These Mercenary builds help to optimize your gem gains, get over walls, and unlock certain trophies until research kicks in. Mercenaries are a unique faction that have the ability to combine the properties of other Factions, but at a high cost and Faction Coin expense.
An obvious prerequisite for every build on this page is that you must be able to buy all the Mercenaries' upgrades (at least 1 No (1E30) gems). Some builds may have additional requirements or work best at specific stages of Reincarnation. Be wary of using a build in a different gem stage than it was designed for, or you may fall short of these critical points.
State of the Page
This page is temporarily protected against open edits to prevent edit wars over new builds which are often untested and drown out the best battle-tested options. Please see the obsolete / outdated / weak builds page for a list of all Merc builds that did not stand the test of time, if you need them. To propose your build, please leave comments and allow them to be discussed, they will be added to this page once proven as a viable option over the existing ones.
If you would like to edit this page, please leave a comment. [or sign up for a Wikia Account.]
As noted above, because the game is constantly evolving, some builds may become, or have already become, obsolete. Please help us keep this page up-to-date by leaving feedback and suggesting new builds - see footnotes.
Templates
Templates enable to import, export, and save builds. Only the Faction Upgrades and Spells are saved in templates, so you still need to manually select the alignment and bloodline. Importing a template will automatically buy all the upgrades your resources can afford. If you don't have enough, you will have to import again, and again, until all the upgrades are purchased. On this page, you will find build template codes at the bottom of each build table.
Bloodline Matches: Such as in: Fairy (3 Matches), see Bloodstream.
The numbers next to the faction upgrades, such as in Dwarf (3,1): Battlehammers, indicate the (tier,position) of the faction upgrade.
A lot of mana: generally implies "at least enough mana to cast all the spells simultaneously".
High/Low excavations is relative: At R2, 'high' may mean ~500 excavations, whereas at R18 it may refer to ~1000 excavations.
Silver, Gold & Bronze: refers to primary, secondary and Efficient auto-casting.
Updated Builds (Version 4.0.0)
Mana Storm [N] R3-R25
Inspired by Lightning Forge but revised for the Update 4.0.0 (as of 16 Dec 2020)
Characteristics: Generates faction coins, no need for excavations. High mana regeneration and relatively low mana max makes it perfect for silver autocast. Since the update the abilities have been changed so the names might not correspond to the ability ingame. The numbers are more important!
Slows down around 10e75/10 Qavg gems. This build is based on comments and is still under revision.
by MiepyCat
Faery's Hand [E] R3-R25
Revised for the Update 4.0.0 (as of 16 Dec 2020)
Characteristics: Since the update the abilities have been changed so the names might not correspond to the ability ingame. The numbers are more important!
This build is based on comments and is still under revision.
by MiepyCat
God Chanting [N] R3-R25
Revised for the Update 4.0.0 (as of 16 Dec 2020)
Characteristics: Since the update the abilities have been changed so the names might not correspond to the ability ingame. The numbers are more important!
After you have all your upgrades, just set all spells to bronze autocast with Tax Collection last, your Mana Regeneration goes really high.
Notes:
It's mostly taking advantage of the high numbers of assistants, especially the assistants from Sun Force. Sharp drop in gem gain at 1 Tvg. This build is based on comments and is still under revision.
by MiepyCat
Gem Gainer [N] R3-R25
Revised for the Update 4.0.0 (as of 16 Dec 2020)
Characteristics: Since the update the abilities have been changed so the names might not correspond to the ability ingame. The numbers are more important!
Set Moon Blessing and God's Hand to auto cast; Call to Arms, Gem Grinder and Spiritual Surge silver; Tax Collection to gold. This build is based on comments and is still under revision.
Notes:
Great build to get clicks for switching to research builds later on as well as just obtaining a very fast gem income. can obtain E08 gems per run and is very fast with about 10 min per run. At higher gem count can replace Elven bloodline for even higher production.
by MiepyCat
Short Length (aka. Rush) Builds
Rush builds taking about 10-30 minutes.
