Hi, I’m Pikaboo — your guide for this codex. Everything here is what I’ve learned about Lands of Jail, written down to help you win more fights.
New? Read These Seven Things
The rest of this guide is for looking things up whenever you need an answer. This part is a step-by-step path. Go down the list in order and you’ll understand every fight you get into.
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- 1Learn the counter triangleThree troop types, each strong against one and weak to another. Nothing else in the game matters more.
- 2Know what your four stats doAttack, Lethality, Defense, HP. Two of them help you win fights, and two help you survive them.
- 3Set your army ratioHow much of each troop type to send in each situation. Copy the starting ratios, then adjust them.
- 4Understand “wounded” vs deadMost knocked-out troops come back. Only solo attacks on a prison, and a full Hospital, kill troops for good. This surprises most players.
- 5Learn how heroes workFour simple rules explain all 46 heroes. Most useful: each hero’s EE text tells you the job that hero is best at.
- 6Tell the guide which heroes you ownSelect the heroes you have, and the guide will suggest lineups using only those heroes.
- 7Join rallies and run the eventsRallies, the Cage and Gorilla Legion give the best rewards. Each one has its own rules.
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The Three Troops
Every army is made of three troop types that work like rock–paper–scissors: each type beats one type and loses to another. Know which beats which before you attack — a bad matchup can lose a fight you should have won.
Shieldbearers beat Bombers, Bombers beat Shooters, Shooters beat Shieldbearers. Always bring all three.
How big is the counter?
Each troop type deals +10% damage to the type it beats, and Shieldbearers take 9.09% less damage from Bombers. On top of that, Shooters have a 10% chance to deal double damage, and each Bomber attack has a 20% chance to hit the Shooters in the back row.
- Shieldbearer → BomberShieldbearers are too tough for Bombers to hurt.
- Bomber → ShooterBombers hit the whole group at once and wipe out weak Shooters.
- Shooter → ShieldbearerShooters deal too much damage for Shieldbearers to survive.
Shieldbearer
The wall. Stands up front and takes the hits so the rest of your army survives. Very high HP and Defense, but deals little damage.
Bomber
The crowd-clearer. One attack hits a whole group of enemies at once — great against big groups of Shooters. Weak defense, so keep it protected.
Shooter
Your main damage dealer. Deals the most damage and gets the most kills. Very strong, but fragile — it goes down fast when attacked, especially by Bombers.
The Four Combat Stats
Every troop and every buff comes down to these four numbers. Two are about dealing damage, two are about surviving it.
Attack starts kills, Lethality finishes them, Defense and HP prevent them. When attacking, raise Attack first.
Attack
How hard your army hits. The higher your Attack, the more enemy troops get knocked down and sent toward the hospital. Attack is about how many troops you hurt.
Defense
How much incoming damage your army can absorb. Defense cancels out enemy Attack and makes it harder for enemy hits to kill your troops for good.
Health (HP)
Each troop's hit points — how much damage one soldier can take before going down. More HP means your army lasts longer and fewer troops go down at all.
Lethality
How likely a hit kills for good instead of just wounding. High Lethality turns temporary injuries into permanent enemy losses. Lethality is about how deadly your hits are.
Attack & Lethality are your sword — they deal damage and turn it into kills. HP & Defense are your armor — they help you last longer than the enemy, so more of your losses are wounded instead of dead.
Built-in Troop Abilities
Besides their stats, each troop type has its own built-in perks. The first two are always on; the FORTICLAD skills unlock as you raise that troop's Forticlad Level in the Barracks.
Each troop type has two free perks that are always on, plus two more you unlock in the Barracks.
Shieldbearer
Bomber
Shooter
Each type's "+10%" perk works against the same troop it already beats in the triangle — the counters are built right in.
After the Battle
A battle report puts every troop into one of four groups. Only one is a real, permanent loss — the rest come back. Knowing this keeps you from panicking over a scary-looking report.
