01 The squad counter triangle
Every squad in the game is one of three vehicle types, locked in a rock-paper-scissors loop: Tank beats Missile, Missile beats Air, Air beats Tank — each for +20% damage into the type it counters. Game Rule
The single most important Armory decision is to pick one formation type and build it completely before starting a second. Splitting heroes, gear, and Military Bases across all three is the most expensive mistake in the game — dismantling starred gear to reallocate loses everything invested. Choose your type, then everything below follows from it.
02 Hero priority by type
The corroborated build order within each formation — invest in the earlier names first. Strategic Advantage
| Type | Counters | Hero priority |
|---|---|---|
| Tank | +20% vs Missile | Kim → Murphy → Stetmann → Marshall → Williams |
| Aircraft | +20% vs Tank | DVA → Lucius → Schuyler → Morrison → Carlie |
| Missile | +20% vs Air | Tesla → McGregor → Swift → Fiona → Adam |
// One thing people get wrong
Kimberly is a Tank hero, not Aircraft — and Williams and Stetmann are Tanks too. Build her on your tank squad, not your air squad. Verify In-Game
03 Gear priority
Each hero runs front-row or back-row gear:
- Front row (defense): Armor and Radar.
- Back row (attack & support): Railgun and Chip.
// Blueprints first, always
Spend Honor medals on Legendary Gear Blueprints before anything else — five legendary prints take a Level 40 piece to one star, which outweighs almost any other use of those medals. Ceramic and resource-choice chests are the trap. Strategic Advantage Full store logic lives on the Spending page.
04 Mason — the season's signature hero
Mason anchors Season 1. With Kimberly, he carries a season boost of +5% damage to monsters, and his UR transition requires Immune Protein from your Protein Farms. Current Season Structure
The promotion lands around Week 2: Mason must be 5 stars, the promotion returns him to 3 UR stars and refunds skill resources, and the Wall of Honor path (reach 160 with Mason, bank ~500k Skill Medals) reclaims roughly 1.6k of his fragments. Prepared properly, it refunds much of its own cost — so never panic-buy it. Full Mason Promotion guide →
05 Exclusive Weapons
Three hero-specific Exclusive Weapons arrive on a Season 1 schedule, each behind a seven-day pass: Current Season Structure
| Weapon | Type | Appears |
|---|---|---|
| Kimberly | Tank | Week 1, Day 4 |
| DVA | Aircraft | Week 3, Day 4 |
| Tesla | Missile | Week 6, Day 4 |
Buy the pass only for your primary formation type. Free-to-play players should skip the passes entirely — the weapons and their materials return through the off-season Black Market, so the seven-day window is never make-or-break. Full Exclusive Weapons guide →
06 The seasonal buildings that power your squad
Hero kits are only half of it — three Season 1 buildings decide how hard your squad actually hits. Current Season Structure
| Building | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Virus Research Institute | Raises Virus Resistance — the stat that gates all S1 combat | The most important building. Level 30 caps resistance at 10,000 (10,250 with the Weekly Pass) and unlocks Military Bases. Build it Day 1. |
| Protein Farms | Produce Immune Protein for VRI, bases, and healing | Up to 4 (a 5th with the Weekly Pass). Keep them at roughly equal levels rather than pushing one high. |
| Military Bases | +1% HP, Attack, and Defense per level for one vehicle type | Tank / Aircraft / Missile, max level 30. Unlock Week 3 Day 1, require VRI 30. Build your primary type first — never split equally. |
07 Infection & resistance
Virus Resistance decides whether your power even applies. Against an infected target your resistance must cover its virus level — if it doesn't, damage can fall to near zero regardless of your squad’s strength. Game Rule
Infection builds in stacks from 0 to 100, and the penalties ramp at thresholds: 20+ cuts damage dealt (~4–20%), 40+ raises casualties (~4–10%), 60+ makes troops carry more infection on the march, and 80+ lets troops infect enemies even in defeat. At 100 the stack is maxed and the debuffs are at their worst. Game Rule Stacks don’t fall on their own; an alliance member must treat them, at 1 Immune Protein per stack. Some servers also describe a base-explosion consequence at 100 — verify in your event interface. Verify In-Game Prioritize curing rally leaders before they reach Stack 20.
08 Profession: Engineer vs War Leader
Season 1 adds a one-time Profession choice. Current Season Structure
- Engineer — the right pick for most players. Faster builds and research, lower resource costs, and quicker Protein output, all of which accelerate VRI in the crucial first half of the season.
- War Leader — only for established HQ30+ accounts with T10 already unlocked and base development finished.
If you switch, do it after VRI hits Level 30 and only when your alliance is genuinely contesting Level 5–6 cities. Commander's Practice