Basics: factions & squads
Раздел гайда по героям: basics: factions & squads.
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🗓 Updated: 2026-10-12
Faction Timing: Warriors Early, Rangers Mid, Warlocks Late
The three factions are not equal at the same stage of the game. The community consensus on when each one peaks:
| Faction | Peak window | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Warriors | Early game | Free Arthur, free Harper shards, and Marlena (available immediately for $1 First Top-Up, or free in the Tavern on Day 66). The game hands you a Warrior core for almost nothing. |
| Rangers | Mid game | Rangers counter Warriors — a Ranger formation takes 20% less damage from them. With investment, a mid-game Ranger squad beats roughly 98% of what it runs into. |
| Warlocks | Late game | The strongest ceiling, but only with heavy investment — they need to overcome the Warrior boost to get there. Spend or be patient. |
For a new account this resolves a common dilemma: build the Warrior core you were given for free, even if you admire Ranger lineups. You can pivot to Rangers when your economy can actually fund one.
The Canonical F2P Squad
The community-standard free-to-play build, assembled over the first months of an account:
Arthur, Daskal, Marlena, Harper, Claire
Three things make this the standard: every hero in it is free or near-free, the pieces arrive in an order that always gives your best squad something to grow into, and it stacks toward the Warrior mono-faction bonus that the late-game meta rewards.
The F2P Timeline
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| Day 1-2 | Arthur arrives free and becomes your tank. Fill the remaining seats with the free Bella, Claire, and Celia shards. |
| Early game | Invest ONLY in Claire and Arthur. Everyone else stays a placeholder — including Bella and Celia. |
| Along the way | Harper to 8 stars is mandatory for the standard build. Feed him steadily; do not leave him parked at 6. |
| Day 1 / Day 66 | Marlena: buy Day 1 for $1 or recruit free in the Tavern on Day 66. Save UR shards so you can take her straight to 8 stars instantly — then keep pushing toward 10. |
| Day 120+ (Era of Revival) | Daskal joins as the best tank in the game. Claire becomes UR via the Era Day 8 conversion — her shards were free early, which is exactly why you saved them instead of spending them. |
The two discipline points that make or break the build: Claire and Arthur only, early — and never eat your saved Claire shards before the Era conversion, because the conversion to UR is what those shards were hoarded for.
Alternatives and Variants
The canonical five is not the only workable path — these are the recognized substitutes and regional variants.
No $1 Marlena: Cynthia Instead
Skipped the dollar? Cynthia from the day 8 Wishing Wheel is the substitute — an early-carry UR who will genuinely carry. The tradeoffs arrive late-game: you lose the 5% faction bonus by breaking the mono-faction stack, and you lose the Harper and epigraph synergy that the standard core is built around. Workable, but you will feel the missing links at the top end.
F2P PvP Variant
For accounts that want to fight players rather than grow quietly: Arthur, Lucius or Bella, Claire, Marlena, Cynthia. It trades a piece of the faction bonus for Cynthia’s PvP punch as a finisher.
The Russian Community Build
The Russian F2P community runs: Front — Arthur and Lucius (the pairing is nicknamed the Absolute Shield); Back — Claire, Kesso, and Celia. Sivir covers the early months, Harper is the long-term project. Same logic as the Western build, different pieces on the same board.
The Mono-Faction Meta
Since Raven epigraphs shipped, running a single faction has gone from a nice bonus to the dominant strategy. The reason: UR epigraphs buff ONE faction only, so a stacked squad multiplies everything — the +20% five-hero bonus from the faction table, plus the UR epigraph buffs, plus faction-specific synergies like Harper’s.
Which is also why the canonical squad is all-Warrior: the epigraph investment compounds on top of an already-stacked faction. Split-faction squads pay for epigraphs that only buff half the team.
