How Season 1 Plays Out

Season 1 is horizontal progression season. HQ 30 stays the cap for most of the season — what changes is everything underneath: Exclusive Weapons, T10 troops, star promotion, the Age of Oil tech tree, and the meta shift from Tank dominance to Aircraft dominance. Season 1 is roughly 8-10 weeks depending on server pace.

The Season 1 Goal

Stop racing HQ. Start deepening every system underneath it. Players who treat Season 1 like Pre-Season 1 — pushing HQ above all else — fall behind players who invest in Exclusive Weapons, T10 troops, and Aircraft squads. The horizontal investments compound; the vertical race has nowhere to go.

Pre-Season 1 → Season 1 Transition (Week 0)

The moment Season 1 opens:

Age of Oil tech tree opens — your new primary research path. Combat-stat nodes first
Exclusive Weapons system unlocks — every hero can now equip one
T10 troop unlock window — Tech Centre 30 + Special Forces research + Valor Badges
Hot Deal currency reverts to Roulette — unlike Season 2 (Spins) and Season 3 (Roulette)
Cross-server wars become possible — SvS and other cross-server content opens
Goal: Day 1 of Season 1, you have HQ 30, Tech Centre 30, T9 ready to promote

Week 1 — Exclusive Weapons Begin (T10 Push)

Your immediate priority is unlocking T10 and starting your first Exclusive Weapon. Both are Season 1's foundation systems.

Train T10 troops — promote rather than train. T9 → T10 conversion is faster than training from scratch
First Exclusive Weapon: your carry — DVA's Energy Master (Aircraft), Kimberly's Rocket Shadow (Tank), Tesla's Lightning Enhancement (Missile)
50 hero shards = unlock cost — collect through Battle Pass, Hot Deals (Roulette), and events
Begin Age of Oil research — start with combat-stat nodes for permanent power
Goal: T10 troops trained, first EW unlocked at Lv1

Week 2 — Squad-Wide Exclusive Weapons (Lv10 Push)

The biggest Exclusive Weapon trap is over-investing in one weapon while the rest of your squad has none. Spread first, deepen second.

All 5 squad members at EW Lv1 — minimum baseline
Push your carry to EW Lv10 — first major skill unlock
Mason SSR→UR promotion window opens — if you collected his shards in pre-season, promote immediately
Star promotion begins — carry's Gun and main tank's Radar to 2-Star first
Goal: All 5 EW Lv1+, carry's EW at Lv10, Mason promoted (Tank players)

The Exclusive Weapon Distribution Rule

Get all 5 squad members to Lv20 before pushing any to Lv30. A squad of 5 Lv20 weapons outperforms one Lv30 weapon and four Lv10 weapons in nearly every situation. The temptation to "max the carry" is the most common Season 1 mistake.

Week 3-4 — The Aircraft Meta Asserts Itself

The pre-season Tank meta gives way to Aircraft dominance. Alliances that did not start their Aircraft squad in late pre-season feel the pressure now.

Build your second squad — Aircraft if you ran Tank in pre-season, or whatever your alliance needs
The Murphy Exception — Murphy in Aircraft squad with EW Lv20+ becomes the standard formation
Combat triangle matters — Aircraft beats Tank, Tank beats Missile, Missile beats Aircraft
Cross-server wars become real — alliance coordination determines outcomes
Goal: Second squad functional, EW Lv20 across primary squad, combat-triangle-aware play

Week 5-6 — The Lv20 Sweet Spot

Lv20 Exclusive Weapons unlock major skill bonuses and become the realistic ceiling for most heroes this season. Lv30 is reserved for your absolute carry.

All 5 squad members EW Lv20 — squad-wide power spike
Star promote to 4-star on carry's Gun and main tank's Radar — the second major spike
Murphy's Mitigation Master at Lv20 — now viable in Aircraft squads, transforms front-line survivability
Age of Oil mid-tier nodes — economic-stat nodes start mattering
Goal: Squad-wide EW Lv20, two 4-star gear pieces, Aircraft squad fully geared

Week 7-8 — The Carry Lv30 Push

With your squad at Lv20, you can now safely push your absolute carry to Lv30. Picking the right hero for this matters.

