Web Game Guide

HERO ACADEMY GAME GUIDE

The Basics

Heroic Teams and Units

Advanced Concepts

Glossary of Terms

 

1. The Basics

Starting a Game

From the main menu, select Play to bring up the games list.

 

 

The button at the upper right with the plus symbol will let you create a game with a particular opponent. Enter your opponent’s Hero Academy user name, or search for a random opponent.

If you’d rather start a quick game with a random opponent, just tap the button next to the the create game button.

You can also challenge your Facebook friends! Tap the Facebook icon next to “Challenge Friends” to connect your Facebook and Hero Academy accounts and see which of your friends are playing Hero Academy.

How to Win

The goal in a Hero Academy match is to destroy all of your opponent’s crystals or defeat all of the heroes on his team.

How to Play

At the start of the game, a random set of six heroes, equipment, and spells from your reinforcements will appear on the rack at the bottom of the screen.

 

 

Each turn, you get five Action Points to deploy your team onto the field, give them equipment, move, and attack.

The player that created the game will deploy his team on the left side of the field. To deploy heroes, tap them on the rack to select them, then tap them in one of your deploy zones.

To move a deployed hero, tap him to select him.  The squares that he can reach with a single Action Point will light up blue. Tap where you’d like him to move, or tap an empty square to cancel.

When a hero is selected, enemies he can target will have a red spinning circle highlighting them. Tap the enemy to attack.

Similarly, if you select a healing or buffing hero, friendly heroes that the healer can assist will have a green spinning circle highlighting them.

If you ever need help understanding what a hero or piece of equipment does, or what any of the squares on the playfield are for, tap the “?” in the upper right corner, then tap any of the ? symbols that appear on the board for more information.

Once you have used all five Action Points, tap the checkmark at the lower right of the screen to submit your turn.

Equipment and Spells

If you want to add equipment like swords or scrolls to a hero, simply tap the equipment on your rack and then tap the hero that you want to equip.

Some equipment is permanent, such as swords. Others, such as the scroll, only apply to the hero’s next attack or heal. Check the ingame help for more details.

To use a spell like the Council’s Inferno, tap it, then tap where you want to target it. Inferno and the Dark Elf Soul Harvest can be targeted anywhere on the board.

The Playfield

The playfield features several important premium squares.

 

 

The deploy zones are the only squares where you can bring new heroes on to the playfield from your reinforcements.

The assault boost squares increase the damage that all your heroes do to the crystals.

A power boost square increases the power of any hero standing on it, while a defense boost square increase the hero’s defense.

Undo

At any time before submitting your turn, you can undo and try again. Just tap the Action Point wheel in the lower left corner to undo all your actions. The best players experiment with different strategies each turn to find the best combination of actions.

Knocking Out and Stomping

When heroes lose all their hitpoints, they are knocked out and fall down on the playfield. Be sure to heal the hero on your next turn, or they will be removed from play entirely.

If you knock out an enemy hero, you can spend an additional Action Point to “stomp” on him and remove him from the playfield before your opponent ever gets a chance to heal him!

Reinforcements View

To see the reinforcements available to either you or your opponent, tap one of the player portraits, then tap the reinforcements number to bring up the reinforcements view.

As a shortcut to the reinforcements view, you may tap and hold on a player portrait.

Damage Types and Resistance

There are two types of damage in the game – Physical and Magical. Similarly, there are two types of resistances in the game – one against Physical damage, and one against Magical.

Hero Damage Resistance
  Physical Magical Physical Magical
Knight 200   20%  
Archer 300      
Cleric   200    
Wizard   200   10%
Ninja 200 range
Double Melee		      
Void Monk 200   20% 20%
Impaler 300      
Priestess   200    
Necromancer   200    
Wraith   250   10%
Paladin 200   10% 10%
Gunner 300      
Engineer 200      
Grenadier   200    
Annihilator   300    
Warrior 200   20%  
Axe Thrower 200      
Shaman   200   10%
Witch   200    
Chieftain 200      
Heavy 200
Double Melee		      
Soldier   300    
Pyro   300    
Demoman   200    
Scout 100      
Medic   200   10%
Engineer 200      
Sniper 100      
Spy 200      
Monk 200      
Windblade 200      
Poisoner   200    
Taoist   200    
Shadow   100    

 

 

Customizing Your Game

From the main menu, tap the “Customize” button to purchase heroic teams, avatars, custom uniform colors, and more!