Purple Heroes: World Boss Specialists (Ash & Celia)
While purple (SSR) heroes are dropped from main combat rosters after week one, two exceptions carry lifelong PvE utility:
- Ash: Her passive «Focus» buffs monster damage dealt by the two highest-attack rangers in the team (per client v1.0.102).
- Celia: Increases bonus resource drops and kill loot from World Bosses.
Feed spare purple skill badges into their core abilities — they reliably multiply your weekly raid yield.
Beginner Hero Basics: timeline, Might and first squad
Hero Unlock Timeline
The game drips its best heroes on a fixed schedule. Knowing the schedule in advance completely changes how you spend diamonds — you stop buying random pulls and start saving for dated targets.
| Timing | What unlocks | What the community does |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1-2 | Arthur (UR) — free | Your day-one tank. Claim him immediately. |
| Day 8 | Cynthia and Shadow — Wishing Wheel | Costs ~1,500 diamonds apiece: 7 free daily spins + milestone reward at 10 spins drops 10 fragments = a full copy. |
| Day 36 / 43 / 57 / 64 / 72 / 85 | New UR hero events | A diamond-heavy stretch — plan reserves in advance. |
| Day 1 / Day 66 | Marlena: available immediately for $1 (First Top-Up), appears in Tavern for free on Day 66 | Apex early carry. A $1 spend unlocks her Day 1; 100% F2P players recruit her for free from the Tavern on Day 66. |
| Day 120+ (Era of Revival) | Daskal (UR tank); Claire SSR-to-UR conversion at Era Day 8 | Daskal is the best tank in the game; time the Claire conversion carefully. |
Arthur: Day 1-2, Free UR
Arthur is given to every player in the first two days, he is UR rarity, and he is the best early tank you will ever own. Because he is free, every shard you ever get for him is pure profit — one of the two heroes worth investing from day one.
Cynthia and Shadow: Day 8 Wishing Wheel
Day 8 brings the first Wishing Wheel featuring Cynthia and Shadow. Cynthia, the early-carry UR, costs roughly 1,500 diamonds total: the Wheel runs 7 days with one free spin daily, and the 10-spin milestone grants 10 fragments — the full hero. Two hard rules from the community: save your diamonds until Day 8 instead of spending them earlier, and stop the moment the milestone pays out — extra spins buy fragments you no longer need.
The UR Event Train: Days 36-85
A string of new UR hero events arrives at days 36, 43, 57, 64, 72 and 85. Each one is a chance to add UR power — and each one eats diamonds. Knowing the train is coming is the difference between entering day 36 with a plan and entering it broke.
Marlena: $1 First Top-Up on Day 1 & Free Tavern Recruit on Day 66
Marlena is available starting on Day 1 via the $1 first top-up pack — universally hailed as the best value purchase in the game. She serves as the core damage carry of the standard squad, dealing roughly 85% of your total squad damage until Zoya arrives.
For strict 100% F2P players who spend nothing: on Server Day 66, Marlena enters the standard Tavern recruitment pool, allowing you to summon her completely free using banked recruitment tickets!
Day 120+: Era of Revival — Daskal and Claire
The seasonal Era of Revival starts around day 120. It brings Daskal, the best tank in the game, and on Era Day 8 the Claire SSR-to-UR conversion opens. Both events change your long-term squad; the timing details are in the Era of Revival guide.
How Hero Might Works
A hero’s might is the sum of four separate investments. Understanding the split tells you exactly where your next resource should go.
- Level — EXP from potions and play. The cheapest component early on.
- Stars — shard-fed. The biggest single multiplier: there is a significant power jump after 4 stars.
- Skills — badge-fed. Order matters more than quantity; see the Heroes guide.
- Gear — crafted in the gear workshops and upgraded with materials.
The 4-star jump is the single most important number in hero planning. Below 4 stars a hero is filling a seat; above it, the same hero starts carrying fights.
And because shards, badges and gear materials are all scarce, the might formula only pays off when concentrated: all resources go into ONE main squad of five, in the order the squad actually fights.
