In this guide, we break down the optimal hero builds and tier lists, offering clear recommendations for investing in and upgrading your heroes.
Focusing on the three main hero classes – Fighters, Riders, and Shooters – this article covers tier lists and build strategies to help you make smart choices and maximize your in-game performance.
Dark War: Survival is a zombie apocalypse survival game where you face relentless zombie hordes while managing a base, gathering resources, and recruiting heroes with specialized roles.
If you’re into that kind of survival/strategy game, you might want to read my article and find more games like Terraria for mobile, so you can play more games like this.
This game challenges players to create a strong defensive and offensive lineup to advance through various game modes.
In this article, we combine detailed hero assessments and tactical advice to help you form an effective team and progress efficiently.
The Basics of Hero Builds
Hero builds in Dark War: Survival revolve around maximizing the potential of each character’s active and passive skills.
Investing shards and fragments wisely can upgrade a hero to five-star status, unlocking improved abilities that impact combat, research, or resource generation.
Combining heroes with complementary skills is critical; for instance, a hero with strong attack enhancements can be paired with one that offers defensive buffs, creating a balanced team that can adapt to various challenges.
Key considerations when building your heroes include:
• Prioritizing heroes whose abilities suit your play style – whether you focus on direct combat, resource collection, or research support.
• Upgrading passive skills that provide team-wide benefits, as these effects persist even when the hero is not on the front line.
• Matching hero roles against enemy types; Fighters excel against Riders, Riders counter Shooters, and Shooters are best when facing Fighters. Much like rock-paper-scissors.
Faction and Grade Overview
Heroes are categorized by both faction and grade. Each faction brings a distinct set of attributes:
• Fighters: Known for their strong frontline combat skills and abilities that boost health and attack.
• Riders: Provide agile offensive maneuvers and often come with supportive passives that enhance movement or resource-related aspects.
• Shooters: Deliver powerful ranged attacks and can contribute unique benefits, such as reducing upgrade times.
Heroes are graded into three classes:
- S-Grade – High performance and potent skills that pay off in later stages.
- A-Grade – Solid choices with reliable stats, useful for both intermediate play and as backups.
- B-Grade – Suitable for early game resource boosts, but they tend to fall off in effectiveness as you progress.
Here is the best hero tier list for Dark War: Survival. Make sure you focus your attention on the heroes that are worthy of your time and resources.
S Tier Heroes
• Tristan (Fighter)
– Focus: Combat
– Build Note: Upgrade active ranged attack and defense buff
• Francis (Fighter)
– Focus: Fire-based offense
– Build Note: Prioritize fire attack skill and HP boost
• Catherine & Rex (Fighter)
– Focus: Mission support
– Build Note: Boost radar mission output and food yields
• Guy (Fighter)
– Focus: Adventure and idle gains
– Build Note: Enhance sword techniques and passive resource bonus
• Natasha (Shooter)
– Focus: Explosive area attacks
– Build Note: Concentrate on explosive active skills and shooter buffs
• Margaret (Shooter)
– Focus: Flame combat
– Build Note: Upgrade flame attack and add a health bonus
• Megan (Shooter)
– Focus: Construction support
– Build Note: Level up skills that reduce build times
• Evans (Shooter)
– Focus: Vehicle transformation
– Build Note: Emphasize crossbow attack and vehicle upgrade perks
• Cyrus (Rider)
– Focus: Ground strikes
– Build Note: Prioritize active axe strikes with added defensive bonuses
• Marcia (Rider)
– Focus: Drone offense
– Build Note: Upgrade drone attacks and boost hit points
• Corleone (Rider)
– Focus: Research acceleration
– Build Note: Level bomb throwing and improve research efficiency
• Quinn (Rider)
– Focus: Alliance duels
– Build Note: Enhance sword energy along with troop training bonuses
A Tier Heroes
• Scarlett (Rider)
– Focus: Blade strikes
– Build Note: Upgrade both active and passive skills for balanced output
• Victor (Rider)
– Focus: Machine gun damage
– Build Note: Invest in attack speed and movement enhancements
• Barnett (Fighter)
– Focus: Sword energy
– Build Note: Build for quick training boosts and to counter Rider units
• Andre (Shooter)
– Focus: Shotgun strikes
– Build Note: Improve research speed and overall combat damage
• Kylie (Shooter)
– Focus: Flamethrower offense
– Build Note: Upgrade combined fire and bomb attacks
• Cecilia (Shooter)
– Focus: Ranged combat
– Build Note: Concentrate on flail attacks and include a defensive boost
• Eddie (Rider)
– Focus: Gatling gun offense
– Build Note: Enhance offensive stats to counter shooter units
• Farhad (Fighter)
– Focus: Eagle summoning
– Build Note: Prioritize both direct damage and support skills
• Liz (Shooter; Grade A/B)
– Focus: Healing acceleration
– Build Note: Upgrade healing speed, keeping in mind the limited combat impact
B Tier Heroes
• Selena, Bob, Ruby, Joe (Various)
– Focus: Resource boosts
– Build Note: Invest minimally with a focus on early game resource gains
Build Recommendations by Class
Fighter Builds
Fighters provide a solid frontline presence. For example, Tristan and Francis are excellent investments for direct combat.
