Hero Havoc Beginner's Guide – Heroes, Weapons & Survival Tips

Five heroes are unlocked from your very first run: Arachnyx, Thunderborn, Titan, Arrowstorm and Warden. For a first run, pick Arachnyx or Titan. Arachnyx has the cheapest, fastest-recharging special in the game — a dash that briefly makes you untouchable — and Titan has 170 health plus 15% armor, the sturdiest body in the game.

Thunderborn is the fastest starter but has only 90 health, and Warden's special has an 8-second cooldown, so both reward a little experience first. See Best Heroes for Beginners for a full comparison.

Your hero shoots by itself, aiming at nearby villains with aim assist. On a phone you drag anywhere on the screen to move; on desktop you use WASD or the arrow keys. That means your thumb or keyboard is almost entirely a movement tool.

Move in wide loops rather than short zig-zags. Monsters walk toward you, so looping pulls them into a trailing line that is easy to shoot — especially with piercing attacks like Warden's beams or Titan's shockwave fists. Short back-and-forth movement lets monsters cut across and surround you.

Use the arena's cover. Crates, cars and pillars block monsters, so circling around a piece of cover splits a crowd into smaller groups.

Defeated villains drop gems. Collecting them fills your XP bar, and each level-up pauses the action and offers three upgrade cards drawn from six types: Hero Vitality (+20 max health and a 20-point heal), Quick Boots (+10% speed), Power Fists (+15% basic damage), Focus Core (−10% special cooldown), Split Shot (+1 projectile) and Hero Magnet (+20% pickup radius).

For your first run, take Power Fists and Split Shot early so waves die faster, then mix in Hero Vitality as waves get crowded. The Best Upgrades guide explains priorities in detail.

Crates sometimes appear in the arena. Walking over one picks it up automatically on touch screens; on desktop you can also press E near it. Each crate gives a limited-ammo weapon that fires alongside your hero's own attack: the Laser Rifle (60 shots, piercing), Energy Sword (40 huge close-range slashes), Freeze Ray (50 slowing shots) or Rocket Launcher (18 splash rockets).

The single most useful beginner habit is to carry a fresh crate into a boss wave rather than spending it on ordinary monsters. Read the Weapons & Upgrades page for each weapon's numbers.

Every fifth wave is a boss wave announced by a warning banner. On wave 4 a mini-boss, the Cog Sergeant, joins the normal monsters — treat it as practice and collect every health drop before wave 5 begins.

The wave 5 boss is the Tentacle Professor. Stay near the centre, side-step its arm charge and shoot it while it recovers. Fire your special when the boss and its adds are bunched together. The Tentacle Professor guide covers each of its patterns.

Win or lose, the coins you collected are banked. Spend them in the Hero Lab on permanent perks or on unlocking new heroes — Ion King is the cheapest at 400 coins. A 20-Wave run ends in victory after the wave 20 boss; Endless mode keeps going for as long as you survive.

Next, read Beginner Mistakes to Avoid, then try the How to Play reference for full controls.