📚 Reference: Hero factions: warriors, warlocks and rangers
Source: wiki-last-asylum.com, client v1.0.87.
Hero factions split the whole roster into three groups: warrior, warlock and ranger. A faction decides who the hero hits harder and who hits the hero softer, and it works in a circle: warrior beats warlock, warlock beats ranger, ranger beats warrior. The difference is 20% damage, so a squad matched against the enemy wins against a random one at equal Might.
Factions matter for squad building too. Three heroes of one faction give the whole squad +5% to HP, attack and defense, three plus two of another give +10%, four of one give +15% and all five give +20%. The Teams page covers this in detail.
Counter circle (confirmed by the in-game hero screen hint): warriors take 20% less damage from warlocks, warlocks take 20% less from rangers, rangers take 20% less from warriors.
The summary below shows how many heroes each faction holds and which buildings strengthen it.
| Faction | What the faction gives | Building | Heroes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior | Warriors take 20% less damage from Warlocks | Warrior Statue | 14 |
| Warlock | Warlocks take 20% less damage from Rangers | Warlock Statue | 9 |
| Ranger | Rangers take 20% less damage from Warriors | Ranger Statue | 9 |
Warrior
- Daskal · UR · 1,057,192
- Arthur · UR · 1,052,453
- Harper · UR · 920,570
- Zoya · UR · 918,563
- Marlena · UR · 914,868
- Lucius · SSR · 778,239
- Bella · SSR · 773,500
- Celia · SSR · 691,655
- Kesso · SSR · 686,515
- Sivir · SSR · 685,150
- Claire · SSR · 685,150
- Claire (Advanced) · UR · 685,150
- Durant · SR · 596,226
- William · SR · 524,421
Warlock
- Ulfrid · UR · 1,033,739
- Billy · UR · 980,246
- Nicole · UR · 920,570
- Annie · UR · 916,394
- Joker · UR · 913,583
- Hastar · SSR · 750,047
- Stellar · SSR · 695,511
- Grenwald · SSR · 690,773
- Kafa · SR · 523,217
Ranger
- Shadow · UR · 1,075,906
- Louis · UR · 1,044,341
- Bell · UR · 920,570
- Cynthia · UR · 916,153
- Red Lady · UR · 913,583
- Griffith · SSR · 764,263
- Ash · SSR · 685,873
- Bestar · SSR · 685,793
- Robin · SR · 523,779
What links here
Pages that mention this one. The list is built from the markup, not filled by hand.
- Contents: heroes, army, events and spending
- Bosses: Abyss, weekend and alliance boss
- Honor levels: conditions, cost and payout
- Troops: tiers, tier ten and priorities
- Squads: compositions, tiers and bench
- All heroes: tanks, DPS and support
- Ranger Statue: levels, cost and bonus
- Warlock Statue: levels, cost and bonus
- Warrior Statue: levels, cost and bonus
- Claire (Advanced): skills, upgrades and Might
- Nicole: skills, upgrades and Might
- Joker: skills, upgrades and Might
- Annie: skills, upgrades and Might
- Ulfrid: skills, upgrades and Might
- Billy: skills, upgrades and Might
- Bell: skills, upgrades and Might
- Red Lady: skills, upgrades and Might
- Cynthia: skills, upgrades and Might
- Louis: skills, upgrades and Might
- Shadow: skills, upgrades and Might
- Zoya: skills, upgrades and Might
- Harper: skills, upgrades and Might
- Daskal: skills, upgrades and Might
- Ash: skills, upgrades and Might
- William: skills, upgrades and Might
- Durant: skills, upgrades and Might
- Robin: skills, upgrades and Might
- Kafa: skills, upgrades and Might
- Hastar: skills, upgrades and Might
- Marlena: skills, upgrades and Might
- Bestar: skills, upgrades and Might
- Grenwald: skills, upgrades and Might
- Claire: skills, upgrades and Might
- Bella: skills, upgrades and Might
- Sivir: skills, upgrades and Might
- Griffith: skills, upgrades and Might
- Stellar: skills, upgrades and Might
- Lucius: skills, upgrades and Might
- Celia: skills, upgrades and Might
- Kesso: skills, upgrades and Might
- Arthur: skills, upgrades and Might
Comments
Which Tank to Build: Arthur, Daskal, Brian or Louis
Everyone wants big carry numbers first, but if the front falls in the opening seconds the carry never shows what it can do. A good tank holds the first hit, buys the cast time, cuts incoming damage — sometimes with shields, self-heal or protection against a specific damage type. Arthur, Daskal, Brian and Louis all do this differently.


