Complete Beginners Guide

Player Fundamentals — Learn the Game in the Right Order

The basic daily loop

1. Collect city production and check the next Furnace prerequisite.
2. Start construction/research and request Alliance Help.
3. Dispatch gathering and event marches.
4. Complete Daily/Intel/Exploration/Alliance tasks that fit your current stage.
5. Check alliance announcements before joining rallies or moving cities.
6. Bank the resources, speedups, gems and hero materials needed for the next event or progression gate.

Free Resources — Gift Codes, Monument Gems & Easy Claims

Gift codes — use live lists, not an old code list

Gift codes expire quickly and can have publisher claim limits. Rather than putting a stale list in the guide, bookmark a live tracker and check it whenever a new code is announced.

• WSCO Live Gift Codes — current community tracker with active/expired status.
• WOS Rewards — live code list and redemption tools.
• Whiteout Survival Wiki Gift Codes — another community reference.
• Century Games Gift Code Center — use the official redemption portal where your platform/client requires it.

Monument — free Gems hiding in progression milestones

Once the Monument is unlocked, open it regularly. Monument achievements cover personal, alliance and state milestones, and rewards can include Gems, recruitment keys, manuals, speedups and Fire Crystals. Some achievements complete because the state/alliance progresses, so you may have rewards waiting even when you did nothing special that day.

• Check it after major milestones. Furnace growth, Beast hunting, alliance territory and other state/alliance achievements can advance Monument objectives.
• Claim available rewards. Do not leave earned Gems sitting unclaimed.
• Use the extra Gems toward your real priorities. Early progression commonly values the second Builder and other high-return account upgrades before vanity spending.

Current community Monument references document 25 achievement objectives and multiple Gem rewards; exact objectives/rewards should be checked against the Monument screen in your client because event/state progression can change.

Account Progression Priorities

F2P resource rule

• Do not level every hero because the materials are available.
• Do not spend rare Essence Stones casually. Save them for your priority Hero Gear.
• Use event windows for major spending whenever the event rewards that resource.
• For Bear Trap, better Marksman damage can improve your contribution and therefore improve access to Hero Gear resources.

Progression Roadmap — What to focus on as the Furnace rises

Day 1 → End Game — Server Timeline & Power-Shift Roadmap

Power shift

Planning references: Whiteout Survival Wiki timeline · WoS Guru roadmap.

Farm Account — Start One From Scratch and Build It for Resources

Step 1 — Create the farm in your main's state

1. Open your main city and tap your Profile picture.
2. Open Settings.
3. Open Characters / character management.
4. Tap Create New Character.
5. Search for and select the same State number as your main.
6. Confirm and start the new character. You will go through the opening tutorial again.
7. Finish the early tutorial and join your alliance's farm/academy alliance if one exists. If your state permits another arrangement, follow your R4/R5 rules.

Step 2 — Get the new city moving

1. Push the Furnace. Do the normal prerequisite buildings, but do not waste resources building a combat account you do not need.
2. Unlock march queues. The official game support says you begin with 1 queue and can unlock up to 6 through technology and VIP. For a farm, more simultaneous gathering marches are one of the biggest efficiency gains. Official March Queue FAQ
3. Prioritize Economy research. Gathering speed, resource production and march/load efficiency are the farm's core engine.
4. Take Growth research that accelerates the farm. Research Speed, Construction Speed and useful development gates compound over the life of the farm.
5. Take only necessary Battle research. Get the military prerequisites and troop/deployment capacity you actually need. Do not turn the farm into a second main unless you have a specific reason.
6. Keep the research queue active. An idle farm research queue is lost production time.

Farm milestones — what are you actually building toward?

Research priority for a dedicated farm

Gathering heroes — build these for the job

Use heroes whose Expedition skills increase the resource your march is collecting. Community references commonly identify Cloris for Meat, Eugene for Wood, Charlie for Coal and Smith for Iron. Their value is in the gathering Expedition skill; keep those skills developed rather than spending farm resources on unrelated combat upgrades. Community gathering reference

Daily farm routine

1. Collect city production and complete free daily activity.
2. Send every available march to the best legal resource nodes you can reach.
3. Use the correct gathering hero for the resource being collected.
4. Keep construction and research running.
5. Return to the farm on a predictable schedule so marches are not sitting idle.
6. Keep the farm close enough to the main/hive that resource transfers are practical.

Moving RSS from the farm to the main

1. Bring the farm's gathering marches home.
2. Scout the farm before attacking it. Confirm there are no troops, reinforcements or surprises in the city.
3. Send the farm's troops out of the city before the resource-transfer attack if your state uses city looting for farm transfer. This prevents the main from accidentally fighting the farm's defending troops.
4. Check the farm's lootable/unprotected RSS and attack only under your state's rules.
5. After the transfer, repair the Barricade and return the farm to its normal gathering routine.

Farm + Brothers in Arms

1. Keep the farm's troops healthy and available.
2. If the main and farm are in the same alliance and attacks are restricted, move the farm out before the fight only if leadership/state rules allow it.
3. An academy or other separate alliance can be cleaner when the farm needs to remain separate from the main for the event.
4. Attack the farm deliberately and understand that city combat can create permanent troop losses.
5. Batch-heal between rounds: heal manageable batches, use Alliance Help, let the timers fall, then start the next batch. This is a community efficiency method, not a reason to overflow the Infirmary.
6. Rejoin the normal alliance after the exchange if required and permitted.
7. Stop when the desired BiA points are reached. The farm is an asset; do not destroy its long-term gathering engine for a few extra points.

What not to spend on

• Do not chase a full combat hero roster.
• Do not spread scarce Hero Gear/Essence materials across heroes you will never use.
• Do not train huge armies merely to increase farm Power.
• Do not let the farm consume your main's event resources unless the farm directly returns more value than it costs.

Battle Report Deep-Dive — Diagnose the Exact Failure

Reading the supplied report example

The green side shows roughly 150–284% across the visible rows while the red side is around 0–51%. That is a structural stat gap. A small troop-ratio adjustment will not erase it; the weaker account needs permanent combat development before expecting an even fight.

Attack/Defense vs Lethality/Health

Do not add the four percentages together. Damage pressure comes from Attack plus Lethality; staying power comes from Defense plus Health. When one relevant stat is already far ahead of its partner, improving the weaker partner can produce better practical value than stacking the already-high stat.

Eight-step report audit

1. Identify solo, rally, reinforcement or garrison combat.
2. Identify the actual rally/garrison captain and heroes.
3. Compare troop tier and total troops.
4. Compare Infantry/Lancer/Marksman composition.
5. Compare all 12 visible stat rows.
6. Open skill details and Battle Details; the headline rows do not show every hero-skill effect.
7. Check casualties and whether the trade was sustainable.
8. Change one major variable for the rematch so the next report teaches you something.

Troop Training — Capacity, Speed & SVS Promotion

Permanent training improvements

• Keep all three troop camps upgraded with Furnace progression.
• Research Camp Expansion for more troops per queue.
• Research Training Tools to reduce training time.
• Use state and Minister buffs during planned high-volume training.

200% Training Capacity Enhance

Use it when the goal is to load very large batches with fewer taps, especially around a training event. It does not create free training time.

Train high tier or bank one tier below?

1. Early account: train your highest available tier until you have enough troops to fill useful marches.
2. After your army is large enough, a common event strategy is to train one tier below your maximum between events.
3. On the Training/Promotion scoring day, promote that stored pool to the highest tier. Promotion scores the difference between the two troop levels and lets you process a large troop pool efficiently.
4. Do not use this strategy if it leaves you short for Bear Trap, hunting, Crazy Joe, garrison or war.
5. When a new top tier is close, stop overbuilding the lower tier and prepare for the new promotion path.

Training-day setup

Coordinate Mobilize, Minister of Education, Training Capacity Enhance and other available training buffs. Start batches early when the event's scoring rules reward troops that finish/are credited during the scoring window. Always verify the current event rule first.

Enlistment Office — Your Hidden Troop Reserve

• Current references list reserve capacity at 4× Infirmary capacity.
• Loyalty is spent to enlist reserves and begins accumulating again after reserve use.
• Loyalty accumulates faster when it is low, when severely injured troops are fewer, and when more reserves remain.
• Loyalty stops at its cap. Before a major war, do not leave it permanently capped.
• Daily Mission rewards and gathering can provide Loyalty while reserves are available.
• Maintain this system before SVS/war. It is backup capacity, not a replacement for a healthy Infirmary.

Research Center — Optimize Growth, Economy & Battle

Research tree map — follow the gates

The diagram is a priority map, not a claim that every account sees these nodes in exactly this order. Research Center prerequisites and node gates are shown by the live client and can vary with progression/state age. Current references confirm the three-tree structure and the early value of Research Speed, Construction Speed and March Queue.

How the gates work

• You cannot simply jump to the strongest leaf. Earlier nodes and prerequisite gates must be completed first.
• Research Center level and Furnace progression also gate what you can research.
• Read the live prerequisite panel before spending resources; node requirements can change with state age and game updates.
• Do not spend universal speedups just to reach a dead-end node if the next useful gate is still blocked.

Optimal F2P route — early account

Current research references support Growth-first, especially Research Speed, Construction Speed and March Queue, followed by Economy gathering and then Battle.

F2P battle priority

1. Take the Battle prerequisites needed to open the next useful military block.
2. Prioritize the troop type and stats that match your actual role. A normal F2P player benefits from a balanced core rather than trying to become a three-march specialist immediately.
3. For a Bear-focused player, Marksman-related offensive investment has unusually high practical value because your Bear formation is Marksman-heavy.
4. For defensive/garrison roles, do not ignore Infantry survivability.
5. When a major SVS/war period approaches, temporarily favor Battle research that contributes to the planned event instead of starting a long economic detour.

Whale / high-spender route

• Get the compounding Growth gates early, but do not remain Growth-heavy after the account has enough development speed.
• Move into Battle earlier because high-spender accounts already have stronger resource income, troop capacity and gear to exploit military stats.
• Prioritize the military branch around your role. A rally leader has more reason to push combat stats than a pure joiner.
• Use event windows. If Research is a scoring category, queue expensive research before the event and finish it during the scoring window when allowed by the event rules.
• Keep the queue active. Idle research time is permanently lost account progression.

Research during events

Research checklist

• Research Center queue never idle.
• Check the next gate before spending speedups.
• Take Research Speed and Construction Speed early because they compound.
• Use Economy to keep the account supplied, especially Gathering Speed.
• Transition into Battle before competitive events demand it.
• Coordinate major research pushes with SVS/Hall of Chiefs/event scoring days.
• Follow alliance-specific research priorities when leadership assigns a state strategy.

Fire Crystal → Refined Fire Crystal → Flame Tech

FC budgeting system

Crystal Laboratory — the sustainable FC/RFC routine

The Crystal Laboratory has two separate jobs: normal refinement converts RSS into Fire Crystals, while Super Refinement converts Fire Crystals into Refined Fire Crystals. Treat them as separate budgets.

