Kingshot Arena: lineups by generation and where to place heroes

Arena is 5 heroes against a saved defense, with Conquest skills only. Placement and generation matter as much as the team itself.

Where to place your heroes

At the start of a fight every hero attacks a fixed enemy slot (fan wiki, matching what players see in replays):

Front lefthit by 2 at the start

Front righthit by 3 at the start

Back left

Back middlesafest

Back rightback-row skills land here first

Your front left and back left attack the enemy front left. Your front right, back middle and back right attack the enemy front right.
So the enemy's front right takes 3 attackers. Put your sturdier front hero at front right.
Back middle is the safest slot: put your main damage hero there.
Back-row skills (Vivian, Jaeger, Thrud) usually hit back right first. Against them, put a sturdier hero there. Otherwise back left is the more exposed corner, because it stands behind the front hero that usually falls first.

Class counters

Infantry beats cavalry, cavalry beats archers, and archers beat infantry, each for about +10% damage (two independent guides). Look at the enemy's front heroes before you attack: the heroes attacking them are the ones that gain.

How each generation changes Arena

Every generation brings higher base stats, so newer heroes win most later fights even at fewer stars. A well-built older hero can still beat a barely built new one, and Conquest skills are only at full value from 4★.

Gen	Heroes	Attack	Health
1	Amadeus, Helga, Jabel, Saul	2,697	41,624
2	Zoe, Hilde, Marlin	3,235	39,960
3	Eric, Petra, Jaeger	4,045	49,950
4	Alcar, Margot, Rosa	4,989	61,604
5	Long Fei, Thrud, Vivian	5,987	73,926
6	Triton, Sophia, Yang	7,200	88,910
7	Charles, Ava, Wee & Woo	8,656	106,892
8	Diego, Liz, Luna	10,410	128,538

Highest max Conquest attack and health in each generation at 5★, from kingshotoptimizer.com. Gen 8 has 3.9× the top attack of Gen 1.

Best lineups by generation

Two independent guides, AllClash and Kingshot Mastery, publish Arena teams per generation and budget. Front heroes are listed first, then back heroes. "A or B" means either works: use the one you've built more.

Gen 1

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Howard Edwin	Diana Jabel Chenko
Spender AllClash	Howard Helga	Diana Jabel Chenko
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Howard Chenko	Diana Jabel Quinn
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Howard Helga or Chenko	Jabel Diana Saul or Quinn
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Amadeus Helga	Jabel Saul Diana

Gen 2

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Howard Edwin	Zoe Jabel Chenko
Spender AllClash	Howard Helga	Marlin Jabel Saul
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Howard Zoe	Marlin Jabel Chenko
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Zoe Howard or Helga	Marlin Jabel Chenko or Gordon
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Amadeus Helga	Saul Marlin Jabel

Gen 3

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Petra Howard	Zoe Jabel Jaeger
Spender AllClash	Howard Helga	Marlin Jabel Jaeger
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Howard Zoe	Petra Marlin Jabel
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Zoe Eric or Howard	Petra Marlin Jabel or Jaeger
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Eric Amadeus	Petra Jaeger Marlin or Hilde

Gen 4

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Petra Howard	Zoe Jaeger Rosa
Spender AllClash	Margot Alcar	Marlin Rosa Jaeger
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Zoe your best front hero	Rosa Petra Marlin or Jabel
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Alcar Zoe or Eric	Rosa Petra Margot or Jaeger
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Alcar Eric	Margot Rosa Jaeger

Gen 5

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Petra Long Fei	Zoe Jaeger Rosa
Spender AllClash	Alcar Long Fei	Margot Thrud Vivian
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Long Fei Zoe or your best front hero	Rosa Vivian Jabel
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Long Fei Alcar or your best front hero	Vivian Rosa Margot or Jaeger
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Alcar Long Fei	Vivian Margot Thrud

Gen 6

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Sophia Long Fei	Rosa Jaeger Yang
Spender AllClash	Sophia Long Fei	Margot Thrud Yang
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Triton Long Fei or Zoe	Sophia Vivian Jaeger
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Triton Alcar	Sophia Yang Vivian
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Triton Alcar	Sophia Yang Vivian

Gen 7

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play AllClash	Sophia Long Fei	Rosa Wee & Woo Yang
Spender AllClash	Sophia Long Fei	Ava Wee & Woo Thrud
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Charles Triton	Sophia Wee & Woo Vivian
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Charles Triton or Alcar	Sophia Wee & Woo Yang or Vivian
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Charles Triton	Sophia Wee & Woo Yang

Gen 8

Budget, guide	Front	Back
Free to play Kingshot Mastery	Diego Triton	Sophia Wee & Woo Vivian
Low spender Kingshot Mastery	Diego Charles	Sophia Liz Wee & Woo
Spender Kingshot Mastery	Charles Diego	Liz Luna Sophia

Check your own team

The calculator's Arena tab builds the best of these teams from your heroes, stars and levels, places them by the rules above, and checks an opponent's lineup before you attack.

Open the Arena planner

Targeting from the Kingshot fan wiki; class counters from kingshotguides.com and Kingshot Mastery; hero stats from kingshotoptimizer.com. These are rules and guide teams, not a battle simulation: Arena timing data (attack speed, cooldowns, crit) isn't public.