Hero Recruitment
How Hero Recruitment Chests work — rotation, pity, F2P strategy via Intel Missions, and when Spenders should spend.
Hero Recruitment Chests are the primary way to obtain hero shards outside of Hero Roulette. Chests rotate on a per-generation schedule and are the main source of Mythic hero shards for both tracks. F2P relies heavily on Intel Missions as the free shard pipeline, while Spenders evaluate each Chest for ROI before spending.
TL;DR
- Intel Missions are your primary shard source — run them daily without fail; they accumulate into real hero investment over weeks
- Don’t spend gems on Hero Recruitment Chests — your gems go to Hero Roulette, which provides better shard-per-gem value for F2P
- Know when a new generation drops so you can orient your Intel Mission heroes toward the heroes you want
- Gen 2 heroes (Hilde, Zoe, Marlin) don’t enter Recruitment until Gen 4 launches
Intel Missions: your free shard pipeline
Intel Missions unlock at Town Center Level 7 and cost Governor Stamina (from your Storehouse). Each mission rewards hero shards — including Mythic shards at higher mission tiers. This is the most reliable F2P shard source in the game.
- Run Intel Missions every day — missing a day is a permanent shard loss
- Prioritize missions that target heroes you’re actively building
- Higher-tier missions cost more stamina but return more shards — upgrade your Storehouse to unlock them
- Mythic shard missions unlock as the server ages and higher tiers become available
Hero rotation by generation
| When available in Recruitment | Heroes |
|---|---|
| Gen 1 launch | Jabel only |
| Gen 4 launch | Gen 2 heroes (Hilde, Zoe, Marlin) enter Recruitment |
Gen 2 heroes are not available in Recruitment until Gen 4 launches. No new heroes enter Recruitment at Gen 3 or Gen 5 launch.
TL;DR
- Run Intel Missions daily regardless of spend level — free shards compound with your spending
- Hero Roulette is still a priority even as a Spender
When to spend on Hero Recruitment Chests
High value:
- New generation launch Chests — boosted rates on featured heroes
- Chests where the featured hero is your current highest-priority target and not yet in Roulette
Lower value:
- Off-rotation Chests featuring heroes you already have at sufficient star level
- Chests where the featured hero is already in Roulette
Pity system
Chest pulls accumulate toward a pity counter that rewards a guaranteed Mythic hero shard once it reaches the threshold. The counter persists — it doesn’t reset or expire, so every pull you make counts toward the next reward regardless of when you pull.
Intel Missions: don’t skip even as a Spender
Intel Missions unlock at Town Center Level 7 and cost Governor Stamina. Mythic shards are available at higher mission tiers. Running them daily is free hero investment that stacks on top of whatever you spend on Chests.
Hero rotation by generation
| When available in Recruitment | Heroes |
|---|---|
| Gen 1 launch | Jabel only |
| Gen 4 launch | Gen 2 heroes (Hilde, Zoe, Marlin) enter Recruitment |
Gen 2 heroes are not available in Recruitment until Gen 4 launches. No new heroes enter Recruitment at Gen 3 or Gen 5 launch.
How Hero Recruitment works
Hero Recruitment Chests feature one or more heroes at elevated pull rates. You spend gems to pull shards. Heroes rotate in and out of Recruitment on a per-generation schedule — newly released heroes are typically in Hero Roulette and event shops first, then enter the standard Recruitment pool when the next generation launches.
What Hero Recruitment Chests reward
Each chest pull can give:
- General Mythic shards — redeemable in the shard shop for any available Mythic hero
- General Rare shards — redeemable for any available Rare hero
- Expedition skill materials — used to level up hero Expedition skills
- Conquest skill materials — used to level up hero Conquest skills
General shards are the most valuable drop — they give you flexibility to target whichever hero you’re currently building rather than being locked to a specific hero’s shard pool. Skill materials from chests are a meaningful secondary source of upgrade resources, particularly for Expedition skills where demand is constant.