Beginner guide: your first 60 minutes

Before the first run

Use Quick Run or leave Camp through the run menu, select the first arena currently available, and stay on Default. Weapons fire automatically at valid targets; you control movement, can use manual aim to focus an elite, and choose every upgrade.

• Use Default while learning enemy patterns
• Treat survival as the first objective
• Move before collecting a risky pickup
• Manual aim only when a priority target needs focus

Levels 1 to 5: make one weapon reliable

Circle loose packs without drifting to the map wall, then collect experience on a route that returns to open ground. Take the leader's weapon again when the card improves damage, projectile count, attack rate, or penetration. Choose one early area ability when the weapon cannot kill groups yet, but do not open three unrelated lines before one attack can clear a path.

The first SOS: fill the missing job

A run starts with one survivor and can grow to three. Recruit a second survivor who fixes the current failure: ranged coverage when enemies stack outside your attack arc, control when a lane keeps closing, or sustain when chip damage is the problem. Pick the third only after the leader can already clear normal enemies.

Keep the middle available as an escape route

Do not glue the squad to the outer wall. Fight on open ground where you can turn away from a closing lane in more than one direction. Move toward an edge only for a specific objective, then return before the horde closes behind you. This rule matters even more on Bio Lab, where the toxic boundary removes the space you expected to use.

Leave useful pickups until they solve a problem

A healing pack at full health, a magnet beside a thin horde, or a temporary defensive pickup has more value later. Remember its location and collect it when health drops, experience is scattered across unsafe ground, or a boss pattern blocks the route. Do not save every pickup: a crowded floor can force a dangerous return trip, so collect ordinary XP whenever the path is already open.

When the second SOS appears

Add the third survivor only after the leader clears normal enemies without constant retreat. The last slot should solve the remaining problem. If no offered survivor helps, use the available reroll or skip instead of filling the squad with a role the run cannot support.

When an event or pickup pulls you off route

Treat Research Pods, chests, Military Training, and distant healing as optional until the squad can clear a lane. Remove nearby elites, approach with a visible exit, and leave the reward when the route crosses a train, toxic boundary, or stacked attack markers.

• Clear the approach first
• Keep the widest exit behind the squad
• Return samples to the event origin
• Give up the reward when the exit closes

When health becomes the next failure

Once all three squad slots are full, later SOS offers can be skipped for healing. A level-up panel may also offer recovery. Take the heal when one elite pattern could end the run. Do not expect Ranger or another support to heal before the relevant evolution is unlocked and selected.

When the first run ends

In the current 1.0 flow, follow the objective shown during the run until the game ends the attempt or confirms the clear. The result screen records the rewards earned from that run. Treat mission progress as complete only when the results or Mission Log confirm it.

• Read any unlocks before leaving the result screen
• After a loss, note the time and attack that ended the run
• Return to Camp after a win or a loss
• If no useful node is affordable, repeat the first arena with the same leader and change one choice

After the result screen: spend permanent progress

Return to Camp and open Training Yard, then Training. Use Cash for the General tree and Specialization points for individual survivors. New accounts unlock more setup tools over time, so ignore advice that depends on a Badge slot, Item slot, Military Training option, reroll, banish, or pool filter that your General tree does not show yet.

• Spend Cash in the General tree
• Spend Specialization on the survivor you plan to lead with
• Check Briefing Room for the next mission
• Use Mission Log to review or retry a failed objective

Your goal for the next two runs

Repeat the same loop with one improvement at a time: finish a safer weapon path, recruit a role that fixed the previous loss, and complete a mission that matches the available map. The first hour is successful when each run lasts longer or unlocks a permanent node, even before the first full clear.