T11 Helios & T12 Troops: Strategy Guide
Ton's T11/T12 philosophy: unlock order, what each improvement research actually covers, Steel management, why T11 at FC5 beats T10 at FC8, and the T12 skill stacking that changes rallies.
Bottom line — T11 is not a race to be fast, it is a race to be cheap. Push the training-cost and healing-cost reductions to Lv.5–6 first, then promote, and keep your speedups for the Research Center and Experts instead of burning them here. Also: T11 at FC5 beats T10 at FC8 — the stat panel the game shows you is not the number the damage formula uses. T12 flips the economics: once unlocked, improving it is cheap and fast, so taking one troop type to skill Lv.3 beats opening all three shallow.
1. What unlocks when FC1–5 → T11 / FC6–10 → T12
| Stage | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| War Academy built | Around Gen 5 · server day 220 | The building itself has to be levelled before research opens |
| T11 Helios unlock | War Academy research (FC1–5 window) | Unlocked per troop type |
| T12 unlock | FC10 + War Academy Lv.10 + that troop's T11 owned | Gen 10 era. T11 improvements are not required |
→ War Academy Lv.10 is not needed to start T12 research, but it is needed to finish the unlock. · Ton's guess: if the pattern holds, FC11–15 → T13 eventually. New buildings are probably 1–2 years out.
2. The T11 research tree the same shape repeats per troop
Two offense lines (attack · lethality) · two defense lines (defense · health) · march deployment capacity · rally capacity
Helios <troop> — one node that enables T11 training
Healing cost · healing time · training cost ← where the game is actually won
The three improvements do not cover the same things
| Research | Applies to | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Training cost reduction | T11 and T12 (on T12 it only hits the "T11 portion", roughly a third of the cost) | Top priority |
| Healing cost reduction | T11 only · up to 50% | Lv.6–8 |
| Healing time reduction | T11 only — does NOT apply to T12 | Skippable if you fight little |
⚠️ T11 improvements are brutal, T12 improvements are cheap — this is the whole video
Maxing a T11 improvement line costs about as much as unlocking a T11 troop type in the first place.
Healing Lv.8→9, one step: ≈850 Fire Crystals + ≈330k Steel + 11 days. And that is not even the last level.
→ The sweet spot is Lv.5–6. 6→7, 7→8 and 9→10 fall off a cliff. Get to 5–6 before you promote, then move on.
3. Managing Steel where most accounts get wrecked
| Player type | How low you can go | Why |
|---|---|---|
| F2P | 1–2 million is fine | Especially if you have not stockpiled research/general speedups |
| Low spender | Keep 3–5 million | More if you plan to spend more later |
| Mid spender · dolphin · whale | Do not exchange at all | Buying Steel is the worst value in the game |
Ton's own mistake
Moving from low spender to mid spender drained his Steel. The low-spender maths worked fine — until he started converting Fire Crystals in bulk and buying packs, and Steel became the bottleneck.
→ If you plan to increase your spend, bank Steel first. Natural income is ~60–70k/day; Ton sits at 7M after months of not exchanging. Maxing everything is ~40M Steel per troop type, which even whales cannot reach.
4. Which troop type to open first
| Choice | Reasoning | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry | The safe bet. Used in offensive rallies, defensive rallies and garrison — always | Default |
| Marksman | Best for personal bear damage, and for being a useful rally joiner | Damage focus |
| Lancer | If your state runs lancer ratios, or you do. Much higher damage | Lancer ratio |
- Some states coordinate — players split troop types and join rallies at 100% of that type to optimise the first few months. Most states do not.
- T12 changes the answer. The T12 lancer skill is a buff — it cuts infantry damage taken and raises marksman damage — so even lancer players may want infantry first at T12. (Ton openly calls this a tough call.)
5. ⚠️ T11 (FC5) > T10 (FC8) the stat panel lies
The troop stats the game displays are not the numbers used in the damage calculation
Internally T11 carries about 20% more stats. So T11 + FC5 is slightly stronger than T10 + FC8.
Ton used to say the opposite and has corrected himself. It is why competitive states prioritise T11 over FC8 in garrison.
That said, the gap is small. For F2P and low spenders, going FC8 first is arguably the better play.
6. Roadmap F2P and low spenders
Rough feel: FC5→FC8 ≈ 40k Fire Crystals; unlocking 3 T11 (no improvements) ≈ 40k as well
7 months if you are a very active F2P, ~10 months if casual
Mandatory before promoting. If resources are tight because you fight and heal a lot, slow the T11 down and push improvements further
By now you know which troop types your state actually asks for in rallies
FC9→FC10 is a huge jump in time and resources; bank T11 stats while it runs
Ton's farm went FC10 first, then T11, purely to protect resources
Do not spend speedups on T11 research
Keep research speedups for the Research Center and general speedups for Experts. Instead, queue the research during Arms Race / research phases, feed it Fire Crystal Shards for points, and let it finish on its own clock. Ton runs T12 the same way.
Ton's F2P farm after ~3 years ($10 total — a second builder): FC10 on every building + 2 T11. He skips half the events, so a diligent F2P should reach FC10 maxed + 3 T11 in about three years.
Dolphins and whales
- If you can, 2–3 T11 by FC5, starting with the types you actually use.
- The bottleneck is Steel, always. If you have to buy Steel, your budget is already broken.