*Expected value from the current community probability table (1 FC 40%, 2 FC 30%, 3 FC 15%, 4 FC 10%, 5 FC 5%). Actual weekly results vary. Missing a daily attempt means losing that day's normal refinement opportunity.

Super Refinement — do it for the discount, not because you can

There are 100 Super Refinement attempts in the full weekly cycle: 20 at each tier. The first Super Refinement each day is 50% off, so the cheapest long-term strategy is to spread attempts across days rather than burn the whole weekly allowance at once.

How to choose your RFC rate

1. F2P / low spender: prioritize the discounted Tier-1 attempts and never sacrifice a Furnace/camp/research gate just to push Super Refinement.
2. Active mid-game: use the cheap tiers first, then decide whether the next tier is worth its FC cost against your next permanent upgrade.
3. High-income account: a deeper weekly refinement cycle can make sense, but calculate the RFC you need for the next Furnace/War Academy/Flame Tech gate first.
4. Do not chase the maximum roll. The expected value is the planning number; a lucky 10–12 RFC result is not a sustainable budget assumption.

FC savings timeline — use a target, not a feeling

The big FC walls

• 30 → FC5 Furnace-only: 5,715 FC and no RFC.
• FC5 → FC10 Furnace-only: 5,895 FC + 870 RFC.
• 30 → FC10 Furnace-only: 11,610 FC + 870 RFC.
• FC9 → FC10: the Furnace alone requires 1,575 FC + 420 RFC. Do not arrive at FC9 with an empty RFC stockpile.

FC planning rule

Flame Tech material rule

Official support confirms Flame Tech Research can require Steel, Refined Fire Crystals, Fire Crystal Shards, Meat, Wood, Coal and Iron; quantities vary by technology. Official Flame Tech material requirements

Timeline · FC1–FC10 cost reference. Cost tables are community references; your client wins.

Hero Hall / Recruitment — Save the Right Keys

• Recruitment can give Heroes, Shards, Exploration/Expedition Manuals, Hero XP, speedups and resources.
• Do not automatically open every key. If the current event rewards Hero Development or recruitment-related actions, banked keys can be more valuable during that window.
• Check the scoring rules before ascending heroes. Some events score named Hero Shards while general/universal shards may not count.
• Do not chase every new Hero immediately. Protect resources for the generation and role you actually want.

Drill Camp — Stop Wasting Hero EXP

• Keep the five instructors close in level. One lower instructor lowers the effective level of every drilled hero.
• Drill Slots let secondary heroes use that level without spending their own Hero EXP.
• There can be up to 15 Drill Slots as your Furnace progresses.
• Removing a hero from a Drill Slot normally has a 24-hour cooldown before that slot can be reassigned.

Level Reset

1. Open the hero and use Reset in the Drill Camp Level Reset area.
2. Confirm the reset and recover the leveling investment.
3. Put the recovered EXP into the five instructors you actually want to maintain.
4. Deployed heroes cannot be reset. After a hero is leveled again, a normal 24-hour reset cooldown applies.

Hero Generations — Open the Generation You Need

See portraits for every listed generation

Generation timeline

*Generation timing is approximate and can vary with State development and updates. Current community roadmaps place Gen 17 roughly 80 days after Gen 16.

Generation details

Mechanics-only tips worth knowing

What to save before the next generation

• Gems: bank for the Lucky Wheel hero you actually intend to build.
• Mythic General Hero Shards: do not dump them into an old hero just because you can. Hold them for the next high-value hero your acquisition path cannot cover.
• Hero EXP: keep enough to level the replacement without starving your current combat core.
• Hero Gear / Essence Stones: finish high-value pieces rather than scattering materials across every new hero.
• Event currencies: check the next generation's exchange shops before spending generic currency.
• Do not hoard blindly: if a current upgrade improves your event performance or unlocks a major progression gate, use it. The goal is efficient timing, not permanent hoarding.

Bear Trap — next-generation joiner rule

Hero Portraits by Generation

All 65 heroes through Gen 17, including the complete Gen 1 roster. All portraits use the same WOS Heroes icon series; artwork loads from that community host.

Generation 1 heroes

Generation 2 heroes

Generation 3 heroes

Generation 4 heroes

Generation 5 heroes

Generation 6 heroes

Generation 7 heroes

Generation 8 heroes

Generation 9 heroes

Generation 10 heroes

Generation 11 heroes

Generation 12 heroes

Generation 13 heroes

Generation 14 heroes

Generation 15 heroes

Generation 16 heroes

Generation 17 heroes

Pets — Beast Cage, Capture, Skills & Refinement

Core mechanics

• Current community references place the Beast Cage around Furnace 18 / state age ~60 days; confirm the live unlock panel.
• Only one of each pet type can be captured.
• Pets can be leveled, advanced and refined. At important milestones, skills/talents add another layer of value.
• Treasure Hunt should become a routine, not a catch-up activity.

Investment rules

1. Pick a role first: Bear/PvE, rally offense, garrison/defense, gathering/utility or general play.
2. Prioritize useful skill breakpoints: a cooldown-based buff can be worth more when it is timed to a major event than when activated randomly.
3. Do not spread refinement: one strong event-relevant pet is usually more useful than several half-built pets.
4. Check event scoring: Pet advancement/refinement can be high-value in certain Alliance Showdown stages, so bank materials when appropriate.
5. Watch mode rules: current battlefield systems may treat pet skills/stats as active by default; manual activation does not necessarily create a second stack.

Useful pet ladder

WSCO Pets Wiki · WSCO Beast Cage.

Labyrinth — Every Zone and Troop Ratios

Labyrinth covers heroes, pets, charms, research, chief gear and a combined Sunday challenge. Ratios below are community starting points, written Infantry / Lancer / Marksman. Scout each stage with the magnifying glass, inspect the battle report, and adjust for your own stats and hero skills.

Against a roughly even enemy mix, test 55 / 17 / 28. For an enemy near 5 / 2 / 3, test 60 / 40 / 0; for 5 / 3 / 2, test 55 / 14 / 31. If Infantry dies first, increase its share; if Marksmen die first, try more Marksmen. A stat gap cannot always be solved by changing the ratio.

Most zones provide level 10 Labyrinth Explorers, while Gaia Heart uses your own troops. Clear stages 1–10 to unlock Raid next time that zone opens. Check live unlock requirements; a zone may be locked by furnace level or state age. Community ratios are suggestions, not guaranteed clears.

Labyrinth zones, rules and ratio research · Official wiki Labyrinth overview.

Experts — Long-Term Multipliers

Estimated unlocks: Agnes and Cyrille near Gen 3 (~day 120); Holger and Romulus may follow near day 150; Baldur, Fabian, Valeria and Ronne near Gen 4 (~day 195); Kathy near day 240; Gareth near Gen 5 (~day 270). Justus is planned after Gen 6 and October 2026 for eligible states. State age requirements changed in 2026. Check your state timeline and submit an unlock screenshot to confirm local timing. Portraits below are from the official game wiki.

Expert	Primary value	Best fit
Agnes	City / intel / shop utility	General F2P anchor
Cyrille	Bear / beast performance	Bear specialists
Holger	Arena / hero combat	Arena-focused players
Romulus	Military / rally capacity	Rally leaders
Baldur	Alliance event / shop value	Active alliance members/officers
Fabian	Foundry / Tundra Arms combat	War-focused players
Valeria	SVS / state-war value	Serious SVS players/officers
Ronne	Tundra Trade Route / trucks	Truck-active players
Kathy	Frostfire Mine	Frostfire players
Justus	Upcoming late-game Expert	Prepare only after live release details are confirmed
Gareth	Troop survivability / late-game combat	Heavy combat / endgame players

Expert investment rule

1. Use gifts to reach meaningful Affinity breakpoints.
2. Use Books of Knowledge and Sigils on an anchor Expert before spreading them thin.
3. Pause when the next skill level is poor value for your role.
4. Do not exchange common/specific Sigils blindly—confirm the destination first.
5. Officers should give different Expert advice to rally leads, Bear specialists, truck players and casual F2P members.

WSCO Experts Wiki · WSCO Expert guide.

Current 2026 community references list Gareth in the later Expert generation and Justus as a future rollout after Gen 6. Treat unreleased Expert kits and dates as planning information only; the live Dawn Academy is authoritative.

Daybreak Island — Permanent Buffs, Clearing Strategy & Efficient Development

Unlock & the core loop

1. Unlock: Daybreak Island opens through the Dock at Furnace 19. Confirm the live unlock panel on your account because state progression can affect newer island features.
2. Clear: Lumber Camps send workers into the forest and clearing trees creates the space and resources needed for development.
3. Collect: Life Essence is the island's main currency. The Tree of Life has a 12-hour storage cap, so letting it sit full wastes production.
4. Build: Prosperity from decorations is used to reach Tree of Life and other progression requirements.
5. Upgrade: Tree of Life first, then the production/utility pieces that accelerate the next milestone.

What actually matters

The Lumber Camp trick — steer the clearing

1. Look across the island for blocked chests / unopened areas / dense tree clusters.
2. Move the Lumber Camp toward the side you want cleared.
3. Re-enter the island and watch the workers' starting direction.
4. Use water, fences or other harmless obstacles to discourage them from taking an unwanted route.
5. When the useful area is open, move the camp again and repeat.

You are steering the workers, not directly commanding them. Their exact target selection and online/offline calculations are not fully disclosed by the developer. The official help confirms that moving the camp toward desired trees influences where workers start.

Online vs. offline clearing

• Offline: the Lumber Camp still processes clearing; you do not have to stare at the island continuously.
• Online island screen: the developer says Lumber Camp efficiency is higher while you are viewing Daybreak Island.
• Important: online display and offline processing use different calculations. Do not judge your real output only by watching the workers.
• Best habit: when actively farming the island, leave the island screen open during periods when you can check it; when you are away, let the system continue processing.

Tree of Life — progression before pretty buildings

• Higher Tree levels increase the island's progression ceiling and improve the value of the system.
• Community-maintained current tables report cumulative benefits that include substantial healing speed, troop deployment and Attack / Defense / Health / Lethality bonuses at higher levels.
• At Tree of Life Level 10, current community references report cumulative +5% Attack, +5% Defense, +5% Health, +5% Lethality and +4,000 troop deployment, plus the accumulated healing-speed benefit.
• Treat those figures as planning references; the live island interface is authoritative if the game changes a value.

Buff priority — what is actually useful?

Decoration rules — don't waste Life Essence

1. Check the Type Limit before buying. Once the active limit for a decoration type is reached, adding another copy does not give the same additional benefit.
2. Different eligible decoration types can stack. Variety is normally better than buying five copies of one capped source.
3. Upgrade useful copies instead of blindly duplicating them. The official Help Center confirms higher-bonus decorations receive priority when a type limit is reached.
4. Retrieve carefully. Removing decorations lowers Prosperity and active stat bonuses until they are placed again.
5. Do not confuse Prosperity with combat value. A cheap decoration can be useful for a Tree requirement, while a combat decoration can be worth far more for your account even if it is not the cheapest path.