Arthur: the safest tank for most accounts
Arthur is the universal front. He does not demand a perfect five around him — he steps forward and works in PvP, PvE, early and transition phases.
- Battle Shield — basic physical hit on one target.
- Earthshattering — area hit that helps allies take less physical damage.
- Rock Solid — personal shield tied to Arthur’s max HP.
- Strong Will — passively reduces damage taken by allied tanks.
- Tenacity — raises ATK, HP, DEF and speeds up skill cooldowns.
Result: stability rather than highlights. He is the tank you can build first without locking yourself into one narrow scheme.

Daskal: dense front and shields
Daskal plays through shields, survivability and self-recovery. If Arthur is the stone pillar, Daskal is the extra armored door.
- Battle Will — basic physical hit.
- Bloodshed Defense — team shield tied to DEF.
- Deadly Pierce — damage plus HP restore for Daskal.
- Resolute Fight — opening shield on allied tanks.
- Tenacity — ATK/HP/DEF plus faster cooldowns.
He shines next to Arthur (universal stability + shields and self-heal) and in Warrior squads that need a dense front so the carry works calmly. Take him when Arthur already exists and you need a second strong tank, or when the team sags at the start.

Brian: the long-fight tank
Brian is not about big shields. He dampens enemy pressure and stays useful in drawn-out battles.
- Sharp Claw — basic physical hit.
- Threat Bite — damage plus reduced damage taken for all allies.
- Lunar Howl — reflects part of the damage received.
- Wolf Bloodline — passively reduces all damage taken.
- Tenacity — standard ATK/HP/DEF and cooldown gain.
Best in long PvE fights, sturdy front lines and Warlock direction — a later, deliberate pick once you know your factions and modes, not a chaotic-start hero.

Louis: anti-burst and anti-energy specialist
Louis is the most situational of the four — and the answer to fast compositions that delete a target in seconds or press with energy damage.
- Shackles — basic attack.
- Cross Whip — damage, Louis self-heal, plus reduced incoming damage.
- Force Link — cuts energy damage to nearby allies.
- Indomitable Spirit — heavy incoming-damage reduction and help against a lethal hit.
- Tenacity — attack, HP, defense and cooldown speed.
Not the first brick in the foundation, but the special tool for fast enemy metas once the front is otherwise closed.

Who is better in PvP and PvE
PvP order: Arthur → Daskal → Louis → Brian. Arthur’s stability and first-exchange value lead; Daskal’s shields buy carry time; Louis climbs past Brian because surviving the opening burst decides PvP; Brian’s strengths need longer pressure.
PvE order: Arthur → Brian → Daskal → Louis. Arthur stays on top as the universal pick; Brian rises on long fights and damage reduction; Daskal follows with shields and density; Louis narrows to matchups with real burst or energy pressure.

F2P order and tank mistakes
F2P and low-spend rule: Arthur → Daskal → situational. One strong tank beats four half-built ones. Common errors: building a tank without a squad plan (Brian with no Warlock direction, Louis with no energy-pressure meta); raising all four at once; forgetting the carry (a wall with no damage loses slowly); copying someone else’s squad without their conditions.

Personal shorthand: nothing yet → Arthur; Arthur done and the front must become a wall → Daskal; late systemic squad for long fights → Brian; fast enemy comps delete heroes in seconds → Louis.

Source: Last Asylum: Plague: Артур, Даскал, Брайан или Луис - какого танка качать by Гейм-Знаток on DTF.
Formation: Two Tanks Up Front, Carry in the Middle
Might alone misleads. An expensive squad loses when its carry stands in front, its tank hides in the back, and its best sword sits on the wrong hero.

