9 Kings is a roguelike game that emphasizes forward thinking, strategic future planning, and efficient base management. With a touch of carefully balanced RNG to keep things dynamic, the game features a diverse cast of kings and offers enough build variety to satisfy any roguelike enthusiast for extended periods.While
gold might not be the most critical resource in the game, its strategic application can be incredibly powerful. Typically, gold is used to reroll card options and purchase cards from the shop. However, certain cards, like the "Mercenary" troop and the "Dispenser" tower, gain strength directly from the amount of gold you possess, adding an intriguing layer to its utility.
How Money Works in 9 Kings
Money in 9 Kings is a volatile resource; it's generally best spent as soon as possible. The game offers very little breathing room, and hoarding gold isn't a wise strategy when even minor advantages can significantly impact your run.
- End-of-Year Gold Gain: At the end of each year (i.e., after completing a battle), players will automatically gain +9 gold by default. This bonus is awarded even if an enemy breaches your defenses and you lose a life.
- Spending Gold: At various points in the game, you can spend your accumulated gold:
- Shops: Purchase new cards, troops, or towers.
- Card Rerolls: At the end of each year, you can spend gold to reroll the card options presented to you.
- Reroll and Shop Cost Escalation:
- The first reroll (for both card options and shops) costs 10 gold.
- Each subsequent reroll will cost an additional 10 gold.
- Similarly, the price of goods in the shop will also increase by 10 gold with each reroll.
How to Get Money Fast in 9 Kings
There are several ways to significantly increase your gold income in 9 Kings, primarily through specific cards and powerful Royal Decrees.
Gold-Generating Cards:
A variety of cards, including towers, troops, and buff cards, can award gold under specific conditions.
| Card Name | Card Type | Card Origin | Effect | Strategy to Gain Gold |
| Vault | Tower | King of Greed | Receive +3 gold at the end of every year | Place down as many Vaults as you can afford early in your run. Leveling up Vaults will further increase their gold yield, making them a consistent income source. |
| Midas Touch | Buff | King of Greed | When this troop kills, there’s a 2% chance to receive 1 gold | Apply Midas Touch to a troop card that boasts a high number of individual units (e.g., swarming troops) and deals decent damage. This maximizes the number of potential kills, thereby increasing the chance of gaining gold. Additionally, stacking multiple Midas Touch buffs on the same unit further increases the proc chance. |
| Mortgage | Buff | King of Greed | Destroy target plot to receive 30 gold for each level it had | Instead of using the well to simply discard unwanted cards, strategically place them on plots you don't intend to keep. Then, use Mortgage to "demolish" these plots, extracting 30 gold for each level the plot had gained. This is an excellent way to convert less useful cards or developed plots into quick gold. |
| Palace | Tower | King of Greed | Casts a ray that instant-kills the target. Golden enemies drop gold | This is the starting tower for the King of Greed. It provides a passive, albeit infrequent, income stream from "Golden enemies." Leveling up the Palace doesn't increase the incidence of Golden enemies, so its primary role for gold generation remains passive. |
| Scapegoat | Troop | Multicolored | Passive backline unit. If killed in battle, generates 3 gold per level | Best paired with cards like "Farm" or "Procreate" that increase the number of troops. By having more Scapegoats, you increase the likelihood of them being targeted and killed, turning troop losses into gold gains. Position them strategically to ensure they take damage if you want to exploit this. |
Gold-Generating Royal Decrees:
Beyond cards, players can also acquire powerful
Royal Decrees that augment gold gain in various ways. Royal Decrees can only be declared a few times per run, with opportunities arising typically after a handful of years have passed. These are game-changing and exceptionally powerful decisions.
| Royal Decree | King of Origin | Effect | Strategy |
| Loan | King of Nothing | Receive 99 Gold | Provides a flat, substantial amount of gold without any attached conditions. While not as complex as some other decrees, its immediate injection of funds can be incredibly useful for a mid-game power spike, allowing for crucial shop purchases or extensive rerolls. |
| Burglary | King of Greed | All Active troops gain 2 stacks of Midas Touch | This decree is exceptionally powerful if you have a large number of active troops performing well in battle. Applying 2 stacks of Midas Touch to all of them significantly increases your passive gold income from enemy kills across your entire offensive line. This can lead to a sudden and massive surge in gold over subsequent battles. |
| Insurance | King of Greed | Receive 1 gold for every 9 allied unit deaths | An incredibly efficient way of gaining gold, especially in builds designed around expendable units. It synergizes exceptionally well with troops that die quickly, such as the "Bomber," "Imp," and the "Pagoda." This decree also has a strong synergy with the "Demon’s Altar" tower, which summons one demon per level that grows 0.5% stronger for every slain ally, turning losses into both gold and power. |
Best Cards for a High Gold Run
When you're flush with gold in 9 Kings, it might feel daunting to spend it all. However, gold doesn't always need to be spent to be useful. Some cards in the game directly gain power based on the amount of gold you possess.
| Card Name | Card Type | Card Origin | Effect | Strategy |
| Dispenser | Tower | King of Greed | Single-target tower. Gains +1% attack speed for each 1 gold you receive | This tower is best deployed early in a run focused on gold generation. The more gold you receive throughout the game, the more powerful your Dispensers become. Players should prioritize placing down multiple Vaults to increase their passive gold income rate, directly fueling the attack speed of Dispensers. They work exceptionally well in conjunction with the "Insurance" Royal Decree. |
| Over-Invest | Buff | King of Greed | Spend 30 gold to increase every stat of a troop or tower by 15% | Best used on troops and towers that already have high base stats or have been significantly leveled. For instance, applying Over-Invest to a late-game Dispenser (which already has massive attack speed from accumulated gold) will provide an enormous stat boost, making an already powerful unit even more formidable. |
| Mercenary | Troop | King of Greed | Strong but fickle warriors for hire. You always have 1 unit for each 15 gold you own | While they aren't the most proactive way to spend gold (as you generally want to actively utilize your money), Mercenaries can be a decent option if you find yourself with an excess of gold and no other immediate high-impact melee options. They provide a passive scaling frontline that benefits from your wealth. |
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