Free / earned island progression

• Tree of Life: core progression available through normal island play.
• Lumber Camp #1 and #2: earned through island progression/shop unlocks; the official Type Limit is 2.
• Life Essence: earned through Tree/Lumber Camp activity and island progression.
• Ally assistance: helping allies with their Trees provides extra Life Essence; current official help states a player can receive help once every 6 hours. Community guides report three help actions/receives per day under their current rules, so follow the live island counters.
• Free/event decorations: seasonal and event rewards can provide useful combat buffs without direct purchase.
• Mark of Revival Shop: the July 2026 update added this system; when the required Tree level and State Progress are met, Marks of Revival can be purchased from Daybreak Island Supplies and exchanged for decorations/accessories. Shop contents unlock in phases with State Progress.
• Post-clearance Timbermill: once all trees are cleared, the Lumber Camp stops producing wood from trees and becomes a normal decoration; the game awards a Timbermill for ongoing Life Essence production.

Paid / premium additions — spend with a plan

• Premium island currency / event purchases: use these for decorations or upgrade materials that produce a meaningful permanent buff, not cosmetic clutter.
• Accessory Construction Contracts: after Tree of Life Level 10, the Daybreak Island Shop offers General Accessory Construction Contracts with a weekly purchase refresh. These feed the accessory/Lighthouse progression.
• Starry Lighthouse: its blueprints become available after Tree of Life Level 10. It is a long-term premium/F2P-mixed progression project; do not sacrifice core Tree progression to rush it early.
• Limited/event decorations: paid event paths can accelerate access to stronger decorations, but compare the actual permanent stat gained against the cost before buying.

Starry Lighthouse — the long game

• Unlock condition: Tree of Life Level 10.
• The official system uses Starry Lighthouse Blueprints for its levels and the island shop provides related construction contracts.
• Current community guides report strong endgame combat bonuses from the Lighthouse, but exact blueprint/contract requirements have changed across versions. Use the live shop and upgrade screen as the final authority.
• F2P/low spend rule: collect the weekly free/earned contract opportunities and build it over time instead of treating it as a reason to stop Tree progression.

Island daily / weekly checklist

Island mistakes to avoid

• Do not spend your early Life Essence on aesthetics while a Tree milestone is waiting.
• Do not buy duplicate capped buff buildings assuming every copy stacks.
• Do not leave the Tree at its storage cap for hours.
• Do not leave the Lumber Camp in a cleared area when there are still useful trees/chests elsewhere.
• Do not assume watching workers move is the same thing as measuring actual production.
• Do not spend premium currency on a decoration before checking its active limit, buff type and upgrade path.

Verified references

Official Daybreak Island Help Center: Daybreak Island FAQ. Official July 2026 update: Daybreak Island Improvements. Current community planning: WSCO Island Guide. Community clearing/testing: Reddit Island Guide.

Exploration & Arena — Build the Right 5

Season 1 F2P / low-spend five

Season 1 spender five

Jeronimo + Natalia are the premium Infantry options for the front line, with Molly, Bahiti and Zinman forming a strong Gen 1 back line. Arena guides commonly list this as the Gen 1 spender lineup.

Arena positioning rules

• Front slots: normally use Infantry because they take the initial pressure.
• Back line: use your strongest damage/control heroes. Molly's positioning can change depending on the enemy lineup.
• Counter system: Infantry has an advantage over Lancer, Lancer over Marksman, and Marksman over Infantry. Use the counter when it actually improves the matchup; do not blindly follow class order.
• Only Exploration skills are active. Do not choose a hero for an Expedition-only skill and expect that skill to work in Arena.
• Scout the enemy lineup before changing yours. Small position changes can change who gets targeted first.

Exploration stage progression

1. Early stages: concentrate EXP and skill resources on five heroes. Do not level the whole roster evenly.
2. When the Hero Level Camp unlocks: use it to keep secondary heroes usable while your main five receive the direct investment.
3. When a stage stalls: first check hero levels, stars, Exploration skills and Hero Gear before replacing the whole lineup.
4. Against heavy frontline: increase sustained back-line damage and use the class counter where practical.
5. Against burst/control: change positioning and test a different target order before spending rare resources.
6. Do not chase Power alone. A properly built five with good Exploration skills can outperform a higher-Power but poorly configured team.

What to level first

Community cross-check: Season 1 F2P lineup references consistently identify Sergey/Jessie/Molly/Bahiti/Gina, while Arena references distinguish the F2P and spender lineups and confirm that only Exploration skills operate in Arena.

Hero Gear — What to Focus On

The 3-hero gear rule

• For most F2P/low-spend accounts, seriously gear one Infantry, one Marksman and one Lancer.
• Move the gear to the newer/better hero of the same troop type instead of building a second full set unnecessarily.
• Other heroes can use placeholder gear. Do not let Arena-only considerations destroy your main combat progression.

Enhancement vs Mastery

• Enhancement raises the base gear stats.
• Mastery Forging uses Essence Stones and adds multiplier-style progression. Essence Stones are the scarce resource.
• Keep Enhancement and Mastery progression coordinated instead of dumping all resources into random pieces.
• For F2P, do not spend Essence Stones on low-priority heroes simply because you have enough stones today.

Bear Trap gear priority

Exclusive Gear

Exclusive Gear is hero-specific and is much more resource-gated. Treat it as a targeted investment for your best long-term heroes. Do not scatter Widgets across a large roster. For a rally-focused player, prioritize the Expedition-side effects of the hero you actually use as a lead.

Chief Gear & Chief Charms

Chief Gear priority

1. Infantry — Jacket + Pants.
2. Marksman — Ring + Cane.
3. Lancer — Helmet + Watch.

Infantry-first is a sound general-purpose order because Infantry are the frontline. If Bear Trap scoring is your immediate priority, pushing Marksman investment earlier is also defensible because Marksmen are your primary Bear damage component.

Chief Gear & Chief Charm Fast-Track — unlock the material exchanges

Chief Charms — get one charm to Level 11

1. Furnace 25: Chief Charms unlock.
2. Fast-track one charm to Level 11. Level 11 is the key breakpoint because reaching it unlocks the Chief Charm Material Exchange.
3. Once the exchange is unlocked, use it to convert excess Charm Designs/Guides into the material you are short on. This is the correct way to fix an uneven material inventory.
4. Do not rush every charm past 11 just because the exchange is unlocked. After Level 11, Jewel Secrets enter the cost at Level 12 and higher, so plan the next levels around your role and event timing.
5. For most PvP accounts, build Infantry first, then Marksman/Lancer according to your current troop and hero meta. For Bear-focused accounts, Marksman can move ahead.

Chief Gear — build toward the Chief Gear Material Exchange

1. Furnace 22: Chief Gear unlocks. Keep improving the six pieces rather than spreading resources into unrelated systems.
2. Build the quality/set structure first. Three matching-quality pieces activate the Defense set bonus; six activate the Attack set bonus.
3. Long-term exchange breakpoint: reaching Mythic T2 with three stars on one Chief Gear piece unlocks the Chief Gear Enhancement Material Exchange.
4. Once unlocked, use the exchange to rebalance Hardened Alloy/Polishing Solution and other Chief Gear materials when needed instead of chasing power by upgrading random pieces.
5. For normal PvP progression, Infantry is the usual first priority, followed by Marksman and Lancer. If your account is specifically built around Bear Trap damage, Marksman investment can take priority.

F2P fast-track

1. At Furnace 25, pick one sensible Chief Charm slot and push it to Level 11 to unlock the Charm Material Exchange.
2. Use the exchange to correct material shortages, then bring your priority charms up in a controlled spread rather than dumping everything into one slot.
3. For Chief Gear, work toward the Mythic T2 3-Star exchange breakpoint on one piece while maintaining useful set progress across the six pieces.
4. Save rare materials for event windows when the upgrade scores points, but do not delay an upgrade that unlocks an important permanent account breakpoint if waiting would slow your overall progression.

Whale / heavy-spender fast-track

1. Unlock both material exchanges as early as your account progression allows.
2. Use the Charm Level 11 breakpoint to convert excess materials and accelerate the entire charm system rather than overfeeding one slot.
3. Push Chief Gear quality and the three-star Mythic T2 breakpoint efficiently, then use the material exchange to smooth bottlenecks.
4. Keep the upgrade target tied to your actual combat role: Infantry survivability, Marksman damage/Bear performance, or Lancer investment based on the current generation meta.

Remember the systems are different

What to prioritize by role

1. Infantry charms for broad combat survivability.
2. Marksman charms for offensive/Bear Trap performance.
3. Lancer charms after the first two groups are established.

Endgame Readiness — Build the Account You Will Need Later

Before a major war week, run this audit

Prepare 7 days before a major event

1. Stop non-essential spending.
2. Check the next event's scoring categories.
3. Refill stamina, teleports, healing supplies and march presets.
4. Move important heroes/gear into dedicated presets.
5. Ask leadership which resources are reserved for the state/alliance push.
6. Keep one reserve march available for emergency reinforcement.

Prepare 24 hours before

• Finish long timers only when their completion will score where intended.
• Bring gathering marches home if they are needed for the event.
• Activate buffs immediately before the activity they affect.
• Check that the correct troop ratio, heroes and pets are in the selected preset.
• Do not start a personal push that conflicts with the alliance's state-wide plan.

What actually makes an account “strong”?

Usable power per objective. A player with fewer total Power but correct rally heroes, strong troop tiers, a deep first march, good healing, teleports, correct buffs and discipline can be more valuable than a larger account with scattered upgrades.

Healing & Batch Healing — General Game Strategy

Why batch healing can help

• Healing in controlled batches can let alliance healing-assist bonuses trigger repeatedly instead of waiting on one enormous heal.
• Use the smallest practical batches that make sense for your hospital and alliance assistance activity.
• Do not confuse this with a reduction in the underlying healing time; it is a management strategy for assistance and throughput.

Travel / event recovery

• For long event sessions, plan healing around the event clock instead of waiting until every troop is injured.
• Keep enough healthy troops available for the next objective.

Teleporting — Move Your City Without Wasting the Good Items

How to use an Advanced Teleporter

1. Recall active marches when the game requires it.
2. Open the World Map and tap the destination.
3. Select Teleport and choose Advanced Teleporter.
4. Move the placement until the city's required tiles are valid, then confirm.
5. For combat, leave room around the landing area and know your exit plan before jumping.

How to get back to the hive

• Territory Teleporter: best default for returning near the alliance HQ.
• Alliance Teleporter: use when leadership has deliberately moved the R5 to the staging area and you want to follow.
• Advanced: use when you need an exact tile instead of the general HQ/R5 area.

How many should you keep?

There is no universal magic number because event frequency and your role change demand. A practical player reserve is several Advanced Teleporters plus a few Alliance/Territory Teleporters; active R4/R5 combat players should maintain a larger reserve. Prioritize discounted shop purchases rather than routinely paying the 4,000-Gem fallback.

