Ever looked at another player with similar Power and wondered:
"How is this guy beating me?"
That's because Power doesn't tell the whole story.
A strong squad comes from putting your resources in the right places — heroes, gear, Drone, Tech, Exclusive Weapons and even formation.
And if you're spending money but barely seeing a difference, you might not need to spend more. You may just be investing in the wrong things.
Here's what actually matters.
1. Focus on Your Main Squad
Don't try to build all three squads at the same time.
Pick your main type:
- Tank
- Aircraft
- Missile
and focus your best resources on those 5 heroes first.
Same-type squads also get:
- 3 same type: +5% HP, Attack & Defense
- 4 same type: +15% HP, Attack & Defense
- 5 same type: +20% HP, Attack & Defense
And don't forget the counter:
Tank → Missile → Aircraft → Tank
So yes, a weaker squad can beat you simply because the matchup is better.
TIP: One great squad is much more useful than three average ones.
2. Formation Matters More Than You Think
The usual formation is:
Front: Defense / Defense Back: Attack / Attack / Support
For example:
Tank
Front: Murphy / Williams Back: Kimberly / Stetmann / Marshall
Aircraft
Front: Carlie / Lucius Back: DVA / Morrison / Schuyler
Missile
Front: McGregor / Adam Back: Tesla / Swift / Fiona
That's the safe setup, especially while you're still developing your squad.
But in PvP, Defense heroes don't always have to be in front.
You may see stronger players using formations like:
Tank PvP
Front: Williams / Kimberly Back: Murphy / Marshall / Stetmann
Aircraft PvP
Front: Lucius / DVA Back: Morrison / Schuyler / Carlie
Missile PvP
Front: McGregor / Swift Back: Tesla / Fiona / Adam
Putting an Attack hero in front can change targeting and help them gain Energy faster from taking damage, sometimes letting them use their skill earlier.
But don't copy this blindly. Your front-row attacker needs enough survivability for it to actually work.
TIP: Sometimes changing two hero positions helps more than adding another 500K Power.
What About Scarlett?
Once promoted to UR, Scarlett becomes a surprisingly useful Tank PvP option and can sometimes replace Williams depending on your progression and matchup.
Her defensive kit can make her very effective at keeping herself and nearby teammates alive, while still bringing more pressure than you'd expect from a defender.
This is especially useful before you've heavily developed Williams and his Exclusive Weapon.
Williams is still an important long-term option, especially with a developed EW, but don't automatically replace a strong UR Scarlett just because Williams shows more Power.
TIP: If you already have a developed UR Scarlett, test both. Your Battle Report matters more than the Power number.
3. Know Which Heroes Are Worth Your Resources
Universal UR Shards and Skill Medals are valuable, so don't spread them across every hero you unlock.
A simple way to look at your main squads:
Tank - Kimberly — Main DPS - Williams / Murphy — Frontline - Stetmann — DPS - Marshall — Support
Aircraft - DVA — Main DPS - Lucius / Carlie — Frontline - Morrison — DPS - Schuyler — Control / DPS
Missile - Tesla — Main DPS - McGregor / Adam — Frontline - Swift — DPS - Fiona — Support / DPS
Your main carry is usually one of the safest places for your best offensive resources:
Tank → Kimberly Aircraft → DVA Missile → Tesla
Before using a pile of Universal UR Shards, ask yourself:
"Will I actually keep using this hero?"
If not, save them.
4. Gear: Upgrade What You Actually Need
Don't upgrade every gear piece equally.
As a simple starting point:
Attack Heroes - Gun - Data Chip
Defense Heroes - Radar - Armor
If your DPS isn't doing enough damage, work on offensive gear.
If your frontline disappears in seconds, work on defensive gear.
And if you're running an Attack hero in front, their defensive gear suddenly matters much more too.
Upgrade Ore and Blueprints become valuable quickly, so don't throw them everywhere.
TIP: Fix a weakness instead of upgrading something just because you can.
5. Exclusive Weapons & Awakening: Plan Ahead
You don't need to heavily upgrade every Exclusive Weapon you unlock.
Your main carry is usually a safe place to start:
- Tank → Kimberly
- Aircraft → DVA
- Missile → Tesla
After that, invest based on your actual squad and what each EW gives you.
A simple rule:
Main carry → important frontline / key hero → secondary DPS or support
Also remember that EW Level 20 matters because it is part of the requirement for Hero Awakening.
Awakening Changes Priorities
Before dumping resources into another hero, check your upcoming Awakening options.
Awakening requires a 5★ hero with Exclusive Weapon Lv.20+, and can give important heroes another major jump in strength.
So if you're approaching an Awakening season, planning ahead can save you a lot of wasted EW resources and shards.
TIP: Before a big hero investment, check: Main squad? Useful EW? Awakening?
Don't spend everything today and realize next season that you needed those resources somewhere much more important.
6. Don't Ignore Promoted UR Heroes
Some SSR heroes can later be promoted to UR, so don't automatically ignore them just because they started purple.
The promoted heroes are:
- Mason — Season 1
- Violet — Season 2
- Scarlett — Season 3
- Sarah — Season 4
- Venom — Season 5
- Braz — Season 6
Some are more useful than others depending on your squad.
Mason
A great early and mid-game Tank investment, especially for F2P and low spenders.
His UR promotion gives him much better long-term value and he's especially useful for PvE.
Don't expect him to replace an optimized end-game DPS forever, but the resources invested into Mason early are far from wasted.
Scarlett
One of the more interesting promoted heroes for Tank players.
