The rule that decides everything
When you join a Bear Hunt rally, the game takes exactly one thing from your march: the first expedition skill of the hero in your first slot. Your other heroes, your other skills, your hero gear, and your chief stats stay home. A rally seats four joiner skills. The first four joiners fill them in join order, and from the fifth joiner on, a higher-level copy of a first skill replaces the lowest-level one currently seated. A level 5 skill can't be displaced, which is why the standard advice is to max your joiner hero's first skill before anything else.
Every combat-relevant first skill, ranked for the bear
Scores are the expected % damage contribution of each first skill at level 5. Chance-based skills count at their expected value (Mia's 50% chance of +50% damage scores as +25%), and class-specific skills count one third because they cover one troop class of a mixed rally. The bear doesn't meaningfully threaten your troops, so survivability contributes nothing here.
| # | Hero | Class | Rarity | First expedition skill | Offense | Defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flint | infantry | Mythic · Gen 2 | Pyromaniac | +33.3% | – |
| 2 | Renee | lancer | Mythic · Gen 6 | Nightmare Trace | +33.3% | – |
| 3 | Reina | lancer | Mythic · Gen 4 | Assassin's Instinct | +30.0% | – |
| 4 | Jessie | lancer | epic | Stand of Arms | +25.0% | – |
| 5 | Jasser | marksman | epic | Tactical Genius | +25.0% | – |
| 6 | Seo-yoon | marksman | epic | Rallying Beat | +25.0% | – |
| 7 | Jeronimo | infantry | Mythic · Gen 1 | Battle Manifesto | +25.0% | – |
| 8 | Mia | lancer | Mythic · Gen 3 | Bad Luck Streak | +25.0% | – |
| 9 | Gwen | marksman | Mythic · Gen 5 | Eagle Vision | +25.0% | – |
| 10 | Wayne | marksman | Mythic · Gen 6 | Thunder Strike | +25.0% | – |
| 11 | Bradley | marksman | Mythic · Gen 7 | Veteran's Might | +25.0% | – |
| 12 | Hendrik | marksman | Mythic · Gen 8 | Worm's Ravage | +25.0% | – |
| 13 | Magnus | infantry | Mythic · Gen 9 | Rapacious | +25.0% | – |
| 14 | Blanchette | marksman | Mythic · Gen 10 | Armed to the Teeth | +25.0% | – |
| 15 | Rufus | marksman | Mythic · Gen 11 | Inferno Regiment | +25.0% | – |
| 16 | Hervor | infantry | Mythic · Gen 12 | Call For Blood | +25.0% | – |
| 17 | Ligeia | marksman | Mythic · Gen 12 | Nerf Poison | +25.0% | – |
| 18 | Flora | lancer | Mythic · Gen 13 | Enmiring Vines | +25.0% | – |
| 19 | Hank | infantry | Mythic · Gen 15 | Roaring Rage | +25.0% | – |
| 20 | Estrella | lancer | Mythic · Gen 15 | Corrosive Color | +25.0% | – |
| 21 | Viveca | marksman | Mythic · Gen 15 | Nightfall Legion | +25.0% | – |
| 22 | Bertha | lancer | Mythic · Gen 17 | Dissection | +25.0% | – |
| 23 | Eleanor | marksman | Mythic · Gen 17 | Theoretical Advantage | +25.0% | – |
| 24 | Logan | infantry | Mythic · Gen 3 | Lion Strike | +24.0% | – |
| 25 | Greg | marksman | Mythic · Gen 3 | Sword of Justice | +24.0% | – |
| 26 | Alonso | marksman | Mythic · Gen 2 | Onslaught | +20.0% | – |
| 27 | Lynn | marksman | Mythic · Gen 4 | Song of Lion | +20.0% | – |
| 28 | Sonya | lancer | Mythic · Gen 8 | Treasure Hunter | +20.0% | – |
| 29 | Dominic | lancer | Mythic · Gen 14 | Mystic Mechanism | +20.0% | – |
| 30 | Aisling | marksman | Mythic · Gen 16 | Songs of the Ancestors | +20.0% | – |
| 31 | Gordon | lancer | Mythic · Gen 7 | Venom Infusion | +16.7% | +10.0% |
| 32 | Philly | lancer | Mythic · Gen 2 | Vigor Tactics | +15.0% | +10.0% |
| 33 | Gregory | infantry | Mythic · Gen 10 | Legion of the Sun | +15.0% | +10.0% |
| 34 | Norah | lancer | Mythic · Gen 5 | Combined Arms | +10.0% | +10.0% |
| 35 | Edith | infantry | Mythic · Gen 7 | Strategic Balance | +6.7% | +6.7% |
Reading the table
- Flint and Renee top the list on class-specific power. Flint's Pyromaniac gives Infantry +100% damage dealt, which averages to 33% across a mixed rally but beats everything if the rally leans Infantry. Renee's Dream Marks do the same for Lancer-heavy rallies. Coordinate with the rally captain's composition before seating a class-specific skill.
- The broad 25-point band is where most alliances live: Jessie (+25% damage dealt), Jasser (+25% damage dealt), Seo-yoon (+25% Attack), and Jeronimo (+25% damage dealt) are the community classics, and the math agrees with the consensus. Two of those are Epics anyone can max, so a low-spending account can seat a top-tier joiner skill.
- Mia's Bad Luck Streak (50% chance of +50% target damage taken) and Gwen's Eagle Vision (+25% target damage taken) score the same as the flat damage buffs, and they stack multiplicatively with them. Four different buff families in the four seats beat four copies of the same skill.
- Defensive first skills (Sergey, Natalia, Molly, Hector) score zero against the bear. Save them for garrison duty.
If you lead the rally
Captains play by different rules: all expedition skills of all three of your heroes count, along with your hero gear and exclusive weapons. Stack your three strongest damage kits, put your highest Attack marksman line in, and let joiners bring the four seat skills. The rally window lasts 30 minutes and repeats every two days, so a settled captain lineup pays off every time.
FAQ
Does my hero's level or gear matter when joining?
No. Only the first expedition skill's level transfers. A level 60 hero with a level 5 first skill contributes exactly as much as a level 80 copy of the same hero.
Is the joiner rule the same for Crazy Joe and castle rallies?
Yes, the same four-seat mechanic governs all rallies and garrison events. The ranking weights differ though: against players, survivability counts. See Best Rally Joiner Heroes.
How were these scores computed?
Straight from this site's hero database, which was cross-validated against at least two community sources per hero in August 2026. Chance-based and periodic skills are encoded as expected values, so treat close rankings as ties.