The perfect F2P start. Part 3: joining an alliance and Sanctuary level 8

Part three of the series: the main buildings up to Sanctuary level 8, important small things at the start of the game and applying to a top alliance. The beginning is in part 1 and part 2.

1. Survivors and speedups

Survivors. In part 2 the author advised not to recruit them, but after the updates they became stronger: they cut the time of construction, research and troop training and improve the stats of the buildings they are sent to. Spend the Survivor Recruit Tickets as they appear, just like the Recruit Tickets.

The Residence lets you send survivors to buildings with one button and raise their level: Survivor List → Dispatch → Quick Dispatch. More on the survivors page.

Speedups. Two rules:

1. Spend construction speedups only when all the other things on the territory are done. Then look at what the next Sanctuary level needs and do that first (for example, upgrade the Walls again). Right now construction is fast and you can simply wait, but later the time grows.
2. While a building or the Sanctuary is being upgraded, level the Clinic and go along the Doctor's Path: it gives rewards and stars, and the construction time passes by itself.

2. Nickname, avatar and VIP

Before looking for an alliance, open your avatar (Doctor Info), change the default name to your own nickname and set your own avatar - it is available after buying Marlena. Alliance leaders take you more seriously this way, and in some alliances it is a condition for not getting kicked.

VIP - do not spend diamonds on permanent activation: at the start it is very expensive. When you have tens of thousands of diamonds, it is cheaper to turn VIP on for a whole month at once with a discount.

• For every new VIP level the game gives a free 1-hour VIP activation.
• The goal is VIP 5 in 7 days (11,000 VIP points): in the Path to Healing you get Arthur shards for the VIP level.
• Besides diamonds, VIP points come from alliance chests (they drop for members' purchases and for organizing assaults). One more reason to join an active alliance: the chests also hold resources and speedups.
• The main rule: raise VIP with diamonds up to level 4, and level 5 only when you have finished all the Path to Healing quests. Then VIP activates by itself and you do not have to spend thousands of diamonds on activation.

Spend the remaining diamonds on speedups in the VIP Shop only in case of real need, and mostly save them for the day-8 wheel with a new unique hero. Collect the daily free VIP pack every day.

3. Reward events at the start

Value. For three days, claim the rewards for buying Marlena. In the Glory Challenge: Hero Promotion tab the rewards are given for the total number of stars of Arthur and Marlena.

Final Dawn is one more reason to raise the Sanctuary quickly. There are rewards for total Might, and the last one, at 4,600,000 Might, is a UR Sword: at the start a golden item costs about 20 USD, and here you can get it for free.

Might grows from all progress, but especially from training troops: the higher the troop tier, the more Might. The tier depends on the level of the Training Grounds, and the Training Grounds depend on the Sanctuary level. A vicious circle. At the same time Might, according to the author, is not a measure of strength: strength is in which heroes are leveled, their gear, skills and level, and the hero level cap also rests on the Sanctuary.

Path to Healing is a 7-day event, and new quests appear during the first 5 days. Event points give Celia shards (50 / 100 / 200 / 400 / 700 points), and the VIP level gives Arthur shards:

Try to finish the quests of each day in all three sections to pass every checkpoint within 7 days, and at the end, with VIP 5 active, collect all the Arthur shards.

4. The daily routine

• The construction button is at the bottom left: when the red indicator lights up, go in and start a new build. Construction must never sit idle: upgrade buildings or resources that matter for growth.
• People with a question mark near the Sanctuary: accept them - they will join you or give a reward.
• Collect resources, check the Tavern, level heroes, their gear and skills, and keep claiming free rewards from the main quests and events.
• The menu on the left shows the progress of everything going on in the territory; when something is ready, a marker appears.

Squad 1 is where the core for defending the Sanctuary and attacking others is set up.

The Weaving Workshop produces Cloth, the simplest crafting material. It is merged by the thousands to get steel, from which golden items are made. The Smelting Workshop produces Gearstones for upgrading items.

