The Warshell decides your second half
Your Warshell is the shell your Giant fights inside. Upgrading it is the single biggest power decision you make in a match, and it is the reason some Giants feel weak early and unbeatable late.
Spend Merits at the Arsenal to upgrade your Warshell and customise how your Giant fights. The four families are:
| Build | Identity | Best on | | --- | --- | --- | | Kinetic | Attack speed, recovery and sustained trades. | Wolfgang, Striker, Kragg | | Alchemic | Ability power and cooldown reduction. | Flint, Voidmaster, Malgrove | | Survival | Armor, shields and stored damage. | Trenchmaw, Dreadnot, Victoria | | Soldiers | Army size, soldier damage and rally effects. | Goliath, Ossuary, Solace |
Pick one, then commit
The most common build mistake is buying a little from every family. Each family compounds: a soldier build with two soldier items is far stronger than the sum of its parts, and a split build is weaker than either pure path.
Commit to a primary family at your first back, then take a single secondary only if the enemy composition demands it.
When to farm and when to fight
Carries like Wolfgang and Ossuary reach their real power only after Warshell investment, which means their early game is farming, not fighting. Supports like Solace and Striker stay useful without investment, so they should be spending Merits on items that help the team.
If you are a carry and you are behind, the answer is almost never to fight harder. Farm the side lanes and force the enemy to either come and stop you or lose the map.
Ability upgrade order
For most Giants, upgrade the ability you use to clear the soldier wave first. Lane pressure comes from wave clear, and a Giant that cannot clear a wave cannot hold ground.
Exceptions are the enable-heavy supports: Solace and Striker should upgrade their disable first, because their job in a fight is to make somebody else's damage land.