New player · HQ tab
The HQ screen
HQ is where you land every time you open the game. Cards that want an action sit at the top; read-only status sits below.
Updated ·patch v2.0.5
What this is, and what to do first
The HQ tab is a scrolling stack of cards. Most only appear when they have something to say. Each visit, work down from the top: answer any Command Decisions, claim First Steps and the Daily Login, follow the Main objective, then collect Stage Farming.
1. Banners at the very top
Time-limited or account-specific notices. None of them block anything.
Headquarters construction
Your first 3 minutes
Your HQ is placed for you and takes 3 minutes to build. This card counts it down.
Do: Nothing. Carry on with the tutorial.
Founder's Blessing Active
First 72 hours of a new account
A temporary new-player boost to gold, XP, building production and quest speed, with a countdown.
Do: Nothing to claim. Play actively while it runs; it is the cheapest time to push.
Founders Lounge
Only if you bought the Founders Pack
Shows how many Supply Drops you have banked. They accrue on real time, not in-game time.
Do: Tap Open, then Open All to open every banked drop at once. The result names each boost you rolled.
Sell Resources
Chapter 2 onward
A shortcut to the Commodity Market so you can sell surplus without going through the map.
Do: Use it when a resource is near its storage cap.
2. Things waiting on you
These carry a claim or a decision, so they are placed first.
Command Decisions
Chapter 2 onward, when a quest is waiting on you
Some quests pause at a decision point (a beat) and hold for up to 24 hours waiting for your call. This panel lists up to three of them; any more are on the Quests tab.
Do: Tap Decide now on each row. It opens the decision right on the HQ. If you leave it, the quest's crew decides for you when the hold runs out.
First Steps
From the end of Sage Alaric's walkthrough until all seven are done
Seven starter objectives, one at a time, each with a Go button that takes you to the right screen and a Claim button once it is done. Most are completed for you during the tutorial; Recruit a Member is usually the one left.
Do: Tap Go, do the thing, come back and Claim.
Path to Mastery
Replaces First Steps once it is finished
Five days of seven tasks. A new day unlocks every 24 hours. Tasks and each day are claimed by hand.
Do: Claim what is done each time you log in.
Trial of Mastery
Appears when you clear Chapter 3 (entering Chapter 4)
Four checks: spend 20 skill points across your roster, run 3 Resource Surveys, have 3 members with both essence slots filled, and get any building to 50% affinity.
Do: Finish all four for 50,000 gold, 50 gems, 20 clouded essences and a permanent +10% gold and +15% party damage.
Daily Login
Once per day
A 7-day reward cycle (Day n / 7) with a streak counter. Missing a day resets the cycle to Day 1. Once claimed, the card drops to the bottom of the HQ and previews tomorrow's reward.
Do: Tap View & Claim every day. Day 4 is a guaranteed Rare-or-better essence and day 7 lets you choose your reward.
3. Guidance
Pointers rather than rewards.
Tip
After First Steps is complete
One suggestion at a time from your advisor, for example an injured member, full building storage, no quests running, or clouded essences waiting to be identified.
Do: Follow it if you are unsure what to do next.
Shortcuts
After your 3rd completed quest
A shelf of screens you have pinned, with a Browse button to add more.
Do: Pin the screens you visit most (Tavern, Stages, your city) to save taps.
Proving Grounds
Until you clear your first stage
Your Strike Force's estimated gold and dust per hour, how many members are idle, and a Collect button.
Do: Assign members and clear stage 1. See Combat basics.
4. Faction Objectives: your story
Do this: treat the Main row as your to-do list. The Faction Objectives panel shows up to three objectives, one per slot:
Main
The story. The chain is Complete 'Into the Greenwood', Complete 'Bandit Incursion', then Reach Story Chapter 2. Its hint says Continue your story from the Quests board.
Side
A starter task such as Build a Tavern, Identify 3 Clouded Essences, Recruit 3 Members or Upgrade Any Building.
Daily
A small daily task such as Complete 2 Quests or Collect from 3 Buildings.
Rewards pay out automatically when an objective completes. Tap a row to jump to the screen where you do it; the ? in the header opens the help article for your current objective.
5. Sage Alaric’s Saga: optional
This is not the main quest. It sits directly below Faction Objectives, and the card says so itself: “Optional bonus rewards, earned alongside your story quests.” Players have reported getting absorbed in it when all they needed to do was quest. The story advances on the Quests board.
What it is: a ladder of 100 tasks from Sage Alaric, your advisor, shown one at a time in order (Dispatch your first quest, Identify an essence, Win your first combat, and so on). Each pays gold, essence dust, a gem or two and clouded essences.
What to do with it: tap Go to jump to the task, and Claim Reward when it is done. Claims are manual, and tasks you already did count retroactively, so you can claim several in a row. If a task shows “Unlocks in Chapter n”, it is waiting on your story, not on you. The card disappears once all 100 are claimed.
6. Stage Farming and alerts
The idle payoff from combat, and anything a member is waiting on.
Stage Farming
After your first Proving Grounds clear
A small animated battle showing your Strike Force farming, with running totals of Gold, XP and Dust. The animation is cosmetic; the numbers are your real stored rewards.
Do: Tap Collect every visit. Storage stops filling at 48 hours.
Alerts
Whenever a member needs something
One card per member who is ready for an action: Assign Archetype (both essences equipped but no class yet, which also blocks rank-up), Rank Up Available, or Ready to Soul Refine.
Do: Tap it. Assign Archetype opens the same picker as the gold Choose Archetype button on the member.
7. Everything below: status
Past the alerts the HQ turns read-only: active boosts, rival status, news, seasons, quick stats, story progress, running quest timers, weekly contracts (Chapter 2 onward), then buttons for Achievements, the Codex, the leaderboard and the shop, and once the map is open a building summary and income dashboard. At the very bottom is the daily reset countdown. Nothing here needs to be claimed; glance at it when you want the numbers.
Where to go next
Your first session
The wizard, tutorial, walkthrough and First Steps in order.
Command
What quest beats are and how Command Decisions work.
Combat basics
Fill the Strike Force and start Stage Farming.
How your class is chosen
What to do when an Assign Archetype alert appears.
Quests themselves are covered on Quests.
Card order and gates are the shipped 2.0.7 defaults. Offers, ad rewards and server-bonus banners also appear on the HQ at times and are not covered here.