01. Why This Works
The staggered rally strategy replaces the typical chaotic vault run — where everyone starts their own rallies whenever they feel like it — with a coordinated rotation system. Designated captains start rallies at precise intervals, and everyone else joins them. Three reasons it outperforms the free-for-all approach:
Stronger Rallies
In a rally, ONLY the leader's buffs apply to the entire group. A rally led by a Level 30 player with maxed buffs hits significantly harder than one led by a Level 15. Same troops, same vault, more damage — purely because of the captain's buffs.
More Rallies
Staggering start times (e.g., one rally every 25 seconds) means there is always a rally available to join. No downtime, no overlap where two captains split joiners between them. Every rally fills efficiently.
Max Participation
With a predictable rotation, every player can join more rallies during the 30-minute window. The rotation guarantees a steady stream of rallies. More rallies joined = more damage = better rewards.
Remember: Rewards are based on your total damage. The final rankings message does show the damage rank for all participants, but the rewards you get are based on your personal damage total, not your rank. Even if you aren't top 10 in damage, you can still earn higher-tier rewards by maximizing your damage through joining more rallies led by strong captains.
02. Timeline: Before the Vault
All Players Online
Begin assembling the captain rotation schedule based on who is available. Have your players let you know IMMEDIATELY if they CANNOT stay for the entire 30-minute run so they can be excluded from the captain rotation. Captains who leave mid-run create gaps in the schedule that hurt everyone.
Captain Rotation Published
Post in alliance chat: who is a captain and in what order, and the stagger interval for this run. Everyone should review the rotation and know their position.
Vault Opens — Go Time
First captain starts their rally immediately. The rotation begins.
03. Sample Schedule
A captain rotation schedule will look something like this. The order shown is the planned sequence of captains leading rallies.
🏦 VAULT RALLY SCHEDULE Stagger: 35s CAPTAIN ROTATION: Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Player 8 Player 9 Player 10
04. Why Captains Are the Strongest Players
This is not about rank, ego, or favoritism. It is strictly about game mechanics.
When you join a rally, the damage your troops deal is boosted by the RALLY LEADER'S buffs — not your own. Your troops, their buffs. This means:
+ A rally led by a top player with strong research = everyone in that rally hits harder
− A rally led by a lower-level player = everyone does less damage, even if the joiners are strong
There are NO extra points, rewards, or benefits for being a captain. Captains are doing the alliance a service by leading rallies. If you're curious about the impact, check your damage numbers after a vault run and compare across different captains' rallies. You'll see noticeably higher damage in rallies led by top players.
To view your damage numbers for the most recent vault run, click on the Vault on the state map then click "Rewards". Then click "Damage Rankings" and the small clipboard icon next to your name at the bottom of the screen. The following screen shows your damage on all runs you participated in and who hosted it. You will likely see your highest damage runs were the ones hosted by top players. Keep in mind this isn't the only factor — the heroes you and others join with affect damage output for everyone, as does your squad makeup.
This benefits lower-level players the most. Your troops punch way above their weight when riding a strong captain's buffs.
05. Rules for Captains (Assigned Rally Starters)
Know Who You Follow in the Rotation
The rotation order and the stagger interval are all you need. When the captain before you starts their rally, yours starts one stagger interval later. Watch for their rally to appear and count off the stagger.
Start When It's Your Turn
Don't go early, don't go late. Everyone behind you is timing off the captain before them, so if you start early or late, it can throw off the entire rotation.
After Your Rally Launches, Prepare Your Next
After the 5-minute gather timer expires and troops march, prepare to start your next rally. DON'T ASSUME YOUR NEXT RALLY GOES OUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR FIRST ONE RETURNS. A full rally cycle takes approximately 5 minutes 40 seconds (5:00 rally gather + 20s march to vault + 20s march back), so your next start comes one full cycle after your previous one — or simply watch for the captain before you and count off the stagger again.
Do NOT Start Rallies Out of Turn
This disrupts the rotation.