UR Scarlett can be very useful in PvP because of her defensive utility and can sometimes perform better than Williams depending on your setup and how developed his EW is.
She's especially worth testing if you've already invested heavily into her.
Sarah
Worth watching if Aircraft is your main squad.
Her UR promotion improves her Aircraft synergy and makes her useful for supporting Aircraft damage, especially if you've already collected plenty of Sarah shards.
Venom
The Season 5 promotion option for Missile players.
If Missile is your main squad and you've already developed Venom, his UR promotion can provide a useful progression option instead of immediately throwing those previous resources away.
Braz
Braz becomes much more interesting after his Season 6 UR promotion.
His UR Tactics can hit the whole enemy squad and reduce Attack Speed, making him much more PvP-oriented than his SSR version.
He also gains additional value when used together with other promoted UR heroes.
TIP: Promoted doesn't automatically mean meta, but it also doesn't mean useless. If you've already invested heavily into one of these heroes, check what their UR promotion gives you before replacing them.
UR Promotion Trick
Promotion requires the SSR hero to reach 5★.
After promotion:
- The hero becomes UR
- Stars reset to 3★
- Hero level stays the same
- Skills reset
- Skill Medals are returned
- Eligible Wall of Honor shards are returned
That refund can be useful.
If you're definitely going to promote the hero, you can time your upgrades around Alliance Duel Hero Day, score points from the resources, then receive eligible resources back after promotion and use them again.
TIP: Plan your promotion instead of clicking it immediately. Free VS points are free VS points. 😄
7. Don't Forget Your Drone
Your heroes aren't doing all the work.
Keep progressing your:
- Drone Level
- Drone Parts
- Components
- Combat Boost
- Skill Chips
A weak Drone can be one of the reasons another player with similar-looking heroes performs much better than you.
Also make sure your Skill Chips and bonuses actually make sense for your main squad type.
TIP: Similar heroes + similar gear but very different results? Check the Drone.
8. Tech & Troops Are Easy to Underestimate
Research gives permanent bonuses and can create a big difference between two similar-looking squads.
Keep progressing your important combat Tech, especially:
- Units
- Heroes
- Special Forces
- Type-specific combat research
- Later Mastery / combat Tech
T10 → T11
If you're still working toward T10, keep it as one of your major progression goals.
Later, after Season 4, T11 becomes the next big troop milestone through the Armament Institute.
T11 isn't just another Power number. Compared with T10, the troops get stronger stats and you can choose between two specializations:
- Armored Troopers — better for troop preservation and defensive play
- Assault Raiders — better for aggressive/offensive play
Unlocking T11 is a long-term project involving Armament Research, Armament Materials, Cores, Oil and eventually a Level 35 Barracks, so start collecting those resources early instead of treating them like random materials.
TIP: T11 is a strong upgrade, but it won't fix bad heroes, weak gear or poor formation. Keep building your squad while working toward it.
Plan Your Upgrades Before Spending Resources
Before starting a big upgrade, check what it will actually cost.
LW Agent has calculators for:
- Hero EXP & Levels
- Hero Shards
- Hero Skills
- Exclusive Weapons
- Hero Awakening
- Gear
- Drone
- Resource Chests
- T11 Research
- Buildings & HQ
- Seasonal progression
This is especially useful for expensive targets like 5★ heroes, EW milestones, Awakening, Gear upgrades, Drone progression and T11.
Instead of using half your resources and realizing you're still nowhere near the target, calculate the full cost first.
TIP: Set the target → calculate the cost → save the resources → upgrade at the right time.
See Exactly What Your Next Upgrade Will Cost
9. Read Your Battle Reports
This is probably the easiest free upgrade in the game.
Instead of losing and immediately thinking:
"I need more Power."
check what actually happened.
Look at:
- Who died first?
- Which hero did the most damage?
- Did your DPS survive?
- What formation did they use?
- Are they countering your squad type?
- How different are the gear, Drone and EWs?
If your frontline dies instantly, more DPS probably isn't the answer.
If your main DPS survives but barely scratches anyone, more defense probably isn't the answer either.
Your Battle Report usually tells you what needs fixing.
10. Spending More Doesn't Always Make You Stronger
This is a very common trap.
You can spend plenty of money and still fall behind someone who spends less if you're buying whatever looks good instead of what your account actually needs.
Before buying something, ask:
"What is currently holding my main squad back?"
Maybe it's:
- Hero Shards
- Skill Medals
- Gear / Blueprints
- Exclusive Weapons
- Drone Parts
- Components / Skill Chips
- Tech
Don't buy something just because the game says 3000% VALUE!
If you don't need what's inside, it's not good value for you.
TIP: Find your bottleneck first. Spend second.
We cover purchases properly in our Smart Spending Guide , including what is worth buying, what to skip, and what Low, Medium and High Spenders should prioritize.
Quick Squad Check
If your squad feels weaker than it should, check:
- Heroes — Are your best resources going into the right 5?
- Counter — Does the enemy type counter yours?
- Formation — Have you tried different positioning?
- Stars & Skills — Are your main heroes properly developed?
- Gear — Are you upgrading the pieces you actually need?
- EW & Awakening — Are you investing with a long-term plan?
- Promoted Heroes — Are you ignoring a useful UR promotion?
- Drone — Level, Parts, Components and Skill Chips?
- Tech — Is your combat research keeping up?
- Battle Report — What is actually causing you to lose?
You don't need to upgrade everything at once.
Build your main squad, find its weakest point, fix it, then move to the next one.
And before spending money trying to fix a problem, make sure you actually know what the problem is.
Sometimes you don't need another pack.
You just need to move the right hero to the front. 😄