Free To Play Guide

Disclaimer: this guide was written by Yamaxanadu, a VIP0 player on EU-36, based on personal experience and on observing strategies of other F2P players. You may want to adjust recommendations to your own circumstances, reasoning, intuition, and preferences.
Disclaimer: this guide was last updated on September 26, 2021. New features may be released, which could impact or change recommendations. Always think about the gains for your diamonds when deciding if it is worth investing them!
For Free to Play (F2P) and low spenders (up to VIP3, inclusive), resources are very scarce. Optimal resource management will be the key to maximizing your power and staying competitive with regular spenders, both in PvP and PvE modes.
Besides resource management, choosing what heroes and units to invest in is a big factor in determining your performance. For example, although 9x units (units that have a squad of 9 members) are quite strong in early game (such as Goblin), they become much weaker in late game due to high AoE damage inflicted by enemy units and spells (they can still work in specific teams with paid heroes that increase their survivability, like Kilgor for Goblin, but these heroes are not available to F2P and low spenders).
This guide will outline how to best spend the various currencies you accumulate by playing the game, and what heroes and units to build up for various PvE modes, as well as viable heroes and units for PvP.
== Resource Management ==
=== Diamonds ===
Diamonds are the "premium" currency of the game, but fortunately, you can earn plenty of them even as F2P. You can read more about where to earn diamonds in the beginner's guide. To summarize, with proper spending, you should be able to save up around 20k diamonds per month.
For F2P / low spenders, it is strongly recommended to use few diamonds, as follows:
* VIP0 players should spend a total of approximately 114-154 diamonds/day as follows:
** 50 diamonds/day on Energy
** 20 diamonds/day on Glory Arena matches
** 10-50 diamonds/day on Emblem shop refreshes (depending on how many Soul Stones you have to spend)
** 20 diamonds/day on Abyss Den
**100 additional diamonds/week on Abyss Den to reach 150 sweeps and unlock all free Abyss Challenges
* VIP3 players should spend an additional 60 diamonds/day on Duel of Champions matches
* Low spenders that buy Monthly Packs (which have a good diamond value for their price!) should spend an additional 50 diamonds/day on Energy
It is highly recommended to not spend more than these amounts, unless you specifically spend on Commander altars, Auction, etc. When you do spend more, spread your spending across multiple days in batches of 880 diamonds in order to maximize the daily quest rewards for Artifact Essence and experience (e.g., if you want to unlock a Commander from a specific Commander altar event, which lasts 4 days, you should do at least one 10x pull every day of the event).
==== Commanders and SSRs ====
Commanders are the single, most important investment you can make. Their 6 star skill (the Domain) is incredibly powerful, and will give you an edge over any players that don't have a 6 star Commander for themselves. Getting your Commander of choice to 6 stars should be the top priority. The recommendation is to do 17 10x pulls distributed over two Limited Time Covenant altars, in order to maximize the rewards in altar chests. Together with the additional rewards from Museum Commander missions, that should be enough for a 6 star Commander, at a total cost of 91.8k diamonds.
Although 6 star Commanders are fantastic, 3 star Commanders have limited utility. They can help in PvE (e.g., Ice Demon in Crypt), and can definitely be useful for secondary teams, but except for very few Commanders that are universally useful (Judicator for the invincibility and Dragon Golem for the survivability and anti-Devil strategy), they have limited utility and low DPS for your main team at only 3 stars.
SSRs used to be a good way of investing your diamonds until Commanders were released. It can still be useful to unlock some key SSRs at 3 stars for ~16.2k diamonds during the corresponding Faction Altar (e.g., Devil for Treasury, or Angel as a universally useful unit), but they should never take priority over Commanders. Moreover, except for Angel, all other 3 star SSR units get outscaled in PvP later in the game, and will have very limited utility (even more limited than a 3 star Commander). If you do choose 1-2 SSRs for your main PvP team (e.g., Angel/Paladin for a Castle/Tower Dracon team, or Behemoth for a Stronghold Yog team), you should slowly save Dragonblood Crystals and Quiet Pearls over time, as they are a much cheaper way of upgrading your SSRs than Faction Altars. Eventually, you should aim to get your key SSRs to 6 stars and 3-5 awakening stars, depending on the importance or utility of the 5th awakening star skill. You should also slowly save Void Mithrils, which are quite exclusive (can only be acquired in limited amounts, e.g. in Auction, or via top-ups), and are used to upgrade weapons for SSR or SR+ units. The utility of an SSR also depends on how much you are able to upgrade its weapon, which is another reason why it is very difficult to effectively use more than 1-2 SSRs in an F2P team.
