New Player 7-Day Roadmap — Get Established in Your First Week

This guide only covers what to do, and in what order, during your first 7 days. For longer-term season strategy see the Season Guide; for who to invest in, see the Hero Tier List.

If I’d had this page when I started, it would’ve saved me a solid month. I’ve been playing since my server opened and I’m in Season 6 now, and looking back, the choices I made in week one shaped the next several months. A guildmate who started the same week as me was way ahead in power a month later — and embarrassingly, I was the one behind. I’d been feeding EXP to six or seven heroes at once, so I had no actual main. I only caught up after funneling everything into Murphy.

The lesson boils down to three lines: never stop your HQ, finish heroes one at a time, and pour resources into your HQ. The schedule below assumes an average pace — going faster is fine.

Before you start — remember just 3 things

Change your name first. A default numeric name like Commander123456 gets you read as an “abandoned account,” and stronger alliances tend not to accept it. Our alliance flags numeric names in the application list too. Rename to something real the moment you start.
You’re auto-placed on the most recently opened server. Server transfers only unlock after Season 1 ends. Even if you don’t like your server, there’s no way out before then — so the answer is to lock down an alliance here and ride it out. Read the alliance rankings and chat early to get a feel for things.
HQ is the key to everything. Your HQ level raises the ceiling on every other building, troop type, and feature. When in doubt, ask: “Does this help raise my HQ?” You’ll almost never be wrong.

Day 1 — the first 24 hours matter most

Things that make the whole week easier if you handle them on day one.

Get your first hero — Murphy. A UR (gold) tank, and the easiest gold hero to obtain on day one via Elite Recruitment at the Tavern. He’s the core front-line tank for free/light spenders, so secure him first and pour EXP into him toward level 80 (keep others around 50). I still run a tank mono squad today, and it all started with Murphy.
Rescue Monica. An SSR hero. Rescue her within the first 24 hours and she becomes your workhorse for early PvE (zombies, resource runs). Her resource-boosting skill noticeably speeds up your early growth — don’t miss her.
Pick up Mason too. An SSR attack hero who greatly boosts tank damage. He can be promoted to UR during Season 1, so he’s worth raising as an early back-line dealer.
Join an alliance. Get into an active alliance as fast as possible. Build help (time cuts), alliance resources and support, and protection when attacked — everything is faster than going solo.
Check the 7-Day Marathon (new-player event). A week-long mega event; the first 5 days open new tasks daily. Tasks don’t have to be done the day they open — they stay valid until the event ends — so pace yourself. The final goal is HQ 17.
Login rewards. Day 1–5 check-in rewards are high value. Don’t miss a single day early on.

Day 2–3 — push HQ + the tank line

These two days are the “stacking” phase. Just build whatever unlocks — early building choices aren’t deep strategy. When a new building opens, build it without overthinking, and keep your HQ upgrade running as top priority. For troops, tanks come first: they cut your losses in early fights, and their upgrade tech opens up quickly. The flashier troop types can wait.

Back to heroes for a second, because “can’t I just level everyone evenly?” is probably the question I get most in alliance chat. Not early on. Resources are tight, so spreading them leaves everyone half-baked with no real main — that’s exactly how I burned my first month. Take one core hero like Murphy all the way, then move on. It’s genuinely faster.

HQ 17 is the marathon’s final goal, but it’s also the hardest part. Don’t chase it recklessly. For an average player, HQ 10–12 by end of week 1 is already a good speed, and forcing 17 by burning gems isn’t worth it.

Day 4–5 — finish your first squad + manage resources

First squad = 5 heroes. Two front (tanks), three back (dealers/support) is the basic skeleton. A single-troop-type lineup is far stronger than a mixed one (formation bonus).
Rarity priority: UR (gold) > SSR (purple) > SR (blue). Don’t spend rare resources on SR heroes — they fall off fast.
Don’t over-train troops. Both training and healing wounded take a long time. In particular, wounded beyond your Hospital capacity aren’t treated and just die. I learned this the hard way in my first SvS, marching out without a thought for hospital space and losing a big chunk of troops for good. Build the habit in week one: train only what you can handle.
The Drone Center unlocks at HQ 15. Active players usually reach it in week 2. No need to force it early.

Day 6–7 — wrap up + prep for next week

Clean up late marathon tasks. Grab the remaining tasks before the event ends. HQ 17 in particular is a big reward worth attempting to the end.
Save speedups for the HQ. Early server events hand out tons of speedups. I dribbled mine away on small training and healing jobs early on, then came up short right when I needed them for an HQ push. Don’t burn them on small things — stack them for your HQ push.
Spend to match the event theme. Weekly events like Alliance Duel score different items on different days (build cuts / research cuts, etc.). Burning outside the theme scores zero — I once dumped research speedups on the wrong day and threw away an entire day’s points. Check the calendar and align.

Don’t do these (summary)

Early resource-wasting mistakes are collected separately — read the full Don’t Do This list once. Half of it is my own confession, honestly. The three most fatal, up front:

Spreading hero investment → finish one at a time, or you’ll never produce a usable main.
Over-training troops you can’t heal → you get stuck behind a pile of wounded and progress stalls.
Playing events solo → always rally. Charging in alone just burns troops.

If you spend — just the first purchase

Spending plans are covered in the Spending Efficiency Guide. For the first week only:

The new-player package + 7-day login rewards are excellent value. Grab them whether or not you spend.
If you’ll spend even a little, the first-purchase bonus (the $0.99-tier first package) gives the best gems-per-dollar. The first purchase happens only once, so it’s high priority. I’m a light spender myself — first-purchase deal and battle pass, basically — and the one time I got baited by a “Limited!” banner into a bad resource package, I regretted it. Do the gems-per-dollar math first.

7-day checklist

This is unofficial Last War: Survival fan-site content, with no partnership or sponsorship from the developer. Some figures and events may change with game updates (last updated: 2026-07-20).

By: lastwarhub.com