5. Mail, Bag, shop

Bag:

• Special - chests of different types (always open them right away), shields against attacks, teleports and other things for the future. About Stamina separately: there is little of it and buying it is expensive, so spend it only on timed quests.
• Resource - used automatically, except diamonds: when you run short of diamonds, unpack them by hand.
• Speedup - also spent automatically. Five kinds: Construction Speedup, Tech Speedup, Training Speedup, Healing Speedup and Universal Speedup (instead of any).
• Hero - shards, Skill Badges, antidotes, experience (also used automatically), the section is informational.
• Gear - clear from the name.
• Gift - flowers for daily quests. You give them to other players as a compliment or a like: pick a player, a gift and send it. For the recipient it shows up on the showcase if they enable that in the settings.

The author covers the Shops in a separate video. At the start, in case of real need, the speedups from the VIP Shop and the Alliance Shop are interesting.

6. Buildings up to Sanctuary level 8 and the alliance

• The Scout Squad sends scouts to other sanctuaries before an attack: how many resources they have, which heroes are on defense, whether it is worth attacking.
• Further along the Doctor's Path the fourth hero arrives - Celia. Raise her level, stars and skills and put gear on her. For skills: up to level 10 evenly for everyone, then Marlena and Arthur to level 20, and after that keep a gap of 5 levels between them and the rest. SSR Hero Omni Shards go only to Claire, when she appears.
• The Falcon Tower opens the world map and the falcon quests, which give rewards. According to the author, a quest lasts 6 hours, then new ones appear, and old ones disappear 18 hours after they appear, so you can take your time and do them while the construction timer runs.
• The Alliance Hall is where you create your own alliance or join an existing one. The goal is a top alliance: it has more active players who press Help (shorter construction and training time) and more alliance chests.

The author's mistake: in a hurry, he did not join an alliance right away. Press the auto-join button: while you go to level 8, members will help and chests will drop for you. But the real goal is Sanctuary level 8: that is where the rankings open and you can pick the alliance you want.

At this stage the fifth hero of the core arrives - Claire: raise her level and change her gear. If Recruit Tickets have piled up, spend them in the Tavern and get Arthur. Set the main squad on the Doctor's Path: front line - tanks Arthur and Bella, second line - Marlena, Claire, Celia. Only this way.

Next:

• The Barracks - more trained troops can stay in the Sanctuary.
• The Training Grounds - this is where troops are trained, their tier depends on the level of the Training Grounds, so they are always upgraded. There is only one type of troops in the game, only heroes differ by class. The Training Grounds must never sit idle; after a tier increase the already trained troops are simply upgraded. Important for the future: there are troop training events, but if the Barracks is full, you cannot disband troops - you can only lose them in a fight.
• The Warrior Statue strengthens Warrior heroes, and the whole core in this series is Warriors. Raise it whenever you can.
• The Infirmary is where the wounded go after a battle. The author's trick: send in as many troops for healing as it takes 30-40 minutes. Allies press Help, the troops heal at once, and you send the next batch. Instead of hours of waiting or spent speedups - a few minutes.
• The Arena - PvP, first among players of your own server, then among the 4-5 nearest servers.

7. Sanctuary level 8: applying to a top alliance

First thing: avatar → Rank, two rankings:

1. Alliance Might Rank - which alliances are on top;
2. Personal Might Rank - usually the top players are exactly from the top alliance. That is where we try to join.

There are no open spots in the alliance - write to the leader (R5), preferably in English, something like this:

Hi, I'm an experienced player from server N, looking to actively play and improve. Do you have a spot for me?

If you are already in some alliance, calmly wait for an answer, but check from time to time whether a spot has opened. If the leader is silent for a long time, copy the message, open the alliance list, then the members of the alliance you want, and send it again to all the R4s: they manage the alliance too.

Squad 2 has appeared: put the core in the first one, and anyone from the rest in the second.

The Raven Nest unlocks a pet - the Raven. There is only one, it helps in battles automatically and every squad. Its level is raised with Raven Fruit and Raven Essence, and later its gear is upgraded from special chests from events.

While construction runs - go to the Arena: hit the top-most opponent available to climb faster, put the core in both attack and defense, spend all the free attempts and claim the reward.

The Research Lab is technologies. For now just research the top ones available and raise the Lab level so that new cells and top-level technologies open. More in the research section.

The next part of the series is about the alliance and the world map.