Teleport mistakes

• Do not spend an Advanced Teleporter when Territory or Alliance Teleport would accomplish the same move.
• Do not follow an R5 blindly with an Alliance Teleporter; the R5 may be staging somewhere far from the hive.
• Do not land on a crowded objective without checking whether your city placement will block allies.
• Do not assume a normal state teleport moves you into an event battlefield; special battlefields can use separate movement rules.

March Presets — Make Bear Trap Fast

Recommended preset order

How to build the presets

1. Open your Profile.
2. Go to the Troops tab.
3. Tap Squads. This is the screen where you set and save your march formations.
4. Build the squad first: choose your heroes, troop types and troop amounts.
5. Tap Save. The game asks which preset to use and gives you a 3-character preset name.
6. Use short names that are easy to recognize during a battle. A simple Bear Trap system is BT1, BT2, BT3, BT4 and so on.
7. For rally presets, use a consistent naming system such as RjA = Rally Join Attack and RjD = Rally Join Defense.
8. For each joiner preset, put the approved hero in Slot 1 before saving it.
9. Use the same troop ratio in every Bear joiner preset so you do not have to rebuild your troops between rallies.
10. Keep lead presets separate from joiner presets. A captain needs a full combat lineup; a joiner needs the correct first-slot skill.
11. When Bear starts, use the strongest rally first. Then use the next approved joiner preset as marches return or become available.

Rapid Deployment — The Lazy Man Way

Rapid Deployment

Use this when speed matters more than exact composition.

Preset + Balance workflow

1. Open the target, rally or deployment screen.
2. Load the correct saved preset for the heroes you need.
3. Tap Balance.
4. Check the troop counts and the game's deployment warning.
5. If it says Succeed, send it.
6. If it says Difficult, understand that the march may be a poor fight even though the game allows it.
7. If it says Won't go, do not force it. Reduce the deployment, change the target or wait for troops to return.

Manual formation method

For exact control, set the Infantry / Lancer / Marksman percentages yourself or enter troop counts manually, then save that formation. Community formation guides recommend saved formations for fast event deployment and clear separation of offense and defense presets. Formation guide · WSCO formation guide

Combat Doctrine — Pick the Right Hero for the Job

Quick hero rule

Attack rally joiners use the approved offensive Slot 1 hero. Defensive/garrison joiners use the approved defensive Slot 1 hero. Bear Trap has its own fixed Gen 1 joiner list in the Bear Trap section. Do not mix attack and defense joiner roles.

Battle Technique — Steady Garrison Refill

• Start with the right garrison heroes. The march already inside the garrison keeps its heroes while it remains there.
• Keep refilling. As troops die or become injured, send additional marches to the same garrison. These are troop refills, not hero swaps.
• Use a consistent troop ratio. Send refill marches using the ratio assigned by your alliance. A common defensive starting point is 60% Infantry / 20% Lancer / 20% Marksman, but the alliance's tested ratio takes priority.
• Do not randomly change the garrison heroes. Sending another reinforcement march does not replace the heroes already defending.
• Hero swap: if the garrison needs different heroes, send the replacement hero march first. When it is close to arrival, recall your own old garrison march so the replacement takes over with minimal downtime.
• Keep the flow staggered. In a heavy Castle battle, several players can rotate refill marches so troops arrive continuously instead of everyone sending at once and leaving a later gap.
• Watch your own troop pool. Refill duty consumes real troops. Stop or change rotation when your available troops are too low to support the next wave.

Castle, Fortress, Stronghold and HQ battles

• Attacking a facility: join the attack rally with Jessie in Slot 1. The rally captain should use the strongest appropriate combat heroes.
• After capture: immediately switch the operation from attack to defense. Defensive players should reinforce the structure with Patrick in Slot 1.
• HQ defense: reinforce the threatened HQ instead of sending disconnected solo attacks. Use Patrick in Slot 1 for the defensive joiner role.
• Castle defense: keep reinforcement flowing and use Patrick in Slot 1 when joining the defensive garrison.
• Castle attack: use Jessie in Slot 1 when joining the attack rally. The captain should be the player with the strongest relevant combat stats and rally capacity.
• General rally: always know whether the rally is trying to destroy something or hold something before selecting your hero.

Scout before you commit

1. Scout. Never assume the visible Power number tells the whole story.
2. Check counters. Infantry counters Lancers, Lancers counter Marksmen, and Marksmen counter Infantry. Use the counter system when the situation allows it.
3. Check reinforcements. A city that looks weak can become a completely different target once allies reinforce it.
4. Check your own losses. Do not start a fight that can overflow your Infirmary or leave your alliance without enough troops for the next objective.
5. Use a rally when the target is beyond your safe solo range. Coordinated power is safer than repeatedly feeding individual marches.
6. Abort bad attacks. A scout report that makes the target unattractive is a successful scout, not a reason to attack anyway.

How to Read a Battle Report — Turn the Loss Into a Counter

1. Start with the troop numbers and tier

• Compare Infantry, Lancer and Marksman counts on both sides.
• Compare the troop level/tier being fielded. A higher stat percentage cannot magically make a severely outnumbered or lower-tier force equivalent.
• Look at survived, wounded, lightly wounded and dead. A win with catastrophic losses can still be a bad trade.
• In a rally, inspect your individual contribution as well as the total result. A rally can win while one participant contributes poorly.

2. Read the Stat Bonuses row by row

The report compares Attack, Defense, Lethality and Health for Infantry, Lancers and Marksmen. The official Help Center confirms the report can include buffs/penalties, Position Perks, Pet skills, Chief Gear, Hero Gear, Tech Research, Alliance Territory buffs, castle skin, Hero Exclusive Gear and Hero Talent bonuses. Hero skill bonuses are not shown in these stat rows. Official Battle Report bonus reference

3. Open the ! next to Stat Bonuses

Use the special-bonus detail to find where the difference actually came from: gear, research, pets, territory, skins, position perks and other temporary or permanent bonuses. If your raw hero investment looks similar but the report is far apart, this panel often exposes the missing source.

4. Open Battle Details — this is where hero performance becomes visible

The Battle Details page shows hero skill activity and trigger counts. Community battle-report analysis uses these trigger counts to judge how long the fight lasted and whether a skill was actually contributing. Remember that the official report stat rows do not include Hero Skill bonuses; the battle details are therefore a separate piece of the diagnosis.

• Look at your heroes and the opponent's heroes. A hero you did not expect may be changing the fight.
• Look at trigger counts. A skill that barely triggers in a short fight is not equivalent to one that repeatedly contributes.
• Look at skill kills where shown. This helps identify which damage skill is actually converting into kills.
• In rallies, remember joiner skills. The official combat FAQ says the rally initiator's nine hero skills plus four primary hero skills from rally members are included. This is why Slot 1 joiner choice matters.

5. Apply the counter triangle — but only after reading the report

Use the triangle as a decision framework, not a guaranteed calculator. Community doctrine uses Infantry → Lancer → Marksman → Infantry, while the official combat FAQ explains that units normally target the front row first and that some Lancer/hero skills can hit the back row directly. Community troop-counter reference

6. Decide: solo, rally, reinforce or walk away?

7. Build the counter from the report

1. Find the first collapse. Which troop class ran out first?
2. Find the biggest stat mismatch for that class. Attack? Defense? Lethality? Health?
3. Find the cause. Open the special-bonus details and Battle Details.
4. Fix one major variable first. Example: improve the weak troop class's gear/research, change the formation, or use the appropriate hero.
5. Run the next fight with the new setup. Compare the second report to the first.
6. Save the lesson. If the same opponent or objective appears again, your alliance now has a tested counter instead of a guess.

Example — how to read your supplied report

In the supplied screenshot, the left side has substantially higher displayed Stat Bonuses across the troop classes, while the Troop Power Comparison also shows a large difference in troop counts. That is useful evidence, but it is not enough by itself to reverse-engineer a universal win formula. The next questions should be: what were the actual troop tiers, what were the casualties, what did Battle Details show, and which special bonuses created the stat gap? That is how you turn this specific report into a repeatable counter.

Reinforcement strategy

• When an ally is under attack, reinforce the threatened city/objective instead of sending random counterattacks.
• Prioritize the strongest defensive destination and keep a reserve for the next incoming rally.
• Do not strip every nearby city of troops just to fill one defense if the enemy can then hit the empty cities.
• For major battles, designate who reinforces the Castle, facility, HQ and key players before combat begins.
• When the operation changes from attack to defense, switch from offensive to defensive hero presets and redeploy your march.

Ghost City Strategy — Hide Troops When You Are Low on Shields

• Alliance banners: garrison troops in a banner that is currently safe under the active war rules. Re-check the map if enemy territory advances toward it.
• Alliance HQ: garrison troops in the HQ when it is a safe parking location. This keeps troops out of your exposed city while leaving them available for the fight.
• Trusted allied city: reinforce a shielded or otherwise protected ally. This is useful for parking large numbers of troops away from your own city.
• Empty your city: move as much of your army as practical. Leave only what you intentionally need at home.
• Split your army: when practical, use more than one safe location so one threatened building or city does not expose your entire army.
• Watch the map: a banner or HQ is only useful as a hiding place while it remains protected by the current rules.
• Shield discipline: attacking, scouting, and joining rallies can remove your shield. Reinforcing an ally does not.
• If your city burns out: when Barricade durability reaches zero, your city is randomly teleported and the troops you had hidden in banners, HQ, or allied cities are automatically returned to your city. Be ready to move them again if the battle is still active.

Simple battlefield decision tree

⚡ Quick-Switch: Attack → Defense Without Leaving a Gap

In Castle, Fortress, Stronghold and HQ fights, capturing the objective is only the first half of the job. The moment your side takes the building, the operation changes from attack to hold. Your next priority is getting defensive joiner skills into the garrison without creating an avoidable empty window.

• Do not recall too early. A premature recall can create an empty garrison and hand the enemy an opening.
• Do not wait until the last instant. Lag can make a 1-second window unreliable. A 1–3 second target window is a practical technique, not a guaranteed exact tick.
• Use saved formations. Keep an Attack preset and Defense/Garrison preset ready so the hero change is fast.
• Use this after every successful capture. Castle, Fortress, Stronghold, HQ and other objectives can be counter-rallied immediately after capture.
• Keep reinforcement waves moving. The first defensive swap is not the end of the job; continue sending defensive troops as the garrison takes losses.

Event Master Book — What to Do, What to Save, What to Ignore

Universal event rule: bank → align → execute

1. Bank: keep resources until you know what the next scoring window rewards.
2. Align: choose the event, daily theme, alliance call and account bottleneck.
3. Execute: spend the minimum amount needed to reach the reward breakpoint you actually want.
4. Recover: refill marches, healing, stamina and queues immediately so the next event does not catch you empty.

Events worth learning even if you are not competitive

Learn the rules of SVS, KOI, Alliance Showdown, Bear Trap, Foundry, Canyon Clash, Sunfire, Frostfire Mine, Tundra Trade Route, Mercenary Prestige, Mia's Fortune, Snowbusters and Fishing Tournament. You do not have to rank highly in all of them. Understanding them prevents accidental waste and makes you useful to your alliance.