 

 

The Customize menu is also where you make your selection of avatar and team uniform colors (once purchased).  For avatars, you may select any avatar from the packs you’ve purchased, or the basic pack that you get for free for purchasing a heroic team.  For custom uniform colors, you will need to select both a home and an away color. Your home uniform color is used for games that you initiate, while your away color will be used for challenges you accept from others.

Purchase a new heroic team such as the Dark Elves and ads disappear!

Additional User Interface Tips

  • Check out the Hero Academy news feed! While on the games list, tap the “!” button in the upper left.
  • Want to send a chat to your opponent? From within a game, tap the speech bubble in the upper right.
  • To swap out heroes or equipment on your rack, tap to select them, then tap the reinforcements door at the lower left. When you submit your turn, those heroes will be added back to your reinforcements, and you’ll get replacement heroes and equipment for the next turn.
  • Tap and hold on an empty square will show you the health of all heroes, icons that indicate what the heroes have equipped, and the health percentage of the crystals.
  • Tap your portrait or your opponent’s portrait at the top of the screen to see the player’s profile.  When you bring up a player’s profile, you’ll be able to see how many reinforcements they have in reserve and on their rack.

2. HEROIC TEAMS AND UNITS

COUNCIL

Strong Alchemy – Team Bonus

  • The Council’s clerics are excellent healers, and heal knocked-out heroes for extra hitpoints.
  • Potions can revive knocked-out units.
  • Save potions for quick emergency revives, especially for a hero with lots of equipment.

Knight (Fighter)

  • Sturdy fighter; knocks back enemy heroes when he attacks.
  • Very difficult to kill, especially if equipped with a shield and helmet.
  • Use knights to deny critical board positions to opponents, or knock enemies off important squares.

Archer (Shooter)

  • High-damage shooter with a long attack range.
  • Gets larger benefit from sword equipment and sword tiles.
  • Useful to attack distant enemies; rely on hit-and-run attacks to keep her safe.

Wizard (Caster)

  • Caster hero that can target enemy groups with chain lightning.
  • Lightning is unpredictable, but can hit up to three enemies.
  • Use against packed groups of enemies, and supplement his power with swords and scrolls.

Cleric (Support)

  • Support hero who can effectively heal damaged and knocked-out allies.
  • Both attacks and heals at range.
  • Use clerics to back up other strong or valuable heroes.

Ninja (Super Unit)

  • Unique super unit that can swap places with an ally.
  • Can attack at range, but does more damage in melee.
  • Use mobility to teleport to the front lines and back again in a single turn.

Inferno

  • High-damage attack spell that does damage in a 3x3 area.
  • Can remove knocked-out enemies from the field.
  • Use against clustered groups of weakened enemies, or to eliminate knocked-out targets at range.

DARK ELVES

Life Leech – Team Bonus

  • Dark elf heroes heal themselves when they attack enemies.
  • Less effective at healing than the Council, but less reliant on support hero (Priestess)
  • If they survive an attack, dark elves can counterattack and recover health while doing damage.

Void Monk (Fighter)

  • Strong front-line hero with an area-of-effect physical attack.
  • Less hitpoints than the Council’s knight, but with a higher damage potential against groups.
  • Use the void monk to protect your other heroes and attack clustered groups of enemies.

Impaler (Shooter)

  • High-damage ranged attacker that pulls enemies toward her.
  • Shorter range than the Council’s archer, but also deals damage effectively at close range.
  • Attack the enemy’s high-value targets, and equip with swords and scrolls for maximum damage.

Necromancer (Caster)

  • Attacks enemies at long range and raises phantoms from knocked-out heroes.
  • Longer range than the Council’s wizard, but attacks only single targets.
  • Attack knocked-out enemies at a distance to raise phantoms and prevent resurrections.

Priestess (Support)

  • Healer who also adds a one-turn attack power debuff to enemy targets.
  • Less effective at healing than the Council’s cleric, but her debuff gives her a more flexible role.
  • Target her attacks on high-damage enemies who will be attacking in the next turn.

Wraith (Super Unit)

  • Super unit who consumes fallen heroes to grow stronger.
  • Can’t teleport like the Council’s ninja, but grows stronger with every consumed hero.
  • Nurture and protect the wraith until he consumes several heroes; consume your own fallen if they’re close by.

