Unless your opponent is definitely inactive, always spy on an enemy before attacking them. Sending the correct hero will improve your chances of spying successfully. Tap on your name and change the original random entry to a meaningful name. Keeping the random name may mark you as an inactive player and cause more attacks. Also consider attacking players that still have their original names yourself, as they may be unprepared or inactive.
General Gameplay Tips
Upgrade your resource producing structures and storage as quickly as possible to level 5. Resume working on missions and the study requirements. You can not upgrade or construct 2 structures at the same time, you can quickly do some study, troop, and structure training at the exact same time. Due to the fact that it needs a lot of time to complete, constantly make sure study is continuous. Silver coins can be used to buy resource heaps. Just purchase them when they are actually needed to save coins for your heroes. Study Administration in the castle as quickly as possible. It will certainly permit you to have another settlement in your kingdom, and therefore enhance your resource gain. Each hero has a special set of special capabilities. Buy a hero that improves manufacturing and storage, and possibly defense to have as a mayor. Get a basic for your soldiers to enhance their stats. Invest silver coins on leveling up your heroes to enhance their bonuses. Unless your challenger is certainly inactive, constantly spy on an enemy prior to assaulting them. Sending out the appropriate hero will certainly enhance your possibilities of spying effectively. Tap on your name and alter the initial random entry to a significant name. Keeping the random name could mark you as an inactive player and trigger more attacks. Think about assaulting players that still have their initial names yourself, as they could be inactive or not really prepared.
Heroes
Each hero has a unique set of special abilities. Invest in a hero that boosts production and storage, and perhaps defense to have as a mayor. Also get a general for your troops to improve their stats. Spend silver coins on leveling up your heroes to increase their bonuses.
Resources
Upgrade your resource producing buildings and storage as soon as possible to level 5. Then, resume working on quests and the research requirements. Although you cannot build or upgrade two buildings simultaneously, you can easily do some research, building, and troop training at the same time. Always make sure research is ongoing because it requires a lot of time to complete. Silver coins can be used to purchase resource stacks. However, only buy them when they are really required to save coins for your heroes. Research Administration in the castle as soon as possible. It will allow you to have one more settlement in your kingdom, and thus increase your resource gain.
Various Tips and Tricks
Always upgrade your resource producing buildings as high as you can. The more you upgrade the resources, the more resources you'll earn per hour. Always check the Heroes tab for rare heroes to pop up. It's rare, but it is possible, that a three, four or five star hero will pop up every once in awhile. Your military is the key to dominating other players. If you are still building up your military to a competitive size, then when you get notified that an attack is coming your way, send your military out on a mission (especially on a mission to counterattack someone who is attacking you). Your only method of winning is to have MORE troops, especially as the attacker. As the defender, you have other methods of defense, but your troops are still the primary. Level up the castle to increase your militia size. Have more than one settlement and upgrade Counter-Espionage as high as you can as it allows you to detect spies or attackers, and thus to be ready for attacks. If you capture an enemy hero you'll earn more silver. Joining an alliance has all of the same benefits as having multiple settlements, except multiplied. You and your alliance members can send each other resources and troops, in order to back each other up, and even make plots to band together and take out other alliances' members one by one.
Battles...