Player Event Dossiers — Snowbusters, Mia's Fortune & More

Category: Player-facing and mixed events. Alliance-controlled battle events are grouped under Alliance Events & War.

Snowbusters — play the mini-game for account value

• Official Help Center: each event lasts 3 days; you start with 200 Fuel; progress resumes when you exit and return.
• Rescue Survivors early: each survivor increases Snowbuster weapon range.
• Manage Health. At zero, you drop Coal and only part can be recovered.
• Coal can feed the Fire for health regeneration, but community strategy is to consider saving Coal until the end of the level when surplus can convert to Fuel.
• Useful tools include Super Snowbuster, Ultra Magnet, Infini-Fuel, Portable Snowshield, Medkit and Rocket. Stack compatible tools instead of firing them randomly.
• Snowbuster Gear improves different parts of the mini-game: weapon/range, health/fuel use, mitigation/fuel recovery and movement/regen.
• Unused event Fuel does not carry to the next event. Fuel Supply Chests from packs are different and can remain in the backpack.

Mia's Fortune — token economics, not “just luck”

• Recurring 2-day monthly event in current community references.
• Pick the Wish Reward, then reveal a 10-orb board. Costs escalate across the board; the current community reference lists 1/2/3/4/5/8/12/15/20/25 tokens for a full 10-orb clear.
• 2×/3×/4× multipliers apply to the next orb outcome, not every future orb.
• Preview the prize pool before committing tokens.
• Choose the Wish Reward that fixes the account's current bottleneck: FC, Essence Stones, Speedups or Gems depending on state age and your build.
• Do not assume a full board is always the best use of tokens. Community guides recommend controlling pull depth and stopping when the expected value falls.

Fishing Tournament — learn the kit, then farm the collection

• Monthly 3-day solo mini-game with rotating seasons.
• Upgrade the fishing kit rather than treating each event as a fresh start. Current guides commonly prioritize the Hook for more catches, then Line for depth, then Sinker.
• Collection progress matters because it can produce permanent rewards/skins in addition to event score.
• Use the event's retry/retreat behavior when available rather than wasting a poor cast.

Mercenary Prestige

See Mercenary Prestige and Boss Hunt for personal challenges, stamina planning, Captain rules and copyable alliance messages.

Dreamscape Memory — do not waste the timer

• Find the listed items in groups of three to clear each section.
• Hints/time extensions have costs and the hint does not carry into the next chapter.
• Learn the layout and use a hint only when it prevents a failed chapter.

Seasonal-event carry-over rule

References: Official Snowbusters Help · WSCO Mia's Fortune · Official March 2026 update · Official Canyon Clash · Official Frostfire Mine.

Current Snowbusters update notes

• Area 24 is now an important permanent progression milestone: reaching it unlocks Raid mode permanently for all areas in the current update.
• Rocket V2 use can count toward Fuel-used daily mission progress under the current event rules.
• Do not treat old fixed “final area” claims as permanent; the developer has continued to expand and rebalance Snowbusters.

Frostfire Mine — Complete Strategy, Skill Tree, Timing & Ratios

Current reference points: Furnace 16+; same-day registration/fight; seven commonly listed time slots (02, 05, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21 UTC); three mine zones; two Vein Outbursts; Smelter opens for the final 7:30. Use the live event panel if your state/client shows different scheduling or rules.

The 5 skill stages — know what every choice does

Ratios and march setup

• Default formation: 33/33/33 Infantry/Lancer/Marksman is the documented standard starting formation. Frostfire is not a Bear-style DPS test, so do not blindly copy 10/10/80.
• Patrol/Hunt strategy: use enough troops to clear patrols quickly; the exact ratio matters less than speed, march count and finding uncontested patrols.
• Gather strategy: use a normal full march on the best vein you can safely hold. Your score is driven by time gathering, outbursts, loot and skill triggers—not a universal troop ratio.
• Six marches: community players consistently report that a sixth march materially improves ranking potential. If you only have five, prioritize patrol uptime and outbursts instead of trying to imitate a six-march rotation.
• Do not treat a ratio as a guarantee: Frostfire combat is heavily about objective timing, skill route, march count, teleporting and whether you can hold the resource you chose.

30-minute plan — stage by stage

Three practical strategies

Community-tested tricks worth knowing

• Patrol uptime: if patrols disappear in your area, teleport rather than waiting. Several 2026 players report better scores by moving between patrol-rich areas.
• Minute trigger: Stage 3 is a once-per-minute trigger. A failed/occupied vein attempt does not create a new 5,000 bonus every time you attack.
• Outburst alarm: use the in-game 60-second/10-second warnings and recall marches before the spawn instead of reacting after it appears.
• Congestion is a score killer: if several strong players are fighting over the same patrols/veins, relocate to an emptier area.
• Loot piles: collect the Orichalcum piles created around defeated guards/contested veins when safe; they are separate scoring opportunities.
• Teleport strategically: free/available relocators make repositioning part of the event. Do not save every teleport if moving will materially increase your point rate.
• Do not fake certainty: community reports disagree on the ideal balance between veins and patrols. Your account strength and queue count should determine the split.

Sources: Whiteout Survival Wiki — Frostfire Mine · Reddit community strategy — 2026 · Reddit F2P discussion — 2026

Cave of Monsters — Every Stage, Ratios & Battle-Report Method

Current Labyrinth references place Cave of Monsters on Wednesday/Thursday and report it as a one-army zone using the Pet/Pet Skill portion of your account. The exact live schedule and unlock timing can vary with state progression, so the client is authoritative.

Starting ratio

Start at 55 / 15 / 30 — Infantry / Lancer / Marksman. This is a starting point, not a guaranteed best ratio. Community guides agree that Lancers should generally stay relatively low, commonly around 10–20%, but your pet stat distribution can make a different mix win.

Stages 1–10 — practical ratio table

The 5% adjustment method — use this after every failed stage

1. Run 55/15/30 first. Do not start by copying somebody else’s extreme ratio.
2. Open the battle report. Look at your remaining troops and casualty pattern.
3. If Infantry collapses early, add Infantry and remove 5% from the troop type that is least useful in that fight.
4. If Marksmen are surviving but damage is low, add Marksmen in 5% steps.
5. If Lancers are doing little work, reduce them toward 10%. Do not assume 20% is mandatory.
6. Re-run the same stage. Because wins do not consume the daily attempt, keep pushing while you are winning.
7. When a ratio clears a stage, save it. The weekly reset means your tested ratio becomes reusable knowledge rather than something you have to rediscover.

Why your ratio may differ from another player

• Your Cave score is driven by Pets and Pet Skills, not your hero lineup. A hero-era Marksman-heavy formation does not automatically transfer.
• Pet stats can be distributed differently between accounts. If your pet bonuses are balanced, 55/15/30 may outperform a Marksman-heavy setup.
• Later-generation players may use different anchors and stronger pet skills. Compare results by stage rather than assuming an older ratio is still optimal.
• Milestone stages can use a different enemy troop mix. Treat Stage 10 as a checkpoint, not just Stage 9 with more power.
• Do not spend your five losses repeatedly on the same failed ratio. Change one variable and learn from the report.

Quick Cave checklist

Sources: WoS Guru — Labyrinth · Vortex Gaming — Labyrinth strategy

Convenience, Automation & March Management

• Keep all three Troop Camps training whenever you have the resources and army demand. See Troop Training for the exact training strategy.
• Use Drill Camp for secondary heroes instead of manually leveling every hero. See Drill Camp.
• Use saved March Presets for Bear, attack, defense and rally joining. See March Presets.
• Use Preset → Balance → Check Warning → Send when exact troop ratios are not required. See Rapid Deployment.
• Keep gathering marches moving, including overnight gathers.
• Queue long Research and Construction before logging off.
• For event pushes, stack the relevant state/alliance buffs before spending speedups. See Event Banking and Alliance Mobilization.

Automation systems — keep these separate

Auto-Help, Auto Hunting and Auto-Join are different systems. Keeping them together here prevents their controls and use cases from being scattered through alliance leadership material.

Auto-Help vs. Auto-Join — two completely different systems

Auto-Help — the monthly convenience package

Alliance Auto-Help is a premium convenience feature in the Ultra Value Monthly Card. It works while you are online. It is designed to keep routine alliance assistance moving without requiring you to tap every Help request manually.

How Auto-Help works

1. Activate the relevant Ultra Value Monthly Card benefit.
2. Open the game's Auto-Help settings and enable the feature.
3. Choose the available Help mode offered by your current client: all available marches or a single pre-configured Squad.
4. If you choose a single Squad, create the formation first under Profile → Troops → Squads, then select that saved Squad in Auto-Help.
5. Leave Auto-Help enabled while you are online when you want routine alliance requests handled automatically.

Which Auto-Help mode should you use?

When to turn Auto-Help OFF

• When leadership needs you to keep every available march under manual control.
• During a tightly coordinated battle when you are managing specific formations or reinforcement timing.
• When you are about to reorganize or replace a saved Squad and do not want the old formation used.
• When you are deliberately saving available deployment capacity for another task.

Auto Hunting — part of the same monthly convenience package

Auto Hunting is separate from both Auto-Help and Auto-Join. It repeatedly sends selected marches against eligible regular Beasts while the game remains active. Current game history shows the number of Auto Hunting queues was increased to three.

• Use it for routine Beast hunting and stamina spending.
• Test the selected Beast level manually before leaving Auto Hunting running.
• It can stop when you lose, run out of stamina, teleport or leave the game.
• Do not treat it as an offline Beast-farming system.
• Do not confuse normal Beast Auto Hunting with Polar Terror rally participation.

Auto-Join — automatic rally participation

What Auto-Join can be useful for

• Gina's Revenge / Hero's Mission: when eligible rallies can award participation/help rewards, Auto-Join can keep you participating while you are away.
• Mercenary Prestige: when supported mercenary rallies are available, Auto-Join can help fill and participate in them.
• Polar and other eligible alliance rallies: use it when your alliance wants automatic participation.
• Offline periods: the major advantage is continuing eligible rally participation while you are away from the game.

How to set Auto-Join

1. Open Alliance → War → Auto-Join.
2. Select the rally types you want to join.
3. Choose All Troops or a custom/pre-configured formation, depending on the current client.
4. For a custom formation, choose the troop amount and heroes. For rallies where joiner skills matter, put the approved joiner hero in Slot 1.
5. Set the Queue Limit. This determines how many of your march queues Auto-Join may occupy.
6. Enable Auto-Join. Community references and the in-game system use an 8-hour active period; refresh it when you want another period.
7. Current clients also offer Only Auto-Join After Exiting Game. Use this when you want manual control while playing but want Auto-Join to take over after you leave.

How many Auto-Join queues?

