Squad-Building Recommendations

This is opinion, not fact. Formations reflect strong cross-source consensus for Season 6. For the underlying mechanics (classes, roles, formation bonus math), see Heroes.

The Core Principle

Commit to One Type

The same-type formation bonus scales with how many heroes of one troop type you run: 3 heroes grants +5% to HP/Attack/Defense, 4 heroes grants +15%, and a full 5-hero mono-type squad grants +20% to each stat — which compounds across all three stats simultaneously to roughly 40-44% more effective power than a mixed squad of similar individual hero strength. A mono-type squad with slightly weaker individual heroes will usually outperform a mixed squad built from stronger heroes. Splitting investment evenly across all three troop types early is one of the most common and costly mistakes — pick one, commit fully, and only branch into a second squad once the first is genuinely complete.

A Season 6 correction worth understanding: earlier seasons had a "4+1" system — running four heroes of one type plus one splash hero of another, offset by a specific Tactical Card that compensated for the lost 5% bonus. That compensating card has been removed in Season 6. This doesn't mean 4+1 is impossible — some very high-investment players still choose to splash in a specific hero (Lucius is the most commonly cited example) because that hero's individual value outweighs the now-uncompensated stat penalty. But for most accounts, a pure 5-hero mono-type squad is now the straightforwardly better default, since the free compensation that used to make 4+1 close to risk-free is gone.

Recommended Squads by Type

Tank — The Recommended First Squad~Day 57 for 5 UR

Tank is the default first squad for nearly every account — Tank heroes are the easiest UR roster to acquire and build, the lineup forgives positional mistakes, and it carries two of Season 6's Awakening heroes (Kimberly, DVA if run here).

Core: Kimberly · Murphy · Williams · Marshall · Stetmann (or Mason as a budget substitute)

Three common variants depending on purpose:

Full PvP defense: Front Kimberly + Murphy, Mid Williams + Mason, Back Marshall — maximizes survivability and the full mono-type bonus.
Balanced PvE / world boss: Front Kimberly, Mid Murphy + Marshall, Back DVA + Tesla — trades some formation bonus for significantly higher damage output.
F2P budget: Kimberly, Murphy, Mason, Marshall, Carlie — built entirely from readily obtainable heroes, enough to clear campaign and dailies while saving for a stronger core five.

A separate multi-source community synthesis (aggregating allclash, reddit, lootbar, bluestacks, and lastwarhandbook) independently arrived at the same core five above, and adds three further named variants:

Budget version (alternate): Front Murphy + Scarlett, Back Mason + Kimberly + Marshall — a different budget path from the F2P option above, useful specifically if Williams isn't built yet.
Hybrid tank: Front Murphy + Lucius, Back DVA + Kimberly + Marshall — genuinely mixes in an Aircraft hero (Lucius) for more durability and damage variety, at the cost of the full mono-type bonus.
High-end tank defense: Front Kimberly + Murphy, Back Williams + Mason + Marshall — cited as particularly strong for full-tank PvP defense setups specifically.

Aircraft — The Mid-to-Late Game Meta~Day 71 for 5 UR

Aircraft becomes the dominant PvP meta from roughly day 70 onward on most servers, specifically because it naturally counters the still-popular Tank squad — a built-in damage advantage against the formation most opponents are still running.

Core: Lucius · Carlie · Morrison · Schuyler · DVA

Lucius anchors the formation with energy damage reduction for the whole team; Carlie is the only Aircraft-type Tank, which is what makes a pure Aircraft squad viable at all; Morrison shreds enemy defense for sustained physical damage; DVA runs at her full formation bonus here (unlike in a Tank squad) and produces her highest effective output in this specific lineup.

Missile — The Counter-Pick Specialist~Day 99 for 5 UR

Missile is typically built third, and works best as a deliberate counter-pick against Aircraft-heavy opponents rather than an all-purpose primary squad — it's genuinely powerful once its Exclusive Weapons are unlocked, but a building-toward position rather than something to arrive at immediately.

2026 standard: Adam + McGregor (front) · Marshall (mid) · Tesla + Fiona (back)

McGregor's taunt protects the fragile backline; Adam's counter-defense shield helps keep McGregor's taunt uptime alive; Tesla's energy damage bypasses physical defense entirely; Fiona's multi-target attacks are what make the formation competitive at scale. Marshall's inclusion is itself a Season 6 development — with 4+1 no longer freely compensated, he's now considered a core piece here too, since he's the only UR Support hero in the game and his buffs matter regardless of which troop type he's technically paired with.

Universal Tactics Cards (Season 6)

Mitigating the Counter-Type Weakness of Pure Squads

A real downside of committing to a pure mono-type squad is losing the natural counter-softening that a mixed formation used to provide — if you run all-Missile and walk into an all-Tank squad, you're at a clear disadvantage with no hedge. Season 6 introduces Universal Tactics Cards to address exactly this:

Counter Reversal — reduces damage taken from, and increases damage dealt to, your specific counter type. Doesn't fully erase the disadvantage, but meaningfully changes the outcome of a close fight. Worth running as a core card regardless of which squad type you commit to.
Dimensional Crit (Tank) — grants a Crit Rate buff to whichever Tank hero currently has the highest Attack stat, so your gearing decisions directly determine who benefits.
Frontal Suppression (Aircraft) — buffs attack speed for the three Aircraft heroes in the back row.
Aftermath Burst (Missile) — boosts damage-over-time effects specifically, benefiting DoT-focused heroes like Fiona and Swift rather than flat-attack heroes.

These cards can be leveled to 12 (or 15, with a rare UR "Tactics Card Level Up" attribute), and only activate in PvP battles and Global Expedition — they have no effect in standard PvE, so a zombie-farming build doesn't need to account for them.

The Meta Timeline

How the Recommended Squad Shifts Over a Server's Life

Tank dominates the early season simply because Tank UR heroes are the easiest to acquire and gear. Roughly from day 70 onward, Aircraft becomes the stronger PvP choice specifically because it counters the still-widespread Tank squads. By the time a server reaches its third season or so, Missile becomes relevant as a targeted counter-pick against Aircraft-heavy alliances — but it remains a niche second or third squad rather than a universal recommendation, since it still loses cleanly to the Tank squads that never fully disappear from a server's population.