The Story So Far
Dr. Noah & the Crimson Queen
Fifteen years before the game's present day, the scientist Dr. Noah married the Lady in Red, mistress of a northern castle, knowing she held her family's secret artifact — the Gift of Bloodspawn (also referred to as the "RA Virus"). She allied with him anyway, hoping to restore her family's lost glory. Together they developed the RA Virus, turning humans into an organized zombie army known as the Doom Legion. After the Doom Legion's fall, the Lady in Red injected herself with an enhanced version of the virus and went into hibernation for five years. Season 1 opens with her resurfacing as the Crimson Queen — her intelligence and power described as far exceeding anything before — unleashing the Crimson Plague and a new wave of infected zombies across the map.
Some added texture on the virus itself: each RA Virus particle is roughly 100 nanometers across, but multiplies to around 2,000 within an hour of infecting a human — symptoms progress from fever, dry cough, and fatigue to increased appetite and severe breathing difficulty as the body mutates. Early mutants of the virus are described as less intelligent and uncontrollable; an upgraded version produces a gel-like substance that slows the mutation process, and the longer that runs, the smarter the infected become — sometimes surpassing average human intelligence.
The Crimson Queen's story continues into Season 1's off-season with The Queen's Revenge — a Warzone-wide siege event where she besieges Cities directly, on the Additional Challenges page.
Emperor Boreas
The story shifts to a polar region ruled by Boreas, once a revolutionary leader who overthrew a tyrant, but who became one himself. After seizing a Nuclear Furnace, Boreas developed the CL-7 virus and, following a confrontation with resistance fighters, transformed into a monstrous, cold-radiating creature — plunging the region into a spreading freeze that commanders must push back against.
The season's alliance-vs-alliance struggle over the region's warmth plays out directly in Rare Soil War — a weekly fight over Alliance Furnaces, on the Additional Challenges page.
Worth knowing about while exploring the map: Scattered Supplies lie hidden beneath the snow across Season 2's map, only revealing themselves once an area is heated to 0°C or above (via heat bombs or an Alliance Furnace) — clear any obstructions first, since supplies won't appear over an occupied tile even at the right temperature. They include Golden Chests worth hunting for, containing hero shards.
Dr. Noah Returns
Dr. Noah resurfaces in an ancient-Egypt-styled setting, having uncovered the Monument of the Dead and crowned himself ruler of the Golden Kingdom. He awakens a mummy army and unleashes sandworms across the desert, and commanders must fight through both while managing the season's curse-related mechanics.
A World Without Light
Season 4 moves to a darkness-themed setting built around a light-versus-dark mechanic, tying into the Lighthouse and Optoelectronic Lab structures available that season. It's also the season that introduces T11 troops, unlocked once the season enters its off-season phase.
A New Frontier
A western-themed season, notable mainly for introducing Venom's SSR-to-UR promotion — the last new hero added to that promotion track before Season 6 replaced it with Hero Awakening.
The Current Season
Set in a rainforest environment, Season 6 (launched April 13, 2026) is the current season as of this page's writing. It's a structural turning point as much as a story one: it paused new SSR-to-UR promotions and Exclusive Weapons in favor of introducing Hero Awakening for Kimberly, DVA, and Tesla.
How Seasons Work
Pre-Season & Off-Season
A new season typically begins roughly 6-7 weeks after the previous one ends, signaled by a 14-day pre-season countdown icon appearing near the VS (Alliance Duel) button. Once a season's main story content wraps up, it enters an off-season phase — this is when certain late-game unlocks become available, such as T11 troops in Season 4's off-season.
The Recurring Pattern
Every season so far has followed a similar shape: a new environmental threat with its own themed resource (Immune Protein, Coal, Mithril, and so on), a matching resistance stat to manage (Virus Resistance, Curse Resistance, etc.), a set of seasonal-exclusive buildings tied to that resource, and usually one storyline villain driving the threat. Recognizing this pattern makes each new season faster to get oriented in, even before reading the specific story details.
Season Merit Medals & the Season Store
Progress within a season earns Season Merit Medals, spendable in a Season Store that carries over between seasons rather than closing — its stock resets each season, but the store itself never goes away. This is commonly used to pick up items like Mythic Gear Blueprints or skill points that remain valuable no matter which season is currently running.
Infection Stacks: The RA Virus as a Real Mechanic
Beyond the Season 1 story, the RA Virus is also a genuine gameplay mechanic tied to fighting zombies. Engaging monsters risks infection — if your troops' Virus Resistance (built up via the Virus Research Institute) is lower than the monster's, there's a chance of infection on that attack. Certain enemy types, "Corruptors" and Infected Zombies specifically, can cause infection even with sufficient resistance, bypassing the normal check.
Infected troops that return to base start accumulating Infection Stacks on a 0-100 scale (0 = clean, 100 = maximum, capped even under repeated exposure). Status shows as an icon over your radar icon — a plain shield if clean, or a numbered badge showing the current stack if infected; tapping it shows the specific active debuffs and their severity. Higher stacks mean both a longer-lasting and stronger debuff. Dispatching a Scout to help an infected ally reduces their stacks by a set amount per dispatch.