War Academy
The War Academy is a Fire-Crystal-era building: it has no regular levels, only Fire Crystal ones, and its research — the expert skills — is paid in FC Shards and Steel. It's one of the deepest resource sinks in the game, so it pays to know the numbers before you start.
Plan exact ranges with the War Academy calculator, and see every level in the War Academy wiki.
One tree per troop type
Infantry, Lancer and Marksman each have their own copy of the War Academy tree. Levelling a skill for Infantry does nothing for your Lancers — every troop type is a separate climb, at the same price.
The trees have the same shape and the same costs at every position, but most skills are named differently per troop type. Flame Squad and Flame Legion keep one name everywhere; the Helios skills add the troop name ("Helios Lancer Healing").
What every skill costs
There are 10 skills per tree. To take each from nothing to its maximum level:
| Skill (Infantry / Lancer / Marksman name) | Max level | FC Shards to max | Steel to max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flame Squad | 5 | 258 | 80,000 |
| Flame Strike / Blazing Charge / Crystal Vision | 8 | 1,174 | 292,000 |
| Flame Shield / Blazing Armor / Crystal Armor | 8 | 1,174 | 292,000 |
| Flame Legion | 12 | 3,745 | 1,008,000 |
| Flame Protection / Blazing Guardian / Crystal Protection | 12 | 2,417 | 659,000 |
| Flame Tomahawk / Blazing Lance / Crystal Arrow | 12 | 2,417 | 659,000 |
| Helios Infantry / Helios Lancer / Helios Marksman | 1 | 2,236 | 1,000,000 |
| Helios Infantry Healing / Helios Lancer Healing / Helios Marksman Healing | 10 | 5,582 | 1,630,000 |
| Helios Infantry Training / Helios Lancer Training / Helios Marksman Training | 10 | 5,582 | 1,630,000 |
| Helios Infantry First Aid / Helios Lancer First Aid / Helios Marksman First Aid | 10 | 2,789 | 806,000 |
| One troop type | 27,374 | 8,056,000 |
For one troop type, that's 27,374 FC Shards and 8.1M Steel. For all 3 troop types: 82,122 FC Shards and 24.2M Steel.
Two things stand out:
- The Helios Healing and Helios Training skills (e.g. Helios Lancer Healing) are the most expensive — 5,582 FC Shards each to max.
- The Helios node itself (Helios Infantry / Lancer / Marksman) has a single level, but that one level costs 2,236 FC Shards and 1M Steel — the biggest single step in the tree.
Where FC Shards come from
FC Shards are obtained through an in-game exchange, two ways:
- Fire Crystals: 10 Fire Crystals for 13 FC Shards, sold in batches of 13.
- Steel: 5,000 Steel for 1 FC Shard.
The gap between the routes is huge. Buying one troop type's 27,374 shards with Fire Crystals costs 21,060 Fire Crystals; buying them with Steel would take 136.9M Steel — on top of the Steel the skills themselves cost. For all three troop types the Fire Crystal route is 63,180 Fire Crystals.
That puts the War Academy in direct competition with your buildings for Fire Crystals — the Furnace alone needs 11,610 Fire Crystals to reach FC10 (see the Fire Crystals guide). The War Academy calculator has a shard exchanger built in: it shows how many Fire Crystals or how much Steel the shards your plan still needs would cost.
How to plan the climb
- Pick one troop type first. Three trees at the same price means three times the cost; finishing one type's key skills beats spreading thin across all three.
- Budget shards and Steel together. Every level needs both — check the Steel as well as the shards before you commit.
- Weigh Fire Crystals honestly. Shards bought with Fire Crystals are Fire Crystals not spent on buildings. Decide which upgrade you want first.
- Plan the Helios node as a project. Its single level is the biggest single cost in the tree; save for it rather than trickling resources in.