[Updated 7/2/2025]
When you start the game, you only have the title character - Mr. Autofire. As you proceed in the game you will unlock more heroes.
How to unlock Heroes for free:
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The daily weekday events (Metal Monday, Toxic Tuesday, etc) will drop 1 shard more often than not, so in approx. 10 weeks you should be able to unlock the remaining daily heroes: Mr. Autofire, Dr. Toxic, Frostina, Blazia, Hecate, Zusara
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You get a free Summon Gate every week, which will yield 2-10 Shards of a free hero.
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Once you beat World 10, Castle Keys may drop during the Daily Hero Dungeon runs. In the castles you can get Castle Hero Shards as drops and there are also some shards as one-time clear rewards.
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Shards can also be offered as Promo Codes, Login Bonuses or in events like Board Games.
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The Tower Shop features shards for some great heroes but it will take a while to earn enough points (you have to complete World 5 even to have access to the Tower Tournament).
How to pay to speed up unlocking Heroes:
- There are offers where you can directly pay and unlock the hero.
- If you buy the Battle Pass or Super Battle Pass, you will usually get some shards as track rewards
- The Rainbow Hero Recruitment Shards from the Super Battle Pass (SBP) can be used to unlock Heroes.
- You can use gems to open regular Summon Gates (you could do this even with gems farmed for free but you won’t be able to do it often enough to make a difference). I would recommend not spending your gems on these.
- You can use gems to open Special Hero Crates (which either feature a Free Hero with Double Chance or a Restricted/Premium Hero without Double Chance).
Tip: See recommendations for the Best Way to Spend Gems