Empires & Allies Neighbor Invasions: Everything you need to know

FarmVille, FrontierVille and CityVille are all about red hearts, sunshine and friendship. But Empires & Alliesasks, "What about beating friends to a bloody pulp?" Finally, instead of helping our friends we can hurt them just as easily. Welcome to Neighbor Invasions. This is your chance to finally be the bad guy for once, and we have a full guide on how to be the biggest, baddest Neighbor around.

Before we get into mechanics, just make sure you're at least Level 6 before trying this out. When you reach Level 6 (and if you've followed all the Goals until this point), you will be tasked with a Goal titled "Invasion Bound." This is where the good stuff, the meat and potatoes if you will, of Empires & Allies lies.

Laying the Beat Down (Attacking):

To invade one of your friends Empires, just click on their name in your Neighbor Bar, click "Invade," and once you arrive at their Empire, choose a location to attack. The location of attack is important for two reasons: 1. the structures you attack directly effect your rewards like resources and coins--choose depending on your needs, and 2. some areas on your friend's map might be better-defended than others, so take advantage of that. 

Then, like normal combat, you must choose your method of attack from Air, Naval or Infantry options and then specific units to combat your enemy's. Pro Tip: Try zooming in on your Neighbor's map before choosing an attack location. This way, you can see which units they have defending which structures, and better prepare an attack based on your own arsenal. But back to the combat screen. Once you've (hopefully) defeated your opponent by choosing appropriate units and making smart attack choices, you will be declared the winner. 

Now, you have the option to both post the news to Facebook and send a 100-character taunt to your battered buddy. After you reap the rewards from your friend's Empire, which again depend on where exactly you invaded, your time in your friend's Empire is through. Well, at least for a day. You should also keep in mind that either helping or hurting a friend rewards you with Honor or Infamy, respectively, but also you cannot do both to a single friend in one day. 

Putting up the Gloves (Defending):

Don't worry, you do have the option to fight back when invaded. The process for defending your Empire is nearly identical, but the rewards are far more lucrative for a successful defense. Though, you won't exactly be prepared for what troops they've chosen, so it's best to create a large, varied force of units to defend yourself with. If you fail to defend yourself from an invasion, that player will be able to collect rewards from that invaded location every few hours until you do, so bite them back.

Gettin' to the Good Stuff (Losses and Rewards):

While you will receive bonuses for successfully attacking a friend, you will not lose anything for being invaded by a friend from the locations they attack. In other words, those rewards aren't stolen, but created out of thin air. (Ah, technology.) The same goes for rewards collected by invaded, undefended Empires. However, there is one thing to lose while in combat: units. Losing a Tank or a squad of Infantry in battle means that you will not be able to bring them onto the battlefield again. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep building units and maintain a nice balance of Air, Naval and Infantry units. 

If you want protection from invasion while you, say, sleep or go for a good old vacay, you can opt to go neutral for a minimum of 18 hours, which will prevent players from invading your Empire. However, going neutral will erase your current occupations and you'll have to start all over. But hey, there's no need to be a wuss--this is Empires & Allies, and staking your claim is half the battle.