Soul Harvest

  • Does damage to enemies while raising your fallen heroes and adding to their maximum health.
  • Less damage to enemies than the Council’s inferno, but secondary benefits can be game-changers.
  • For maximum effectiveness, deploy lots of heroes and wait for multiple heroes to get knocked out before using.

DWARVES

Engineering – Team Bonus

  • Dwarf heroes get a larger bonus from premium squares.
  • Area attacks are effective, especially from attack boost squares.
  • Engineers get double team bonus, even on assault squares!

Paladin (Fighter)

  • Holy warrior who can heal and revive allies.
  • Heals herself when she heals others.
  • Keep her on the front lines and in the thick of battle.

Gunner (Shooter)

  • Sturdy shooter who deals a lot of damage.
  • Target adjacent enemies for maximum damage.
  • Target distant enemies for area attacks.

Grenadier (Caster)

  • Lobs explosives into crowds of enemies.
  • Weak melee attack.
  • No line-of-sight restrictions; toss into the middle of crowds or at weak heroes in the rear.

Engineer (Support)

  • Support hero that can shield allies.
  • Each can shield a single hero or crystal.
  • Put her on premium squares for double bonuses!

Annihilator (Super Unit)

  • Deals heavy damage in an area and knocks back enemies.
  • Direct hits temporarily weaken physical defenses.
  • Protect and guard your Annihilator – he hits hard, but he’s fragile.

Pulverizer

  • Deals heavy damage to a single target.
  • If used on a crystal, does area damage to nearby enemies.
  • Save for times when you absolutely have to kill a unit, or when your opponent clusters units around the crystal.

THE TRIBE

TEAM FORTRESS

SHAOLIN

Combination Strike – Team Bonus

  • When multiple Shaolin heroes attack the same target, they do more damage.
  • While they do not have a single high-damage hero, their combo attacks can be devastating.
  • Position your heroes to take advantage of combo opportunities when the enemy advances.

Monk (Fighter)

  • Front-line warrior who can reduce a single enemy’s maximum health.
  • Tough to knock out; can stand toe-to-toe with enemy heroes.
  • Target the enemy’s high-health heroes to get the most benefit from the monk’s ability.

Windblade (Shooter)

  • Ranged hero that chains her attacks to three enemies at once.
  • Effective against enemies in tight clusters.
  • Use to apply combo points to multiple enemies at once, then finish the job with other heroes.

Poisoner (Caster)

  • Long-range caster with a deadly debuff.
  • Reduces her target’s defense and resist.
  • Use to weaken enemies at range, or to finish a combo from a distance.

Taoist (Support)

  • Healer hero that can remove debuffs from allies or buffs from enemies.
  • Best when supporting other heroes from the backfield.
  • Ranged attack also makes the taoist effective in combos.

Shadow (Super Unit)

  • High-mobility ranged attacker that can raise enemies to fight on his side.
  • His weakness is low-damage attacks; keep him safe until the time is right to strike.
  • Converting an enemy super-unit such as a ninja or annihilator can easily win the game.

Bamboo (Blocker)

  • Deploy the bamboo anywhere on the board to block a square and enemy line of sight.
  • Can be placed on boost squares and gains their benefit, including assault boosts.
  • Bamboo can also be used to remote-stomp knocked-out enemies!

Dragon

  • High-damage spell that can affect up to four enemies in a row.
  • Most damage is done to the original target.
  • Use against high-value enemy heroes, or a group of heroes next to each other in a single row.

3. ADVANCED CONCEPTS

General Tips

  • Controlling assault boost squares is often the key to victory. Place strong heroes on the assault tiles and force your opponent to deal with them.
  • You can’t move heroes on to your opponent’s deploy zones. If your opponent knocks out one of your heroes on your deploy zone, you can deploy one of your own heroes on top of the knocked-out hero on the next turn, provided you don’t mind sacrificing the knocked-out hero.
  • A Dark Elf necromancer can raise a phantom on your deploy zone, but you can auto-stomp the phantom by deploying a hero on top of him.
  • If you’re having trouble getting to the enemy’s crystal, don’t be afraid to switch strategies; killing all of his heroes is another way to win.