If You Need to Leave Mid-Run, Tell Leadership ASAP
So the rotation can be adjusted before it cascades into gaps.
Optimal Captain Lineup
Andre, Scarlett, and Lucy. See Section 7 for why.
Lead Your Own Rallies with Your Best Heroes
If you want your strongest (optimal) heroes deployed in your own rallies (which you should), it is fine to start your next rally before continuing to join other rallies. Just keep to the rotation and start when your turn comes around.
06. Rules for Joiners
Everyone else — including captains JOINING other captains' rallies.
Always Join the Next Available Rally
Top of the list. First come, first served. Jump into whatever is open.
Do NOT Cherry Pick Rallies
Don't skip a rally because you're waiting for a specific captain. Join the next one available. The rotation is designed so that you'll cycle through all captains naturally.
If a Rally Is Full, Wait for the Next One
Another rally will start within seconds. Do NOT start your own rally — it will be disbanded.
Keep Joining Until the Event Ends
Every rally you join is more damage and better rewards.
Lead Your Strongest Squads with Vixen & Andre
When joining, your strongest squads (i.e., first 2 rally joins) should be led by Vixen and Andre. They have the strongest deployment buffs for the vault.
07. Optimal Hero Selection
The vault is an event that is nothing more than a "damage sink". The goal is to do as much damage as possible during the event. The vault boss has a VERY minimal defense rating and does no return damage. Therefore, the optimal hero selection focuses on maximizing damage output rather than survivability (defense, damage taken reduction, etc.). Remember that in rallies, the rally captain has all their hero's buffs applied. Among all the joiners, only the first skill of each member's first hero will apply, with a maximum of the 4 highest-level skills taking effect (excluding Hero Exclusive Equipment skills).
The vault uses the hero's "Deploy" skills. As such, here are why the heroes listed above are the optimal heroes for deployment:
For Rally Captains
Brooke
- ◇Unyielding Essence: Reduces all Officers' Incoming Damage(useless — no return damage)
- ◆Fighting Spirit: Increases all Officers' Attack
- ◆Destructive Force: Increases all Officers' Penetration
- ◆Survival of the Fittest: (exclusive equipment skill) Increases Rally Squad Penetration
Scarlett
- ◇Shadow Step: Chance to decrease all Officers' incoming damage (useless — no return damage)
- ◆Surprise Attack: Gives all officers a chance to do bonus damage
- ◆Cold Killer: Increases all Officers' Penetration
- ◆Weapons Master: (exclusive equipment skill) Increases her damage
Lucy
- ◇Sunny Sense: Decreases all squads' incoming damage (useless — no return damage)
- ◆Ray of Sunshine: Gives all squads a chance to do bonus damage
No Brooke? If you don't have Brooke, pick your next strongest guard — it doesn't matter, as none of them have any skills that will specifically assist in the Vault (Leon, Cassie, Gus).
For Joiners
Andre
- ◆War Cry: Increases all Officers' Penetration
Vixen
- ◆Armed to the Teeth: Increases all Officers' Penetration
Why Not These Heroes?
| Hero | Why Skipped |
|---|---|
| Tony | Deploy skills provide defense and health, construction upgrades, and officer's penetration increase. The penetration skill (Destructive Formation) is nice, but not necessary since the vault boss has such a low defense rating. Lucy's chance to do bonus damage is better here. |
| Rix | Deploy skills reduce energy consumption and increase dispatch speed. |
| Leon | Deploy skills reduce damage taken and enemy attack. |
| Gary | Deploy skills increase officer's health (not needed due to no return damage) and increase Officers' attack (useful, but Scarlett's skills are better). |
| Cassie, Alvin, Zoc, Gus | All their skills are strictly resource gathering/production related. |
Keep in mind: These are optimal choices for your strongest squad (rally captain's squad / first joining squad). This does not mean don't use other heroes. They just won't boost your squad damage as much as the ones listed above.