Lightning Forge [N] R3-R18
The original build in the forge family. It inspired Diamond Forge and Moonshine.
Characteristics: Uses LS for faction coins, so you will not need to excavate. Speed will greatly vary on your luck with LS.
If the Realm Weather Forecast shows a lack of Blacksmiths for a long time, swap for Fairy (1,2) or (1,1), depending on whether Inns or Farms shows up more, giving precedence to Inns.
Early game, play until you get a Blacksmith Lightning Strike. This is when you get your big gem boost, other strikes barely count.
To gain time: As soon as you have bought LS, use the Realm Weather Service** to check your LS forecast. Cast Lightning Strikes alone and get ready, build all you can, for when it will hit Blacksmith. (**Note: This tool can be temporarily broken after updates.)
When Lightning Strike hits Blacksmith, drop all your mana on a full combo-spell and cast as many tax collections as you can while all the other spells are casting.
You can get more TCs by casting spells manually: First cast all the non-FC-TC spells, wait 10 seconds for some mana to build-up, then cast FC+TCs. This can make a noticeable difference.
You can automate this somewhat if you have Contingency Autocasting by setting the threshold to 100% of your mana and having all of your casts lined up with Priority Autocasting.
You can automate this much better with Planned Autocasting where Tax Collector is gold and the other spells are silver.
Early on, abdicate after one big combo.
In later games, repeat the above process until gem growth slows substantially, feeding your gold back into buying buildings to improve the return of the combos.
If Realm Weather Service shows the next LS is targeting the Blacksmith (or Farm/Inn), you can cast all other spells to prepare and optimize the income for the LS cast.
If you have Spiritual Surge, do not use it until you can afford (6000 mana) to cast all 6 spells in one combo, as it will take away the ability to fully combo all other spells and reduce income.
by Magmardoom, many updates by others
Diamond Forge [N] R3-R18
Improves vanilla Fairy/Dwarf with stronger production upgrades from other factions. Excavations provide FCs because they are not generated by the production spell (such as with Lightning Strike) nor the bloodline (such as Elfline used in Brutal Diamond Smithing).
Characteristics: The build is lower variance than Lightning Forge as it doesn't rely on the RNG of the boost hitting the right target, but it generally has lower income also. The build is also strongly affected by Excavations.
Nothing unusual, get FCs, cast one or more combos and tax collect, and abdicate periodically. It's a rush build but it can be run longer if desired.
Notes:
Excavations should be used to generate early FCs but many are needed to buff Diamond Pickaxe, which significantly impacts the build's productivity. Brutal Diamond Smithing is a similar build but with more focus on the bloodline synergy.
Elven Farms [N] R7+
This build uses the power of Grand Balance instead of the usual Blacksmith upgrades. It is stronger than Diamond Forge, but is more difficult to set up. With Elf Bloodline, this build can buy mercenary upgrades when you cannot afford excavations.
Characteristics: Strong rush build, targeting Farms with both Grand Balance and Fairy Chanting.
Range: R7+; Probably worth using something you can set up more easily for low enough gem levels.
Alt: Faceless (2,3): Overgrowth - Useful for higher R. To pass gem wall at R15 you could need to cast TC until you build around 5400 mana (for manual casting), or 5700 mana - for automatic casting
Do not buy the last farm upgrade you can afford. In settings, check "Disable multibuy for upgrade series," and do not use Buy All once the build is set up. Use tax collections and buy Fairy (3,3) early to speed up faction coin gain.
Notes:
The farm upgrade should be one step behind every other building – not just the Inn, but also the Deep Mines, or they will become affected by Grand Balance instead.
Characteristics: Simple rush build that avoids the common annoyances of RNG and the setup required for grand balance builds, and has relatively fast setup even without excavs. Best for the lower Rs after getting bloodlines. Something of a compromise between Diamond Forge and Elven Farms. Note the synergy between Elfline, Dwarvern Pickaxe, and the Gold upgrade choices of Battlehammers and Elven Diplomacy.
A modification of Lightning Forge to take advantage of new bonuses unlocked after research.
