Combat: Battle Phases, Positions and Casualties

🗓 Updated: 2026-10-12

Might alone misleads: a higher number can still lose when the squad covers its damage dealers badly or misunderstands how the fight unfolds. Five heroes do not hit the nearest target all at once — the squad is split into two groups, each position has a job, and the battle runs in three phases with shifting targets as fighters fall.

Squad Positions: 1-1..1-5 and Two Battle Groups

Each five has five slots. Squad one uses 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5; squad two uses 2-1..2-5. The first digit is the squad number, the second the hero slot (e.g. 1-3 is slot three of squad one).

Each five is further split into two combat groups:

• 1-MU (main unit): positions 1-1, 1-3, 1-4.
• 1-SU (support unit): positions 1-2, 1-5.
• Mirrored: 2-MU = 2-1, 2-3, 2-4; 2-SU = 2-2, 2-5.

By the battle rules 1-MU opens against enemy position 2-1, and 1-SU against 2-2 (mirrored for the opponent). Hence the standard layout:

A carry on 1-1 “because of high Might” takes pressure early and can die before casting — put tanks there instead.

Phase 1: Both Groups Open Separately

At the start the five still holds its formation: a three-hero main group and a two-hero support group, each fighting on its side.

The main tank on 1-1 stands ahead of two attackers; while it lives, 1-3 and 1-4 get time to deal damage. The 1-2 tank does the same for the 1-5 support.

Rule: two defenders take the opening hit, two damage dealers hit from behind them, support assists the support group. If the five is right but a tank still cannot hold its side, that specific tank is the upgrade target — not everything at once.

Why Tank Survival Is Carry Damage

A familiar case: the carry is leveled, weaponed and starred, yet battle damage disappoints. Before feeding it more, check how long the tank in front lives.

If 1-1 drops almost instantly, the main group loses cover and 1-3/1-4 take pressure early and never reach full potential. Then one more tank upgrade helps the team more than another carry upgrade — the tank literally buys time for the two heroes behind it. If the front holds confidently but the enemy still survives, work on 1-3/1-4 (skills, stars, attack gear).

Phase 2: First Slots Fall, the Fight Reshapes

After the first losses the starting scheme changes: survivors take new targets, previously covered heroes move closer to the enemy.

This is where front-line mistakes surface. A weak main tank sends its group into phase 2 damaged, with damage dealers already under fire. A front that held makes the transition cheap: the second line keeps HP and keeps pressing.

Think of it as a chain, not five duels: hero drops, the rest shift. Lose a tank, the carries open. Remove the enemy tank first, your attackers reach the next targets sooner — focused damage snowballs.

Who to check after a phase-2 loss

Do not start from total Might. Ask who left too early: 1-1 falling first → strengthen the main tank; trouble on the other side → 1-2; both tanks holding but a carry vanishing right after → that carry’s build and gear. There is little use adding damage to Marlena when her group collapses because the tank ahead dies at the start — and little use armoring a tank forever when the team already lives long but cannot finish.

Phase 3: Whoever Survived Fights On

By phase 3 the starting scheme is gone: groups are smaller, and the remaining heroes fight whoever survived on the other side.

This is where whole-squad quality shows. A main carry that reaches phase 3 alive keeps dealing high damage to what is left; a surviving support still helps. A glass-cannon build — one huge attacker behind two abandoned tanks — often ends alone. The carry must be strong, but first it must live to the part of the fight where strength matters.

Phase-based upgrade diagnosis

• Squad crumbles immediately → tanks (level, armor/boots, defensive skills).
• Phase 1 survived, attackers lost fast in phase 2 → their positions, skills and gear.
• Reaches phase 3 steadily but cannot kill → main carry focus.

Pick the moment control was lost, then spend the next shard, badge or gear set there.

Troops Are Half the March

Heroes are one half of the squad — soldiers march with them, and count plus tier matter. Two players with similar heroes and the same formation can differ purely on troops. If heroes look right but equal-level opponents keep winning, check march fullness, available soldier tier and Training Grounds development before blaming heroes.

Casualty Rules: Wounded Are Not Fallen

After battle, some troops are heavily wounded (healable) and some die permanently (retrained). The split depends on the mode — know the price of defeat before a serious attack.

60% wounded looks scary but comes back. 20% fallen must be retrained — painful across long alliance-war series, where winning one fight can eat the army for the next ones. The attacker’s mistake costs notably more than the defender’s.

Pre-fight checklist

Tanks on 1-1 and 1-2 in place and developed? → 1-3/1-4 really the best damage dealers, not accidental high-Might picks? → march full with the right tier? → how much army is permanently lost if this mode is lost? A few seconds here saves more than another small Might bump.

Source: Last Asylum: Plague - как работает бой и расстановка by Гейм-Знаток on DTF.