- Efficient spending = buy only what the current level needs: event-appropriate speedups (Mia's Fortune etc.) plus Fire Crystals / Shards.
| Package | Monthly | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Crystal weekly card | ≈ $20/mo | Best shard source 1st |
| Weekly commission | ≈ $40/mo | 2nd |
| Both = $60/mo | 3 T11 within a year (~one every 4 months). Without them: 2 years | |
7. When to promote the question Ton answers weekly
If training-cost reduction is not done, do not promote everything. Give it one or two months
Promote the 300–500k you need in garrison and city defence
Ton promoted 2.5M of 5M first, the other 2.5M after the research — a big resource saving
Accept the downside: with half your army on T11, a Foundry fight or Tundra league where your T12 get injured leaves you fighting with T11. It is temporary, and it does not have to be perfect.
8. T12 where the rules change
8-1. You craft gear, you do not research the unlock
- T11: push research, and the troop arrives with its skills.
- T12: craft helmet → weapon → shield → body armour … five pieces, and the troop opens. Crafting is instant — no timers.
- Materials are Refined Fire Crystals (rFC) + Fire Crystal Shards + Steel only. The bottleneck is rFC, not shards.
- Cross-checked figures: five pieces ≈ 1.62M Steel + 440 rFC + 3,080 Shards.
8-2. T12 arrives without skills — you unlock those separately
Stat research levels (attack · defense · health · lethality) gate the skill levels. 1 research level = 1% stat.
| Skill level | Requirement | Side benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Lv.1 | All stat lines at Lv.5 | +5% each |
| Lv.2 | All stat lines at Lv.10 | +10% each |
| Lv.3 (max) | All stat lines at Lv.15 | +15% each |
Cross-check: each skill level step ≈ 200k Steel + 50 rFC + 325 Shards.
8-3. The T12 troop skills — the biggest swing in the game
A battle normally runs 30–50 turns; with T12 damage reduction in play it stretches to 40–60.
| Troop | Skill (max level) | Rally stacking |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry Indomitable Wall | −1.8% damage taken by ALL your troops for the first 5 turns | Stacks up to 8 players (leader + 7 joiners) → −14.4%, multiplicative |
| Lancer | For 5 turns: −3% infantry damage taken + 3% marksman damage dealt | 8 players → −24% / +24% |
| Marksman | +1.5% damage dealt, stacking every 5 turns | The longer the fight, the stronger |
→ The value only shows up in rallies. Solo, only your own copy applies. Past 8 participants, the highest skill levels take priority. This is exactly why T12 is controversial.
8-4. T12 improvements are far cheaper and faster than T11
| Item | T11 | T12 |
|---|---|---|
| Last healing-time level | 11–15 days | 8–10 hours |
| Healing time per level | Expensive | 2 rFC + 17 Shards |
| Levels | 10 | 10 |
Three weeks, zero speedups
Ton reached training cost Lv.10 on three troop types and healing Lv.8 in three weeks without spending a single speedup — just starting research every few hours on days that award event points (King of Ice, Alliance Showdown), doing only the minimum needed.
→ Max T11 training cost + max T12 training cost = T12 costs half as much to train. Always do training cost first, promotion second.
8-5. Three troops shallow vs one troop deep
One T12 with a Lv.3 skill > three T12 with no skill
When T12 launched you could not improve them, so everyone opened several types. Now the right play is finish one troop type through skill Lv.3, then move to the next.
It is not absolute. "Infantry first to help the team, then marksman quickly for bear damage" is a perfectly fine plan. This is not black and white.
9. After skill Lv.3 where the leftover rFC and shards go
| Option | What it is | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| More deployment capacity | +200 troops per research level. But it only opens once the stat lines are at Lv.30 | Lifts rallies, Crazy Joe and event scores. Big commitment |
| Target only the stats you use | Lancer player: lancer lethality + attack, infantry defense + health — those four | Best value |
| Save (Ton's pick) | Bank rFC and shards for FC11 / new buildings | Betting that new buildings are coming eventually |
Cost sense — the older lines are cheaper
An old stat research point = 5 rFC + 35 Shards. A new 5 rFC + 75 Shards.
→ Leftover levels on the older troop research are cheaper than anything new. rFC keeps flowing, but shards get expensive fast.
Stat lines run to Lv.30 (+30 all stats), then a further +50 band with steeply rising shard costs. Maxing everything = ~120% worth of stats and ~40M Steel per troop type.
Healing time is a preference. Ton fights five hours a day on stream, so he takes it; F2P and low-activity players can skip it.
10. Checklist
On both T11 and T12. Promotion comes after
Research Center and Experts, not here
Especially if you plan to spend more
Value collapses above that
T11 is better, but only slightly
Deep beats wide
300–500k first
Ton's Discord · Torxim
Unverified / caveats
- "T11 carries ~20% more stats internally" is Ton's description, not an official figure. He has promised a dedicated troop-stats video.
- The skill values (infantry 1.8% / lancer 3%+3% / marksman 1.5%) are max-level numbers; Lv.1 and Lv.2 values are not published anywhere.
- External sources describe the gating stat research as four lines (atk/def/hp/lethality); Ton says "five researches". Verify in game.
- The "all stat lines at Lv.30" prerequisite for deployment capacity comes from Ton's on-screen walkthrough; confirm in game.
- The official localised T12 troop names (English: Exalted / Molten) are unconfirmed, so this article simply says T12. (T11 = Helios is confirmed.)
- Cost figures (40k Fire Crystals, 40M Steel, etc.) are Ton's own "off the top of my head" numbers.
Summarised from Ton (TontonYouTube) · cross-checked against wostools.net / heaven-guardian.com / ldplayer.net · 2026-08-31 · exact costs live in Ton's Discord and the Torxim calculator