Pre-Season 1 Timeline & Week-by-Week Roadmap
How Pre-Season 1 Plays Out
Pre-Season 1 lasts roughly 70-120 days depending on server activity. There are no cross-server wars and no season-specific mechanics — the game is at its simplest. That simplicity is your advantage. Use it to build a foundation strong enough that you enter Season 1 competing rather than catching up.
HQ 30, T10 troops, geared mono-Tank squad, established alliance. That is the bar. Players who hit it enter Season 1 ready. Players who do not spend the first half of Season 1 catching up — and most never close the gap. Every week of Pre-Season 1 should move you toward this checkpoint.
Week 1 — Sprint Phase (HQ 1-10)
The fastest, cheapest week of your entire account's life. Timers are short, resources are abundant, and the tutorial showers you with rewards.
- Rush HQ non-stop — use speedups freely. Timers are cheap; saving them now is wasted value
- Follow the tutorial — it gives gems, speedups, and resources you cannot get elsewhere
- Join an alliance on day one — alliance help compounds from the moment you join. Even a mediocre alliance is better than no alliance for the first week
- Start collecting Tank heroes — Kimberly, Murphy, Williams, Stetmann, Marshall. Every shard you can grab
- Goal: HQ 10-12 by end of week
Week 2 — Mono-Tank Squad Forms (HQ 12-15)
Your squad takes shape. The 20% mono-type bonus is the single biggest combat multiplier you have early — go pure Tank and stay there.
- Push HQ 15 — most active players hit this in week 2
- 5 Tank heroes equipped — your squad should be Tank-only by HQ 15
- Drone Centre unlocks at HQ 15 — start building it the moment it opens. Global stat bonuses affect everything
- Tech Centre matches HQ — required for almost every HQ upgrade from here onward
- Goal: HQ 15-16, mono-Tank squad complete, Drone Centre under construction
Week 3 — Drone and Chip Lab (HQ 15-20)
The Drone Centre is the largest single combat power source you have unlocked. Treat it like a second HQ.
- Drone parts daily — every event that drops parts matters. Do not skip Drone Mission
- Chip Lab unlocks — start chip upgrades. The combat stat increases are significant
- Hero Trial daily — runs every day, gives shards and EXP
- Sky Predator and Marshal's Guard start mattering for alliance coordination
- Goal: HQ 18-20, Drone Lv5+, Chip Lab active
Week 4-5 — The First Real Plateau (HQ 20-22)
This is where the game stops feeling like a sprint. Timers stretch into hours and days. Speedups become precious.
- Alliance Duel VS is now meaningful — Day 5 (Mobilisation) is where saved speedups pay off
- Save Mon-Thu speedups for Day 5 training — this discipline starts now
- Gold gear crafting begins to matter as your heroes hit higher levels
- Push T7 → T8 troops — promote rather than train where possible
- Goal: HQ 22, T8 troops, first VS week with intentional banking
Week 6-7 — Mid-Pre-Season Power Spike (HQ 22-25)
Resource costs climb sharply. This is where players who spent speedups carelessly start to fall behind.
- HQ 25 is the resource-spike threshold — costs roughly double from this point
- Save resource chests — do not crack them just to unlock the next research. Save for HQ 27+
- First gold gear pieces — Kimberly Gun first, then Murphy Radar, Marshall Gun, Stetmann Gun, Williams Radar
- Hero stars matter now — Kimberly and Murphy to 4 stars unlocks Super Sensory passive
- Goal: HQ 24-25, two gold gear pieces, Kimberly and Murphy 4-star
Week 8-9 — Approaching the Finish Line (HQ 25-28)
The last stretch before HQ 30. This is where players who banked correctly leap ahead and players who did not stall.
- Tech Centre is the bottleneck — it must hit Lv30 to unlock T10. Start the long research nodes now
- Special Forces research begins gating T10 — see the T10 Troops Guide
- Valor Badges start mattering — collect from every event
- Aircraft hero shards — collect passively, do not invest yet
- Goal: HQ 27-28, Tech Centre at or near 30, T10 prerequisites in motion
Week 10+ — HQ 30 Push and Aircraft Pivot (HQ 28-30)
The pre-season finish line. T10 troops, the second squad question, and Season 1 prep all converge here.
- HQ 30 unlocks T10 troops — promote into them rather than training from scratch
- Day 70-90: begin Aircraft squad — but only if your Tank squad has 3+ gold gear pieces and 4-star carries
- Aircraft squad goal: 5 Aircraft heroes equipped by Day 90
- Day 90-120: Aircraft becomes functional, Tank stays primary
- Goal: HQ 30, T10 trained, Tank squad fully geared, Aircraft squad started
A half-built Tank squad and a half-built Aircraft squad is worse than one fully-built Tank squad in every situation. If your Tank squad is not 3+ gold gear pieces and 4-star on carries by Day 70, do not start Aircraft. Finish what you started.
The Weekly Cycle (From Week 4 Onward)
Once you reach HQ 20, the server settles into a steady rhythm:
The Pre-Season 1 → Season 1 Transition
Around day 70-120, the pre-season ends and Season 1 begins. Your account, alliance, and progress carry forward. What changes:
- HQ cap rises to 35 — but stays at 30 for most of Season 1
- T11 troops become possible (later in the season) — T10 is your immediate goal
- Oil becomes a resource — Age of Oil tech tree opens
- Exclusive Weapons unlock — the biggest power system in the game
- Cross-server content — SvS, cross-server wars become available
See the Season 1 Timeline Guide for what to do when you arrive.
Common Pre-Season Mistakes
- Stalling HQ to "save resources" — you save resources to push HQ, not the other way around
- Building mixed squads — you lose the 20% mono-type bonus. Stay mono-Tank
- Starting Aircraft before Tank is finished — half-built squads lose to fully-built squads of any type
- Spending gems on summons or speedups — save gems for VIP. VIP 6 (second builder) doubles your build speed permanently
- Skipping events because you "are not ready" — partial participation still earns rewards. Show up
- Joining alliances late — alliance help and tech are too valuable to miss. Day-one priority
- Ignoring the Drone Centre — global stat bonuses affect every fight. Start at HQ 15 immediately
- Not saving Mon-Thu speedups for VS Day 5 — Friday's 4x training multiplier is the most valuable single-day reward in the game
- Treating pre-season like a stockpile phase — spend on HQ pushes. The goal is to arrive at Season 1 strong, not arrive with a full warehouse
- Cracking resource chests too early — save them for HQ 27+ when costs spike
Related Guides
- Pre-Season 1 Overview — full pre-season strategy
- Tank Squad Guide — the dominant pre-season squad
- Hero Guide — pre-season hero priorities
- Gear Guide — gold gear craft order
- Server Timeline (General) — the universal HQ + server-age roadmap
- Daily Routine — what to do every day
- Season 1 Timeline Guide — what comes next