08. Optimal Rally Heroes
Section 07 explains why each hero is good. This section is the plug-and-play cheat sheet: the exact hero lineups to run for each of your rallies. In reality, most players only have enough troops to fully fill three deployments, so these cover the rallies that actually matter. After the lineups below, just use your best remaining heroes (or whatever the game auto-assigns).
Why only three deployments? Depending on your level and research, each deployment holds roughly 50k–120k troops — about 150k–360k troops to fully fill three. There are currently three heroes of each type (Guard, Biker, Marksman) across Legendary and Epic, so these are the three best combinations for your first three rallies as a captain, and your first two as a joiner. Joiners only get two because only Andre and Vixen have a first-deployment skill that affects rallies.
With Andre Unlocked
Rally Captains
Joiners
Without Andre Unlocked
Rally Captains
Joiners
Without Brooke Unlocked
Rally Captains
Joiners
A Few Points of Clarity
Andre vs. Vixen ordering
Andre and Vixen's first-deployment skill grant the same penetration buff. Use whichever one has the higher skill level on the earlier rally (your #2 rally rather than #3, for example), and the other on the later one (hero exclusive equipment skills do not apply when joining a rally).
Why lead with Brooke, not Andre?
For a captain's rally, Andre is technically a slightly stronger lead than Brooke. But Andre is one of only two heroes that lend a useful skill when joining a rally. If you lead with Andre, he's locked into your own rally and can't boost anyone else's. Lead with Brooke instead, and Andre is free to be the first hero in your #2 rally and Vixen the first in your #3 — more total damage across all your rallies. You're sacrificing a small benefit in your lead rally for a greater benefit in one of your joining rallies.
What if Rix outranks Tony (or vice versa)?
It doesn't matter. Neither lends a useful deployment skill when joining (so never make either your first hero), and neither beats Lucy for a captain's first rally. Their level, skill, or stats relative to each other have no impact here.
09. Troop Composition
The ideal troop ratio for the vault is 10% guards / 20% bikers / 70% marksmen (a 1:2:7 split). This comes straight from the game devs, and it lines up with what the vault actually is: a damage sink with no return damage and a boss that has very little defense rating. You don't need tanks — you need raw damage output, and marksmen deliver the most damage per troop slot.
Applies to every squad. Captains AND joiners. Every squad you deploy — rally captain squad, joining squads, all of them — should follow the 1:2:7 split. In reality this exact ratio may only be available for your first squad. The bottom line is, always max out your marksmen in a deployment UP TO 70%
10. How Joining Multiple Rallies Works
Let's say you have enough troops to join 3 rallies simultaneously, and the current stagger interval is 30 seconds:
| Time | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|
| T-30:00 | Join Rally #1 (first squad) | 1 of 3 squads deployed |
| T-29:30 | Join Rally #2 (second squad) | 2 of 3 squads deployed |
| T-29:00 | Join Rally #3 (third squad) | All squads deployed |
| T-28:30 | Rally #4 starts — CAN'T join yet | Waiting for squads to return |
| T-25:00 | Rally #1 launches (5:00 gather timer expires) | Squads marching to vault |
| T-24:40 | Squads arrive at vault (20s march) | Fighting! |
| T-24:20 | Squads return to base (20s march back) | First squad available again |
| T-23:30 | Rally #4 launches — your squads arrive ~30s before it hits | Rejoin the cycle! |
Note: The 20-second march time is a conservative estimate. The closer you are to the vault, the shorter your march times.
11. Adjustments During the Run
It is almost impossible to fully restructure the rotation mid-run (e.g., inserting a new captain into the middle of the schedule). Changes will be limited to adding captains at the end of the rotation or replacing a captain who left with someone else online.
13. Why More Players Online = More Rallies for Everyone
The number of captains directly controls how many rallies can be run. The more high-level players online before the start, the more captains you can designate, the tighter the stagger interval, and the more rallies everyone gets to join.
| Captains | Stagger | Total Rallies | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 captains | 35 seconds | ~43 rallies | — |
| 15 captains | 25 seconds | ~60 rallies | +17 rallies |
Even if a joiner only participates in 25% of all available rallies, those 17 extra rallies mean 4 more rallies joined. At 500K average damage per rally, that's an extra 2 MILLION damage — which could bump you up a tier on the damage rewards chart.