When to turn Auto-Join OFF

• Bear Trap: manually control your approved Bear joiner formations. Do not let Auto-Join consume the marches/heroes you need.
• Foundry/Frostfire and other battlefields: turn it off when troops need to be home or manually assigned.
• Castle, Fortress and Stronghold operations: turn it off when leadership needs specific troops and heroes available at a precise time.
• Gathering: turn it off if you need every march on resource tiles, or use the current exit-only option.
• Before your own rally: stop Auto-Join if you need your queues available to launch or reinforce a planned attack.
• When the wrong formation is selected: never assume Auto-Join will choose the right hero lineup for a specialized event.

Auto-Join formation rule

Refreshing and disabling Auto-Join

• Auto-Join has a limited active period; current community references report 8 hours.
• Return to Alliance → War → Auto-Join and disable/stop it when you need direct march control.
• Re-enable it when you want another active period.
• Already-deployed marches still have to return normally; turning Auto-Join off stops future automatic joining.

Community-tested convenience strategies

• Protect event marches: before Bear, Foundry, Castle or a coordinated facility fight, check both Auto-Join and Auto-Help so convenience features do not interfere with your assigned role.
• Use a reserve queue: experienced players often leave at least one march free for unexpected movement or an urgent rally.
• Use the current troop preview: the game now shows troop ratios and average troop levels in relevant deployment/garrison views. Check them before an important rally.
• Use event-specific Auto-Join: participation can be valuable when an event awards rewards for helping/joining, but the event rules always take priority.
• Use Gina intelligently for hunting: test your formation and Beast level first, then let Auto Hunting handle repetitive normal Beast hunts while you remain online.

Planning Calculators — Battle Gap, Gear & Charm Budget

Planning tools only: combat also depends on troop tier, composition, hero skills, counters and rally/garrison leadership.

Alliance Playbook — How the Team Fits Together

Member responsibilities

• Stay inside the approved hive/territory when practical.
• Keep marches, research, construction and gathering running.
• Follow state and alliance rules before attacking, scouting or relocating.
• Use the correct rally joiner and preset instead of sending random heroes.
• Read R4/R5 announcements before major events.

Leadership responsibilities

• Maintain territory and resource income.
• Schedule Bear Trap and event participation.
• Plan facilities, Fortresses, Strongholds, Castle and SVS.
• Keep shared missions, rally roles, teleport staging and communication organized.
• Use the leadership channel for decisions that should not be buried in general chat.

Alliance territory rule that matters

Alliance resource locations generally need 75% or more of their footprint inside alliance territory to generate alliance resources. Use the World Map resource filter when planning banners and HQs.

Alliance Mobilization — Efficient Without Burning SVS Stock

• R4/R5 can refresh normal Alliance/Event missions about every 30 minutes.
• Prefer missions that overlap with normal play: troop training, beasts/Polar Terrors and gathering.
• Use Exclusive Missions for their bonus when the cost makes sense. Do not burn large speedup, gear or Fire Crystal reserves just because a mission has a large point number.
• Training missions are especially efficient because they grow the army while earning AM points.
• Gathering is ideal for overnight marches.
• Beast/Polar missions can overlap with Intel and alliance rally activity.
• Before SVS, leadership should refresh or discourage missions that consume the stockpiles reserved for SVS.

Tundra Trade Route — Truck Strategy

• Use the free refresh before accepting a truck.
• Higher-rarity trucks generally have better reward potential. Follow the live event panel for current costs/rules.
• Use alliance assistance on valuable trucks when available. Allies can escort your truck to help protect it from raids.
• When Trade Route and Alliance Showdown overlap, truck escorts and raids can create value in both systems.
• Outside players can raid eligible trucks. Do not assume your truck is safe.
• F2P: use free Truck Vouchers first and avoid large gem spending just to chase a perfect truck.

Mercenary Prestige — Personal Challenges & Alliance Boss Hunt

Mercenary Prestige has a personal mercenary track and a separate alliance Captain track. Treat personal targets and alliance bosses differently: the one-troop hold rule below applies to Captains, not to finishing your personal challenge.

Personal challenge strategy

• Choose a difficulty you can finish; your choice is locked for this event. Complete the track to progress toward the next difficulty in a future edition.
• Scout only when you can defeat the target before its countdown expires. Use solo attacks for targets you can beat, and alliance Help Requests or rallies for harder targets.
• Use Mercenary Contracts before the event closes and help teammates clear their targets. Owner, rally caller, rally participant and support-item rewards are different; check the event reward panel.
• Spread spending across the event so stamina regeneration helps. Gina's stamina-reduction skill can lower attack costs when active; check its level and your march's fighting strength.

Captain boss hunt: tag, confirm, then finish

R4/R5 activates unlocked Captains. Each successful Captain defeat is available once per event. Participants can receive rewards after the kill; a one-troop hit is the established way to register participation while preserving time for others. Captain loot can include Mythic general shards, gems, speedups, Hero XP and resource chests; use the live reward screen for amounts.

1. Announce a UTC start time and boss location. Activate when the expected group is online.
2. Each member sends one troop, no heroes, once. Verify the attack has landed before posting 👍 in alliance chat.
3. An officer checks names against the attendees for this Captain. A thumbs-up is a chat signal, not a game reward trigger; sending a march without landing is not confirmation.
4. Reserve enough time for travel and the final kill. Chase missing check-ins, then issue ALL CLEAR. Full marches start only after that order.
5. If someone missed the tag window, do not pretend they can claim a defeated boss later. A timed-out attempt can be activated again; a successful kill cannot be repeated for another payout that edition.

The goal is to include everyone available, not wait indefinitely for every offline member. Leadership should publish a cut-off and leave finishing time inside the displayed Captain timer.

Copy to alliance chat

MERCENARY BOSS: Send ONE troop with NO heroes. Wait until your hit lands, then post 👍 in alliance chat. Do not send full marches or hit again until R4/R5 gives ALL CLEAR. This gives everyone present a chance to earn rewards.

ALL CLEAR: Everyone on the boss check-in list has tagged it. Send full marches now and finish the Captain before the timer ends. Check that you hit THIS boss; a previous boss does not count.

STOP full attacks on the Mercenary boss. ONE troop, NO heroes until leadership says ALL CLEAR. Post 👍 only after your hit lands. Killing early can deny other members their participation rewards.

If leadership temporarily removes a member

Warn and request recall first when time permits. Explain the shared-reward impact privately, record the reason, and agree on return conditions. Removal cannot undo an early kill or guarantee that a moving attack stops; watch the march and boss health.

You were temporarily removed for ignoring the boss hold order. Early full attacks can deny teammates their reward chance. This is to protect the event, not an attack on you. Message R4/R5, confirm ONE troop then wait for ALL CLEAR, and request a reinvite.

Mechanics checked 11 October 2026: official wiki, game support, community strategy.

Bear Trap — Complete FAQ

Open the 14-language Bear Trap quick reference

Visual: joiner hero order

Who should lead?

• Use your strongest three-hero combat lineup when starting a Bear rally. The captain's three heroes, stats, gear and Expedition skills all matter.
• Jeronimo is usually more valuable as a rally captain than as a joiner when you have a strong Jeronimo lead. If someone else is leading and your Jeronimo is available as a joiner, his first Expedition skill is still a strong joiner option.
• If your own rally is much weaker than the alliance's strongest rallies, joining a stronger rally can be better for your personal Bear damage.

Best Season 1 Bear Trap joiners

Why the four joiner skills matter

1. Only the first Expedition skill of each joiner's Slot 1 hero is considered.
2. A rally can activate four primary hero skills from rally members.
3. Higher-level eligible skills can replace weaker ones. A Level 5 joiner skill is therefore worth prioritizing.
4. Matching joiner effects can stack. The official Help Center confirms that four rally-member skills matching the captain's skill can stack.
5. For Gen 1 Bear Trap, the common high-damage joiners are Jessie, Jasser, Seo-yoon and Jeronimo. Do not replace these with a defensive, healing or unrelated utility hero just because that hero has higher Power.

Later joiners without a generation chart

As your state unlocks new heroes, check the first Expedition skill before changing joiner presets. Reliable all-troop damage, attack and lethality, or target damage-taken effects are useful for Bear. Later examples include Reina (normal attack damage), Gwen (target damage taken), Bradley (troop attack) and Sonya (all-troop damage). Compare skill levels against Jessie/Jasser/Seo-yoon. Chance-based and smaller buffs such as some Philly, Norah, Mia and Lynn builds are more situational. Do not promote a new hero purely because of their generation.

Bear Trap troop formation

Community testing also uses 10/30/60 when Marksmen are limited, and some later-state accounts go even more Marksman heavy. These are test presets, not guaranteed optimal ratios. If your troops cannot fill them, send the troops available and compare damage reports. A claimed fixed minimum of 10,000 Infantry or Lancers is not established as a universal rule.

• The Bear does not fight back like a player target, so Marksmen can make up a much larger part of the formation.
• Do not copy a late-generation ratio blindly. Your troop tiers, total troop count and alliance strategy matter.
• Join the strongest rallies first when your own rally is not competitive.
• If your alliance staggers rallies, return troops from the strongest rally and use them in the next approved rally instead of leaving marches idle.

Event timing and rally flow

The event runs for 30 minutes. A player's participation becomes eligible again after two UTC day resets, separately from the trap's own cooldown. Pre-save formations, place cities close enough to reduce travel, check the four selected yellow skills in the rally, and keep marches cycling. A one-troop captain rally is only a useful tactic if your alliance can fill it and the captain's troops gain more by joining other rallies during the five-minute launch wait.

Bear Trap gear

• For rally leaders, use your strongest combat gear and chief stats because the captain's full setup matters.
• For rally joiners, do not move Hero Gear around just to make the joiner march stronger. Your joiner skill is what matters.
• If Bear Trap is a major goal, Marksman-focused Hero Gear and Chief stats are an important offensive investment because your formation is Marksman-heavy.

Bear Trap preset setup

1. Preset 1 — Bear Lead: save your strongest three Bear rally heroes. Keep your best combat gear on these heroes.
2. Preset 2 — Jessie Join: Jessie in Slot 1. Use any two heroes in Slots 2 and 3 to maximize deployment capacity.
3. Preset 3 — Jasser Join: Jasser in Slot 1. Use any two heroes in Slots 2 and 3.
4. Preset 4 — Seo-yoon Join: Seo-yoon in Slot 1. Use any two heroes in Slots 2 and 3.
5. Preset 5 — Jeronimo Join: Jeronimo in Slot 1 only when he is not being used to lead your own strong rally. Otherwise make this a troop-only preset.
6. Extra marches: use troop-only marches once your approved joiner heroes are already committed. Do not put a random hero in Slot 1 just to make the march look stronger.

What not to send as a Bear joiner

Do not use a defensive, healing, gathering or unrelated utility hero in Slot 1 for Bear Trap just because the hero has high Power. The first-slot Expedition skill is what matters for the joiner contribution.