==== Artifacts ====
Spending diamonds on Astrologer pulls should be avoided, because free Astrosilvers are quite abundant (Statue Trial and Holy City Siege shops, chests behind guild map bosses, weekly faction medal exchange quests, etc.). They also require an exponential number of resources and artifact pieces the more you upgrade them, leading to diminishing returns for the diamonds you would invest. The only situation when it is ok to invest diamonds in Astrologer pulls is if you are trying to get pieces for a premium Orange artifact set, which is currently hotspot, and you would have to spend no more than 1760 diamonds.
Casting Crystals are a good investment up to a point, too, but upgrading artifact sets also becomes more expensive than it is worth at some point. Note: we are referring strictly to upgrading the artifact sets with Casting Crystals; individual artifact pieces / components, which cost only Heaven Cast Stones and no Casting Crystals, should always be upgraded!
The following artifact sets should be upgraded up to a specific point (after which the returns are not worth the costs):
* Bow of the Sharpshooter +2 (may be upgraded up to +5 if you have spare Casting Crystals)
* Axe of Ferocity +8
* Archmage's Codex +5 (later in the game, when all other artifacts have already been upgraded to their maximum available level, it can be upgraded up to +11)
* Titan's Thunder +2 (will be replaced by Armageddon's Blade!)
*Ring of the Mage +8 (spell damage is good in PvE and in early game, but becomes very weak later in the game)
*Anti-Magic Runestone +5 (spell damage becomes very weak later in the game, and your units will be largely unaffected by enemy spell damage)
The following artifacts should never be upgraded:
* Armor of the Damned (will be replaced by Angelic Alliance!)
* Cloak of the Undead King (the summoned Skeletons are extremely weak)
* Spellbinder's Hat (the summoned Elementals are extremely weak)
All other artifact sets should always be upgraded to their maximum available level, especially Wizard's Well (which should be a priority to maximize at +20!), premium Orange artifact sets, and Live Hawkeye.
==== Path of an Assassin Emblems ====
Path of an Assassin (PoA) is an emblem that was introduced with the Assassin's Creed cross-over event. It is a "premium" emblem, in the sense that it is not sold in the Emblem Shop, and can only be acquired via top-ups or via diamonds in the Lucky Spin (from the Assassin's Creed event) or in Lucky Snatch if it is a hotspot emblem.
PoA is the best DPS emblem for units that target non-Defensive units (e.g., Chargers, units that deal AoE damage, such as Red Dragon, Troll, Evil Sorceress, Cyclops, or units that jump directly into the enemy backline, such as Devil, etc.). Having one or two sets of Orange PoA emblems will benefit you greatly, both in PvE, and in PvP. Purple PoA emblems can also be good for secondary teams. Additionally, Sanctuary of Kosmos emblems can (and should!) be used as casting materials for PoA. Therefore, we recommend to perform a total of 100 pulls (or 20 5x pulls) on the Lucky Spin (from Assassin's Creed event), just enough to collect the last chest which contains an Orange PoA as the reward. This will require a total of 20k diamonds. Pulling for PoAs beyond this point will be detrimental, because the emblem casting cost increases and will consume more and more diamonds for less and less benefits, but it is something you may consider very late into the game, when you have your desired Commanders at 6 stars, desired SSRs built up appropriately, etc. 
Note: units that target mainly Defensive units and do not have AoE damage (e.g. Mantis, Marksmen, Titan) have better emblem options than PoA (e.g., Jealousy on Marksmen due to their high Crit Hit, Wall of Knowledge on Titan due to running 4 Casters in Astral teams, etc.). The best understanding of the Penetration stat we have as of now is that it reduces the target's Defense. Defensive units have much, much higher Defense than non-Defensive units, thus making the effect of PoA a much smaller relative improvement in DPS, which could explain why other emblems work better in this situation.
Note: pulling on Lucky Snatch with hotspot PoA will yield a double diamond cost compared to the Assassin's Creed Lucky Spin, because only one of the two hotspot emblems will be PoA, whereas Lucky Spin yields Sanctuary of Kosmos as the second hotspot (casting material for PoA). However, pulling on Lucky Snatch will count towards the Luck for getting Soul Crystals (guaranteed after 100 pulls), which are exchanged for perfect emblems, and will also yield premium hero shards (e.g., Kilgor or Roland). It is up to you to decide which is better to pull depending on your circumstances.
