Rallying well

1What you bring when you join

As a joiner, you bring your troops and the 1st Expedition skill of your 1st hero. Nothing else.

And the leader? All three of the leader's heroes count, and the leader's stats apply to every troop in the rally. So the leader should be the player with the best hero trio and, more generally, the best stats.

2Only 4 joiners count

The rally keeps the 4 highest-level skills among all joiners. At equal level, arrival order breaks the tie. Example on an attack rally:

#1Chenkolvl 3

✗#2Zoélvl 5

✓#3Amanelvl 5

#4Yeonwoolvl 4

✓#5Chenkolvl 5

✓#6Amadeuslvl 5

#7Chenkolvl 5

• Level 5 Zoé is kept and wastes one of the 4 slots: her skill is useless when joining. A wrong hero at a high level is worse than a wrong hero at a low level.
• Chenko #7 is level 5, but arrives too late: the 4 slots are already taken by level 5s who arrived earlier.
• Level 4 Yeonwoo and level 3 Chenko are not kept: their skills are too low.

The right hero, at level 5, and join early.

3Which hero to put first

Effects with the skill at level 5.

Against a player, attack rally or garrison reinforcement, it's the same heroes. A skill that hits harder also helps a garrison eliminate the attackers, and a skill that protects also helps a rally hold.

⚔️ Hit harder

Lethality+25 %

ChenkoYeonwooAmadeus

Attack+25 %

Amane

⛨ Hold longer

Health+25 %

Gordon

Mixed: Defense +10%, Health +15%

Saul

Damage taken−20 %

HowardQuinnFahd

Enemy attack−20 %

Eric

⚖️ Mixed

Neither one nor the other: use it according to the leader's stats.

Attack +15%, Defense +10%

Hilde

Which family? The one the leader asks for: it depends on their stats (see below, “The right joiner depends on the leader”), and they prepare it on the Stats & composition page (Rally role). With no instruction, put the hero from this list whose 1st skill is at the highest level: a hero at level 5 beats a “better” hero at level 2.

🐻 Against the Bear, only the “Hit harder” column counts: the Bear doesn't attack, there's nothing to protect.

🚫 Never put first

MarlinZoéJabelDianaSethOliveForrestEdwinPetraJaegerHelga

Their 1st skill is useless when joining: it relies on chance, doesn't work in combat, or only affects the hero itself. Many are excellent heroes to lead with, just not to lend.

4Bear special

On Bear Hunt, put one of these four heroes first:

ChenkoLethality +25%

YeonwooLethality +25%

AmaneAttack +25%

AmadeusLethality +25%

Good for joining, but even better kept to lead your own rallies.

Amadeus's star bonus (up to +15% Lethality and Health for the whole army) only counts for the leader. As a joiner, only his first skill is used.

Howard, Quinn, Fahd, Eric, Gordon and Saul add nothing against the Bear, and Hilde loses half her effect.

5Set up your squad formations

The game lets you save squad formations. Set them up once and for all: the right heroes are already in place, you can't pick the wrong one, and you join in one tap. It's crucial for the Bear, where you have to join within the second.

🐻 Bear

Formation 1ChenkoDianaHoward

Formation 2YeonwooGordonSeth

Formation 3AmaneForrestEdwin

Ratio: your army's own, if it all goes out

If your total army doesn't exceed your total deployment capacity, send everything: your ratio is then your army's own (tap the exclamation mark next to the troop total, on the troops overview screen).

If your army exceeds that capacity, you have to choose what goes out: raise the share of archers and lower the share of infantry.

⚔️⛨ Against a player

Formation 1 · LethalityChenkoDianaSeth

Formation 2 · AttackAmaneForrestEdwin

Formation 3 · HealthGordonOliveJaeger

One formation per family: on rally day, send the one the leader asks for. Adapt the names to your heroes (Yeonwoo or Amadeus instead of Chenko, Saul instead of Gordon…).

Default ratio

501040

InfantryCavalryArchers

The most effective in general, in a rally as in a garrison. Adapt it to the leader's instruction; they can prepare it on the Stats & composition page.

Follow the R5 and R4 instructions.

Why these 2nd and 3rd heroes? Only the 1st hero counts when joining. The 2nd and 3rd slots are used to park heroes whose skill is useless when joining, so the good heroes stay free for the 1st slot of your other formations.

Following marches: select the same formations again. Since their heroes are already out, they leave without heroes, and that's better than with a wrong hero.

6Why it matters

Each good joiner adds +25 points to the leader's stat. For a leader at +400%, that's +5% damage per joiner, +20% for all four. Here's what's left when slots are wasted by wrong heroes:

These four slots cost nothing: the right hero, at the right level, at the right time.

On defense it's even clearer: in a tight defense, one badly chosen first hero can be enough to make the castle fall, and when we win anyway, it's paid for in wounded to heal.

7The right joiner depends on the leader

Your hero's bonus is added to one of the leader's stats: Lethality for Chenko, Amadeus and Yeonwoo, Attack for Amane, Health for Gordon, Defense and Health for Saul. The best joiner is the one who boosts the leader's lowest stat.

Example: a leader at +300% Lethality and +500% Attack gains more from a Chenko than from an Amane. With the stats the other way round, Amane brings the most.

What it means for you

• On rally day: follow the leader's instruction. They prepare it before KvK on the Stats & composition page (Rally role), or on the Simulator against a garrison whose report they have.
• For your development: levelling up a hero from a different family than everyone else's (Amane when everyone has Chenko) gives the leader a choice.

8The checklist before joining

• Against a player or against the Bear? Check what you're joining before choosing.
• Use your saved formations: the right heroes in one tap, no mistakes.
• The right 1st hero: from the family the leader asks for, never a hero from the red list.
• Its 1st skill at the highest level possible, ideally 5.
• Join early: at equal level, the first to arrive go first.
• Send your best troops, and don't worry about your gear: it doesn't count.

To progress: raising your join hero's 1st skill to level 5 is the cheapest and most rewarding upgrade when you don't lead.