Hero Wars: Alliance Legends Draft rewards the shorter win, so draft for speed
Three picks at a time, a short clock and a coin stack that wastes time when it sits full. Here are the draft rules, the Draft Coin maths and how I'd play a Season.
Legends Draft in Hero Wars: Alliance won't let you bring your favourite team. You build one on the spot from three suggested heroes at a time, then hope the other player built worse. There's no best team to copy off a list, so the edge is knowing the rules better than whoever is across the screen.
Three picks at a time, and a short clock
Legends Draft opens at team level 22. Press Arenas on the main screen, then Legends Draft. After matchmaking you draft your defence first, choosing one of three suggested heroes at a time until you have five. Attack comes second, built the same way.
The left side of the screen deserves a proper look. While you build your defence, it shows the heroes from which your opponent chooses their attack team. While you build your attack, it shows which heroes your opponent picked for their defence team. Read it every time.
Every suggested hero arrives with max upgrades, except Glyphs, class abilities and evolution. Glyphs are fixed at level 40 and the class ability level sits at 0. Evolution follows your own collection but never drops below three stars. So your star levels still matter: a hero you've pushed past three stars keeps that edge, and one you've ignored gets the floor. When two picks look close, I'd take the one I've actually evolved.
You get 1 minute 30 seconds for each team. Miss it and the team is filled randomly and the battle starts on its own. Letting the game draft for you is rarely a plan.
The tiebreak matters more than any single pick
Every battle is automatic. The server works out the result the moment the fight starts, and what you watch is a recording you can skip. To win the match you need to win both your attack and your defence. Split them and the player whose winning battle was shorter takes it. Equal times? A draw.
Read that twice. It shapes the whole draft. Your attack team's job is to win quickly, not prettily. Your defence team's job is to make the opponent's win slow, so that if it does lose, your quicker attack win still takes the match. I'd draft with that split in mind: speed on attack, staying power on defence.
After a match you can rewatch it, or see your defence fight their attack team, in the Journal or from the option shown when the battle ends. That's free scouting on how your defence actually folds. Use it, and if you already grind the regular Arena, the Hero Wars: Alliance Arena guide is the companion read.
Pick one damage type and stay there
Hero Wars has three damage types. Physical is reduced by Armour and penetrated by Armour Penetration. Magic is reduced by Magic Defence and penetrated by Magic Penetration. Pure damage isn't reduced or penetrated by either. Heroes also fall into seven classes: Tank, Warrior, Mage, Marksman, Healer, Support and Control.
My rule for the attack draft: choose a damage type early and fill the team around it. You can see your opponent's defence picks before you finish your attack, so check them before you commit.
On defence, lean towards durability. A sturdy team drags out the other player's win, and the tiebreak rewards exactly that.
I'm not naming heroes here. You only ever see three options at a time, so principles travel better than pick lists. For general hero strength, the Hero Wars tier list was last updated on 26 October for the Wodryn update, and the heroes database is there for the rest.
Draft Coins: spend them before they cap
Every match costs one Draft Coin. One coin recovers every three hours, and recovery stops once you hold five. Five coins at three hours each means an empty stack takes 15 hours to refill. Sit at five and you're throwing recovery time away.
The routine I'd run: play your coins before you leave the game for a long stretch, so the timer is ticking while you're away. Extra coins also come as a daily Win Streak reward, or you can buy them with emeralds. I'd leave the emerald route alone.
The Draft Pass changes the economy: the coin cap rises by 10, recovery drops to one per hour, you get a second Win Streak Shield and you can refresh three defence heroes. It also opens the Premium track of the Legends Path, which sits beside the free one.
Win Streak: protect the level, not the streak at any price
A victory gives 100 Draft XP and a defeat or draw gives 50, and that XP raises your Legends Path level. The daily Win Streak rewards come in five steps, each collectable once a day, and they reset at 2:00 AM UTC. Streak levels add bonus Draft XP: +10%, +20%, +30%, +50% and +100% from level 1 to 5. On paper, level 5 doubles the base XP for a win.
Shields are the safety net. Everyone has one, and Draft Pass holders have two. Losing a battle breaks a Shield but keeps your streak level. Lose with no Shield left and the streak restarts, after which your Shields come back. Right after a loss you can pay emeralds to keep the streak.
My call: don't pay. The free Shield already covers one slip. The only time I'd think about it is at a high streak level with rewards still waiting to be collected.
Seasons and leagues: how not to have a bad month
Each Season lasts 28 days and restarts at 2:00 AM UTC. Trophies are the main reward for winning, and how many you gain or lose depends on your league: the higher the league, the bigger the swing in both directions. A draw moves nobody's Trophies.
League rewards arrive when you move up, at the start of each week and at the end of a Season. The helmet button shows the full league list, so check it before you chase a target.
There's a useful safety net mid-season. You can't drop out of a league you've reached: Trophies won't fall below that league's threshold, however many battles you lose. Right after a promotion is the best time to try a riskier draft.
The reset is harsher. At Season end everyone drops four leagues and starts the new Season on that league's Trophy threshold. For example, finishing in Champion III puts you in Master II on 2,500 Trophies. Don't go into the final day with a full coin stack.
Matchmaking looks in your own league first and widens to other leagues if it can't find anyone. You can sometimes meet a bot, except in Draft Legend, where you only face real players. That's the top league, where Trophies also depend on your exact rating position and the three best players of a Season go into the Hall of Fame.
Open the helmet button once this week and pick your league target before you spend your next coin.
Images: © Nexters Global Ltd.
FAQ
What level do you need for Legends Draft in Hero Wars: Alliance?
Team level 22. Once you're there, press Arenas on the main screen and choose Legends Draft.
What happens if the draft timer runs out?
You get 1 minute 30 seconds per team. If it expires, the game fills the team randomly and starts the battle automatically.
Who wins if each player wins one battle?
The player whose winning battle was shorter. If both wins took the same time, the match is a draw and nobody gains Trophies.
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Guild chat is the first thing I open in the morning and the last thing I check at night. I play Hero Wars and Empires & Puzzles mostly for guild wars and alliance events, and I'm the one reminding everyone the free chest resets at midnight. If an event is worth your stamina I'll say so, and if it isn't I'll say it louder. Spotted a mistake? hello@gatchanews.com