Note: it is discouraged to pull Lucky Snatch for the purpose of unlocking a premium hero, because a hero without strong units / 6 star Commanders will achieve nothing other than draining a significant amount of resources (on average, 100-120k diamonds to unlock the hero). This is something you may consider much later in the game, when you already have a very strong team that could benefit from a particular premium hero.
==== Auction ====
The auction after the Holy City Siege can be a great source for Void Mithrils (Voids), Dragonblood Crystals (DBs), Quiet Pearls (QPs), Tactics Manuals (TMs), and Casting Crystals (CCs). In particular, try to coordinate with your guild and split the items among guild members so that you do not bid against each other, and everybody can get the items they want at the starting price (although in very limited quantities). World auction can also be a good source for these resources, but you cannot prevent competition there, and there is a limit until when bidding makes sense.
The nominal price (i.e., according to various shops or recurring events, which provide larger quantities) for the items of interest are:
* Casting Crystal - 300 diamonds in Mystic shop
* Tactics Manual - 300 diamonds in Mystic shop
* Dragonblood Crystal - 200 diamonds / 100 DB in Faction Altar (16,200 diamonds for 6 10x pulls, which yield approximately 80 Faction Limited Edition Packs, equivalent to 8000 DBs)
* Quiet Pearls - 150 diamonds in the recurring Quiet Pearl sale (although only 50 QPs can be purchased at a time)
* Void Mithril - can only be acquired in limited quantities through special events (e.g., Sound the Horns) or top-ups
The following are starting prices, and recommended stopping points for bidding in auction:
* Casting Crystal - 200 diamonds - bid up to 250 only if you need them
* Tactics Manual - it is recommended to use TMs from free sources instead, such as the Sacred Statue Trial shop and rewards, or from the Memory Store by dismantling Universal Hero Tokens once your important heroes reached 4 stars; however, if you absolutely need them, buy them only for the starting price of 200 diamonds, and do not bid for more
* Dragonblood Crystals - 600 diamonds / 500 DBs - bid up to 750 diamonds only if you need it fast
* Quiet Pearls - 600 diamonds / 5 QPs - bid up to 750 diamonds only if you need it fast
* Void Mithrils - 200 diamonds / 5 Voids - bid up to 250 diamonds
In principle, it is recommended to not bid above 10% of the starting price, but rather to buy the resources at a lower cost, even if it takes longer. The exception is Void Mithrils, which are much more difficult to acquire through other means, and you should always try to buy them (but not if they cost more than 250 diamonds / 5 Voids). Otherwise, only buy items from auction if you actually need them, and keep in mind priorities (e.g., focus a 6 star Commander first before investing in DBs or QPs).
Other offers in the auction are not worth it (Soul Stones are quite cheaper than the diamond offers in the Emblem Shop, but it is still recommended to buy emblems only with free Soul Stones, as they are quite abundant).
=== Free Currencies ===
==== Artifact Essence ====
Artifact Essence is a very scarce, and very valuable resource. The main, consistent sources for Artifact Essence are:
* 20 Essence per day by completing 3 Duel of Champions (DoC) matches
* Another 30 Essence per day by completing 6 DoC matches (possible at VIP3 and above)
* 30 Essence per day from the daily quest reward for spending 880 diamonds in that day
* One-time rewards for clearing Trial of Angels (ToA) stages
There are a few other ways to obtain Essence (e.g., when it is on sale for 5 diamonds / 1 Essence, or 20 Artifact Essence for 1000 Fan Vouchers in the Gods shop), but these deals are not worth it.
The premium Orange artifacts represent a big power boost. They are difficult to unlock for F2P players (600 Astrologer pulls, assuming no duplicates, which is extremely unlikely - 1.54% chances of pulling no duplicates!), and some need to be upgraded to +2 in order to be viable. The only reliable way to unlock (and upgrade) them is by purchasing missing pieces from the artifact shop with Artifact Essence.
A good strategy is to pull 2-3 distinct pieces from the Astrologer, and then to purchase the remaining 3-4 pieces with Artifact Essence.
It is highly recommended to not spend Artifact Essence on anything else. Getting one last missing piece for Titan's Thunder +2 is the only reasonable spending outside of premium Orange pieces, as this also provides a significant power boost. You should prioritize getting the following premium Orange artifact sets, in this order:
* Angelic Alliance +2
* Armageddon's Blade +2
* Apple of Eden +1
Note that Apple of Eden is unlikely to be added to the Artifact shop (based on an AMA with the devs), so it would be preferable to try to pull 2-3 distinct pieces from Astrologer, and get the remaining 3-4 pieces using Premium Orange Artifact Component Chests obtained from various (e.g., Christmas, Easter, etc.).
