Viking Rise best gathering heroes and gathering speed

Why the leading hero matters for gathering

A squad on its way to a Resource Point carries the bonuses of the hero at its head. Combat heroes bring skills that are useless while a squad sits on a wood node; gathering heroes bring skills that raise gathering efficiency instead. On a main account that difference is a few extra loads a day. On a farm, where gathering is the only job, it is the whole point of the account.

IGG made this split clearer in a 2025 update: the inherent skills of Gathering Heroes were changed from combat skills to skills that improve Gathering Efficiency. So the heroes the game marks for gathering really are the ones to send to the map.

Which heroes are good for gathering

Community tier lists keep naming the same gathering heroes. Ulf and Eugen appear in several of them as heroes whose skills help gathering — Ulf with marching and gathering speed, Eugen with gathering combined with a Porter role. Neither is a headline combat hero, which is exactly why they are cheap to put to work on resources.

Rather than chase one perfect name, open the hero list in your client and look at the role tags and skill texts. Any hero whose skills mention gathering, load or march speed belongs on a gathering squad. Save your strongest combat heroes for rallies and Niflungs, and let the gathering heroes run the map.

What raises gathering speed

• Hero skills — the leading hero's gathering skills apply to the whole squad while it gathers.
• Economy research — the economy branch is where gathering bonuses live, which is why farms research it first.
• Gathering boosts — temporary items that speed up gathering on all squads; they come from the bag and from the Tribe Shop.
• Settlement buildings — recent updates turned the Sif Statue effect into Resource Gathering Efficiency and made the Elven Spring add extra resources from gathering; check both in your settlement.
• Distance — a squad that walks less spends more of its time gathering, so nearby full points beat distant ones.

How to increase troop capacity for gathering

Players searching for how to increase troop capacity usually mean one of two things: how many troops a squad can take, and how much that squad can carry. Both show up on the squad screen before you send a march, so it is easy to check whether a change helped. Hero growth, research and buildings all feed into these numbers, and the exact contribution depends on your levels, so compare the screen before and after an upgrade instead of relying on someone else's figures.

For gathering, load is the number that matters most. Porters are the troop type built for carrying, so keep them in training on farms and put them into gathering squads. A squad that fills its load completely on a full Resource Point and comes straight back is the most efficient march you can send.

Levelling gathering heroes without extra work

Another 2025 change made gathering itself a source of Hero Experience. Heroes that spend their days at Resource Points now level up while they work, so gathering heroes on an active farm improve on their own. The more time their squads spend gathering rather than idling at home, the faster that happens.

Talents and skills still need to be spent. The Fbots Viking Rise bot has a “Commanders: XP, talents, skills” switch that handles hero experience items, talents and skills during its visits, so heroes on farms do not sit on unspent points.

A gathering setup that works

1. Assign gathering heroes to the squads that go to Resource Points; keep combat heroes for other marches.
2. Fill gathering squads with porters where you can.
3. Research the economy branch on farms before anything military.
4. Keep a gathering boost active during long sessions; Tribe Shop boosts cost no gems.
5. In the bot's “Resource collecting by squad” settings, give each squad a resource and a fallback, so the squad led by your best gold gatherer always goes for gold.
6. Turn on “Only full Resource Points” so every march comes back with a full load.

Keeping gathering heroes busy around the clock

The best gathering hero in the game earns nothing while its squad waits at home. The bot sends every free squad on each visit, switches gathering boosts on, buys boosts in the Tribe Shop with Tribe points and keeps porters in training, so your gathering heroes work day and night. The full mechanics are in the auto gather guide; how to make farms worth it is in Viking Rise farm accounts.