Tips and Cheats for Stronghold Crusader Game

Released in 2002, Stronghold Crusader remains one of the most exciting strategy games to play even today. Set during the Crusades in the Middle East, the game offers gripping gameplay, a challenging resource system, and a wide range of colorful characters. The immersive audio design also enhances the overall experience.

In Stronghold Crusader, you can choose from four different game modes. The first is the main campaign mode, featuring 50 missions that gradually increase in difficulty. Then there’s the historical campaign mode, where you'll complete 20 missions based on real events from the Crusades.

The third option is castle building mode, where you focus on developing your own kingdom on a designated map. Lastly, there’s the custom scenario mode, where you create your own maps, choose your enemies, and engage in battles the way you want.

Unlike many other online strategy games, Stronghold Crusader includes a feature that lets players help one another. You can either team up with others to defeat enemy kingdoms or ask for support to defend your own.

Despite its many strengths, the game isn’t without flaws. One of the most noticeable issues is the limitation on how many troops you can send into battle. Also, the graphics, while charming in their own way, now feel outdated compared to modern RTS games.

If you want to dominate every battle, you’ll need sharp strategy and good resource management. And if things get tough, you can always rely on a few cheats to help you out. Here’s how to use them.

How to Use Cheats in Stronghold Crusader

Real-time strategy games are exciting, but they often require patience to build a powerful army. If you’re eager to speed things up, Stronghold Crusader offers a few handy cheats.

Interestingly, instead of typing codes like in most games, you activate cheats here by pressing button combinations. These shortcuts can boost your money, kill enemies instantly, and more.

To activate cheats, press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and type TRIBLADE2002 without releasing it. After that, you can trigger different cheats by pressing specific key combinations.

Stronghold Crusader Cheats Using Key Combinations

Given its age, Stronghold Crusader runs smoothly even on low-spec computers. You can play it on any Windows system from Windows 98 up to Windows 11.

The basic system requirements are light: a 500 MHz processor, 96 MB RAM, 660 MB of hard drive space, an 8x CD-ROM drive, and a 4MB DirectX 8.0 compatible graphics card. Here are some useful cheat commands:

• ALT + X: Instantly increase your gold and popularity (highlight the gold-carrying person first)
• ALT + P: Raise your character's level
• ALT + C: Unlock all missions
• ALT + K: Destroy an enemy fortress
• ALT + Z: Eliminate the enemy currently selected with your mouse
• ALT + G: Destroy the main fortress or first building
• ALT + D: Activate developer debug mode
• ALT + S: Change the in-game time
• ALT + F: Make all purchases free
• ALT + Q: Speed up game time
• ALT + Y: Wipe out all enemies

Stronghold Crusader Cheats Using Glitches

Besides key combinations, you can also take advantage of glitches for a smoother path to victory. Here are two notable tricks:

1. Buy or Sell Items While the Game is Paused

Normally, when you pause the game, you can’t interact with the market or barracks. However, by pressing the P key while in these menus, you can freely buy or sell items even during a pause. This glitch saves you valuable time and keeps your economy running efficiently.

2. Stack More Archers in a Tower

Towers are key to defending your kingdom. Thanks to a glitch, you can pack more archers into a tower than the normal limit.

Wait until the tower is full, move the archers across to the other side, and press "Stop" when they pass over the tower. They’ll remain stationed inside, boosting your defense.

Tips for Playing Stronghold Crusader

As mentioned earlier, Stronghold Crusader places strong emphasis on individual units rather than mass armies. You can even recruit unique units like slave prisoners for different strategies. Here are some additional tips:

• Early Game Strategy

At the beginning of a match, quickly build towers and ladders. Once your towers are manned, destroy the ladders to prevent enemies from climbing up. Group farms closely together to maximize production, and renovate churches early to boost your popularity.

• Troop Selection

Horse archers are excellent for patrolling, as they can shoot while moving and are harder for enemies to hit. They also make effective bait to lure opponents into traps.

Arab troops tend to be stronger and cheaper than Crusader units. Combining Arab archers with torch units can produce deadly fire arrows, causing significant damage to enemy forces.

• Warfare Tactics

When attacking, target the enemy’s trading post first to disrupt their economy. Deploy assassin units to take down enemy leaders more easily. During enemy attacks, remember that the AI tends to focus on your leader, so use this behavior to set traps or mislead them.

Slaves are surprisingly versatile too. You can use them to shield more valuable units or set fire to enemy crops and buildings, creating chaos behind enemy lines.

Those are some of the best cheats and tips for Stronghold Crusader. Keep in mind, these tricks apply mainly to the early PC versions of the game.

If you’ve never tried this classic strategy game before, it’s definitely worth a shot , not just for its addictive gameplay, but also for the bit of history it brings to life.