14. How to Build Your Rotation
A good rotation comes down to three numbers: how many captains you have, the full rally cycle time, and the stagger interval. Here's how to put them together:
Count Your Captains
Take stock of who is online, strong, and able to stay for the full 30-minute run (see Section 02). More captains = a tighter stagger and more rallies for everyone (see Section 13).
Know the Cycle Time
A full rally "cycle" is approximately 5 minutes 40 seconds: the 5:00 gather timer PLUS 40 seconds for march time (20s to the vault + 20s back). The 20s march is a conservative estimate — being closer to the vault shortens this.
Calculate the Stagger Interval
Divide the cycle time (340 seconds) by the number of captains, then round UP to the next 5-second increment. 10 captains: 340 ÷ 10 = 34 → 35s stagger. 15 captains: 340 ÷ 15 ≈ 23 → 25s stagger. As long as the stagger is at least cycle ÷ captains, every captain's troops are home before their next turn comes around.
Set the Order and Publish It
Post the rotation order and stagger interval in alliance chat before the vault opens (see the Sample Schedule in Section 03). The first captain starts at T-0, every captain after starts one stagger interval behind the one before them, and each captain restarts one full cycle after their own previous start.
Mind the deadline. No rally should start after approximately T-5:20 — it won't arrive before the vault closes (see Section 15).
15. Last Call & Hard Deadline
📢 Last Call Announcement
At roughly T-06:30, make a "last call" announcement in alliance chat for anyone and everyone who can (NOT just designated captains) to start a rally.
This is to get AS MANY rallies available as possible during the last 5 minutes when players' troops are returning but starting a new rally at that point is not viable. Even if you have just 1 hero or 1 troop, start a rally. This is another rally for others to join and do damage, and there will likewise be plenty for you to join as well.
⏱️ The Hard Deadline
The vault closes at EXACTLY 30:00. Rallies must ARRIVE at the vault before it closes, not just be started.
Since rallies have a 5:00 gather timer + ~20 second march time, the LAST rally must be STARTED no later than approximately T-5:20. Any rally started after that will not arrive before the vault closes.
Account for this when building your rotation (see Section 14).
16. Syringes
Before each vault run, alliance members should donate their Tranquilizer Syringes to the Vault Trap. Each level of the trap increases the entire alliance's attack against the vault.
| Level | Damage Bonus (vs. Master of Heists) | Syringes to Next Level | Cumulative Syringes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (base) | +0% | 200 | 0 |
| 1 | +5.0% | 300 | 200 |
| 2 | +10.0% | 400 | 500 |
| 3 | +15.0% | 500 | 900 |
| 4 | +20.0% | 500 | 1,400 |
| 5 (MAX) | +25.0% | — | 1,900 |
Donate them. Syringes can ONLY be obtained from daily intel tasks and have no other use in the game — if you're sitting on them, you're wasting them. Every syringe also earns you 200 Alliance Coins for the Alliance Store, so there is literally zero reason not to donate. Check your inventory, donate before the vault opens, and help the whole alliance hit harder.
17. Quick Reference
👑 Captains
- ✅Start rallies when it's your turn
- ✅Follow the published rotation exactly
- ❌Don't start early or late
- ❌Don't assume your next rally is immediately after return
🤝 Joiners
- ✅Join the next available rally (top of list)
- ✅Keep joining until the event ends
- ❌Don't cherry pick rallies
- ❌Don't start your own rallies
- ❌Don't skip rallies waiting for a "better" captain
📢 Everyone
- ✅Be online 10 minutes before the vault opens
- ✅Tell leadership if you can't stay the full 30 minutes
- ✅Donate your syringes before each run
Let's Take Down the Vault 🏦
This system benefits everyone — stronger players lead, all players deal more damage, and the alliance climbs the vault rankings together.