Last ZLast Z Field Guide
Last Z heroes
PCKS · The Pancakes

The PancakesAlliance Handbook

How our alliance actually runs — the rules, the ranks, and the etiquette. Any alliance is welcome to copy these; they're the difference between a random roster and a real team.

Back to the Field Guide
Season 5 · Moonlit Elegy

Your Season 5 Plan

Moonlit Elegy reaches our server around Wednesday, September 16. Check the in-game countdown for the exact hour. The same season rewards different moves depending on how much you spend, so find your column below. Full season detail is on the Seasons page.

Everyone · Before and During

The Moves That Don't Depend on Money

  1. Bank before the reset: diamonds, fuel, orange hero fragments, skill books and speed-ups. Season shops sell once-only stock, and S5 reportedly burns about twice the fuel of S3.
  2. Land a first kill every day from hour one. Demon Stones only drop from your first kill of the day, and they feed the Mysterious Witch. A missed day can't be made up.
  3. Sprint the Witch to Affection 10. That's when Moonlight cards can be equipped at all. You need about 12 good cards equipped, not all 52.
  4. Serum Lab first, then four Shadow Springs, then the ATK/DEF/DMG buildings.
  5. Hold your Moon Tokens until the Trade Hubs open, around day 11.
  6. Play the night. Night Succubus kills have their own daily counter, and Fiend Hunter camps vanish at dawn.
  7. Spend on the matching Duel day, and especially Awakening Badges on Hero day (Day 4).
Free-to-Play

Win on Discipline

  • Pick one hero and push them. Only the Season 1 trio can awaken. A realistic free target is one key hero at 6★–8★ by season end, so get one to 7★ before touching anyone else.
  • Awakening Badges come from ranking and Duel rewards, not the store. That's why hitting our 2M/6M bar matters even more this season.
  • Lean on werewolves (about 8 fuel) over succubus (about 16) while your Serum Lab catches up, and farm the night counter.
  • Skip Mythic equipment. Its last step needs Pulse Modules, and so far those only come from paying. Here's why.
  • Collect every free reward: weekly gift codes and check-in, the Tyrant, Duel chests.
Mastery: when you re-pick for the new 90 cap, Support is still the best path for most free players.
Low Spenders

Buy Things That Last

  • Permanent upgrades first: Sophia, the second builder, the second laboratory. See What's Worth Paying For. They keep paying long after Season 5 ends.
  • If you buy one seasonal item, make it the season pass, reported at about $25 for the season. Check what its paid track actually gives you before you buy.
  • War Investments, reported at about $10 a week, is aimed at Glory War players. It's only worth it if you're in every Glory War.
  • Everything in the free column still applies. Spending a little doesn't replace the daily first kill or the Witch.
  • Still skip Mythic. A single piece runs roughly $600–1,200.
The test: will it still help me next month? Speed-ups and random chests fail it.
Big Spenders

Where Money Actually Moves the Season

  • Red Star awakening is the big sink. A full 10★ takes roughly 500 Awakening Badges. Push one hero to a real breakpoint before spreading, and spend on Hero day so every badge also scores Duel points.
  • Mythic gear is realistic for you. Pulse Modules are the gate, at 50 per piece. Use them only on the final transformation, spread Forging Stones across several pieces rather than maxing one, and upgrade on Shelter Upgrade day.
  • Lead the Succubus rallies. Reports say only the player who launches the rally and lands the kill gets leaderboard credit. Agree with the R4s which strong accounts lead.
  • Carry the alliance in the land rush and Glory War. The final Glory War round steals 25% of the loser's points, so the season is decided at the end. Keep fuel and shields back for it.
Before any big purchase: check the item and the price in-game. Almost every "best value pack" guide online is written by a currency reseller.
The Code

House Rules

The standard we hold each other to, and the habits that get us there. We're a competitive alliance now — these keep us safe, growing, and worth being part of. Read them, and ask an R4 if anything isn't clear.

The Standard

Show Up · Score · Contribute

We're building an alliance of active players. Three things are now expected of every member — everything after that is how you deliver on them.

