07 · Heroes & Commanders

Status: Skeleton · Owner: TBD · Updated: 2026-09-23

Purpose

Define the character layer — the collectible generals who lead armies and run buildings, and the acquisition system behind them.

To define

• Are there heroes at all? (a real question — see below)
• Roster size at launch and cadence of new heroes
• Rarity tiers, star/ascension levels, skill trees
• Acquisition: gacha, shards, events, campaign, direct purchase
• Duplicate handling and pity/guarantee rules
• Assignment: march leaders, city officers, alliance roles
• Pairing/synergy systems and faction affinity
• Power contribution relative to troops and tech

Think about

• Heroes are the genre's revenue engine, and its worst power-creep vector. A new hero is the easiest thing to sell repeatedly. It is also how a two-year- old live game ends up with a launch roster nobody uses. Decide early whether old heroes stay relevant (re-tuning, niche roles) or are openly sunset.
• Are heroes real people from history? Gajah Mada, Jayavarman VII, Shapur I are enormously evocative and give free marketing — and are national figures whose depiction carries real weight. A gacha banner pulling a revered historical ruler will read as disrespectful in some markets. The safer path is archetypes ("the Elephant Marshal", "the Harbourmaster") loosely inspired by history. Whichever you choose, it needs cultural review, same as the roster.
• Gacha or not is a positioning decision, not just a monetisation one. It sets store-page expectations, regional legal obligations (disclosure rules in several markets), and which audience shows up.
• How much of total power sits in heroes? If heroes dominate, the city builder is decoration and F2P players fall behind permanently no matter how well they play. If heroes are marginal, your best selling lever is weak. Write the target split — e.g. troops 50 / tech 30 / heroes 20 — and hold to it.
• Heroes are your narrative delivery system. Nobody reads lore panels; they do read a hero's two-line intro and hear their battle bark. If the lost-dynasty setting is going to land emotionally, it lands here.
• Consider a no-gacha alternative. Earned commanders with deep skill trees is a genuine differentiator in a market saturated with banners, and it fits a "thinking beats spending" pillar. It earns less per whale and more goodwill.

Open questions

#	Question	Blocks	Owner
1	Heroes: yes/no, and gacha or earned?	Monetisation, narrative, art
2	Real historical figures or archetypes?	Cultural risk, marketing
3	Hero share of total combat power?	Balance, F2P viability