior towards it is hoarding as many and saving them for later, you should not hesitate to use some when needed. For us, the best way to utilize this is after the newbie shields go down, presumably after your Queen reaches level 8.

At this point, you will either have to choose to put up an 8-hour shield to extend the ceasefire period, or fully speed up upgrades so you will be stronger than most potential attackers. In any case, do not hesitate to speed up some construction and research processes especially if doing so will enable queues to be maximized. Using a 15-minute speedup, for example to finish one upgrade so you can lodge a 2-hour construction before you log out is a good call.

With regards to buff items, you may not be aware of some items you will find under this category of your inventory. You will most likely utilize an alliance teleport after joining an alliance. You will likely earn several 8-hour shields as well and you can save them for long periods of time you are offline and away from camp. There are eggs that you can hatch as well to recruit more ants and there are Kiwi Honeydews needed to level up your army of special ants.

9. Prepare Well Before Launching An Attack

Regardless of how strong you have built your colony and despite the number of potential colonies in the outside world that looks ripe for the picking, it is very important in The Ants: Underground Kingdom to come prepared before engaging in any aggressive act towards another colony. A lot of preparations must be done and double-checked before you consider to attack or even scout any enemy camp.

For starters, one basic necessity is to teleport you colony to where most of your fellow alliance members are. As no one will always be online and able to defend themselves from an invasion, having your alliance serve as next-door neighbors to keep watch on your home whenever you are around. Likewise, it becomes part of your duty as a member of any alliance to watch your friends’ back and provide support when needed.

One huge downer to keep in mind is that even if you are still protected by the peace shield if your Queen has not yet reached level 8 or if you are still within the 6-day newbie period, the shield automatically comes off even if you just peeked into another base camp with scouting. If you are not ready to open up your colony for potential attackers, then you certainly should enjoy the peace shields as long as you can, performing more upgrades and amassing more resources for when you are ready.

Certain structures within the colony like the Troop Tunnels and the Entrance should be upgraded enough as well to withstand potential invasions. Although your march units are automatically considered garrisoned at the Entrance, deploying them outside camp renders them unable to defend the colony.

10. Take Advantage Of Special Events

You can generate basic resources from within the colony as well as gather additional ones from resource spots scattered across the map. Chapter quest completions, the accomplishment of both main and daily tasks, and activities engaged in within an alliance give you more resources as well. Beyond all that, The Ants: Underground Kingdom hosts a plethora of events and benefits that can further boost your progression in your adventure, especially for beginners.

Both the Benefits and Events icons are located at the upper right side of the screen. Each one holds rewards you can claim by simply checking in while the rest of the added rewards can be earned based on how active you are. In essence, the events and benefits objectives work much the same as quests and tasks and directly relate to the usual activities you engage in on a daily basis.

One of the biggest set of benefits to earn come from the Planet Ant feature where you are given 7 days to accomplish various milestone targets that span for 5 days. Although you can only unlock each set of objectives on the day itself, reaching the targets before seeing the objectives or even days after the objectives are revealed will still earn you rewards.

The abundance of rewards to be earned here are generally more than the usual ones you will receive, which is why it is very important to push for progression and activity for the duration of this limited event.

Events are also provided within a limited period of time. Under the events page, you will see how much longer an active event will last as well as when the next set of events will commence. These events usually work like achievements in that the objective within each falls along specific sets of activities and the rewards are based on how far you progress through each activity.

There are certainly more secrets held within the vast world of The Ants: Underground Kingdom but for now, this is where we end our The Ants: Underground Kingdom guide. We certainly hope that you learned a lot from the tips and strategies we shared in this article. If you have spent enough time in The Ants: Underground Kingdom and have chanced upon discovering other tips or tricks you are willing to share, be sure to tell us about them in the comments below!