  1. Hit the points bar. 2 million VS points a day. 6 million a week. Miss the daily and you move to R1; miss the weekly and you may be removed.
  2. Stay active. Two days offline drops you to R1; five days and your seat may go to someone else. Life happens — tell an R4 and we'll hold your spot.
  3. Contribute to Alliance Tech when you log on, and again before you log off. Every time. It's free and it lifts everyone.
Not personal — structural. We have 100 seats and a server to compete on. Rank follows contribution, and the bar is very reachable if you follow the Weekly Duel discipline.
The Discipline

How We Play Together

  1. Time your spending. Coordinate Full Preparedness with the VS/Duel challenge to score in both — that's how you clear the bar without playing more hours.
  2. Turn up for alliance events: Tyrant, Enemy Buster, State Ruler, Canyon Clash, Zombie Siege, Glory War. Participation is the clearest signal of who's in.
  3. Don't compromise group events — no Boomers, Treasures, or side quests when the team is committed, including the first two hours of Enemy Buster Day. Follow the event etiquette.
  4. Never farm our own server. Trucks, Bounties and Mines come from other servers only.
  5. Save one 24h shield a week for Enemy Buster Day. Loot to your daily limit, then shield — enemies want your points, and rebuilding troops costs far more than a shield.
  6. Four enemy-server Trucks daily. The enemy changes weekly — tap State Ruler to see who (2 weeks on / 2 off); if none, hit the VS enemy's trucks.
  7. Claim your free rewards — the weekly gift codes and website check-in are free growth. No excuse to skip them.
  8. Keep it clean in World Chat. Don't start trouble that the whole alliance has to finish.
Culture

Growth & Teamwork

Alliance Tech: hold the donate button every login and logout — contribute to the item with the thumbs-up. Max your free contribution multiple times a day; only spend diamonds (up to 10×/day) if you have them to spare.

Alliance Help: tap the handshake icon by the Alliance button whenever it appears — helping teammates build, research and heal is free and instant.

Ask, don't guess. Read every Notice, answer every Poll, and ask an R4 when you're unsure. Most players who miss the points bar aren't playing less — they're spending off-theme. That's fixable in one conversation.

The most important rule: enjoy it. Engage in alliance chat, ask questions, make jokes, be yourself. The Pancakes is a safe space that welcomes all.
Who Sits Where

R1 – R4 Ranking Guidelines

Rank follows contribution. It isn't personal — it's how we keep a hundred slots filled with players who show up.

The Ladder

How Rank Is Set

RankWho
R3Level 27 and higher.
R2Every other active player.
R1Inactive 2 days — or scoring under 2M VS points a day.
Removal: inactive 5 days may be removed from the alliance. Scoring under 6M VS points in a week may also mean removal.
The Bar

What You Need to Hit

2 million VS points per day. 6 million per week. That's the line — and it's very reachable if you follow the Weekly Duel discipline: hoard your materials and spend them only on the day that scores them.

If you're struggling to hit it, you're almost certainly spending off-theme. Read the Weekly Duel guide — timing your existing resources to the right day is worth more than playing more hours.

Always welcome back once you're active again. If life gets busy, tell an R4 — we'd rather hold your spot than lose you.

Don't Blow It For The Team

Event Etiquette

Small coordination habits that decide whether the whole alliance cashes in — or half of us miss out.

Helicopter Treasure

How We Do the Helicopter

Approach the helicopter — but do NOT enter until everyone is there. Once the group has gathered, flash a thumbs-up emoji, then enter together. The sound of all those emojis going off is what alerts anyone who isn't staring at their phone.

  • Someone running late? You can exit the helicopter to give them time to arrive — but not if the timer is nearly up. Don't gamble the whole run.
  • Enter before the 30-second mark. Entering at the last second blocks everyone else from tapping the helicopter.
Why it matters: the helicopter rewards the group that moves together. One person entering early — or too late — costs everyone.

Vault Schedule

Who holds which vault, by event day. Alliance-only — ask in Discord for the key.