Characteristics: Leverages the "Star Blessing" challenge to essentially have 13 upgrades in a merc build. Non-RNG and quite a bit stronger than Lightning Forge.
Put Fairy Chanting on gold everything else on silver no Tax Collection.
Cast Fairy Chanting twice during the 20 seconds spell combo.
Switch to Elf Research from around 1 Dvg (1E69) gems. Players below R20, go for at least 100 Dvg (1E71) - 500 Dvg (5E71) Gems.
This is an Elven Luck build, so don’t use Tax Collections.
Notes:
Clicking manually or using Tax Collection will not produce because the build is focused on Elven Luck.
Oversized Legends Titan (1,3) and Professional Assassins Drow (3,2) are not used because increasing assistants or click income are less effective with Star Blessing.
Elven Luck is originally an Elven Faction Upgrade. But in this build, Elven Luck comes from the Star Blessing challenge which adds 5% chance to trigger Elven luck to Moon Blessing's clicks.
by why_amihere, artcrow
Medium-Term Builds
Builds that take several times the length of typical rush builds. They require some setup time before they work properly, but do not benefit much from longer-term growth. Generally better only if you're going to be idle for that time, but not stronger than activity with rush builds for the same time.
Thunder Forge [N] R14-R17
Requires mana waste. Absolutely will not work without it.
Characteristics: A variant of lightning forge that trades the max mana upgrade for another production upgrade and relies on about an hour of growth to be able to do a combo.
Set up, put TC only on gold autocast until you have enough mana to do full combos with at least one TC (takes about an hour), then run normally as Lightning Forge.
Template: FR9,EL3,AN2,AN5,TT6,DD5,FC7,DN2,DN8,DG3,DG4,DG9,MA:AN9,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S1275,S1450,S1500,C120,C150,C340,C400,C590,C1300,D25,D275,D290,D1275,D1375,D2775,E80,E135,E320,E330,E350,E1225,A105,A120,A175,A330,A495,A1500,W25,W180,W275,W400,W1275,W1375
Requirements: Low excavations count (Reset excavations if needed)
Alignment: Good
Bloodline: Dragon
A2950: Elf
Template: FR9,EL3,EL7,AN2,AN5,TT6,DD5,FC7,DN2,DG3,DG4,DG9,MA:DN8,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S1275,S1450,S1500,C120,C150,C340,C400,C590,C1300,D25,D275,D290,D1275,D1375,D2775,E80,E135,E320,E330,E350,E1225,A105,A120,A175,A330,A1500,A2950,W25,W180,W275,W400,W1275,W1400
Buildup phase: Do Not purchase Round Table upgrade, cast spells in order to increase spell cast count for buffing. Buildup phase estimated 8 hours long. Production phase: buy Round Table upgrade and cast all spells for production as normal. Optimal production at near the end of the Fairy Chanting cast.
Notes:
For the 13th, use FR7 (If it will get a Share Benefits tier), DN8, AN2 (Whichever is stronger otherwise)
Recommended: Buffed S400 from Dragon Elf S400 run.
Notes:
Brainwave over 30 hours long in the Druid build. Over 20 in the Demon build. Game must be left online during Brainwave or the spell time will reset. It can be valuable to align the end of Brainwaves with Sun Force Production.
Be sure to have DB5 active and buildings built up before activating BW6 (or the highest tier you have unlocked.) Put Dragon's Breath before Brainwave in the autocast. If you started an excessively short Brainwave at max tier you can export/import or go offline and come back to reset spells intentionally.
D1375 alternate: D200 for S400 buffing. D1375 is the stronger production upgrade, but it requires high S400 from a previous long buff run to be better than D200 for most purposes. Self buffing S400 is not recommended. A dedicated S400 buff run with Dragon + Elf will produce a higher S400 than this build.
A150 alternate: A120 isn't very useful as it increases production by about 5-6% and lets you cast the first Brainwave with increased duration slightly sooner than A150. A150 can replace A120 in the S400 buff string for higher production losing some S400 buffing at the start of Brainwave to low regeneration. After 2 days or more, A150 will pass A10, and A150 and A120 can be used for long runs dropping A10, but it's better to use A10 and A150 without A120.