One hero to EW Lv30 — usually your DPS carry (DVA, Kimberly, or Tesla depending on squad)
5-Star gear conversion — the third major spike, transforms Legendary into Mythic. Most players will not reach this until Season 2 — that is fine
Age of Oil deep nodes — the long research nodes that pay off over remaining season
Begin third-squad consideration — only if your alliance specifically needs a third type
Goal: One Lv30 EW, three squad-wide types reasonable, alliance has all 3 types covered

Week 9-10 — Closing Out and Season 2 Prep

The end of Season 1 is the runway into Season 2. What you finish here you arrive with.

Stockpile speedups for Season 2 furnace — Season 2 demands massive Furnace upgrades from Day 1
Finish Mason's UR investment — skills, levels, gear
Coal awareness begins — Season 2 introduces Coal as a daily-managed resource
Stop Exclusive Weapon investment past your sweet spot — Season 2 has different priorities
Goal: Ready to enter Season 2 with speedups banked, Coal mindset prepared

The Weekly Cycle (Season 1)

DaySeason 1 Focus

MondayVS Day 1 (Radar). Plan EW investment for the week

TuesdayVS Day 2 (Building). Save speedups

WednesdayVS Day 3 (Research). Age of Oil research speedups count

ThursdayVS Day 4 (Heroes). EW upgrades count for points — bank EW shards for this day

FridayVS Day 5 (Mobilisation). All speedups for T10 waterfall training

SaturdayVS Day 6 (Combat). Type-match against opponents — Aircraft vs Tank, Missile vs Aircraft

SundayCross-server events, recovery

Season 1 → Season 2 Transition

Season 1 ends with Season 2's Polar Storm waiting. What carries forward and what changes:

Carries forward: Buildings, heroes, gear, EW levels, T10 troops, alliance, Age of Oil progress.

Changes in Season 2:

Temperature becomes a survival mechanic — fall below -20°C and you cannot rally or teleport
Furnace replaces EW upgrades as the building you upgrade most
Rare Soil is the ranking resource — cumulative total, not territory
Coal is a daily-managed resource
Hot Deal currency switches to Spins — Roulette tokens stop working
No inter-server wars — all combat is within your server

See the Season 2 Timeline Guide.

Common Season 1 Mistakes

Pushing one EW to Lv30 before squad is at Lv20 — the squad-wide power spike from Lv20 is bigger than one carry at Lv30
Skipping the second squad — the Aircraft meta means mono-Tank alliances get countered hard
Starting the second squad before the first is geared — one maxed beats two half-built every time
Ignoring Age of Oil — the permanent stat boosts compound over the entire season
Not promoting Mason — free power if you collected his shards in pre-season
Hoarding EW shards instead of unlocking the squad — Lv1 on five heroes beats Lv10 on one
Treating Hot Deals like Pre-Season 1 — Roulette mechanics are different. Study before spending
Burning all your speedups on EW upgrades — VS Day 5 still rewards saved training speedups more
Not coordinating alliance type diversity — an alliance of 50 Tank players will lose to a 3-type alliance every time
Entering Season 2 with no Coal awareness — Coal management starts Day 1 of S2. If you do not understand it, you will be locked out within a week

Related Guides

Season 1 Overview — full Season 1 strategy and meta
Season 1 HQ Guide — HQ 30 priorities and Age of Oil
Season 1 Hero Guide — Mason promotion and EW priorities
Aircraft Squad Guide — the rising meta
Exclusive Weapons Guide — the full EW system
SSR to UR Upgrade Guide — Mason and other promotions
Pre-Season 1 Timeline — what came before
Season 2 Timeline — what comes next

Season 1 Timeline & Week-by-Week Roadmap

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