Most knocked-out troops come back. Troops die for good only in solo attacks on a prison (30% of the attacker’s knocked-out troops) or when a Hospital is full.
Never took a hit. Fully ready for the next fight.
Took some damage. Heals to full the moment it gets home; until then it stays in the march and can’t fight.
Knocked out and sent to the Hospital. Recovers — as long as there's room.
Dead for good. The only group you can never get back.
Keep your Hospital empty
When you're defending, troops that would have died are counted as Heavily Wounded and sent to the Hospital instead. So a report can show huge losses but zero deaths.
But this only works while the Hospital has space. Once it is full, any extra troops die for real. Keep your Hospital big and empty, and you can lose fight after fight without losing troops for good.
When it’s full, the Recruitment Hall gives back 70% of the troops that died as reserves (100% with Mobilization Protocol), and it holds up to 4× your Hospital’s size. Troops you send to help an ally go to your own Hospital when they’re severely wounded.
The Defender's Advantage
In a solo attack on a prison, this “wounded instead of dead” protection only helps the defender: 30% of the attacker’s knocked-out troops die, while the defender loses none for good.
In rallies, tile fights and other fights on the map, nobody’s troops die: 65% of the knocked-out troops are lightly wounded and 35% go to the Hospital.
Who loses troops for good
Each kind of fight has fixed shares. The percentages are shares of the troops that were knocked out; troops that were never hit count as Survived.
| Fight | Die | Lightly wounded | Hospital |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo attack on a prison — attacker | 30% | 60% | 10% |
| Solo attack on a prison — defender | 0% | 60% | 40% |
| Rallies, tile fights, alliance flags | 0% | 65% | 35% |
| Fortresses (Dark Ironhold and others) | 0% | 60% | 40% |
| Overlord season | 0% | all wounded | |
A full Hospital still turns its overflow into deaths. Pluto’s pilot skill and the Emergency Shelter buff protect an attacker’s troops, and in the Dreadwaker season Wartime Recovery heals up to 50% of an attacker’s Hospital troops.
Army Ratios by Situation
There's no single "best" army — the right mix of the three troop types depends on what you're doing. These are good starting ratios to work from.
Solo: 50% Shieldbearers, 5% Bombers and 45% Shooters. Rally: 50% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 40% Shooters. Defense: 60% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 30% Shooters. Cage: 0% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 90% Shooters. Start there, then adjust.
Simple rule: use lots of Shieldbearers in front and lots of Shooters for damage, with only a few Bombers. On defense, use even more Shieldbearers. The Cage is the exception — see the .
Note — these are starting points, not rules. The best ratio for attacking, defending and rallying depends on which troops you've built up most and what ratio the enemy uses. Start with these, then adjust for your own account and what you see when you scout the enemy.
Always check what the enemy is bringing — then counter the type they bring most
Look at the enemy’s army before you attack. Find the troop type they have the most of, and send the type that beats it: Shooters beat Shieldbearers · Shieldbearers beat Bombers · Bombers beat Shooters. Don’t send the same Shooter-heavy ratio into every fight.
- Lots of Shieldbearers — send lots of Shooters to wear them down, and use zero Bombers (your Bombers would only hit their Shieldbearers). About 40% Shieldbearers, 0% Bombers and 60% Shooters.
- Lots of Shieldbearers and Bombers, no Shooters — send Shooters to break through their Shieldbearers, plus enough Shieldbearers to take the hits from their Bombers. Use no Bombers of your own (yours would only hit their Shieldbearers). About 45% Shieldbearers, 0% Bombers and 55% Shooters.
- Lots of Shooters — bring Bombers. Bombers beat Shooters, so a Bomber-heavy attack hits their biggest group hard. About 10% Shieldbearers, 50% Bombers and 40% Shooters.
- An even mix — use your normal ratio for the job (rally: 50% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 40% Shooters; solo: 50% Shieldbearers, 5% Bombers and 45% Shooters).
