Playing 50/20/30: The Balanced Ratio
Why 50/20/30 (Infantry/Lancer/Marksman) is the standard opening build: Lancer heroes only pop from Gen 4 Renia. Hero roadmap Gen 1-11, Lucky Wheel gem budgeting, and the 'Infantry one level ahead' ladder.
One-line takeaway — Start with 50/20/30 (the alliance standard, all-rounder build). Lancer heroes only start popping at Gen 4 with Renia's kit, so specialising earlier means little. Heroes: the Lucky Wheel Lancer every 3 generations (Mia → Renee → Fred…) plus the Alonso–Gwen–Bradley axis. Gems: 70 spins per fortnight + VIP 9. Development: keep Infantry one level ahead. Decide between 60/40 and 48/4/48 around Gen 4–5.
※ Ratios are always written in Infantry / Lancer / Marksman order. 50/20/30 = 50% Infantry, 20% Lancers, 30% Marksmen. This article covers part 1 of Ton's ratio mini-series (50/20/30); part 2 (60/40 city burning) and part 3 (48/4/48) are planned.
The three ratios at a glance
| Ratio | Character | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| 50/20/30 | Game default · all-rounder | Everyone early to mid game. The alliance/state rally standard |
| 60/40/0 | Lancer focus | Players who love city burning and open-field fighting |
| 48/4/48 | Infantry + Marksman focus | Great arena heroes (Marksmen) + best for bear rallies. Ton's default recommendation for most players |
PROs of 50/20/30: all-round, and it never forces you to commit to a troop type. CONs: your chief gear, charms, hero gear and research spread across three troop types, leaving you relatively weaker than a "focused" account — concentrating the same resources on two troop types is precisely what gives specialised ratios their power edge.
Why you start on 50/20/30 — the Lancer hero generation problem
At the start of the game, most alliances and states ask you to join rallies at 50/20/30 (it is also the game's default). There is a structural reason too: Gen 1–3 Lancer heroes (Molly, Philly, Mia) are "generic" — they buff all troops with flat increases rather than making Lancers themselves outstanding. Even where Molly or Philly carry a "25% chance to deal 200% damage" style skill, it doesn't really pop yet given the stats and troops of those generations.
That changes with Gen 4 Renia: the 25%/200% skill plus a Normal Attack buff makes Lancer damage jump, and Gen 6 Renee is similar (Dream Marks plus a large damage increase with mark synergy). Lancer specialisation (60/40) only becomes meaningful from that point. Conclusion: 50/20/30 is the safest opening, and around Gen 4–5 you decide whether to specialise based on your playstyle.
Three variations (Ton's own experience)
| Ratio | When used | What it worked well for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 / 20 / 30 | Start onwards | Everything | The default |
| 60 / 10 / 30 | Gen 3–4 | Intel-mission bounties (very tanky beasts) · rally leading · city burning | Ton was still learning the game then — test it yourself |
| 45 / 10 / 45 | Later, still in use | Labyrinth (Lab) · solo marches · bounties · city burning | Ton's Labyrinth default. Heavy on Infantry and Marksmen |
⚠️ 45/10/45 ≠ 48/4/48
48/4/48 completely neglects Lancers — their stats can be terrible, because they exist only to raise Mia's skill activation chance and so strengthen your Infantry and Marksmen. 45/10/45 is different: you keep developing your latest Lancer heroes. Don't confuse the two.
Hero roadmap by generation (Gen 1–11)
The base formula — the Lucky Wheel Lancer every 3 generations
Mia (G3) → Renee (G6) → Fred (G9) → Karol (G12) → Estrella (G15), plus a few extra Infantry and Marksman heroes on top. That's the skeleton.
| Gen | Picks (🎡 = Lucky Wheel) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| G1 | 🎡 Zinman to 3★ (4★ if spending) · Molly (free) slowly · save your SSR shards for G2 | Zinman is weak in combat — construction cost/speed hero (whales only). Spenders: Jeronimo / big whales: Natalia. Gina or Bahiti by preference |
| G2 | 🎡 Flint · pour the saved shards into Alonso (widget Lv.2) | Alonso = best of his generation (bear, arena, solo march — works everywhere). Molly–Flint–Alonso covers all three troop types for 50/20/30 |
| G3 | 🎡 Mia (widget 4–6) · Greg is mandatory if you missed Alonso | Mia stays in your bear march until Gen 14 (2–3 years). Alonso > Greg (offensive lethality widget → bear damage). Logan = spender/rally-leader hero |
| G4 | 🎡 Lyn (for solo marches) only | Skip generation. Pass on Amos and Renia → stockpile shards |
| G5 | 🎡 Hector (widget Lv.2) · Norah to 4★ — strongly advised · Gwen to 5★ + widget Lv.4 | Hector = best F2P bear hero (only a 4★, widget-10 Jeronimo — big spenders — edges him out). His widget is garrison-only → Lv.2 is enough. Gwen serves until G7 |
| G6 | 🎡 Renee · (spare shards) Wayne | Skip Wu Ming (a 4★ joiner copy is defensible). Wayne ≈ Gwen but arrives 3 months later → Gwen first |
| G7 | 🎡 Bradley to 5★ — non-negotiable (widget a bit higher) · Edith recommended | Bradley serves for a very long time. Gordon = rally-leader-only, skip |
| G8 | 🎡 Gatot · Hendrik = joiner + arena (combos with Bradley) | Solo march and bear stay on Bradley. Sonya isn't worth it |
| G9 | 🎡 Fred · (optional) Xura | Skip Magnus. The real reason for Xura: the Xura + Hendrik + Bradley triple-Marksman arena comp (3 MM · 1 Lancer · 1 Infantry up front) |
| G10 | 🎡 Blanchette · Gregory is a good extra pick | Freya isn't worth it (you just got Fred) |
| G11 | 🎡 + Rufus (extra Marksman, long service) · Lloyd usable too | Every hero is good this generation |
⚔️ Practical march formulas (50/20/30)
Bear trap: Hector (or Jeronimo) + Mia + your best Marksman. Before Hector: Flint (a 3★, widget-2 Hector can already replace a 4★ Flint).
