Build the Formation First
Two survive. Three kill. All five work as one.
Formation rules
- Defence heroes go furthest from you so they take the first damage.
- Attack / DPS heroes go closest to you so they live longer and keep dealing damage.
- Whenever practical, build all five from the same faction. Faction deployment bonuses are worth more than randomly combining five individually strong heroes.
- Choose heroes you expect to keep. Constantly replacing a hero means fragments, skill books and equipment progress are stranded.
- Do not build three “okay” formations. Build one dangerous formation.
- Check formation power before you change the order. Move one hero, check it again, and keep the better result. It may take several attempts to find your strongest layout.
- If two layouts are close in power, test both against the same target with the same troops and compare the battle result. Power is a guide; actual performance decides.
What to Upgrade First
Spend resources in the order that makes the whole formation stronger.
Lock in your main five
Pick the faction and the five heroes you are actually going to fight with. Stop using premium resources on heroes outside that group unless they provide an account-wide utility you specifically need.
Stars / fragments - raise the five in stages
Keep the main five broadly even. Pick a useful breakpoint and take one hero there, then move to the next hero - for example: Hero 1 to 3★, Hero 2 to 3★, Hero 3 to 3★, and so on until all five are there. Then start the next round toward 4★. This gives the whole formation useful star/skill gains instead of leaving four heroes weak while one absorbs every universal fragment.
Hero levels
Keep the main five moving together. Your frontline cannot be twenty levels behind and still protect the damage line. If XP is tight, the five fighting heroes get it before anyone else.
Skills
For the main formation, upgrade the skills that affect troops or the whole formation before small personal-stat gains. The third skill is often the most important decision - see the next section.
Orange equipment
Get a proper orange foundation across the main five. Gear must match role: defenders need survivability; attackers need damage. Do not over-invest in temporary purple equipment.
Exclusive / special equipment - use the same ladder
Treat exclusive equipment like hero stars: upgrade to a sensible breakpoint, then move to the next main hero. Do not pour every universal exclusive fragment into one piece while the other four are sitting at their starting level. Once the important exclusives are established across the formation, begin the next upgrade round.
Promotion, advanced gear & mythic
Once the orange foundation is healthy, promote efficiently and keep the formation balanced. Do not create one monster gear piece while the rest of the formation is paper-thin.
The fragment ladder - one breakpoint at a time
Think in rounds, not favourites. Finish the current target across the main five before pushing the next big target.
Hero Fragments vs Universal Fragments
Use specific fragments first. Protect universal fragments for the moments that matter.
Hero-specific fragments
- Use a hero's own fragments first when upgrading that hero.
- They can only help that hero, so there is little value in hoarding them if the hero is a confirmed long-term member of your main five.
- If the hero is temporary or likely to be replaced soon, do not spend extra universal fragments just because you already have some of their own fragments.
Universal fragments
- Treat universals as premium flexibility. They can finish whichever main hero needs the next meaningful breakpoint.
- Use them mainly on your main/custom formation, not on secondary formations or collection heroes.
- Spend them to complete a star or unlock an important breakpoint - not to create a little progress with no immediate benefit.
The simple rule
Use the hero's own fragments first
Never consume universals for progress that hero-specific fragments can already cover.
Check the next breakpoint
Ask whether the universals will actually complete a useful star-up, unlock or strengthen a major skill, or materially improve a permanent main-five hero.
Use universals only when the answer is yes
If they finish a meaningful breakpoint for a long-term main hero, spend them. If they only move a progress bar, save them.
Return to balanced progression
After finishing the breakpoint, continue the round across the other main heroes - for example, bring each hero to 3★ before beginning the 4★ round.
Good times to use universals
- Finishing a main hero's next full star.
- Unlocking or improving an important third skill.
- Completing a major exclusive-equipment or hero breakpoint that materially benefits the formation.
- Finishing a small gap on a hero you know will stay in your main five.
When NOT to spend
- On temporary heroes, gathering heroes or Formation 2/3 while Formation 1 still needs them.
- When the spend does not finish a useful breakpoint.
- When you are likely to receive more hero-specific fragments soon.
- When a new seasonal hero is about to replace the hero you are considering upgrading.
- Just because you have universals sitting in your inventory.
The Third Skill Matters
Look for formation-wide value, not just a bigger number on one hero.
The third skill is often where a hero stops being “just another fighter” and starts improving the entire march. For your main formation, a troop-wide or formation-wide effect normally deserves priority over a small personal ATK/DEF increase.
High-priority third skills
Skills that improve your formation’s troop HP, troop damage, troop capacity, skill damage or another persistent combat multiplier. Seasonal heroes increasingly use these kinds of effects, which is why their third skill can change the whole formation rather than only the hero.
Lower priority when books are scarce
Purely personal hero ATK/DEF or a skill that does little for the role that hero plays. These still matter and you should eventually max the main five, but they come after the skill that makes all five heroes and their troops better.
Special Equipment - Upgrade It with a Purpose
Exclusive gear is not decoration. It should amplify the hero's job.
| Hero role | Standard gear focus | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Attack / DPS | Weapon → Helmet → Boots → Armor | Spend first where the hero actually wins the fight: damage output. |
| Defence / Frontline | Armor → Boots → Helmet → Weapon | The frontline's job is to stay alive long enough for the back row to work. |
Exclusive equipment priority
- Only spend meaningful exclusive resources on heroes that are staying in the main formation.
- Unlock the exclusive piece when it gives a meaningful improvement to an important combat skill.
- Use universal / versatile exclusive fragments on the hero with the biggest formation impact, not simply the hero you like most.
- When the exclusive bonus improves an important third skill, it can outrank another standard gear promotion.
How to progress it
- Unlock first, then raise in rounds. Take one main hero's exclusive to the chosen breakpoint, then move to the next hero and bring theirs to the same useful stage.
- A simple pattern is Hero 1 → target level, Hero 2 → target level ... Hero 5 → target level, then begin the next round. Keep the five useful rather than making one exclusive enormous.
- Make an exception only when the next exclusive level unlocks or substantially improves a major formation-wide skill.
- Reassess whenever a new seasonal hero permanently enters your main five. Do not keep feeding exclusive fragments to a hero you are about to replace.
- Never burn universal exclusive fragments on Formation 2 while Formation 1 still has a high-impact exclusive waiting.
30-Second Formation Check
Before you spend the next fragment, book or core.
Are all five from the same faction where practical, so the formation bonus is fully working?
Note formation power before changing hero order. Swap one position, check again, and repeat until you find the strongest arrangement.
Start with two defence heroes furthest from you and three attack heroes closest to you - then verify the order with formation power and combat testing.
Are premium fragments, books, orange gear and Power Cores going to the heroes you actually fight with?
Are you raising the main five to the same useful star breakpoint - e.g. each to 3★ before pushing the next round?
Have you used hero-specific fragments first and saved universal fragments for a meaningful main-five breakpoint?
Have you prioritised troop-wide / formation-wide third skills over minor personal stat gains?
Weapon-led upgrades for DPS; armor-led upgrades for frontline defence.
Is special equipment improving a hero you are keeping and a skill that materially helps the formation?
Are you moving through useful exclusive-equipment breakpoints across all five rather than maxing one item first?
If two layouts are close, test the same target with the same troops. Change one thing at a time and compare the result.