Brainwave over 30 hours long in the Druid build. Over 20 in the Demon build. Game must be left online during Brainwave or the spell time will reset. It can be valuable to align the end of Brainwaves with Sun Force Production.
Be sure to have DB5 active and buildings built up before activating BW6 (or the highest tier you have unlocked.) Put Dragon's Breath before Brainwave in the autocast. If you started an excessively short Brainwave at max tier you can export/import or go offline and come back to reset spells intentionally.
D1375 alternate: D200 for S400 buffing. D1375 is the stronger production upgrade, but it requires high S400 from a previous long buff run to be better than D200 for most purposes. Self buffing S400 is not recommended. A dedicated S400 buff run with Dragon + Elf will produce a higher S400 than this build.
A150 alternate: A120 isn't very useful as it increases production by about 5-6% and lets you cast the first Brainwave with increased duration slightly sooner than A150. A150 can replace A120 in the S400 buff string for higher production losing some S400 buffing at the start of Brainwave to low regeneration. After 2 days or more, A150 will pass A10, and A150 and A120 can be used for long runs dropping A10, but it's better to use A10 and A150 without A120.
Gather Faction Coins for 400 Undead Royal Exchanges. Cast Dragon's Breath, Fairy Chanting and Tax Collection only.
Get Lineages and cast as many spell tiers as you can (put Fairy Chanting and Dragon's Breath on Bronze, rest on Silver) at once to maximize production.
Get Secrets of the Warriors, load the research build, and cast all spells at once (as you will have enough max mana and mana regen to sustain them all) to get UL20 as fast as possible.
Notes:
Estimated 3-4 hours for Secrets of the Warrior to unlock. Use Research template to get Undead Lineage 20 shortly afterwards.
Template: EL3,AN2,DN2,DG3,AN5,TT6,DD6,DG4,EL7,UD7,DN8,DG9,SP:God's Hand,SP:Night Time, Research Template: S50,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D200,D245,D1275,D1375,D2775,E10,E135,E145,E350,E1225,E3300,A10,A120,A175,A410,A1500,A2950,W180,W275,W400,W525,W3050,W3150
Template: EL1,EL3,AN3,DN2,AN5,AN6,DD6,DG4,EL7,GB7,FC7,DG7,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S400,S500,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C1325,D25,D200,D245,D250,D1275,D2775,E135,E275,E320,E590,E1225,E1425,A105,A120,A305,A375,A1325,A1500,W150,W180,W250,W275,W400,W1375
Template: EL1,EL3,TT3,DN2,AN5,TT6,DD4,DG4,EL7,GB7,FC7,DG7,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D200,D250,D350,D1275,D2775,E135,E145,E590,E1425,E3250,E3300,A120,A305,A1200,A1500,A2950,A3400,W180,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
Template: EL1,EL3,DD3,DN2,DD4,AN5,TT6,DG4,EL7,GB7,FC7,DG9,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D200,D250,D350,D1275,D2775,E135,E145,E590,E1425,E3250,E3300,A120,A305,A1200,A1500,A2950,A3400,W180,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
Template: EL3,FC2,DN2,DG3,TT4,TT6,DD6,DG4,EL7,FC7,DN8,DG9,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S270,S305,S330,S2875,S3200,C150,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D55,D245,D260,D320,D1275,
Alternates: Replace C150 with C1500 if higher. Replace E350 with E480 if higher (takes about 1 hour of buildup in R for E480 to be higher). Replace W260 with W275 if buffed.
Notes:
May need excavations for spell tiers to set up at low gems.
Alternates: Replace E350 with E480 if higher (takes about 1 hour of buildup in R for E480 to be higher). Replace C400 with C1500 if high enough (100%+). Replace W260 with W275 if buffed.
Alternates: Replace C400 with C1500 if 150%+ Replace E290 with E350 if not going for rubies Replace D200 with D1375 and A1500 with A410 if a S400 buff run was already done this R.