Upgrade Tristan’s active attack to deliver continuous damage and invest in his defense buff to make him more resilient.
Francis’s build should focus on his fire-based active skill while boosting his hit points, turning him into a formidable presence in battles.
Catherine and Rex are specialized for missions requiring additional radar events and resource boosts. Their build should balance between offensive maneuvers and passive upgrades that increase food yield.
Guy’s build is designed for adventure scenarios where his sword techniques not only clear enemies but also contribute to idle resource collection.
It is advisable to level up his active skill early, followed by his passive, which increases resource output even when he isn’t actively deployed.
Rider Builds
Riders offer agile offense and supplementary benefits. Cyrus is best built by enhancing his ground-striking attack and investing in his passive skills that improve both defense and offense, which is especially effective when countering Shooters.
Marcia’s build focuses on her drone attack, and it is beneficial to upgrade her hit point bonuses for prolonged combat.
Corleone should have a build that accelerates research – upgrade his bomb-throwing skill and invest in his progression ability to reduce research costs and time.
Quinn, specializing in alliance duels, should have a balanced build with priority given to lowering training costs and boosting training speed, making her indispensable during competitive encounters.
For A-Grade Riders like Scarlett and Victor, the builds should emphasize quick strikes and efficiency.
Scarlett’s active blade attack, paired with a boost to her defensive stats, allows her to counter Shooters effectively.
Victor’s machine gun-based build should focus on increasing attack output while reducing resource costs and enhancing movement speed.
Shooter Builds
Shooters contribute high-damage ranged attacks and often come with additional benefits.
Natasha’s build centers on maximizing her explosive active skill and upgrading her passive to boost overall shooter performance.
Margaret should be built by emphasizing her flame attack, with secondary upgrades that increase her health and attack.
Megan’s build is unique, as she supports construction-related tasks. Upgrade her abilities that reduce build times and resource costs, making her valuable even outside direct combat.
Evans, with his vehicle transformation capabilities, should have a build that strengthens his crossbow attack while focusing on passive skills that provide additional gears and enhance vehicle performance.
A-Grade shooters such as Andre, Kylie, and Cecilia can serve as reliable backups. Andre’s shotgun build benefits from a boost in research speed, which indirectly speeds up overall progression.
Kylie’s combined fire and bomb attack should be built for quick damage output, while Cecilia’s build focuses on ranged combat and defense enhancement.
Perfect Hero Builds Recommandations
To create a winning roster, mix and match heroes from different classes based on their strengths. A balanced lineup might include:
- A Fighter with strong direct damage and passive bonuses for adventure gains.
- A Rider that offers fast strikes and research support to accelerate your overall progress.
- A Shooter that contributes high ranged damage while reducing upgrade times.
Focus your investments on S-Grade heroes first, as they provide long-term benefits in both combat and progression.
Upgrade their active skills early, then build up passive abilities that offer continuous benefits even when the hero is off the front line.
Use A-Grade heroes to fill gaps and provide specialized functions, while B-Grade heroes should be used sparingly in the early stages for resource collection rather than frontline combat.
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Wrapping up
This guide combines detailed hero evaluations with essential tips and tactical advice to help you excel in Dark War: Survival.
Use the information provided to refine your strategy, build a formidable team, and advance through the game’s demanding stages with confidence.
By following these build strategies and aligning your heroes with roles that complement each other, you can develop a formidable team prepared to face the challenges of Dark War: Survival.
Adapt your builds as you unlock more heroes and refine your strategy, keeping your focus on long-term effectiveness and team synergy.