AFK Journey Battle Drills

Special thanks to Liriell who created this guide.

Battle Drills is a cooperative game mode available through the Guild system in AFK Journey. It becomes available to all players in a guild who have cleared AFK Stage 50. By completing tasks, you can learn your “Reputation Treasure” and earn all sorts of rewards, while the cumulative performance of your Guild will determine their placement in the ranking.

New Servers will always start with a simpler map consisting of a single lane, and the older the server becomes, each round of Battle Drills will increase the amount of lanes, nodes and consequently coordination needed from your Guild. Every time the map is cleared, it refreshes to a more difficult version, starting with “Stout”, then moving to “Seasoned” up to “Endless” difficulties.

There are three types of nodes: Passages, Strongholds and Bosses.

• Passages require a number of guard waves to be defeated in order to unlock the next node. For this node, it’s recommended to clear the waves with teams of 3 heroes (as much as possible) in order to save stamina and allow for more attacks from each player.
• Strongholds are nodes composed of a team of 5 guards with several HP bars. In other words, it’s like a Passage, but you face the bulk of the added HP of all guards at once. For this node, it’s recommended to bring teams of 5, with heroes who excel in AoE damage. Once a Stronghold is cleared, all players on the lane gain access to one or more buffs, depending on how many the Stronghold held.
• Bosses are powerful enemies with unique mechanics. They function similarly to the Dream Realm bosses, and for this reason, a similar logic to team building applies here as well, adjusting to each boss mechanics.

Battle Drills has a quite intuitive and straightforward strategy. It is also a fair mode, as heroes are automatically leveled to a minimum base. That means that even new players who are below resonance level in comparison to the enemies are able to face them in equal terms. This also means that Tiers will have a heavier impact here, but we will get into those details later. Nevertheless, understanding some key elements and coordinating with your guild mates is key for success.

• Stamina: This is the main resource used to play the mode. The amount of stamina required varies depending on the type of node. Stamina refreshes only once a day, and for this reason, it’s important to pay attention to your heroes’ stamina when planning team comps. This is also why for Passage nodes it’s recommended tobring teams of only 3 heroes, as it allows you an extra attempt. Also, you will want to aim for a team who is able to clear the mob stage with more than 60s left, as this allows three runs with the same team instead of two.
• Optimizing Stamina per type of node: The amount of heroes you can bring to Battle Drills is also limited, but don’t fret! You can select the Command Center button and change your formation as many times as you want. This is particularly useful if from one day to another you happen to increase the Tier or EX weapon of a hero that you didn’t have before. Or, if you acquired someone new that will work better in your strategy. Keep in mind that stamina doesn’t transfer between heroes. If you’re planning on making any changes to your formation, do so after finishing that day’s attempts and before the next reset.

• Optimizing Progression: Whenever there is more than one lane, try to split your Guild’s players based on power level to keep all lanes more or less balanced. Players with lower level should focus on clearing Passages, in order to allow players with higher power level to focus on bosses.

As already mentioned, for Passages (also known as “mob stages”), most of the time you should be able to clear with only 3 heroes. This is the minimum number accepted by the game. Usually, one “tank” (or tanky character), one DPS and one “support” are enough. Keep in mind that clearing the stage faster will save you some Stamina as well, which means that taking advantage of Faction Bonus or heroes who can perform more than one role will definitely help your way here.

For Strongholds and Bosses, bring teams of 5. It’s important to survive the entire encounter and deal as much damage as possible. As a rule of thumb, in Strongholds, DPS heroes who deal lots of AoE damage are favored, while for Bosses, Single Target heroes with high burst or consistent damage take the spotlight. You should, of course, adapt your team comp based on your account. For more in-depth information on Team Building and what roles each character plays, you can check our other Team Building guides:

Team building (beginner)

Team building (advanced)

Hero	Tier	Role	Notes
Dionel	S+	DPS	While Dionel’s damage output is very high, remember that he needs a team buffing and support him to allow him to reach his potential. Great in all types of nodes.
Reinier	S+	Support	A note of caution, despite functioning perfectly fine with only one copy, Reinier can only be considered a S+ hero for this mode once he reaches Mythic+. Before that, his utility and damage potential are limited, and you may fare better bringing someone else. After M+ however, he’s one of the best supports for Bosses.
Smokey & Meerky	S+	Support	Smokey & Meerky is a support who can double as a tank in a lot of situations. This allows you to bring an extra DPS or Specialist in order to clear the stage faster or further increase the score.
Temesia	S+	Specialist	Temesia can double as a tank and sub-DPS, by both harassing enemies and dealing damage in area. She’s nearly unstoppable if you pair her with other harassers like Cassadee, Eironn, Cecia, Florabelle, Granny Dahnie, etc.
Odie	S+	DPS	Odie is a bit slower than his peers to clear Passages and Strongholds due to his focus on single-target damage, but the on-kill energy boost tied to the EX weapon, actually makes him work well there. Like in Dream Realm, the ever-reliable Odie performs best at Bosses.
Cecia	S	DPS	Like in most scenarios outside Battle Drills, Cecia shines in all types of nodes here. Thanks to her CC and summon, she’s easy to place in any team comp, but her damage output falls off a bit in Bosses when compared to other DPS heroes in the same tier.
Florabelle	S	DPS	Florabelle follows a similar recipe to Cecia. The difference here is that she needs more investment to really shine, but has a higher damage potential than Cecia, especially for Bossing.
Rhys	S	DPS	Hitting hard and being capable of delivering both high chunks of ST and AoE damage, Rhys fits well in all kinds of nodes.
Vala	S	DPS	Vala is a fantastic DPS who performs best at Passages and Bosses, performing better at the latter, due to her high bursts of ST damage. Pair her with allies who can buff haste or recover energy, and you’re golden.
Parisa	S	Specialist	Parisa is great at being paired with heroes focused on auto-attacking (Dionel, Odie, Marilee, Vala, Florabelle, etc). She can also deliver bursts of damage who can splash to nearby targets, which can help greatly on mob stages and Strongholds, especially if you have someone to keep the enemies grouped together.
Shakir	S	Specialist	Shakir’s survivability, damage and buff capabilities make him a reliable ally in all types of nodes. However, he shines a bit more at mob stages.

For more characters and their ratings, please check our complete Battle Drills Tier list. All characters are viable in this mode, and remember that the Tier of a hero in your account may make them more valuable for your runs than a hero who is higher on the tier list but not as built. Remember that this list is for reference purposes only. You can always pause the stage and retry until you find your best match.

Tier List

Participating in Battle Drills and completing tasks from the Reputation Treasure can grant you keys to the Chest of Valor. There are two chest options: “Adventurer’s Treasure” and “Stalwart Hoard”. Both are good and a matter of personal preference, although “Stalwart Hoard” is a safer and more versatile pick.