The dictionary to come back to when a term trips you up. For system explanations, see Core Systems in more detail.
I made this page so I’d have something to link whenever someone in alliance chat asks “what’s an EW?” or “what does mono mean?”. Definitions kept short, with a few first-hand comments sprinkled on the entries where I’ve paid the tuition myself.
Base & progression
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| HQ (Headquarters) | The core building that unlocks every feature and ceiling. Your “clock” of personal progress |
| Personal clock / Server clock | HQ level (personal) vs server age (shared). Server-clock events can’t be rushed via HQ |
| Drone Center | Unlocks at HQ15. Drone upgrades (your biggest power source at this point) |
| Armament Institute | Late-game building where you run the 4 researches for T11 troops |
| Barracks | Troop-training building. Lv35 is the key gate for training T11 |
| Capital occupation | HQ32 eligibility. Mono-squad bonuses and more when held |
| T1–T11 | Troop tiers. Higher is stronger. T11 is the current cap (needs HQ 27+, Barracks 35, 4 Armament researches) |
| Oil | Late-game resource required by every upgrade from HQ31. Oil Wells unlock via Special Forces research — skip this early and your HQ stalls for days |
| Hospital | Treats/holds wounded troops. Keep capacity high enough to save 70%+ of the wounded — says the guy who lost troops for good in his first SvS |
| Tech Center | The #2 building after HQ. Run both Base Development (build speed) and Units (combat power) |
Heroes & growth
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| UR / SSR / SR | Hero rarity. Gold > Purple > Blue |
| Stars (★) | Rarity upgrade. Up to 5★; performs from 3★ |
| Super Sensory | Passive unlocked at 4★ (+20% stats, +10% skill speed) |
| Skill medals | Skill-upgrade currency. Mainly from Arms Race |
| Gear | 4 slots per hero. Crafted/fused at the gear factory; prioritize legendary |
| Exclusive Weapon (EW) | UR-only weapon. Requires 5★, 30 levels, Lv20 is the breakpoint (+7.5% same type), awakening prerequisite. One weapon at 20 beats three at 10 |
| Awakening | New in Season 6. Requires 5★ + EW Lv20 + 50 awakening shards. Swaps skill, boosts stats, changes appearance. Did Kimberly in week 1 — very noticeable |
| Universal (legendary/EW) shards | Shards usable on any UR/weapon. High hoarding value |
| Named shards (dedicated) | Shards for a specific hero/weapon. 50 needed to unlock |
| Promotion (SSR→UR) | Raising certain SSRs (Mason, Violet, Scarlett, Sarah, Venom) to UR |
| Professions | Season 1 specialization. Engineer vs War Leader (Engineer is the safe pick; switchable with a certificate) |
| Survivor | Support characters separate from heroes. Grown with stars/tokens |
| Overlord | A late-game growth system (training, promotion, skills; uses badges/guidebooks) |
Formation & combat
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Mono squad | A 5-hero same-troop-type lineup. The strongest basic form — I’ve run tank mono into Season 6 |
| Counter (rock-paper-scissors) | Tank > Missile > Air > Tank; 20% less damage with the advantage |
| Front / back line | Front 2 (tanks) · back 3 (dealers/support) |
| Rally | Joint attack. The basis for strong targets and sieges. Solo charges just donate troops |
| Scout | Checking the enemy lineup/troops before attacking. The basis for counter decisions |
Events & competition
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| SvS | Server vs Server. A biweekly mega war (prep Sun–Fri / battle Sat) |
| Capital battle | The main SvS fight on Saturday |
| Valor Medals | SvS reward. Trades for orange gear in the Black Market |
| Black Market | Post-season shop. A top-up source of EW shards for free players |
| Alliance Duel | A daily-theme scoring event (build/research/training, etc.). Burn outside the theme and it’s zero — ask me how I know |
| Arms Race | The main source of skill medals; concentrate growth actions to its schedule |
| Marathon (new-player event) | A 7-day new-player mega event. Final goal HQ17 |
| War Merit | Season 6 individual-contribution score. Higher tier → stipends/stats; top ranks get Trade Post Governor |
| Global Expedition | Season 6 free awakening-shard source (weeks 2/4/6) |
| Doomsday Calendar | A weekly-schedule tool computed from server age |
| Shield | Blocks attacks. Essential in SvS; without it, your base is a troop graveyard |
| Speedup | Time-cut items. Stack them on the HQ and event themes |
| Zombies / Doom Elites | World-map PvE targets. Resource/reward farming (Monica boosts efficiency) |
Spending & account
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Diamonds (gems) | Premium currency. Don’t waste on small time-skips |
| First-purchase bonus | A one-time large bonus on the first package ($0.99 tier). Best value |
| VIP | Permanent level (1–18) + active time. % buffs apply only while active; accrues free via daily chests and alliance gifts |
| New-player package / 7-day login | Top-tier early value. Claim regardless of whether you spend |
Terms used on this site
A few phrases appear throughout these pages that are not in-game vocabulary. They come from analysing collected data, so they are worth defining once.
Migration group. The fixed set of servers a transfer can move between. Sizes vary — some span roughly 32 servers, others 128 — and the game publishes no list, which is why server rankings here are grouped rather than presented as one global table. A ranking that includes servers you cannot reach is not useful for a transfer decision.
Strength tier (high / mid / low). A server’s rating within its migration group, not against every server in the game. A low-tier server inside a strong group can be stronger in absolute terms than a high-tier server from a softer one.
Estimated server power. The game never publishes a server-wide total, so it is inferred from collected hero-power samples multiplied by roster size. It is an estimate, and its error grows as the sample shrinks — which is why sample counts and refresh dates are printed next to it.
Formation power. The combined strength of the five heroes actually fielded, as opposed to total hero power across the account. Two accounts with the same total can differ sharply here. Tracked on the arena ranking.
Matchmaking value (desert war). An internal number that desert war pairings are matched on. Analysis of collected pairings shows it rises with the power of the roster you register and falls with your server’s total power, and that it does not respond to wins or losses — so deliberately losing does not produce easier draws. Written up on the desert MMR ranking.
Unofficial fan-site content · no partnership or sponsorship with the developer · figures may change with game updates (last updated: 2026-07-20).
By: lastwarhub.com