Template: EL3,FC2,DN2,DG3,TT6,DD4,FC5,DG6,FR9,EL7,FC7,DG9,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C340,C590,C1300,C1325,C3000,C3100,D25,D245,D250,D1275,D1375,D2775,E135,E590,E1225,E1425,E3250,E3300,A120,A590,A1200,A1500,A2950,A3400,W275,W400,W560,W1400,W3050,W3150
Takes some time to reach mana waste, based on C305 growth. Maintaining x2 blue breath will be benefitial, but not necessary.
Estimated time 6-9 days to unlock Spell Master trophy.
Estimated 2-3 days to unlock Mana Ocean Trophy (if you want to multitask)
Alternative of the above S400 build, that requires Dragon Breath to cast x2 blue breath to be better. To do so, you have to export/import the save until Dragon's Breath is casting x2 blue every time the spell recasts. To be better than above build, you must maintain x2 blue at least 40% of the time.
Notes:
Make sure you can commit to this build if you want to use it over the other.
Do NOT go offline or export/import as it will reset the brainwave cast and therefore S375, slowing down your progress.
Notes:
Alternative of the above S400 build, that requires Dragon Breath to cast x2 blue breath to be better. To do so, you have to export/import the save until Dragon's Breath is casting x2 blue every time the spell recasts. To be better than above build, you must maintain x2 blue breath in ~50% of the time in the 16-20 hours of a Brainwave cast before the build is able to mana waste on its own.
Estimated time ? days to unlock Spell Master trophy.
Run time: Gets level 32 in under a hour without any buff to W275 or S400
Alignment: Neutral
Bloodline: Dragon
A2950: Druid
Template: EL1,DD3,FC2,DN2,AN5,TT6,DD4,DG4,EL7,GB7,FC7,DG9,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D200,D245,D1125,D1275,D2775,E135,E260,E320,E1225,E1425,E3300,A120,A305,A590,A1500,A2950,A3400,W260,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
Run time: Gets level 32 in under a hour without any buff to W275 or S400
Alignment: Neutral
Bloodline: Fairy
A2950: Druid
Template: EL1,DD3,FC2,DN2,AN5,TT6,DD4,DG4,EL7,GB7,FC7,DG9,SP:Dragon's Breath,SP:God's Hand Research Template: S215,S305,S330,S400,S1450,S1500,C250,C340,C400,C590,C1300,C3000,D25,D200,D245,D1125,D1275,D2775,E135,E260,E320,E1225,E1425,E3300,A30,A120,A305,A1500,A2950,A3400,W260,W275,W400,W1375,W3050,W3150
These builds are not meant to boost gem production, but to help get Trophies or for building-up bonuses. Bonus build-up runs will become more and more important as you progress.
Joker [E] R3+
Made for those just starting mercs to get the Harlequin trophy, without having to completely waste a run. Built by VaticToxic in room 1.
Cast Fairy Chanting + Night Time as a combo. Add CtA if you can, if not cast TCs instead. Angelic Dominance increases spell cast time (so you get more mana, through Magical Treasure, per Fairy Chanting cast), Angelic Wisdom lowers the cost of spells. Remember to excavate to get the "Know Your Enemy, Part I" artifact if you are R12+.
Harley Quinn [E] R3+
This build is for getting Coin Pillage,Premeditation and Harlequin at R3 and KYE at R12+.
Range: R3+
Alignment: Evil
Bloodline: Druid (Ignore if you don't have Bloodline)
Variant of IGOT a need for trophies for getting mana waste and autocasting.
Characteristics: Relies on a feedback loop that increases assistants with spells cast and produces mana from assistants. Does work before R7 or after R11, but the best time to run it is after bloodlines and before the R12 max mana power. R18 and later, Wasteanarama can be used instead and takes only a few minutes, but you really should get it before research.