Tip: if you can get to top 20 Arena (necessary to attack people in top 10 Arena) and can talk to the first ranked in Arena, you might be able to convince them to let you win for a minute to grab rank 1 rewards (which includes 1 piece of Power of the Dragon Father). This is common practice among many servers, though does not always work. Make sure to save up enough Arena coins to grab all the rewards you need beforehand!
Note: Power of the Dragon Father used to be very strong early in the game, before Angelic Alliance and Armageddon's Blade were released, and a lot of people advised saving Artifact Essence to unlock that set. However, emblems, unit weapons, class constellations, etc. didn't exist at that time, and this is no longer the case - it is recommended to skip this artifact set entirely (except for the free piece that can be obtained from Arena rank 1 rewards).
==== Pantheon Fan Vouchers ====
Pantheon Fan Vouchers are earned by supporting and voting for players during Battle of Gods and Clash of Gods, and by worshiping the winners afterwards. You should always vote for players and worship winners for Fan Vouchers. They are best spent on Energy Scrolls (used to upgrade Backup skills) in the Clash of Gods shop. If you are VIP0, you should unlock Firebird from the Battle of Gods shop first, and resume purchasing Energy Scrolls when you are finished. Soul Stones for emblems are also a good offer in the Clash of Gods shop in case you are missing only 1-2k Soul Stones to buy a good emblem in the emblem shop. Other offers in the two shops are not worth it.
==== Commemorative Coins (BoG) ====
Commemorative Coins are earned by participating in the Battle of Gods - which is, unfortunately, locked behind VIP3, unless you are playing on a semi-dead server. They are best spent on SSR / SSR awakening shards (e.g., Green Dragon shards), or Energy Elemental Soul Stones.
==== Holy Crystals (CoG) ====
Holy Crystals are earned by participating in the Clash of Gods. They are best spent on Casting Stones (you should buy these only when you start casting emblems) and SSR Soul Stones. Other offers in the shop are not worth it.
==== Champion Coins (DoC) ====
DoC coins are earned by playing and winning as many DoC matches as possible. A VIP0 can earn roughly 450k DoC coins per week. You should spend them as follows, in this order of priorities:
* Unlock 1 star Luna
* Get 4 star Gelu + spell mark
* Get 4 star Luna + spell mark
* Get 4 star Rashka and Ryland, in no particular order
* Buy only Universal Hero Shards
Luna is essential in Dwarven Treasury. Rashka also performs well, so you can swap places between Rashka and Luna (and get 4 star Rashka + spell mark instead). Gelu is essential in almost all PvE modes and will bring extreme utility.
All heroes provide global stat bonuses as they are starred up, so getting all F2P farmable heroes to maximum stars is a good way of getting those stat bonuses.
None of the remaining deals are good, so after you are done with farming the other heroes in the shop, you should spend all coins on Universal Hero Shards.
==== Campaign Coins ====
As VIP0, you will earn 2k Campaign coins per day. You should make sure to unlock Efreeti at 2 stars, and then purchase only Heaven Cast Stones (with 2-3 daily refreshes) until around lvl 60, when you start awakening units. Afterwards, balance purchasing Heaven Cast Stones with awakening shards for the units you use (either in your main team, in PvE modes, or as roster booster). At some point, because artifacts require an exponential number of pieces to upgrade, Heaven Cast Stones will not longer be a bottleneck and you will be able to upgrade all of your artifacts to their maximum available level. At that point, you should start buying Skill Stones instead, because you will need a lot of them for your units (upgrading skill levels not only increases the strength of that specific unit significantly, but also increases its roster score).
==== Guild Coins ====
Early game, you should balance purchasing Roster Scrolls for the rosters you use in your main team with purchasing hero shards until you get all heroes to 4 stars, after which you should buy Spell Scrolls instead of hero shards. This way, you will constantly boost your Rosters, benefit from the hero stat bonuses (which are hard to build without any paid heroes), and then save up Spell Scrolls, which are very important for Adjutants.
==== Arena Coins ====
Arena coins can be earned by completing the daily quest and receiving the daily Arena reward. You will receive roughly 1k Arena coins per day, depending on your rank. Arena coins are best spent on Roc shards (until you get it to 6 stars), and unit awakening shards (Thunderbird, Silver Pegasus, etc.). Other deals in the shop are not worth it.