Season 1 F2P checklist

1. Max the first Expedition skill on Jessie first.
2. Build Jasser and Seo-yoon as your additional dedicated offensive joiner options.
3. Use Jeronimo as a joiner only when he is not needed for a stronger captain lineup.
4. Use a Marksman-heavy troop formation; start with 10/10/80 if you need a simple default.
5. Join the strongest rallies first.
6. Keep your rally-lead heroes and joiner heroes in separate saved presets.

References: Out of Games Bear Hunt guide · Whiteout Survival Wiki. Live game rules and battle reports override older examples.

Foundry Battle

Signup

The official 12-minute return mechanic

1. Leave the Foundry battlefield.
2. Your injured troops can be healed outside the battlefield.
3. Returning to the battlefield takes 12 minutes.
4. The Foundry battle lasts 1 hour, so leaving is a trade: healing without speedups versus losing active battlefield time.

Practical rotation strategy

• Use substitutes to keep pressure on objectives while injured players recover.
• Leave early enough that a returning player still has meaningful time to score.
• Do not send everyone out at once; you can lose the objective while everyone is on the return timer.
• In the final scoring window, active battlefield presence is often more valuable than starting another long recovery cycle.

Three practical Foundry playbooks

Alliance point optimization

• Register active players and dependable substitutes, not just the highest Power names.
• Pre-assign rally leads, garrison leads, objective squads and a mobile response team.
• Move before an objective becomes valuable instead of reacting after it is full.
• Do not feed repeated solo attacks into a stronger garrison; rally, rotate or force the opponent to split.
• The official return timer is 12 minutes, so every recovery exit costs real battlefield time.

Point play

• Prioritize objectives and building occupation over random fights.
• Follow the alliance's assigned building rotation.
• Do not abandon a high-value objective simply to chase an enemy march unless the shot-caller calls it.

Crazy Joe — Ultimate Score Guide

Before Joe starts — 5-minute setup

1. Choose a difficulty the alliance can actually finish. Higher difficulty gives more potential points, but repeatedly failing late waves—especially HQ 20—can cost the alliance more than a clean clear one level lower.
2. Stay online for the event. Waves 7, 14 and 17 target online players and are major scoring opportunities.
3. Lock your strongest 3 heroes in your city barricade/garrison. Do this before sending marches so your home defense heroes are not accidentally pulled out.
4. Empty Infantry and Lancers from your city as far as march capacity allows. Reinforce alliance members. If you cannot empty everything, send Infantry first, then Lancers, and leave Marksmen home.
5. Use nearby partners. Short reinforcement travel makes HQ recalls and redirects much easier.
6. Do not heal once Joe begins. Keep the troop layout stable until the event ends.

City reinforcement meta — where most points are built

The purpose is a troop swap. Your Infantry/Lancers score kills while defending someone else's city, while their reinforcements score on Joe when he attacks yours. Leaving large amounts of your own frontline troops home competes with the reinforcements you asked allies to send.

Which cities should I reinforce?

1. Members who have successfully emptied most of their Infantry/Lancers.
2. Online members, especially approaching waves 7, 14 and 17.
3. Under-filled cities before already-crowded cities. Spreading capable defenders gives the alliance more complete defenses.
4. Weaker active members who need help surviving later waves.
5. If a city has failed twice, Joe stops attacking that city for the run. Recall from it and move to a live target.

Wave-by-wave plan

Heroes — city, reinforcement and HQ

HQ Wave 10 & 20 — ratios are generation/difficulty dependent

There is no single universal HQ ratio. Community sources currently disagree because different alliances are testing different Joe difficulties and hero generations. The guide therefore gives tested starting profiles rather than pretending one ratio is always correct.

How to optimize HQ fairly

• Cap each member's troop count so more members can fit into HQ when participation is the goal.
• Use the member with the best relevant stats/capacity as the HQ lead.
• Do not blindly copy ratios from a Gen-10+ alliance into a Gen-1/Gen-2 state.
• Compare enemy troops killed, clear percentage, troop-type kills and hero buffs in the report.
• If Wave 20 is already being killed completely, optimize participation/fair point distribution rather than chasing theoretical extra damage that cannot create more kills.
• If Wave 20 is not clearing, test a Marksman-heavy formation and offensive joiner mix against your current formation.

Farm / alt strategy

Farm accounts can be valuable reinforcement targets. An online, lightly defended farm lets a main account place a strong reinforcement march where it can take a large share of the kills. Keep farms close enough for fast march movement and ensure they remain valid Joe targets. This is a community optimization tactic, not a requirement for normal play.

Common score killers

• Healing during Joe. It repopulates your city and disrupts reinforcement kill sharing.
• Going offline before 7, 14 or 17.
• Leaving all Infantry/Lancers home instead of swapping them into allies.
• Reinforcing a city that has already failed twice.
• Forgetting to recall the assigned march after waves 9 and 19.
• Random HQ troop ratios that make kill distribution inconsistent.
• Using a higher difficulty merely for prestige when the alliance cannot clear the late waves.
• Putting out fires mid-event instead of leaving the setup alone.

R4/R5 maximum-score plan

1. Post the difficulty, city-swap rules, online requirement and NO HEALING rule before start.
2. Assign reinforcement partners or zones so five marches do not pile into one city while another has none.
3. Announce 7 / 14 / 17 ONLINE and HQ 10 / 20 in alliance chat.
4. Publish an exact HQ troop cap + ratio for that run.
5. After Joe, collect Wave-10 and Wave-20 reports from the lead and top scorers.
6. Only raise difficulty when the alliance is reliably surviving the late waves and HQ 20.

Quick alliance post

CRAZY JOE: DO NOT HEAL OR PUT OUT FIRES until event ends. Lock your 3 strongest home heroes. Send Infantry + Lancers to reinforce others; leave Marksmen home if you can't empty everything. STAY ONLINE for 7/14/17. HQ ONLY on 10/20—follow the posted troop cap/ratio. If a city fails twice, recall and move to another target.

Polar Expedition

Why it works

• A full march that dies can create a longer interruption before you can attack again.
• A one-troop march resolves the death cycle with minimal troop commitment.
• Over a fixed event window, that can give you more attack attempts.

Use it correctly

• Use one-troop cycles for objectives where repeated attack attempts are the goal.
• Do not use the trick when the objective requires a full combat march to survive.
• Do not describe it to members as a “march-speed buff.”

Fortress, Stronghold & Facility Capture — Rally First

Reserve the opening NPC clear for a coordinated rally. A solo arriving first can consume the participation opportunity that a rally would share. Reinforcing afterward does not recreate that opening reward.

Fortress / Stronghold rewards are separate buckets

Check View → rewards/rules on the actual target. Reward chests, materials, buffs and hero shards can vary with building and state progression. Do not promise a fixed item list or treat battle points as participation loot: defeating enemies is a separate scoring condition.

Facilities are a different system

Facilities provide alliance buffs. The official wiki describes rewards for the controlling alliance on the facility's first contention. It does not establish the same personal rally-participation payout as Fortress Battles. Rallying remains the alliance's coordination policy; check that facility's first-capture rewards and territory/hold requirements before announcing loot.

Opening rally checklist

1. R4/R5 names one rally leader, target and arrival time. Confirm registration or territory eligibility.
2. Make room for eligible members; use a troop cap that lets more players join while keeping enough strength to win. A rally has finite slots, so it cannot reward the whole alliance as participants.
3. Check for faster solo marches. Order recall before they hit; never tell a solo to speed up ahead of the shared rally.
4. After the opening clear, reinforce and follow the hold plan. Check mail and distribute the leadership-controlled pool according to policy.

Copy to alliance chat

FORTRESS / STRONGHOLD: Do NOT solo the opening NPCs. Join the marked leadership rally so its participants can share the first-clear reward opportunity. Later reinforcement is not the same reward. Wait for R4/R5 orders.

FACILITY FIRST CAPTURE: No unauthorized solos. Join the assigned rally and follow R4/R5 orders. Leadership will check the target reward screen and hold requirements. Facility rewards differ from Fortress/Stronghold rewards; do not rush the capture.

Checked 11 October 2026: official Fortress wiki, game support, facility rules.

State vs State (SVS)

Preparation philosophy

• Do not spend every speedup the moment you receive it.
• Coordinate Construction, Research, Training, Hero Development and Power Boost spending with the current scoring day.
• Use alliance announcements to tell members exactly what to spend and what to save.
• High-value players should coordinate their major power pushes rather than competing internally for the same resource pool.

Battle Phase

• Follow the state commander's target list.
• Know the difference between killing for points and fighting for an objective.
• Protect key players and rally leaders; a zeroed player is no longer useful to the operation.
• Do not attack outside approved targets or NAP arrangements.
• Sunfire Castle is the central objective during the Castle portion of the Battle Phase.

SVS Castle timing

Sunfire Castle — Current Rules & Battle Plan

Victory conditions

1. Hold Sunfire Castle for 2.5 consecutive hours and win immediately.
2. If nobody reaches that consecutive hold during the 5-hour battle, the alliance with the longest total occupation time wins.

The two battle phases

Opening plan

1. Have the rally, garrison, turret and shot-caller roles assigned before battle.
2. Move active fighters into useful positions before the fight; respect the Alert Zone's teleport/shield rules.
3. Do not burn every major march in the first push.
4. Capture and contest Turrets rather than treating them as decoration.

Attack plan

• Use coordinated rallies rather than isolated solo attacks.
• Double rally pressure can make a defender choose which incoming rally to absorb and can keep pressure continuous.
• Use Jessie as the attack rally joiner.
• Use your strongest current-generation rally captain for the actual lead. Jessie is not automatically the best captain simply because she is the joiner.
• Save teleports for the phase where positioning decides whether a rally lands in time.

Defense / garrison plan

• Keep the Castle garrison continuously reinforced.
• Use Patrick in Slot 1 when joining the defensive/garrison rally.
• Keep a reserve of players able to reinforce instead of putting every player into one attack.
• Rotate damaged marches and communicate who is available for the next rally.

Turrets

• Four Turrets surround the Castle.
• Turrets can pressure the Castle holder when controlled by the opposing side.
• The longer a Turret remains occupied, the more frequent its attacks become.
• If your side holds the Castle and a Turret, that Turret does not damage your Castle garrison.
• Infantry are especially important around Turrets because turret targeting prioritizes Infantry.

Storm / Alert Zone

• Cities inside the Alert Zone can be randomly teleported by the storm before the battle.
• After the storm stops, players can teleport into the Alert Zone.
• Entering the Alert Zone affects shielding. Treat the battlefield as an active combat zone, not a safe parking area.

Sunfire quick call

Alliance Leadership & R4/R5 Operations

Core R4 responsibilities

What good R4 conduct looks like

• Follow the chain of command. R5 sets alliance direction; R4 officers execute it and coordinate with each other.
• Do not start wars by yourself. No attacking another alliance, retaliating, or changing a state-level agreement without the required leadership approval.
• Document first, punish second. Save battle reports, screenshots and relevant chat messages when a dispute occurs.
• Do not use rank as a reward for friends. Assign responsibility based on reliability, activity, judgment and communication.
• Give members a clear answer. If you do not know a rule, verify it rather than guessing and creating a second problem.
• Stay neutral during disputes. An R4 should de-escalate first and let leadership decide punishment or retaliation.
• Keep event instructions consistent. One officer should own the event clock and another should be able to cover that role when the primary officer is offline.

