Hero Gear: Upgrade Priority and Practice
There is no correct build - priorities only fall out once your troop ratio and priority events are settled, and for most people the answer is one strong set. Includes the upgrade order, the Lv.39 Mithril sweet spot, and the XP reset trick.
The premise — there is no correct build
The answer to "is this path any good?" is always "is it good for you?" Priorities only fall out once your troop ratio and the events you care about are settled. And for most people the answer is "make one set strong".
This guide covers decisions, priorities and day-to-day use. For the system and cost tables — Enhancement, Mastery Forging, Legendary ascension — see the Hero Gear progression guide.
🧭 Two things to settle before anyone can advise you
① Troop ratio · decided around Gen 4–6 · if you never decide, you default to 50/20/30
| Ratio | Classes | Character · strengths |
|---|---|---|
| 50/20/30 | Infantry · Lancer · Marksman (all three) | The default — safe and balanced |
| 48/48 | Infantry + Marksman | Raw damage · Bear damage · Arena · joining rallies |
| 60/40 | Infantry + Lancer | City burning and defence (Ambusher hits enemy Marksmen directly) |
② The events you care about: combat and city burning (SvS Castle Battle, Foundry, Canyon Clash) vs Arena (ranking) vs the Bear (damage)
🎒 How many "sets" do you build? 1 set = 4 Infantry + 4 Marksman + 4 Lancer = 12 pieces
| Situation | What you need |
|---|---|
| Exploration · Arena | 5 heroes (2 Infantry · 2 Marksman · 1 Lancer) |
| Foundry · Canyon Clash | 1 set per march |
| Labyrinth, days 1 and 7 | Up to 3 marches = 3 sets |
✅ The recommendation — concentrate on "one strong set"
Even whales really only fight with their top 2–3 marches. F2P and light spenders fight with one, and everything else goes out as reinforcements — and your gear does not apply to reinforcing troops.
If Arena matters to you, add just the 5 heroes' worth (keeping your main stronger regardless). Three sets is a bad idea — Ton wasted Essence on sets he never used. The realistic answer: one strong set, plus a Marksman and an Infantry set later if you have room.
🧩 Stat mapping and the two schools
Health
Lethality + hero defence and escort health
| School | Method | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| A · extreme optimisation | Infantry = Health only, Marksman and Lancer = Lethality only. Leave the opposite stat alone (Essence 0–1, XP 0) | Pure combat — a clear edge in a straight kill race |
| B · balanced (Ton's) | Give the opposite stat something too (using the secondary stats on the Lethality pieces) | When you also want Arena and Exploration |
The skeleton is the same either way: Infantry = Health, Marksman and Lancer = Lethality. In the Arena, Headgear and Boots feed the same stat → if you are chasing ranking, level every piece evenly.
💱 The three currencies, and reforging
| Currency | Event points | When to spend it · behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Enhancement XP Components | none | Any time. Legendary (orange) pieces get a free 100% reset every 24h (Red pieces cannot) |
| Essence Stones | yes | During events only. Free from the Bear Trap. +10% per level. Reforging refunds only 50% → effectively forbidden |
| Mithril | yes | Red gear Empowerment (late game). 2 a week is all an F2P or light spender gets |
🎯 Upgrade priority 50/20/30 · the order follows your troop ratio
| Rank | Target · stat | Pieces | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Infantry Health | Gloves + Belt | Swap with Marksman Lethality if the Bear is your priority |
| 2 | Marksman Lethality | Boots + Headgear | |
| 3 | Lancer Lethality | Boots + Headgear | |
| 4 | Marksman Health | Belt + Gloves | ★ the answer to Ambusher snipes |
| 5 | Infantry Lethality / Attack | Boots + Headgear | Infantry live a long time and keep dealing damage |
| 6 | Lancer Health / Defence | Belt + Gloves | Last |
⚔️ Why "Marksman Health" is 4th
Every turn, every class attacks the enemy Infantry first. The one exception is the Lancer's Ambusher (Lv.7) = a 20% chance to skip the Infantry and hit the Marksmen directly. That is what makes 60/40 strong at city burning and defence. Turn it around: if you run Marksmen and the enemy runs Lancers, your Marksmen are the ones getting sniped → Marksman Health at 4th.
Do not neglect Lancers entirely, though — in particular, never skip the cheap defence and health research. · A 60/40 rally leader (Gen4+) puts Lancers above Marksmen. · A gap of 1–3 levels is recoverable, so do not stress about it.