==== Glory Coins (KvK) ====
The Kingdom shop should mainly be used to purchase awakening shards for the units you use in your main team, in PvE modes, or even for the roster bonus. Other deals that are worth their price is the Gold if you're short on it and need it, and the Dragonsteel offer. The other deals are not worth it and should be avoided. Prefer to buy items from the shop when you benefit from the winner's discount.
==== Spell Bookshelf ====
The spell bookshelf is an important source for hero stats, which give significant buffs to all of your units (or spells). It is a good idea to invest in getting a few orange or purple spells, and upgrading them to level 2. The best spells you can get, which also provide PvE / PvP utility, are: Mana Suppression, Replenished Magic, Slayer, Death Ripple, Bloodlust, Inferno Flame / Fire Wall. Investing diamonds beyond getting these spells to level 2 is not recommended, as the cost becomes quite high, and they should be upgraded by farming and dismantling spells from Underground.
When it comes to green and blue spells, you should farm and upgrade to maximum all farmable green and blue spells in Underground, they are the most cost effective stat boosts you can get through the spellbook shelf! Once you maxed them, you should continue farming green spells from Underground nodes and dismantle all the shards (they render more Knowledge Tokens per unit of energy spent than blue spells).
You should use the farmed Knowledge Tokens to upgrade other, non-farmable spells. Always purchase non-farmable blue spells from the shop (they are more cost effective stat boosts than purple and orange spells). You should also focus on purchasing the previously mentioned purple and orange spells.
==== War Machines ====
It is not recommended to spend diamonds on war machines. Eventually, you will get purple components for all of your machines, and you will be able to level them up by dismantling green, blue, and excess purple components that you will obtain from free pulls. The difference in stats between purple and orange components does not justify the high cost in diamonds. Moreover, in late game, the War Machines are greatly outscaled by units and have little impact on the outcome of a battle.
==== Soul Stones ====
Soul Stones are earned by participating in Endless Inferno, Clash of Gods, and can be purchased in shops, events, etc. They can only be used to buy emblems in the Emblem Shop. You should never buy emblems with diamonds (with the exception of Path of an Assassin, which cannot be purchased with Soul Stones). Try to buy discounted emblems (20-30% off), but if you have a lot of Soul Stones (more than 15-20k), buying undiscounted emblems (0-10% off) is also fine.
Note that a lot of emblems are weak or useless. The following emblems are universally useful (i.e., they can be used on some unit, regardless of what hero or team you use): Successor's Legal Principles, Everlasting Secret, Jealousy, Gears of Time, Darkness Enlightenment, Spring of Immortality. However, you should prioritize the emblems that are best suited for the units in your teams!
==== Glory Certificates ====
Glory Certificares are earned daily from Glory Arena rankings. They should be used to purchase only weapon shards. Refinement Stones are not worth it.
==== Divine Certificates ====
Divine Certificates are acquired through seasonal rewards in Glory Arena. They are a very limited currency, and can only be used to purchase SR+ or SSR weapon shards. You should prioritize buying shards for the units you own and use in your teams for PvP or PvE (e.g. Phoenix or Sea Monster).
==== Divine Water ====
Divine Water is obtained by completing Sacred Statue Trials. You should always buy all 3 Tactics Manuals every week. Additionally, you may buy Astrosilvers and Gold. Other offers in the shop are not worth it.
==== Holy City Coins ====
Holy City Coins are earned by participating in the Holy City Siege. They should be used to buy Astrosilvers, Casting Stones, and SSR Soul Stones for the SSR units that you use in your main team. Other offers in the shop are not worth it.
==== Sound the Horns ====
In the monthly Sound the Horns event shop, you should always buy all the Void Mithrils and Dragonblood Crystals. You can use the leftover currency on Weapon Token Chests, Soul Stones, Multi-choice Cast Stone Packs, Prayer Stones, or Astrosilvers, depending on your needs. Other offers in the shop are not worth it.
==== Energy Scrolls ====
Energy Scrolls are used to upgrade Backup Formation skills. You should save these for the Global Skills of Spell Commandment and Hunt in the Forest, they are the only skills worth upgrading. You should try to upgrade both of them equally. Optionally, if you use Scythe of the Death in Arena / DoC, you may upgrade its Battlefield Skill as well once Spell Commandment and Hunt in the Forest are level 7-8, since the cost increases exponentially, and the extra Crit Hit from Scythe of the Death is good.