Simple R4 coverage model

Small alliances can combine jobs. Large or highly competitive alliances should assign clear owners and backups. Community officer checklists also emphasize roster checks, territory/facility checks, technology priorities, event assignments and communications as recurring officer work. WSCO officer ops

R4 daily checklist

1. Check roster activity and urgent member issues.
2. Check the next alliance event and who is responsible for it.
3. Check territory, vulnerable facilities and current construction needs.
4. Check alliance technology and the current donation priority.
5. Post only the reminders members actually need.
6. Check diplomacy messages or state-rule changes.
7. Before a major fight, confirm rally leaders, joiners, defensive assignments and the refill plan.

Alliance operating standard

R4/R5 operating standard

• Assign event roles before the event begins.
• Publish exact rally times and the approved Slot 1 joiner heroes.
• Maintain a clear attack/defense chain: members → R4 → R5/state leadership.
• Keep battle reports and logs available when an incident occurs.
• Use short, time-stamped announcements during active events.

Attack rule

Tundra HQ Operations

When to move the Alliance HQ into Tundra

1. Prepare before unlock. Build the alliance-resource stockpile and extend territory toward the Tundra side so the alliance can reach the resources needed for the move.
2. Scout the destination first. Identify higher-level resource areas, Alliance Iron Mines, Fortresses, Strongholds and facilities that actually matter to your alliance.
3. Use the Tundra/Fertile border intelligently. The HQ must be on legal Icefield/Tundra territory, not Fertile Land. A border position can give useful access without pushing the HQ unnecessarily deep into Tundra.
4. Build around objectives. Plan banner routes from the HQ toward the facilities and resource areas you intend to use. Do not choose an HQ location merely because it looks central.
5. Keep the hive practical. Members still need short, useful travel paths for rallies, gathering and defense. A strategically perfect HQ is not useful if the hive becomes scattered.
6. Coordinate before construction. R4 territory leadership should publish the HQ location, first banner route and initial hive plan before anyone starts teleporting.

Jump-start the Tundra move

• Stockpile alliance resources before the move becomes available.
• Extend territory toward useful Tundra resource areas and Iron Mines where the map permits.
• Have the territory officer pre-mark the HQ location and first banner route.
• Keep useful Icefield connections instead of demolishing everything simply because the Tundra HQ exists.
• Pre-plan the hive and Bear Trap positions so members do not scatter after the move.

State Culture & Custom Signals

• Send one Lancer with no heroes.
• It is normally used as a harmless greeting or inside joke between players who understand the custom.
• Because it is still a march toward another player, do not use it against another alliance unless the custom is clearly agreed upon.
• An unannounced one-unit attack can be interpreted as hostile action, especially in a state with NAP or war rules.
• The point is entertainment, not damage. It is not a scouting method or a reliable combat test.

Leadership — Stop Unauthorized Solos Without Losing the Team

Make the no-solo rule clear before capture time, explain the reward reason, and assign one officer to watch incoming marches. This is an alliance policy: the game allows some solo attacks, but a legal attack can still undermine a shared opening rally.

1. Send a direct recall now instruction and identify the target. Check for language or notification problems before assuming defiance.
2. For a Fortress or Stronghold, participation requires the alliance to have registered for the target and the member to meet the event's membership cut-off before reset. If someone ignores the recall order and sends a solo ahead of the assigned rally, R4/R5 can temporarily remove them from the registered alliance: removal takes away their eligibility to participate and prevents the unauthorized solo capture. This is an event-eligibility mechanism, not a general claim that every kind of march is recalled when someone is kicked.
3. Explain privately why they were removed. Keep the reason factual: ignored hold/recall order, endangered shared reward opportunity, or killed a Captain early.
4. Offer a reinvite after acknowledgement when allowed, but explain that returning does not automatically restore Fortress/Stronghold eligibility for the current round. The registration and membership cut-off still apply. Do not promise an immediate return to the battle.
5. Act before the solo lands; removing someone after the capture cannot restore the opening rewards. Apply the same policy consistently, record repeated violations, and avoid public humiliation. Do not extend the Fortress/Stronghold eligibility rule to Facilities or Mercenary Captains.

Recall order

RECALL your solo march now. Do not speed it up. The opening capture is reserved for our assigned rally so more teammates can qualify for rewards. Reply when recalled. R4/R5 may temporarily remove members who ignore the order.

Fortress / Stronghold temporary-removal explanation

You were temporarily removed to stop your unauthorized Fortress/Stronghold solo and protect our rally rewards. Leaving the registered alliance removes battle eligibility. Message R4/R5 and confirm you will follow orders for a reinvite; this round's eligibility may not return.

For boss-specific messages, use Mercenary Prestige. For reward conditions, use capture rewards.

Master Cheat Sheets — Cross-System Advantages

This section is deliberately short. Detailed mechanics live in their proper category; these are the rules worth remembering across the whole game.

Before you spend, start or fight

1. Check the scoring window: ask what event/day rewards the action.
2. Apply the relevant buff first: construction, research, gathering or combat bonuses generally need to be active before the action starts.
3. Load the correct preset: hero, troop ratio, pet and gear for the job.
4. Verify the deployment screen: check formation, troop count and arrival time before committing.
5. Keep a reserve: do not consume every march, teleport or healing resource if the alliance may need an emergency response.

Power-shift rule

Combat decision tree

Event decision tree

Alliance communication rule

• Use one event clock and UTC times.
• Publish roles, targets, rally leads, approved joiners and reserve assignments before the event starts.
• During combat, use short timestamped calls instead of burying orders in chat.
• If a rule is state-specific, the state rule overrides a generic guide recommendation.

Where to look

Training · Research · Fire Crystal · Hero Generations · PetsLabyrinth · Experts · CombatCalculators · Events · Alliance Events · Leadership

Alliance Command Discord Bot

Install Alliance Command in your Discord server

First start

Use /ac guide immediately. Anyone can browse the guide without a site account. To show alliance plans, your R4/R5 opens Alliance → Discord settings and adds each member’s unique Discord username, one per line. Use account usernames, not display names or server nicknames. One hosted bot serves many alliances and servers; no hosting, guild IDs or advanced configuration is required for basic use.

Existing site members may use /ac link with their site linking code. Alliance replies are private. Username-list members receive viewing access only; site leadership permissions still require a linked authorized site account. Advanced channel feeds are optional.

Enter arguments in the options field shown by Discord. For a rally timer, use /ac rt with options 2 10. Watcher commands and generic ! commands are retired. /ac vote opens the protected election board. /ac redeem retains existing account checks.

Use /ac-rickroll to post Rick Astley’s GIF and music video publicly. Bear, Territory, Castle and Plans requests also post publicly in the current channel. Members select their own alliance through their linked account or the simple Discord username list; multiple alliances can share a state server. No server ID is needed for these requests.

Linking and permissions

Install once per Discord server. Every member’s request follows their current site alliance and state, or their alliance’s simple username list. No Guild Link or Discord role mapping is needed. A shared state server can contain several alliances.

Leadership must link with a one-time code from Alliance → Linking using /ac link (options: code). Use /ac-admin to open controls authorized by the linked site account: alliance administration, council, president, minister appointments and Master Control. Username lists grant viewing access only.

Guide and Rickroll are public. Requested plans post in the requesting channel. Account information and leadership controls stay private. Editing and voting use the existing protected website pages.

Copy/Paste Alliance Messages

Sources

• Sunfire Castle: current 2026 sources report 5-hour maximum duration and 2.5-hour consecutive occupation for an immediate win, with longest cumulative occupation as fallback. The change is associated with the later update that reduced the earlier 6-hour / 3-hour format.
• Foundry: the Whiteout Survival Help Center states that leaving and returning can heal injured troops, the return takes 12 minutes, and the battle lasts 1 hour.
• Hero Gear: current WOS Guru material documents the four Hero Gear slots, priority pieces, Enhancement/Mastery progression.
• Exploration/Arena: current Arena and Exploration references support the Season 1 F2P five of Sergey, Jessie, Molly, Bahiti and Gina, and the Gen 1 spender lineup of Jeronimo, Natalia, Molly, Bahiti and Zinman.
• Research: current Research Center references confirm the Growth, Economy and Battle trees, prerequisite gates and the value of Research Speed/Construction Speed early in progression.
• Bear Trap: current Bear Trap references agree that only the first hero's first Expedition skill from a joiner enters the joiner-skill pool and that four eligible joiner skills are selected. Current Season 1 Bear Trap practice uses Jessie, Jasser, Seo-yoon and Jeronimo as the key offensive joiner options, with Jeronimo generally better reserved as a rally captain when available.
• Current official client/update reference: the August 17, 2026 client notes include the Auto-Join “Only Auto-Join After Exiting Game” option, up to 12 Squad presets under qualifying conditions, troop-ratio presets, improved World Map facility information, and other alliance-war interface improvements.
• Official Tundra rule: Tundra contains Alliance Steel/Iron; Alliance HQ may be built on Icefield or Tundra, not Fertile Land.
• Battle reports: official Combat FAQ and Special Bonuses documentation were cross-checked with current WoS Guru and community battle-report analysis; supplied screenshots are used as examples.
• Farm creation: current 2026 community references confirm Profile → Settings → Characters → Create New Character and selecting the target state; official support confirms separate character progression and up to 6 march queues.
• Gift codes/Monument: live WSCO/WOS Rewards trackers and current 2026 Monument references were checked; codes are intentionally not hard-coded because they expire.
• Teleport reference: current community references distinguish Advanced, Alliance and Territory Teleporters; Territory Teleporters now allow landing adjustment before confirmation.
• Planning tool: WoS Tools Territory Planner.

2026+ Watchlist — Prepare Before the Content Arrives

• Frostdragon Tyrant: current September 2026 references describe a major cross-state alliance battlefield with limited combatant slots, rallies and a new Dawn Honor achievement layer. Read the live event rules when it opens.
• Fire Crystal Age city layer: current rollout adds Wish Station, Wish Sigils/Wish Shop and entertainment facilities that produce daily rewards. Rollout is state-dependent.
• Experts: current community roadmaps place Justus after Gen 6 in October 2026; do not spend around an unconfirmed future kit.
• Hero generations: the roughly 80-day cadence remains a useful planning model, but future hero names, skills and acquisition routes should be treated as unconfirmed until announced.
• T12 / Flame Tech: once your state reaches this era, research materials expand beyond basic FC. Keep Steel, FC Shards, RFC and RSS in your long-term planning budget.

Recent event strategy references used in this rebuild

• Frostfire Mine — Whiteout Survival Wiki
• WoS Guru — Labyrinth
• Vortex Gaming — Labyrinth Strategy
• Reddit — Frostfire 2026 strategy
• Reddit — Frostfire F2P discussion