Rallies & solo marches: best Infantry + best Lancer + best Marksman.
Joiners: from Gen 6+ your state's offensive rallies will very likely run Marksman+Infantry (48/4/48-style) — rally leaders will want 2–4 Norahs per rally. If you want a rally slot, Norah at 4★ (joiner skill Lv.5) is close to mandatory.
Gem and shard management
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Lucky Wheel 4★ | 70 spins every two weeks (during King of Icefield, SvS prep or Hall of Chiefs spin events) — Flint, Lyn |
| Lucky Wheel 5★ | Bradley-tier heroes take 120 spins per fortnight ≈ 170k gems |
| VIP | Spare gems go to VIP → aim for VIP 9 by Gen 5. Once there, start with Hector to 5★ |
| The 5★ rule | From then on, only invest in heroes you will take to 5★. Exception: joiners you don't run in your main march stop at 4★ (Norah, Wu Ming) |
| Feasibility | Even a casually-played F2P farm manages one SSR to 5★ two generations out of three, plus the Lucky Wheel hero to 5★ every time. Ton's own path: carried-over shards → Gwen and Norah 5★, VIP 9 + $20/month → Hector 5★ |
Development principle — "Infantry one step ahead"
The turn mechanism is the reason. All attacks hit the enemy's Infantry → Lancers → Marksmen, each until it dies (exceptions: the Lancer Ambusher skill and hero skills like Wayne's that bypass or add damage). On 50/20/30 Infantry is your largest troop count — it lives longest and there is most of it — so Infantry gives the best return on investment.
- The ladder: Infantry one level ahead > Marksmen > Lancers — apply it to chief gear, charms, hero gear and research alike. Two levels ahead on Infantry is possible but barely noticeable.
- Charm example: Inf 7 → MM 6 → Lancer 5 → Inf 8 → MM 7 → Lancer 6 … and repeat. The order within a rung is a 2–3 month difference at most — just keep the ladder.
- Hero gear follows the same shape: Infantry red > Marksman close behind > Lancer one step below. F2P accounts don't need it perfect.
🐻 Variation — bear damage first? Put Marksmen ahead
If you don't care about solo marches or city burning and want bear-trap damage: run Marksmen one level ahead of Infantry, Lancers level with Infantry. City burning suffers a tiny bit; bear damage goes up. Same logic for widgets — bear focus: Gwen 6, Hector/Norah 2 · field focus: Hector 4, Gwen 4.
Research priority (F2P / low spend)
| # | Item | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deployment Capacity | More troops in whale bear rallies and attack rallies = rewards and contribution |
| 2 | Every cheap node | Grab all the easy points regardless of stat — a 5-hour node on any stat beats 30 days for a sliver of lethality |
| 3 | Infantry Health + Lancer/Marksman Lethality | The edge that comes after |
Low-spender tip: skip charm and chief-gear material packs and put the money into hero gear — it lifts arena and exploration (more rewards) and provides the Health and Lethality you are shortest of.
For reference — Ton's own account (not the standard advice)
Ton is currently running an experiment of his own: leaving his Lancers behind and concentrating on Marksmen (charms at MM 10–11, chief gear moving to MM T2 red while Lancers sit at T1 red / Lv.8). It's a test of the two-troop-focus power edge, and differs from this article's baseline advice of keeping the ladder.
Transcript corrections: Dinman→Zinman · ectctor→Hector (G5 Infantry) · Andri→Hendrik (G8 Marksman) · Zura→Xura (G9 Marksman) · booming→Wu Ming (G6 Infantry) · Fria→Freya (G10 Lancer) · Carol→Karol (G12 Lancer). Generations and troop classes cross-checked against whiteoutsurvival.wiki and other sources (2026-08-01).