== PvE Units ==
There are several key units that you will need in PvE modes that will grant you important resources, and help you boost your power faster. In order to understand where these units are useful, please check the Dragon Invasion. Crypt, Conflux plane formations guides. For Dwarven Treasury, all you need is a 3 star Devil.
You should focus on upgrading these PvE units: Wood Elves, Marksmen, Storm Elemental, Cyclops, Efreeti, Gogs, Roc, Firebird, Demon, Ogre, Pit Fiend, Dendroid, Ice Elemental, Pegasus. Depending on how lucky (or unlucky) you are with the Random Elite Unit Souls, you should also upgrade the following SR+ units if you happen to get them: Nightmare, Manticore, Sea Monster (Revyaratan).
There is one key SSR unit, which will help you tremendously in PvE content: Devil. You should definitely try to unlock it at 3 stars (but more than 3 stars are not necessary for PvE, and are not worth the cost, unless you use these units in your main PvP team). Most other SSRs still have niche use-cases, but they are not required and you should not invest in them unless you use them in your main PvP team.
Ice Demon can be useful in Crypt and Steadwick Defense, even if it is only 3 stars. However, it is not required. Investing in it is up to the player's choice, but should not be a high priority (i.e., first ensure you have at least one 6 star Commander and a 3 star Devil).
== PvP Formations ==
=== Game Modes ===
There are several PvP modes where you can compete with absolute control over your teams:
* Arena - players set up one team with 8 units and backup
* Battle of Gods (BoG) - players set up three teams with 6 units each
* Clash of Gods (CoG) - players set up three teams with 8 units each
* Glory Arena - players set up three teams with 8 units each
* Holy City Siege (GvG) - players set up three teams with 8 units each
There is also Kingdom Championship (KvK), but there are restrictions on what factions can be deployed every week, thus your control over the teams you can build there may be limited.
Note that almost all PvP game modes require three teams. However, Arena, which requires only one team, is very important for low spenders, as it represents a significant part of the daily diamond income. Therefore, we recommend investing in one strong team to maximize the Arena rank, and one-two average teams for the other game modes. As general guidance:
* VIP0-3 should prioritize one single team for the Arena rank; much later in the game, once top 5 Arena has been secured, you may start investing into an average second team; third team will likely be a throwaway, as it will be very difficult to effectively split resources across three teams
* VIP9 should prioritize one very strong team, but can also invest in parallel into a second good team; later in the game, you might be able to invest into an average third team, instead of having it as a throwaway
* In principle, it will be very difficult to have three strong teams unless you spend significantly more than what is required for VIP9
Note: all references to Commanders assume a 6 star Commander in order to maximize utility, unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g. for Judicator or Dragon Golem).
=== Units ===
==== Castle ====
Castle is the strongest support faction in the game. The Judicator-Angel-Paladin trio is quite universal, and can be plugged in almost any team with great effectiveness. Judicator is the most universal Commander, providing 4.8 seconds of invincibility for the entire team even at 3 stars (when equipped with Everlasting Secret). A 3 star / 3 awakening stars Archangel is one of the most versatile SSRs that provides revives a unit and provides 6 seconds of invincibility for the entire team (except the revived unit) for less than 30k diamonds. Cavaliers are an exceptional Charger, and synergize extremely well with a 6 star Judicator equipped with Path of the Assassin, as their 3 star weapon grants 300 Penetration to all Castle units. Monks are another good support, as they provide a lot of mana, healing, recurring backline High Morale (thus triggering Judicator Domain more frequently), and even debuff dispelling on friendly units. A Castle team can work exceptionally well with Dracon if used correctly. In particular, no Ranged units should be used, and Judicator should be the top-left Caster in the formation, which will make the Clone spell prioritize Judicator, leading to recurring invincibilities and Domains. Another alternative works well is to use Dracon with Ice Demon as the only Ranged unit, which will make the Clone spell prioritize Ice Demon.
==== Tower ====
Tower is one of the strongest factions in the game, but most of its units are very expensive (Titan and Naga must be 6 stars / 5 awakening stars, and Naga additionally needs a high starred weapon in order to be effective). Dragon Golem is one of the best tanks in the game, and can work very well even at 3 stars (has two instances of the repair field, which make it effectively invincible for several seconds, and makes all your non-Defensive units unable to move for 4 seconds at the start of the battle, thus making them target any enemy Devils or Chargers that get into your backline). For lower spenders, Iron Golem can be another solid tank, especially when paired with a Castle main team under Dracon as an alternative for Paladin (Dracon will trigger it's Magic Awakening with Wind Wall). Mages can be quite versatile, too, especially under Dracon, as they reduce the enemy mana regeneration, increase the Unit DMG of all friendly units in the same line, and apply the Hurricane to 2 targets (nearest and furthest), which can significantly delay an enemy Charger and increase the damage dealt by your own units. Genie can be a very good healer, so you should definitely farm Genie shards through guild Quartermaster and look out for smart Genies on the guild map!
