Best Garrison Heroes

Defense uses the same seat rule

Garrisons and defensive rallies read joiners the same way attack rallies do: the first expedition skill of your first-slot hero, four seats, higher skill levels displace lower ones. The difference is what the seat should hold. A defending force wins by surviving longer than the attacker's damage window, so damage reduction and stat buffs that keep troops standing outrank raw damage.

Every viable defensive first skill, ranked

Scores weight survivability fully and offense at half, the mirror of the attack ranking. Chance-based skills count at expected value: Natalia's and Molly's 40% chance of halving damage taken scores as a flat 20%.

Reading the table

• Patrick is the budget anchor of the whole table. His Super Nutrients (+25% Health for all troops) matches the newest Mythics at a fraction of the shard cost, and Health applies against every damage type. If you max one Epic for defense, max Patrick.
• The 25-point tier is full of recent Infantry Mythics for a reason: Eleonora (+25% Health), Elif (-25% enemy Attack), Seigel (+25% Health), and Ursar (-25% enemy Attack) all lead with squad -wide survival. Two of Gen 17's three (Aiden and Bertha) also carry defender-focused exclusive weapons, which count when you hold your own city.
• Enemy debuffs defend as well as buffs. Walis Bokan and Ling Shuang (both Epics) cut enemy damage or Attack by 20%, and they're far cheaper to max than any Mythic.
• Ahmose's Viper Formation is the one conditional in the top tier: huge Infantry damage reduction, but it costs his Infantry an attack every fourth strike and its value depends on an Infantry-heavy garrison.

Exclusive weapons matter here

When you garrison your own city, your full kit applies, and 33 of the 52 Mythic exclusive weapons carry a Defender Troops buff (+15% to Attack, Defense, Health, or Lethality at max). Molly, Zinman, Edith, Aiden, and Bertha all convert into meaningfully better wall heroes once their gear reaches level 2. Track gear levels in My Heroes so future defense calculators can count them.

FAQ

Should I seat a damage skill if I own no defensive ones?

Yes. Offense still counts at half weight because dead attackers deal nothing, and an empty seat helps nobody. Jessie's +25% damage dealt is a fine garrison seat until you level a defensive first skill.

Why is Sergey ranked below Patrick when he reduces damage?

Sergey's Defender's Edge caps at -20% damage taken while Patrick's Health buff caps at +25%, and the model scores each point equally. In practice they stack, and an alliance wants both seated. Treat anything within a few points as a tie.

Do these rankings apply to the Labyrinth?

Only partially. Land of Heroes and Gaia Heart apply full hero kits rather than the joiner rule, so all three expedition skills count there. A dedicated Labyrinth hero ranking needs the multi-army simulation layer first; the optimizer flags that caveat on those zones today.