Can't break their Shieldbearer wall? Outlast it
Attacking a defender whose Shieldbearers and Defense are stronger than yours? Sending more of the same army won't work. Change your ratio instead and use more Shooters — about 30–40% Shieldbearers, 0% Bombers and 60–70% Shooters. You can't beat their wall by defending better, but you can outlast it — a big group of Shooters with good health keeps your army alive long enough to wear the wall down.
Use zero Bombers. Your Bombers attack the enemy's Shieldbearers, so against a big Shieldbearer wall they end up hitting the enemy's strongest troops — even if your Bombers are stronger than theirs. Leave Bombers out and add those troops to your Shooters.
Bring heroes whose skills work every round. Alph's skills help every round, no matter what. Some skills, like Worrell's, only turn on if the game's pre-fight check says you would win — so against a stronger defender they do nothing. The check pits equal troop numbers against each other, each side at its own ratio — so it compares troop strength and ratio, not army size. Skills that always work are what beat the toughest defenders. That is also why Alph is a better solo Bomber than Worrell.
Can't break through? Use about 30–40% Shieldbearers, 0% Bombers and 60–70% Shooters, and let your Shooters' health win the fight. This works best when you have more troops or more health than the enemy. If your troop counts are about equal, it's a close call — so scout first.Common Questions
The questions new players ask most, each answered in a line or two. Every answer links to the section that explains it in full.
How many troops do I actually send?
Use the ratio for the job: solo attack 50% Shieldbearers, 5% Bombers and 45% Shooters; rally 50% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 40% Shooters; defense 60% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 30% Shooters; Cage 0% Shieldbearers, 10% Bombers and 90% Shooters. Send as many troops as you can — but getting the ratio right matters more than the total number.
Which hero should I build first?
The one whose EE text matches how you play. If you mostly defend, build a hero whose EE says “while defending.” If you are choosing between two, the newer generation is almost always better — a Gen 7 hero gives more than double a Gen 3 hero’s troop bonus.
What’s the difference between wounded and dead?
Wounded troops go to your hospital and come back. Dead ones are gone. Troops only die for good in a solo attack on a prison (30% of the attacker’s knocked-out troops) or when a Hospital is full. In rallies and tile fights nobody’s troops die.
I had better stats and still lost. Why?
Usually one of three reasons: the enemy brought the troop type that beats yours, your whole army was knocked out first, or you attacked and the defender had the defender’s advantage. Stats alone don’t decide a fight.
Do I have to deploy a hero to get its passive?
No — the +15% army-wide passives work whether or not that hero is in your lineup. Just owning the hero is enough. It’s basically free power.
What is Tactical DMG and why do people care?
A second kind of damage, sized from the dealing troop type’s ATK, with its own boosts and defenses. Some heroes deal it, and one hero — Otto — boosts all of it by 75%. Pairing someone who deals it with Otto is one of the strongest combos in the game.
Why is my Cage score so low when the rally hit huge numbers?
Because your score is only your own formation’s damage, not the rally total you see on screen. Lead your own five rallies and join six more — both add to your score.
Which heroes are a waste of a joiner slot?
All R-rarity heroes (Durga, Pasino, Aiksen, Harton) plus Flora and Mia — their top skill does nothing in battle, so they only add troops. In the Cage, also skip any hero that weakens enemy troops: the boss isn’t an army, so there are no troops to weaken. In any rally, skip heroes the leader is already using, and don’t bring a third Ada — her weakening skill only counts twice per rally, and a leading Ada counts as one.
Can I use the same hero in two formations at once?
Not in the same mode — a hero leading one rally can’t lead another rally at the same time. Different modes are fine, since you never defend and solo attack at the same moment.
What does the EE line on each hero card mean?
It’s the war skill from the hero’s Exclusive Equipment, and the mode it names is the job that hero is built for: “while defending,” “during rally attacks,” or “during solo combats.” The bonus only works in that mode, so build lineups where all three heroes have the same mode.