==== Stronghold ====
Stronghold has a few units that can be used effectively by low spenders, in particular Cyclops and Ogre. Cyclops is a strong DPS with the weapon awaken, and its damage can be further increased with every weapon star up to 3 stars (after which the effects focus on survivability and debuffing enemies). Ogre can be an extremely durable tank with the 4 star weapon effects. Roc is another good DPS (even if it doesn't have a weapon as of now). This trio can be used with great effectiveness under Yog to maximize the damage of Cyclops, but can also be plugged into other heroes (e.g., Jeddite). Troll can be used as well, but its greatest damage is dealt while in Rampage, which can be difficult to pull off as a low spender because units are more fragile due to lacking stats compared to higher spenders, and is thus a risky investment.
==== Inferno ====
Inferno also has a few versatile units. Pit Fiend is an extremely strong healer - if she doesn't walk behind the enemy tank, it's possible that she will keep your tanks alive for the entire battle, even if all your other units die! Demon is a very solid tank with the 4 star weapon effects. Efreeti is a solid DPS (even if it doesn't have a weapon as of now). This trio is quite versatile, and can be used by multiple heroes (e.g., Jeddite), but shouldn't be combined with Castle - many of the Castle-provided buffs do not apply to Inferno units. Venom Spawn is one of the best tanks in the game, and can be paired with Demon to improve the survivability of your frontline.
==== Other ====
There are a few other units that are very effective, even if they cannot be paired effectively with other units of the same faction. One of them is Firebird, which has very solid damage (especially with the weapon awaken effect), and is quite universal - can be plugged as a backline DPS in Dracon, Jeddite, Yog, etc. (however, it can only be unlocked by VIP0 later in the game, through the Battle of Gods shop). Serpent Fly with Korbac's 3s global specialty is especially effective against Gem / Rampart teams, because they dispel the target's Shields. As previously mentioned, Ice Demon can be a solid DPS, especially when paired with Dracon, and specializes in killing tanks. Regnan Seer is similar, but specializes in frontline AoE damage, and works very well with a mana-drain build under Jeddite due to the 50% base mana regeneration reduction during its Domain.
Rampart has a few good units that can be used in various teams, in particular Centaur, which can be a good tank with the weapon 4-5 star effects, and Pegasus, which can deal good damage and can be a solid debuffer with the 5-6 star weapon effects. Dendroid used to be a solid tank, but is rather fragile currently, due to the lack of a weapon. Mantis and Green Dragon with weapon can also provide solid DPS. However, the effectiveness of Rampart units is significantly reduced by the lack of the Shield synergy provided by Gem.
Dungeon also has Minotaur, which may be a solid tank with a weapon (not released as of now), and Red Dragon, which can be a solid DPS even at 3 stars (one of the very few SSRs that retain their utility even at less than 6 stars). Beholder, if pulled from Elite Unit Souls, can play well into a mana-drain build under Jeddite.