🟥 Red gear — the order to do it in, and left/right stats
Unlocks at Gen 3–4. Left and right give different stats: left (Belt · Headgear) = attack / defence / attack, right (Gloves · Boots) = defence / attack / defence. Exploration stats are Arena-only. A milestone every 20 XP levels (20 · 40 · 60 · 80 · 100) → each one needs Mithril.
| Class | Order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry | Gloves Lv.20 → Belt Lv.20–60 → (Boots or Gloves Lv.100) | Gloves Lv.20 = +20% defence and health. The Belt is also health, so it comes before the Boots |
| Marksman · Lancer | Headgear Lv.20 → Boots Lv.60 (if you want health, Belt Lv.20 first = attack) | Lethality and attack first. Once one class is done, swap to the next |
⭐ The Lv.19 / 39 / 59 "sweet spots" — the single most useful tip here
The milestones (20 · 40 · 60) need Mithril, but everything between them (20→39) costs XP only. → Unlock Lv.20 (10 Mithril), then push to 39 on XP = the milestone bonus plus all the extra stats for 10 Mithril.
The next step (Lv.40) jumps to 20 Mithril, which is why you stop at 19, 39 and 59. Ton's recommendation: take every piece to Lv.39.
| Red target | Essence level required | Mithril (cumulative) |
|---|---|---|
| Gold → Red | Lv.10 | — |
| Red Lv.20 | Lv.11 | 10 |
| Lv.40 | Lv.12 | 20 |
| Lv.60 | Lv.13 | 30 |
| Lv.100 | Lv.15 | 40 → 50 |
💰 What Red costs in total Ton's rough estimate
| Unit | Mithril | Mythic Gear | Roughly, in money |
|---|---|---|---|
| One piece | 150 (10+20+30+40+50) | 35 | about $750 (Mithril alone) |
| One hero (4 pieces) | ~600 | ~140 | + ~2 million XP → €1,000+ |
| Three sets (a big whale) | ~800+ | a lot | ≈ €10,000+ |
Mithril is the real bottleneck — 2 a week for F2P and light spenders (Arena plus Labyrinth) → roughly 5 weeks per piece to Lv.39. Maxed Red is spender territory; the genuine F2P and light-spender goal is gold gear in the right places.
🪖 Secondary marches and the XP reset trick
⛔ Do not just smear Essence across your secondary pieces
Essence without XP does very little (a piece at Essence Lv.3 = 4.33% against Lv.1 = 3.66%). Do not spread across 3 marches — concentrate on 1.
Best value for extra Arena and Exploration heroes: Essence Lv.2–3 + XP Lv.20–40 (the sweet spot is around 40–50). For example Essence 2 + XP 40 = 26% against Essence 2 + XP 20 = 15% → 20 XP levels buy +10%, and they are cheap.
🔄 The XP reset trick (swapping per event)
Legendary (orange) pieces get a free XP reset every 24h. Right before a Castle Battle, reset the XP on your secondary marches' pieces → pile it into your main 3 heroes → put it back the next day. On a Labyrinth push day, do the reverse. (Red and Lv.100 pieces cannot be reset.)
🧭 Investment philosophy — gear follows you across generations
Hero Gear, Chief Gear, Charms, research and Fire Crystals stay valid as generations turn over → the investment compounds. Widgets and hero shards, by contrast, go obsolete a generation later → a real risk of wasted money.
On top of that: better gear → better Arena → more free Mithril → better gear again. Spenders should put money into permanent assets (gear, Fire Crystals, research) rather than widgets and shards.
✅ In practice
- Settle your troop ratio and priority events before asking anyone's advice · concentrate on one strong set (gear does not apply to reinforcements)
- Upgrade order: Infantry Health → Marksman Lethality → Lancer Lethality → Marksman Health → Infantry Lethality → Lancer Health
- XP any time (use the 24h reset on orange) · Essence during events only · never reforge Mastery
- Red: Infantry Gloves → Belt, Marksman and Lancer Headgear → Boots · the Lv.39 sweet spot (maximum value from 10 Mithril)
- Arena shop: skip the purple, buy the Mythic chest · Mithril packs (whale-only) are poor value — grind Arena and the Labyrinth instead
- No Essence-smearing on secondary marches · spenders should favour permanent assets like gear
Always ask yourself: "given how I play, which events I run and what I spend — is this right for me?"
Upgrade priority and day-to-day use only. For the system and cost tables, see the Hero Gear progression guide.
Ambusher Lv.7 and the 20% direct Marksman hit cross-checked against the One Chilled Gamer troop guide. Costs are Ton's rough estimates.