Z Route: Redemption Getting Started Guide
This guide is for a new or early-game player who wants to grow efficiently without wasting Hero EXP, shards, diamonds, speedups, or real money.
The core idea is simple:
Build one strong squad, keep your Base moving, spend scarce resources carefully, and join an active alliance early.
Each topic below is a short summary — follow the link for the full guide on anything you want to go deeper on.
1. Build one strong main squad
Don’t try to level every hero you own. Your main five heroes should get almost all of your early Hero EXP, skill books, gear, star-ups, and shards — bench heroes wait unless one is about to replace someone in your main five. A strong Squad 1 pushes farther in Campaign, wins more Arena fights, and earns better rewards faster, which snowballs into everything else.
→ Full guide: Squad Leveling & Composition
2. Hero level, Command, and your Base are linked
Hero level is one of the biggest sources of power, and it feeds directly into Command — which determines how many soldiers a hero brings to the squad. If a hero says it needs a Base level upgrade to level further, your Base has become the bottleneck for that hero’s stats and troop count alike. City progression and hero progression are not separate tracks.
→ Full guides: Hero Levels, Command
3. Shards: specific first, universal only to close the gap
Hero-specific shards only work on that hero; universal shards (Purple for SSR, UR for UR heroes) work more broadly. The best use of universal shards is usually finishing a star-up you already have some specific shards toward, not funding one from zero — and a cheap star-up (just a handful of universal shards) is often worth taking even without specific shards banked.
→ Full guide: Universal Shards
4. Read skills carefully before upgrading them
Not every skill upgrade is equally valuable — the upgrades usually can’t be undone. Check who the skill affects, the percentage increase, duration, cooldown, and whether it hits one hero, one row, or the whole squad. A small percentage gain on a squad-wide effect can beat a bigger-looking gain that only affects one hero.
→ Full guide: Heroes overview — “How to read a skill before upgrading it”
5. Formation and roles matter as much as raw power
Two tanks in front, three attackers in back — and slot position matters within that: your strongest tank goes where incoming fire is heaviest, your best attacker goes in the safest slot. Matching hero types (Warrior/Tactical/Assault) in one squad also grants a stacking stat bonus.
→ Full guides: Squad Leveling & Composition, Squad Buff
6. Research compounds — don’t neglect it
Tech research supplies some of the strongest permanent buffs in the game and is easy to under-invest in early on. It also matters in Arena: the game lets you pick which squad’s research bonus package to use (T1 for Squad 1, and so on), so investing in Squad 1 research pays off there too.
→ Full guides: Research, Arena
7. Rush the Base efficiently
Upgrade only the buildings required to raise your city level — nothing else. Everything that isn’t a current Base prerequisite can wait; it catches up as a side effect of Base progression, and the hero level cap it unlocks is worth more than an evenly developed city. Alpha Research Division in particular becomes a recurring bottleneck at higher Base levels — keep it close to your Base requirement rather than falling behind on it.
→ Full guide: Base / HQ Progression
8. Join an active alliance early
An active alliance accelerates construction, research, gifts, event rewards, and City Conquest participation — a dead alliance quietly costs you a lot of growth. Learn its systems early: Alliance Research, the Alliance Shop, ranks, R4 roles, and official positions all matter, not just the chat.
One specific priority: put your Alliance Research contributions into the War tab only, until roughly day 60-70 of your server.
→ Full guides: Alliance Research, Alliance Shop, Alliance Ranks, R4 Roles, Official Positions
9. City Conquest and Capitol Conquest basics
Personal occupation points in City Conquest come only from joining real city sieges with your alliance — not from random attacks or ordinary zombie farming. Capitol Conquest is a scheduled alliance/server event rather than something you trigger yourself; if an objective asks you to complete one, you may just need to wait for your server’s schedule to reach it.
→ Full guides: City Conquest, Capitol Conquest
10. Compare resource and diamond efficiency
Not all resource purchases are equal — a limited offer can be several times more efficient per diamond than the standard rate. Check the actual rate before spending, and do the same gut-check before spending Alliance Coins: buy scarce shop items before plain food or metal.
→ Full guide: Resources
11. Hero EXP goes to your main five
The same “main five first” rule from section 1 applies to Hero EXP specifically. Good sources include Radar, AFK rewards, Special Operations, Campaign, Arena rewards, events, and passes — avoid leveling bench heroes “just in case.”
→ Full guide: Hero Levels
12. If you spend, buy scarcity
The best purchases are the ones that are hard to farm — UR universal shards, premium hero-specific shards, strong Hero Growth packs, and good passes — rather than basic food, metal, oil, or generic speedups. A purchase that pushes you over a VIP threshold can also be worth factoring in, since VIP levels add permanent benefits.
→ Full guide: Ultimate Spending Guide
Early-Game Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid these:
- leveling too many heroes
- spending universal shards randomly
- buying basic resources with money
- upgrading every building equally
- ignoring Squad 1 research
- sitting in an inactive alliance
- wasting skill books on tiny upgrades
- spending diamonds before checking limited deals
- building around raw hero power instead of team roles
- skipping daily missions and radar tasks
- hoarding stamina instead of spending it
- letting your construction or research queue sit idle
→ Full daily checklist: Daily Routine
Best Early-Game Priority Order
If you are unsure what to do next, use this:
- Keep Base progression moving
- Keep your main five heroes at cap
- Improve Squad 1 research
- Star active heroes efficiently
- Upgrade high-value skills
- Improve gear
- Stay active in alliance content
- Push Campaign until you hit a real wall
- Save scarce shards and premium currency
- Ignore bench heroes until they have a real job
The simplest version
If you remember only four things:
Build one squad. Rush Base prerequisites. Save universal shards for efficient star-ups. Buy rare progression, not farmable resources.
That foundation will carry you much farther than trying to upgrade everything at once.