Best Squad Setup in Last War: Tank, Air and Missile (Season 6, October 2026)

For Last War: Survival players who already know which heroes to build and want to know exactly how to slot them in Season 6, and why the formation matters more than the hero ranking.

Short answer: The best all-round Last War squad in Season 6 is Tank: Williams and Murphy in the front row, Kimberly, Stetmann and Marshall in the back. Air runs Lucius, Carlie, Morrison, Schuyler and DVA. Missile runs Adam, McGregor, Fiona, Tesla and Swift. Finish one squad first: five heroes of one type get a +20% boost to HP, attack and defense.

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A tier list tells you which heroes are strong. Squad setup tells you which heroes are strong together.

The game deploys 5 heroes per formation. The synergy between those 5 decides your result in PvP, VS Kill Day, Desert Storm Battlefield and Zombie Siege far more than any single hero ranking. You can have the right heroes and still lose because of how they are slotted.

This guide covers the best squad for each of the three formation types, the slot-by-slot positions that make each one work, the counter system behind it all, and where to focus investment to reach full squad strength.

The counter system every squad is built around

Last War: Survival runs three squad types in a simple counter triangle. Aircraft beats Tank, Tank beats Missile, Missile beats Aircraft. Every PvP fight goes through this system before hero power is even counted.

What most accounts get wrong is taking this as a reason to build all three formations at once. The math says no. Heroes of the same type in one squad get a formation boost to hero HP, attack and defense, and it only peaks at five of a kind:

The boost unlocks after the first capitol conquest in City Clash. Splitting across all three types gives you three underpowered squads, none as strong as one focused squad would have been with the same total resources.

Pick one formation as your main. Build it completely before you look at the second.

Best Tank squad formation

The Tank squad is the main formation in Season 6 for most competitive accounts. It has the highest steady PvP output and the strongest Awakening lineup in the current meta.

Slot 1, frontline tank: Williams

Williams is the required anchor of any top Tank lineup. His team-wide damage reduction passive covers every hero in the formation, not just himself. That makes him a must for PvP, base defense and rally survival. He keeps your damage dealers alive long enough to deal damage.

Slot 2, frontline tank: Murphy

Murphy brings steady defensive buffs and team-wide stability, best in long fights where survival matters more than burst. Next to Williams he gives the lineup a two-tank front row.

Slot 3, main AoE damage: Kimberly

Kimberly is the strongest AoE damage dealer in the game. Her Barrage Strike fires 8 rockets of energy damage at random targets and owns large fights. She is the first hero every competitive Tank account builds and the first Season 6 Awakening hero (Week 1). At 5 stars her damage goes from strong to decisive. Build her first and build her fully.

Slot 4, secondary damage: Stetmann

Stetmann adds secondary damage from the back row and keeps the squad at five Tank heroes, so it holds the full +20% formation boost. If you have promoted Mason to UR, he can take this slot instead. One community guide's October 2026 tier list rates Mason one tier above Stetmann.

Slot 5, support: Marshall

Marshall raises the whole squad's attack and crit from the back row. His boost multiplies everything Kimberly and Stetmann fire.

Best Tank squad: Murphy + Williams (front row), Kimberly + Stetmann + Marshall (back row)

Alternative: DVA

DVA is the highest burst damage dealer in Last War: Survival. Her Vortex Missile shreds priority targets in PvP before they can act. DVA is an Aircraft hero, so running her in a Tank squad (usually in place of Stetmann) drops the formation boost from +20% (five Tanks) to +15% (four Tanks) in exchange for her burst. Some competitive accounts accept that trade on purpose. She is the Season 6 Awakening Week 3 hero.

Season 6 note: Awakening opens for Kimberly in Week 1, DVA in Week 3 and Tesla in Week 5. To unlock it, the hero needs 5 stars, an Exclusive Weapon at Level 20 or higher and 50 named Awakening Shards. Awakening replaces the Expertise skill with a stronger 4th skill and raises HP, attack and defense. Do Kimberly's Awakening before DVA's.

Best Aircraft squad formation

The Aircraft squad is the second formation most competitive accounts build once the Tank base is done. It has the highest single-fight burst ceiling of the three types and works best when Carlie anchors the frontline.

Slot 1, frontline: Lucius

Lucius gives energy damage reduction to the whole team. Without frontline energy protection, Aircraft damage heroes take too much damage before they can fire. He is the entry point for an Aircraft lineup that survives.

Slot 2, frontline: Carlie

The only Aircraft-type tank in the game. Carlie is what makes the Aircraft formation work at a competitive level. Without her, Aircraft damage heroes die before they do real damage. Her defense is what lets the backline function.

