Getting started with heroes
What heroes are, how skills and ascension work, the generation system, and how to spend gems on Hero Roulette.
Heroes are commanders assigned to your marches. They don’t fight directly — they apply stat multipliers and special skills to every troop in the march. A stronger hero doesn’t just add a little power; it multiplies the power of the troops behind them.
TL;DR
- Focus shards on 2–3 heroes max — spread thin = nothing performs
- Max Hero Roulette every time — spend all gems on each rotation unless you’re actively saving for an upcoming generation
- Jabel is your free Day 2 cavalry hero; build him early, he scales well
- Gen 2 heroes (Hilde, Zoe, Marlin) are great early Mythic shard targets — they’re strong and arrive before Gen 4+ options are accessible
- Howard is excellent early game as a stackable defensive rally joiner — his shards drop from Bear Trap regularly; once you unlock a Mythic hero through Roulette you can pivot away from him
TL;DR
- Your hero roster is your biggest power multiplier — invest here before Governor Gear or Island buildings
- Max Hero Roulette every rotation — don’t let gems sit idle unless you’re holding for a new generation banner
- Amadeus (Gen 1) is a long-tail hero worth building early; he stays relevant as a joiner through Gen 3+
- Petra (Gen 3) Widget is multiplicative — the single best early spend ROI for rally leaders
- Vivian (Gen 5) is the highest-priority Mythic shard target — push to 4–5 stars even as a moderate spender
Two skill systems: Expedition and Conquest
Heroes have two completely separate skill trees. This is the most common source of confusion for new players.
Expedition skills — used in all combat marches (attacks, terrors, bear hunts). These are the skills covered throughout the hero guides. When guides say “invest in hero skills,” they mean Expedition skills.
Conquest skills — used only in the Conquest mini-game mode. They do nothing in normal combat. Don’t conflate the two when planning shard investment.
Rarity tiers
| Rarity | Color | Expedition skills | Notable feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | Blue | 1 | Basic; limited late-game value |
| Epic | Purple | 2 | Standard mid-game heroes |
| Mythic | Gold | 3 | + Widget (4th ability); endgame power |
Mythic heroes have 3 expedition skills instead of 2, and they unlock a Widget — an exclusive gear skill that provides multiplicative (not additive) stat bonuses. Widgets only activate when the hero is leading a garrison or in certain combat modes, not in solo attacks.
Ascension (stars)
Ascending a hero requires hero-specific or general shards. Each star level (1★–5★) has 6 tiers within it. New skills unlock at each star threshold; existing skills can be leveled up between star levels.
Total shards to fully max a hero: ~1,065. Free shard income is slow, so commit to a small pool of heroes rather than spreading thin.
The generation system
Heroes are released in generations. Each new generation is roughly 20% stronger than the previous. Generations also change which heroes are available and how roles are distributed.
| Generation | Approx. server age |
|---|---|
| Gen 1 | Day 1 |
| Gen 2 | ~Day 40 |
| Gen 3 | ~Day 105 |
| Gen 4 | ~Day 190 |
| Gen 5 | ~Day 283 |
| Gen 6 | Later |
Gen 4+ heroes are all Mythic rarity. From Gen 4 onward, every new hero has 3 expedition skills and a Widget.
Hero Roulette and gem spending
Hero Roulette is the primary way F2P and Spenders alike unlock and build heroes outside of events. The rule is simple: max it every rotation.
Each spin costs gems. The Roulette resets on a schedule — when it resets, unspent spins are gone. Sitting on gems while a Roulette rotation expires is a permanent loss of hero shards.
The one exception: if a new generation is arriving within the next 1–2 weeks, hold your gems. New generation heroes often appear in Roulette at launch or shortly after. Deploying a full stack of gems on the day a new gen hero enters Roulette is significantly more efficient than spending them on the prior rotation.
Outside of that window, max every rotation. Don’t bank gems speculatively — the Roulette is the best consistent shard source available without spending real money on packs.