Minamoto Yoshitsune Talent Tree Build – Pairings, Equipment & Skills

Minamoto Yoshitsune is a legendary cavalry commander in Rise of Kingdoms. If you’ve just unlocked him and want to know how to build his talents, upgrade his skills, and discover the best commander pairings, this guide covers everything you need to get the most out of him.

Want more game tips? Check out our Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Rise of Kingdoms to get started.

Minamoto Talent Tree Builds

Minamoto Yoshitsune is a good early game PVP commander whilst also being one of the most barbarian fort commanders throughout the entire game. I’ve listed two builds below, one for peacekeeping and one for PVP. Switch talent trees accordingly depending on what you will use him for.

Minamoto Peacekeeping Build

If you’re using Minamoto for hunting barbarians and forts, this is the talent tree you’ll want to use. Prioritize maxing the Peacekeeping branch first, then pick up Rejuvenate in the Skill branch. After that, invest your remaining points into Undying Fury in the Cavalry branch for even more rage regeneration.

With this build, you’ll be spamming his powerful active skill quickly and taking down neutral units with ease.

Minamoto Open-Field Build

Minamoto does well as a PVP commander in the early game, especially KVK 1 and 2 when not a lot of good cavalry commanders are available. For PvP, the build below focuses on high skill damage and fast rage regeneration.

Feral Nature in the skill branch is a pretty standard pick for any commander with access to that tree, so focus there first. After that, pick up Emblazoned Shield and Undying Fury in the Cavalry branch to round out the build.

Best Minamoto Pairings

Here are the best pairings for Minamoto that focus on damage output. He works well with most cavalry commanders, but the ones below have the best synergy. Bare in mind for casual barbarian farming you can use him with any other peacekeeping commander.

Yi-Seong Gye (Best PVP Pairing)

Yi-Seong Gye is the king of skill damage, so pairing him with Minamoto offers a very strong early-game damage dealing march. You will have to wait a while until his Wheel of Fortune is available, but once unlocked you will be dealing tons of skill damage.

Cao Cao (Best Forts Pairing)

Minamoto paired with Cao Cao is arguably the strongest barbarian forts pairing in the game. Use this pairing whenever you want to take down forts quickly while keeping your healing costs low. Cao Cao is also available in the gold keys, so he’s fairly easy to skill up over time.

Explore Cao Cao Builds

Aethelflaed

Aethelflaed is a good alternative to Cao Cao if you’re not having much luck pulling him from chests. She can be skilled up through the Medal Store making her sculptures a lot easier to acquire. A great march for both forts and general barbarian farming.

Explore Aethelflaed Builds

Genghis Khan

Pairing Minamoto with Genghis Khan is one of the stronger early-game PvP marches. This combo deals huge skill damage, but it is definitely a glass-cannon pairing. Many players choose to skip Genghis since he doesn’t see much use past KvK 2.

However, if you’re a spender and can afford to invest in Genghis, Minamoto + Genghis can help you rack up quick kill points early on.

Minamoto Skill Levelling

As with all Rise of Kingdoms builds, maxing the first active skill should always be your top priority, and the same applies to Minamoto.

However, how far you decide to build Minamoto really depends on whether you’re a spender or not. Minamoto can only be levelled by purchasing the VIP bundles from the store, he’s effectively the original pay-to-obtain commander in Rise of Kingdoms.

He’s usable at 5111, which usually costs under $20. Of course, expertise is always the best option, but if you’re working with a tighter budget:

• 5515 is great for PvP

• 5151 is fine for barbarian farming and forts

Note: Normally, skill upgrades are distributed at random, but you can lock skills in place to control this. Check out our commander skill lock guide for more information.

Best Equipment For Minamoto

Below is the recommended equipment setup for Minamoto, broken down into different stages of the game. Your long-term goal should be to work toward the late-game gear, so whenever you manage to get the blueprints for those pieces, it’s worth crafting them as soon as you can. The equipment listed is ideal for a cavalry-focused setup.

Beginner Equipment

• Windswept War Helm (Helms)
• Windswept Breastplate (Chest)
• Vanguard Halberd (Weapons)
• Vanguard Greaves (Legs)
• Windswept Bracers (Gloves)
• Windswept Boots (Boots)

Mid-Late Game Equipment

• Abyssal Visage (Helms)
• Dark Lords Blessing (Chest)
• Heart of the Saint (Weapons)
• Gladiator (Legs)
• Iset’s Suffering (Gloves)
• Cloud Racers (Boots)

Late-Game Equipment

• Pride of Khan/War Helm of the Hellish Wasteland (Helms)
• Shadow Legions Retribution/Heavy Armor of the Hellish Wasteland(Chest)
• Sacred Dominion/Lance of the Hellish Wasteland (Weapons)
• Ash of the Dawn/Tassets of the Hellish Wasteland (Legs)
• Navar’s Control/Armband of the Hellish Wasteland (Gloves)
• Mountain Crushers/Boots of the Hellish Wasteland (Boots)

Accessories

• Lohars Bone Necklace/ Crimson Ring (XP)
• Call of the Loyal (mobility)
• Savage Totem (Peacekeeping)
• Ancient Stratagems (Forts)
• Mora’s Web
• Concealed Dagger
• Pendent of Eternal Night

Minamoto Best Formation

The Wedge Formation is the best for Minamoto when using him for PVP as it improves skill damage by 5%. Triple Line or Staggered will work for forts and barbarian farming.

How Do I Obtain Minamoto?

Minamoto can only be obtained by purchasing him directly from the store for $0.99. To level up his skills, you’ll need to buy additional VIP packs, which range from $0.99 up to $99.99. Reaching VIP 9 is required to unlock the final pack and expertise him.

He cannot be upgraded using universal legendary commander sculptures, making him a completely pay-to-play commander.

Summary: Is Minamoto Worth Investing In?

If you can afford it, then yes, Minamoto is worth investing in. He’s extremely strong in the early game and becomes a reliable barbarian forts commander throughout the rest of the game.

However, he’s only useful in PvP for the first few seasons, so if that’s your only reason for getting him, and you didn’t pick him up early, you’re probably better off investing your money elsewhere.

Want to compare Minamoto to other commanders? Check out our full Rise of Kingdoms Commander Tier List for rankings and comparisons.