Choose the fight, then the formation
Lineup learning library
Explore mono, 4+1 and mixed models, compare their costs, and learn when they apply. This is a reviewed example library—not a damage simulator, automatic best-team ranking or connection to your game account.
Build your battle setup
Start with the purpose. Refine the squad below.
“Main type” groups the formation’s focus, not a claim that all five heroes share that type. Advanced means conditional EW/gear interactions—not automatically stronger.
Check against your available heroes
Matchup & fight context
First identify enemy damage, targeting and your carry’s survival. A favorable troop counter does not rescue an undeveloped squad. Arena tests do not guarantee identical losses in field, rally or garrison combat.
Ordinary counter direction: Tank → Missile → Aircraft → Tank. Mixed teams need hero-by-hero damage and targeting checks.
Matching lineups
16Select a formation to inspect its heroes, requirements and tradeoffs.
Mono · Foundation · Baseline
Tank · protected backline
Front row · faces the enemy
Back row
Rows shown from your squad’s formation view. Left/right can be mirrored for the enemy’s targeting; this is not a fixed optimum.
Why try it?
Two defenders protect damage and support. A useful reference before investing in unusual frontline attackers.
Before using it
- Developed heroes, skills and gear appropriate to the target; ownership alone is not readiness.
What you give up
Mono-type synergy does not remove the Aircraft matchup disadvantage in ordinary PvP. Rear-targeting skills can still reach your carry.
A useful comparison
Keep this reference. Compare a different carry position against the same opponent, not just a different Power total.
Mono vs 4+1 is a tradeoff
Ordinary formation bonuses are +20% for five of one type and +15% for four. A useful off-type hero can compensate, but a seasonal Hybrid card is a separate condition—not automatically active. Crystal’s extra five-type damage bonus is another separate rule.
Promoted Venom or Braz is not automatically a PvP upgrade. Where complete, comparable tests are insufficient, no “best” model is invented. Recheck newer Awakening and EW effects in your client.
Test without fooling yourself
- Keep a reference preset. Record opponent/phase, gear, EW, skills, Drone and cards.
- Change one hero or position. Compare like-for-like attempts, not unrelated accounts.
- Inspect survival, targeting and skill recipients as well as score. Keep losses and counter-matchups visible.
Preset setup · illustrated instructions
Real in-game interface examples. Select a step, then tap its screenshot to enlarge. Account Power, levels and gear shown are examples—not required builds. Labels can change with game updates.
Step 1 of 4
Find the saved lineup
From your Base, open Squad, then Lineup Preset at the bottom. The upper panel is your current lineup; the rows below are saved presets. Tap Apply Preset on the row you intend to use.
Bring the relevant squads home first. After applying, inspect the heroes, positions and actual equipment—not only the preset name.
Unlock: server day20. Marching squads and dispatched heroes, gear or chips can block saving/applying. Return those resources to Base before switching.
Lineup & preset essentials
Use the lineup library above to choose the fight, not just five impressive heroes. PvP, ordinary PvE, Wanted and Crystal do not reward the same formation. The library includes mono-type, 4+1 and mixed examples with their actual tradeoffs.
How to read the examples
- Baseline: a practical starting structure, not a measured maximum.
- Player-reported: a complete formation described by players who used or tested it. Their gear, EW, season and opponents matter.
- Conflicting tests: outcomes disagree. Keep these as experiments, not default upgrades.
- Foundation / Developed / Advanced: the conditions a model expects, not a ranking from weak to strongest.
No example predicts your win rate or calculates account damage. A hero marked as owned is not automatically promoted, fully skilled or ready for the front row.
Save and switch in-game
Lineup Presets unlock after 20 server days. From your base, open Squad, then Lineup Preset at the bottom. You can keep up to 10 presets, rename them and inspect their details.
Use the real interface walkthrough above to locate the buttons and inspect the saved setup.
- Bring your squads home. Arrange the intended front and back rows.
- Equip the actual gear and chips you want to use.
- Save the current configuration into an available slot.
- Give it an event-specific name, such as PvP · Air+Murphy or Code87 · Reference.
- Open its details and inspect the saved formation.
- Apply it when the necessary heroes and equipment are available, then check the actual squad before marching.
Saving/applying is restricted while squads or required resources are dispatched. Presets do not clone heroes or equipment. Do not assume profession skills, every card, Drone setting or temporary buff is captured; inspect those systems separately.
Gear swaps: prepare, apply, restore
Presets can pull gear from non-deployed squads. That is a reassignment, not a copy: the donor squad can lose equipment you expected it to keep. Do not prepare two simultaneous marches on the assumption that both will retain your single best set.
Saved gear levels act as minimum matching requirements rather than a permanent link to one physical item. The game can substitute available higher-level gear. If an item cannot be supplied, inspect the warning; cancel if the resulting missing slot would make the squad unsafe. Always check the equipment actually applied, including rarity, stars and relevant effects—not only the displayed level.
- Save a combat reference: bring the relevant squads home and keep a named preset for your regular configuration.
- Inspect the candidate: compare the stored details with the heroes and gear it needs. Check which idle squad currently holds those items.
- Apply and verify: inspect all five heroes’ gear plus the actual Drone Chip setup. Confirm that a frontline attacker still has appropriate protection.
- Check the donor squads: do not send them into another fight with missing gear. Re-equip or keep them home.
- Restore after the test: return the testing squad to Base, apply your combat reference and inspect the main and donor squads again.
For Wanted, use reports to identify the heroes contributing useful damage before moving offensive gear. For ordinary PvP or PvE with dangerous incoming damage, preserve frontline survival; copying a boss-only gear allocation can expose the carry. Crystal has its own effect restrictions, so a Wanted improvement is not proof of a Crystal improvement.
What to check outside the preset
- Equipment: actual pieces, level, stars and effects on each deployed hero.
- Drone: the loaded Skill Chips and whether their type/row conditions fit this mixed or mono formation. Gear Data Chips are a different system.
- Profession and cards: correct role, available season and applicable effects; do not assume every external setting is saved with the lineup.
- Other marches: shared heroes and gear cannot be used twice at the same time.
Use the Gear Guide for progression and equipment roles, and the Drone Guide for its separate systems. The library remains the place to choose the formation and compare its conditions.
Keep purpose-specific slots
Start with the few presets you actually need rather than filling ten slots immediately:
- A dependable PvP reference and one candidate.
- Separate Code87, Code39 and Code64 formations.
- Your Crystal reference and one candidate.
- A safe ordinary-PvE or farming formation if it differs from your main squad.
Keep the reference unchanged. An experiment is much easier to judge when you can return to the old configuration.
Follow the right learning path
- PvP squads, mono and 4+1 variants: frontline carries, borrowed support, opponents and roster cost.
- All three Code Bosses: favored types, offensive rows and alternatives.
- Crystal lineups and conflicting tests: the separate bonuses and why a Wanted build may lose.
- PvE boss fighting: targets that require survival, not just a damage score.
- Battle Reports: check what actually changed.
Make a useful test
Record the enemy or boss phase, formation, heroes' relevant EW/skills, gear, Drone, cards and result. Change one thing at a time. Compare similar conditions and repeat where attempts permit.
For PvP, record who died first, which target your carry attacked and whether support went to the intended hero. For farming, record losses and rewards. For a damage boss, compare the same target/phase—not a larger number from a completely different fight.
A posted personal best is evidence that a build worked for that player, not proof that you should copy it without its conditions.
Your next upgrade
Use the linked gear, skills, Drone and squad-development guides to investigate the limiting system. Check costs in the calculators before investing in a side hero just to reproduce an example.