=== Recommended Emblems ===
* Judicator - 6x Everlasting Secret / 4x Path of the Assassin + 2x Gear of Time if the unit is 6 stars
* Angel - 6x Price of Loyalty
* Paladin - 6x Gear of Time
* Cavalier - (4x Darkness Enlightenment / 4x Jealousy / 4x Arrogance / 4x Path of the Assassin) + 2x Gear of Time
* Monk - 6x Price of Loyalty / 4x Darkness Enlightenment + 2x (any set that grants 20 Holy Emblem Defense)
* Dragon Golem - 6x Gear of Time
* Iron Golem - 6x Gear of Time
* Mage - (4x Price of Loyalty / 4x Darkness Enlightenment) + 2x (any set that grants 20 Holy Emblem Defense)
* Genie - 6x Spring of Immortality
* Troll - 6x Path of the Assassin
* Cyclops - 6x Path of the Assassin
* Roc - 6x Path of the Assassin / 4x Jealousy + 2x (any set that grants 15-20 Holy Emblem Attack)
* Ogre - 6x Successor's Legal Principles
* Venom Spawn - (4x Successor's Legal Principles / 4x Gear of Time / 4x Everlasting Secret / 4x Path of the Assassin) + 2x (any set that grants 15 Holy Emblem Attack and Defense)
* Efreeti - 6x Jealousy
* Pit Fiend - 6x Anger
* Demon - 4x Successor's Legal Principles + 2x (any set that grants 20 Holy Emblem Defense) / 6x Ominous Sign
* Ice Demon - 6x Path of the Assassin / 4x Jealousy + 2x (any set that grants 15-20 Holy Emblem Attack)
* Phoenix - 6x Path of the Assassin / 4x Jealousy + 2x (any set that grants 15-20 Holy Emblem Attack)
* Minotaur - 6x Successor's Legal Principles
* Red Dragon - 6x Path of the Assassin
* Beholder - (4x Price of Loyalty / 4x Darkness Enlightenment) + 2x (any set that grants 20 Holy Emblem Defense)
* Centaur - 6x Successor's Legal Principles
* Dendroid - 6x Successor's Legal Principles
* Pegasus - 6x Stone Key to the Gate
* Green Dragon - 6x Path of the Assassin
* Regnan Seer - 6x Path of the Assassin
* Serpent Fly - 4x Darkness Enlightenment + 2x (any set that grants 20 Holy Emblem Defense)
=== Backup Formation ===
Backup Formation allows you to deploy 3 additional units that will be summoned 25 seconds after the start of the battle, or when 3 of your units die, whichever happens last. Backup Formations each have a main skill (which consumes Unit Exp to upgrade), a Battlefield skill (which consumes Energy Scrolls to upgrade), and a Global skill (which consumes significantly more Energy Scrolls to upgrade). The only Global skills worth upgrading are Spell Commandment and Hunt in the Forest. You should focus upgrading both equally. Among the Battlefield skills, only Scythe of the Death provides any meaningful buff, and may be upgraded in parallel with the aforementioned Global skills if you plan to use it in your main team. You must get the main skill for Spell Commandment and Hunt in the Forest up to level 10 in order to unlock their Global skills. Otherwise, you should upgrade the main skill to level 15 only for the Backup Formation that you plan to use in your main team (we recommend either Scythe of the Death for the Crit Hit buff, or Arctic Coercion for the damage burst and Freeze).
The actual units deployed in the Backup Formation are unlikely to overturn the battle (units capable of making such a big impact require significant investment). We recommend using units that provide immediate utility (e.g., Sprites for the mana boost, or Phoenix combined with Arctic Coercion if not already used in your main team for extra % HP damage upon Phoenix revival, etc.) or that contribute towards Formation Support buffs.
=== Formation Support ===
Formation Support allows you select up to 6 units that will not be deployed in battle, but can contribute towards buffs for your team. For example, having a total of 8 units of the same faction among your deployed (including Backup) and Support units will grant a 10% Unit DMG and 10% Unit DMG Reduction buff to all units belonging to that faction. As a general rule, focus on combos that maximize the Unit DMG for your DPS and Unit DMG Reduction for your tanks. The bonuses granted by the actual Support Positions are negligible. We recommend upgrading all Support Positions equally.
Also as part of the Support, you may select up to 3 Adjutant heroes. The most versatile are Korbac and Mephala, and they can be used with great effectiveness in any team. Yog and Jeddite are also quite universal. Crag Hack can be effective in teams with melee DPS, whereas Kendal is specifically useful in teams with Offensive DPS (e.g., Devil or Red Dragon). Nymus, (Human) Mutare, Ryland, Shiva, and Catherine are useful when combined with units belonging to their own faction.
=== Example Teams ===
Disclaimer: most of these example teams reach their full effectiveness around mid-game (i.e., level ~95, which unlocks all awakening skills for all units). Some units might be significantly less effective earlier in the game, for example Mages.
Dracon, Judicator Clone, Castle/Tower mix
Judicator	Monk	Cavalier	Iron Golem
Phoenix 	Mage	Angel 	Dragon Golem
Jeddite, mana-drain, Inferno/Dungeon mix
Phoenix	Regnan Seer	Red Dragon	Demon
Efreeti	Beholder 	Pit Fiend 	Minotaur
Yog, Stronghold/Inferno mix
Cyclops	Roc 	Angel 	Demon
Troll 	Efreeti	Pit Fiend	Ogre
Dracon, Ice Demon Clone, Conflux core - team by WateryTart, EU 124
Ice Demon	Monk 		Earth Elemental
Phoenix 	Ice Elemental		Leprechaun
Judicator	 		Dragon Golem