Factions first, then one-faction bonus
Warriors beat Warlocks, Warlocks beat Rangers, Rangers beat Warriors. Most players assemble a Warrior core first because its good heroes arrive earlier; on a Warrior-heavy server, Rangers become a strong second direction — even a slightly weaker Ranger team surprises Warriors through the faction edge.

Five heroes of one faction give +20% HP, attack and defense (four give 15%). That is why three gold plus two good purple Warriors of one system routinely beat five random golds: check the squad bonus before admiring a single hero’s Might.
Who stands in front
Heroes have a role as well as a faction: shield = tank, and tanks take the first hits.

The normal base: two tanks in front, damage and support behind. A strong carry in front dies before casting — the best damage dealer must survive to use skills, not die heroically first.

Working Warrior layout: Arthur, Bella, Marlena, Claire, Harper
Build by roles, not by total power:
- Front: Arthur (left), Bella (right) — hold the line as long as possible.
- Back: Marlena center (main damage source gets the most time in even fights), Claire on one side as second damage, Harper on the other as support.

Scout the enemy before the fight: if an awkward target sits across from Marlena, swap her with Claire — but start with Marlena in the middle.
Equal Might means little
Arena pairs with near-identical Might fight differently because the number folds in heroes, formation, gear, main-carry development — and troops (T1–T10, with T10 a separate late goal through Training Grounds and research). Two similar-Might squads can differ purely on troop tier.

Always open the battle report
After a loss to an equal opponent, check who dealt the damage, who died first, and which heroes hold the best gear. Two level-135 Marlenas are not the same hero when stars, skills and swords differ — the report shows it.

Gear must match the role
Tanks like Arthur want armor and boots first; the main carry wants the strongest sword and attack pieces. A great sword on a tank while Marlena runs a level-20 weapon helps both items and neither fight. With scarce materials, one real attack set on the main carry beats five equally pretty heroes.

Up to about level 20, several heroes can be lifted together. Past that, costs jump — focus the two heroes that carry squad one (main damage dealer plus main tank, e.g. Marlena’s sword and Arthur’s protection) and leave the rest on a working base.
Who to push first, and what second
For a Warrior first squad: Marlena deals the damage, Arthur buys her the time — then second tank, Claire, Harper and the rest. Finish one important upgrade instead of spraying antitoxin and shards across every new pull.

Paid heroes help — early access is a real advantage while others wait — but they still need faction, position, stars, skills and gear. Treat faster progress as a way to remove one concrete bottleneck.
Once the Warrior march stands, build Rangers second on Warrior-heavy servers: same 2-tanks-front template, five of one faction for the full bonus, damage behind (a second damage dealer can stand in temporarily without support). Do not rush to equalize both marches — the first keeps solving the hardest tasks while the second becomes an anti-Warrior specialist.

Do not stuff every gold hero into squad one: sometimes three gold plus two purple of one faction for the first team, with the remaining golds starting a real second march, builds a healthier account (one main, one anti-faction, one for the rest) than five best in front and leftovers anywhere.
Thursday and the shops
If your alliance runs Duels, hold serious hero spending (antitoxin, shards, skill badges, summon tickets) for Thursday — hero day plus event points for the same action. In shops: Honor = gear blueprints first; Expedition = universal hero shards, summon tickets, antitoxin; Sanctuary = available shards. Buy for one current deficit (Marlena stars, Arthur gear), not everything that looks useful.

Defeat checklist and zero-to-ready plan
After a loss: formation (carry in front?) → faction bonus (broken for one stronger hero?) → gear (best sword on the tank?) → stars and skills. That order finds the cause before the next million resources go in.

Zero-to-ready: one full faction five → two tanks front, best carry middle-back → base gold gear to ~20, stop leveling everything → expensive resources into main-carry weapon and first-tank defense → second faction (Rangers on Warrior servers) → third team only afterwards.
Source: Last Asylum: Plague - гайд по лучшей расстановке героев by Гейм-Знаток on DTF.
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