Slot 3, main damage: Morrison

Steady physical damage with armor-piercing that lowers target defense while keeping pressure on. Morrison lets the Aircraft formation hold reliable damage across long fights instead of relying only on burst windows.

Slot 4, crowd control: Schuyler

Crowd control and multi-target disruption, with a built-in stun. He locks targets during DVA's damage window.

Slot 5, burst damage: DVA

In the Aircraft squad DVA gets the full formation bonus, since she is Aircraft type. This is where she reaches her highest effective output, and why accounts building an Aircraft second squad often find her more useful here than in the Tank formation.

Best Aircraft squad: Lucius + Carlie + Morrison + Schuyler + DVA

Best Missile squad formation

Most competitive accounts build the Missile squad third. Not because Missile heroes are weak, but because Missile works best as a counter formation against known Aircraft opponents, not as an all-purpose main. Once Fiona and Tesla have their Exclusive Weapons at Level 20, the Missile squad is genuinely strong. Before that, Missile is still a work in progress.

Slot 1, frontline: Adam

A reliable frontline with solid base durability. Adam gives the Missile backline a protected place to fire from.

Slot 2, frontline: McGregor

His Taunt pulls enemy targeting onto himself and protects the backline. The risk is that without strong defensive stats the Taunt becomes a liability. Build McGregor's gear and star rank before you rely on his Taunt at competitive Siege levels.

Slot 3, main damage: Fiona

The strongest Missile damage dealer in the game. Her multi-target cluster attacks wreck grouped enemy formations and are the reason the Missile squad competes at all. Keep Fiona alive and this formation becomes one of the strongest in the right matchup.

Slot 4, precision damage: Tesla

Tesla is an energy damage specialist whose lightning attacks work well against heavily armored targets that physical damage heroes struggle with. Get his Exclusive Weapon to Level 20 first: it is the big milestone and the minimum for his Season 6 Awakening in Week 5.

Slot 5, finisher: Swift

Swift finishes weakened targets that survive the Fiona and Tesla damage pass, so the missile barrage ends in full eliminations instead of leaving low-health targets to recover.

Best Missile squad: Adam + McGregor + Fiona + Tesla + Swift

Formation focus multiplies every investment

Every formation bonus, gear set, research buff and Exclusive Weapon in Last War: Survival is troop-type specific. A 30% attack buff on Tank troops gives the full 30% to every Tank hero in the formation. The same 30% split across Tank and Aircraft gives roughly half that value to each.

That is why choosing a squad is also an investment choice. Committing to one formation type means every Diamond spent on hero upgrades, gear, research and Exclusive Weapons stacks into one growing advantage. Splitting means every resource gives partial value across systems that never reach their ceiling.

For spenders and R4/R5 leaders

Where the money goes. Spend on the main squad stacks. Spend spread over three squads does not. In Season 6 the order is Kimberly to 5 stars and Exclusive Weapon Level 20 before Week 1, then DVA before Week 3, then Tesla before Week 5. Awakening Shards themselves come free from the Hero Awakening Trial and Global Expedition, so paid spend goes into stars and Exclusive Weapon levels.

The Exclusive Weapon numbers. These are the named shard costs per hero:

The Season Battle Pass costs about $20 and gives enough named shards to unlock that season's weapon and reach Level 2. So Level 20 on your carry is a multi-week goal, not one purchase. Plan it before the Awakening week, not during it.

What to tell the alliance. Before Desert Storm or Day 6 of Alliance Duel, ask every member to post their main squad type and its power. Put the strongest Tank marches on rally lead. Keep a few strong Aircraft marches as the answer to enemy Tank rallies, since Aircraft beats Tank. A leader who knows the squad mix of the alliance makes better calls than one who only knows total power. More on running the alliance in our alliance leader hub.

Timing. Big star-ups score on Train Heroes day (Day 4) of Alliance Duel, and more if they land in an Arms Race Hero Advancement phase. Buy and stage hero materials before Thursday so they land on the right day.

For skill order, gear priority and Awakening order per hero, see the Kimberly build, DVA build, Williams build and Tesla build.

Where Packsify fits

Packsify can buy the hero and Exclusive Weapon packs for your main squad. We buy the exact pack you pick through the official Apple App Store or Google Play, with more pack value for the same money. New to Packsify? Start with the Last War top up guide and how we keep accounts safe.

Last War also runs an official web store, store.lastwar.com, which adds a 5% Gold Brick bonus to every recharge and gives an avatar frame. If you use it, that is fine. Packsify is for players who want the exact App Store or Google Play pack bought for them.

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Related: the Last War hero tier list, the gear upgrade order and the Last War packs worth buying.

Sources: official game notes and community guides. Checked October 30, 2026.

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