--- title: "" canonical: "https://geeky-zwar.vercel.app/posts/dws-fighter-heroes" pubDate: "2026-04-04T01:00:00.000Z" description: "" categories: [Heroes, Fighter Heroes, Dark War Survival] --- # Fighter Faction Heroes This is the complete guide to Dark War Survival's Fighter Heroes through the seasons. We can look at their skillsets, upgrades and ultimately how to maximise your damage for PvP and PvE. For the newcomers, its important to understand the often used “tic-tac-toe” faction cycle. This post is about fighters, but you also have Riders and Shooter factions. What's the relevance? In simple terms, they act as “counterattack boosts” for each faction. Eg., Shooters counterattack Fighters adding a notable bonus for PvP , and less so for NPC or ingame events. ![Dark War Survival Faction Counter ]() > Fighter Faction Counter & Countered By Hero SKills Almost forgot to explain this...skills, it's important to learn that some Heroes are classed as “utility” heroes, whilst other as “full battle” ones. What's the difference? It's in the overall skillset mix, FOUR battle skills obviously pack more battle damage than those with THREE. It's important to note this from the outset so you can prioritise upgrades. You may well do the battle-focused ones first, but don't lose sight of the bonuses utility heroes bring, ## Heroes Through The Seasons Just before we get into it, be aware, especially if you're new to the game or in the early seasons, the Hero stack evolves, things you start out with become redundant, Guy & Catherine are prime examples. In fact, many left Catherine at purple for her 3rd skill construction bonus till the recent S6 update, moving that to Eddie's 3rd skill, rendering her use as Purple hero null and void. If you're happy P2P then getting Catherine is just part of the cycle. Just remember by S4, they're both relegated to the weakest truck, and by S⅚ not even that - they're only used for Shadow Call missions and their passive skill bonus. > Low budget or F2P can skip making Catherine gold, longer term shes barely a filler Hero. Guy at least adds some good power for the early game and is usually a cheap pickup too. ### _Season 1 Fighter Heroes_ #### _**Guy**_ A key hero for the early game is Guy. Initially, he's very strong versus the other heroes you acquire early game. He's a utility hero, though, and his third skill, “Samurai's Gift”, increases energy recovery and food gains from Adventure Camp. This is useful for quite some time, but as I'll cover in other articles, you'll be resetting their first and second skills to 1 to recover the books used for newer, stronger heroes. ![|Guy, FIghter Hero, Dark War Surival Early Hero]() #### **Catherine & Rex** This is where the more experienced players will rue the investment made here after a few seasons. Catherine initially offers a good upgrade. She starts as a Purple hero, and the initial gameplay leads you to buying the upgrade to make her S Class (Gold or Orange, depending on who you speak to!) . If you're a P2P player, its a small investment, much like Guy, but you will discard both of these later. A recent update also removed the useful part of keeping Catherine at Purple level; they moved her Construction 3rd skill to Eddie. I assume this is because many players learned she is a weak hero and didn't upgrade? #### **Tristan** This hero is your first real power upgrade Hero. His 4 battle skills make him a must-have and will introduce the Exclusive Weapons arc. He will be "downgraded when Ella arrives in Season 6. This may temper your rush to level up his Exclusive Weapon, which you can move to another hero with a special token for £50, if you can bear that pain! His 3rd skill, **Training Expert: Assaulter**, is a fighter-specific upgrade that boosts ATK (through Star Level) and DEF (through skill level). ![]() ### Season 2 Fighter Heroes Moving through season 2, we get more heroes. The S2 Fighter is Francis; #### Francis a 4-battle skill hero; he'll be a stalwart of any Fighter formation. His 3rd skill is Battle Damage boosts, so damage depletes HP faster and brings a higher kill rate (RIP for PvP and event points). ![Dark War Survival, Season 2, Fighter; Francis](/images/Francs_S2_Fighter.png) > Francis brings more battle damage, an exclusive weapon and becomes a long term Fighter formation must-have As always, increasing the Star level unlocks higher-level boosts and the ability to upskill with training books. His 3rd skill, **Heart of Steel**, increases Fighter Battle damage by 5- 25% through Star levels, whilst increasing his skill level increases Fighter HP by up to 25%. ### Season 3 Fighter Season 3 brings another hero deck, the Fighter, released now is LAN, a counter-attack specialist; #### LAN This is a more complex mix now; LAN brings a counter-attack skill. As a Fighter, this is only effective against Riders (remember the faction triangle?). So whilst this hero adds to the Fighter formation, she's only effective in certain situations, which is why you will swap her out in certain situations, eg Tyrant. You'll swap her for Darian as his third skill is Troop Damage increase. ![Dark War Survival, Season 3 Fighter; LAN]() > LAN, a counter attack focused hero, strong but only truly effective vs RIders. Is LAN a good hero? Yes, packs a punch and gets an Exclusive Weapon too; however, the 3rd skill, Killer Instinct, has its limits as it's only effective vs Riders; it has no impact on other Factions. This is why you can swap out for Franky and Tyrant events with, say, Darian, whose 3rd skill still boosts damage for all troop types. Indeed, maybe effective in PVP situations. ### Season 4 Fighter Have you noticed a pattern here? Each season brings a new release, a new weapon and a new combination, or formation combo. If you're playing long term, this can affect certain decisions about what to invest in, and maybe what to skip. So Season 4 brings Noah, a real powerhouse, of course, he gets an Exclusive Weapon too. #### Noah His 3rd skill is where the action is at, **Stand of Protection,** which increases the “Normal Attack Damage taken by troop led reduction” from 5-25%, and the Skill level gives up 35% more damage. ![]() > Noah boosts damage done to enemies, but also reduces normal damage taken. Exclusive Weapon is an essential upgrade for the power hungry... Noah adds some real punch to your fighter crew, and as the pattern is now set, an Exclusive Weapon, **Stormbringer**, stacks power the way these guns do. He is another ever-present in your best Fighter line-ups ### Season 5 Fighter So season 5 will bring another batch of heroes, the fighter is **Angela**, who, in the now evolving pattern of new heroes, get stronger each time. This keeps up the need to buy and upgrade. A familiar theme in Dark War Survival. ![Dark War Survival Season 5 Fighter Hero, Angela]() > Angela is a strong all rounder , ever present in the best Fighter line-ups #### Angela Angela is another 4-battle skill hero; the key 3rd skill is **Fully Armed**. Star level gives increased Normal Attack, Counter Attack and Skill damage from 2-10%. Whilst the skill book levels bring increased health by up to 50%.7 ### Season 6 Fighter Season 6, brings us the usual batch of Heroes, the fighter of which is Ella. She's an instant hit as her bonus skill is more damage! ![]() > Ella brings a double damage bonus, all source and a fighter specific damage boost... #### Ella Ella is another 4-battle skill hero; the key 3rd skill is **Palm Tactics**. Star level gives increased Normal Attack, Counter Attack and Skill damage from 2-10%. Whilst the skill book levels bring increased health by up to 50%. ##### Summary So that covers the basic hero formation over the 6 seasons. Ella, Angela, Noah, Lan and Francis are the essential 5 fighters for the 35% added “faction damage” boost. I would suggest you experiment with swapping out Lan for Darian, certainly for PvE like Tyrant and Franky, as the Lans 3rd skill is counter-attack, so it only activates when fighting Riders. Darian is general troop damage boost, but this will depend on your Exclusive Weapon and Skill upgrade levels; swapping gear is easy.