Strategy: The Council

  • Use the ninja’s teleport ability to swap places with frontline heroes for a quick hit-and-run attack. Save an Action Point to retreat him to the rear at the end of your turn.
  • Control assault boost squares with your knights. Add shields and helmets to make the knights virtually indestructible.
  • Save your swords for hard-hitting heroes like archers, wizards, and the ninja.
  • Keep an eye out for groups of enemies. Engage the groups with wizards or archers, then drop a last-minute Inferno to remove any knocked-out heroes at range.

Strategy: The Dark Elves

  • Nurture the wraith – he’s fragile until he consumes several knocked-out heroes. Bait your enemy into attacking your weaker heroes, then let your wraith consume his own team!
  • The necromancer’s long range can dominate the battlefield. Keep him on a power boost tile and let the enemy come to you.
  • Use the priestess to debuff the most dangerous enemies.
  • Save your Soul Harvest spells for the perfect opportunity; it will heal all of your knocked-out heroes at once!

Strategy: The Dwarves

  • If your enemy clusters heroes together, punish him! Attack with grenadiers, gunners, or the annihilator and spread the damage around.
  • Engineer shields absorb an entire attack. Use them to protect fragile heroes like the annihilator or add a shield to a crystal.
  • Remember the dwarven team bonus works on assault squares as well. Place an engineer on an assault square and then attack enemy crystals with other heroes for big bonus damage!

Strategy: The Tribe

  • Use axe throwers to whittle down full-strength enemies, then send in the warriors to finish them off.
  • Save your chieftain for a powerful strike when the enemy has a lot of heroes on the board.
  • Position shamans far to the rear, and create a chain of heroes to the front lines.

Strategy: Team Fortress

  • Team Fortress has a wide variety of heroes; don’t rely on getting exactly what you expect, and be prepared to change your strategy.
  • Be aggressive and push forward; you have more heroes available as reinforcements than other teams, and can afford to sacrifice some.
  • Use your engineers to give ammo to as many heroes as you can; it’ll pay off in the long run.
  • Combine your no-AP-cost abilities for monster turns, and take as many as seven or eight actions to throw your opponent off-balance!

Strategy: Shaolin

  • Combo attacks provide your best offensive punch. Combine attacks whenever possible.
  • Weaken fully geared enemies with the monk and poisoner to keep them in check.
  • Pre-apply combo potions for devastating attacks – getting a x4 or x5 combo on a crystal can be devastating.
  • The shadow can also revive your fallen allies, but beware – their equipment will be removed!

4. GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Hero

One of your units. Place them on the playfield to attack the enemy, defend your crystals, or heal and improve your other heroes.

Crystal

Each team has one or more crystals to protect. If all of a team’s crystals are destroyed, they lose!

Health

Your heroes have a health value, represented by a green bar on their info screen. If they run out of health, they’re knocked out!

Power

Heroes have a power value, which indicates how much damage they’ll do when they attack or how much they can heal their allies. Damage can be either magical or physical.

Physical

Physical attacks are reduced by a target’s defense rating. Defense is shown on a hero’s info screen next to the small icon of a shield.

Magical

Magical attacks are reduced by a target’s resistrating. Resist is shown on a hero’s info screen next to the small icon of a helmet.

Power Boost

A square on the playfield that increases a hero’s power as long as he’s standing on it.

Defense Boost

A square on the playfield that increases a hero’s defense as long as he’s standing on it.

Resist Boost

A square on the playfield that increases a hero’s resist as long as he’s standing on it.

Assault Boost

As long as one of your heroes stands on an assault boost square, ALL of your attacks against enemy crystals are at increased power.

Knocked Out

When a hero loses all his health, he’s knocked out! He’ll fall down and you’ll see stars circling him.

Revive

A team’s healers can often revive knocked-out heroes, waking them up for battle.

Stomping

If one of your opponent’s heroes is knocked out, move one of your heroes on top of him to stomp him and remove him from the game.

Melee

Some heroes, such as knights, can only attack at melee range – a single square up, down, left, or right. Other heroes, such as archers, have a weaker attack when they’re attacking an adjacent enemy.

AoE

Area of effect. Some attacks have a large AoE, such as the Council’s Inferno spell, which affects a 3x3 area.

Buff

A bonus to a hero’s abilities. For instance, a scroll grants a large buff to a hero’s power, and a Dark Elf potion adds a buff to a hero’s maximum health.

Debuff

A reduction of a hero’s abilities. For example, the Dark Elf priestess can cast a weakness debuff on her enemies, reducing the power of their next attack.

 

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