Don't buy anything that increases max mana aside from Helden Sterben Nicht. This includes Druid Heritage, Mana Matrix, Premeditation, and Ruby Power if it increases max mana or Reincarnation Power if R12+. If you already have at least Priority Autocasting unlocked, cast Fairy Chanting and Tax Collection, otherwise cast Tax collection until you do. After you exceed 1150 mana/second and unlock Mana Waste, you can buy it and all the other max mana upgrades to greatly increase your mana regen for further autocasting unlocks.
Notes: Helden Sterben Nicht is used because it increases max mana and regen by the same amount, which on its own is a neutral effect towards getting Mana Waste. However, the extra regen helps the build grow faster, and the extra max mana increases the effect of Druid Bloodline, and decreases the base mana requirement for Mana Waste by a few percent. You can also use "Sun Force" at the 12 AM-6 AM buff (with enough gems) to help with unlocking.
Build Away. Put TC on Gold, everything else on Silver, arrow set to maximum.
by morrisoni2020
Everything is Awesome [E] R7-R16
Useful to get the building trophies, and boost Faceless Heritage and Faceless Overgrowth (2,3) whether you can reach 35k buildings or not! Name comes from The Lego Movie (it's about building).
Characteristics: Maximizes the production of Hall of Legends, while reducing building costs as much as possible.
For Neutral buildings, use Halstrike Blast. For Good, suggestions are open!
Range: R7-R16
Alignment: Evil
Bloodline: Goblin (Required)
Template: FR1,FR2,TT3,DN2,DW5,DM6,TT6,FC6,UD7,DM8,DD9,DN7,SP:Hellfire Blast,SP:Night Time
Build, Build, Build, and Build. You should be able to have all 4 spells on silver autocast (Hellfire Blast, Night Time, Call to Arms, and Blood Frenzy) and Tax collection set to gold. Arrow set to maximum.
Halstrike Blast [N] R14-R16
A build capable of getting the 35000 building trophy, Metagrinder. Helps to also optimize the Faceless Heritage and Faceless Overgrowth (2,3).
Characteristics: Relies on Lightning Strike hitting Halls of Legends, and assistants providing a massive production bonus.
Wait for Lightning Strike to hit Halls of Legends. When it happens, combo it with every other spell and spam Tax Collections. It is important to buy buildings as they come.
The build was created by Halno when she decided that she was too bored with the repeated LF builds, so went after trophies; the name of the build comes from both the creator's name and that it is reliant in HoL's, and both the spells that the build uses.
by Halno
Wasteanarama [E] R18-R23
Characteristics: A Mananarama-style build for getting mana waste quickly. Takes around 5-10 minutes.
Range: R18-R23; e80+ gems or so
Requirements: Completed Challenge 3 for Fairies, Elves, Angels and Undead
Alignment: Evil
Bloodline: Undead
Template: FR1,FR2,AN3,DN2,AN6,UD5,DD6,FC5,FR9,DM7,DM8,FC7,SP:Fairy Chanting,SP:God's Hand
Avoid buying anything that increases max mana aside from Helden Sterben Nicht, such as Druid Heritage, Premeditation, Reincarnation Power, Mana Matrix, and Ruby Power if it increases max mana. Do a few combos to buy more buildings to increase your assistant count. A few rounds of doing a combo and buying buildings should get mana waste.
Notes:
Helden Sterben Nicht is used because on its own, it is neutral towards getting mana waste, since it increases max mana and mana regen by the same amount. Any benefit from more regen is worthwhile, such as increased production from God's Hand to help buy more buildings.
Many builds on this page are the results of a collaborative effort where each upgrade has been calculated, compared and discussed. Hence, they are generally the best combinations available, and new builds will need to be created as new perks appear.
If you wish to suggest a build, try posting it first to the forum to get feedback, suggestions and possibly ameliorations.
If you are copying a build, please do not forget to add the credits and source links.
When adding new builds, do not forget to also add the "Run lengths", and more specially the "Range". If none, players can not relate to them and in consequence: will not try them.
If you're not used to using wiki editors, there is a wikia sandbox for test editing. Alternatively you can use your own user page: Special:MyPage
When editing this page, use the following page explaining how to format builds posted here: Template:Mercs/doc. It is used to structure the page and allow for easier data entry.
