TL;DR: Kingshot has two separate hero-pull systems people constantly mix up. The Hero Hall runs on Platinum and Gold keys. The Hero Roulette event runs on Lucky Chips or gems — 1,500 gems a spin, 13,500 for a 10-spin. Hoard keys for Champagne Fair. In Hero Roulette, compare the current hero with the Roulette heroes from the previous two generations before spending.
Most of the confusion around hero summoning comes from mixing up two completely different systems. Once you separate them, the strategy gets simpler.
This walks through both — what they cost, what you actually get, and who to target depending on which generation your server is in. Verified against the in-game UI on my Gen 3 server (May 2026).
The Two Hero Systems
Hero Hall (the permanent gacha):
- Two banners: Advanced Recruitment and Epic Recruitment
- Advanced uses Platinum Keys (mostly Rare heroes, some Epic shards)
- Epic uses Gold Keys (Epic and Legendary heroes, plus shards)
- Pity is a Mythical chest you earn through cumulative key spend
- Always available, no rotation
Hero Roulette (the event):
- 3-day event that starts on day 2 of Hall of Governors, Strongest Governor, or Kingdom of Power
- Lets you switch between the current Roulette hero and heroes from the previous two generations
- 1 Lucky Chip or 1,500 gems per spin (13,500 for a 10-spin)
- One free spin per day, so 3 free spins per event
- Milestone rewards at 5, 15, 35, 70, and 120 spins
Hero Hall is your everyday hero pulls. Hero Roulette is the focused, time-limited shard farm where you select which eligible Roulette hero to target.
Hero Hall: Recruitment Keys
The Hero Hall isn't where you'll get your strongest heroes. It's where you'll accumulate fragments over time and unlock the Rare gathering heroes that quietly do the boring work for your kingdom.
Advanced Recruitment (Platinum Keys):
- Mostly Rare hero shards — Gordon, Howard, Quinn, Fahd
- Some Epic shards mixed in
- Platinum keys drop pretty regularly from intel missions and chests
Epic Recruitment (Gold Keys):
- Epic shards (Chenko, Yeonwoo, Amane)
- Legendary shards at a lower rate — this is where Saul, Jabel, and your gen-specific Legendaries appear
- Gold keys are much rarer
Don't burn keys when you get them. The right move is hoarding both key types for Champagne Fair.
Why You Save Keys for Champagne Fair
Champagne Fair is the F2P unlock for actually competing in this game. It first appears after your third Hall of Governors and returns roughly once a month.
During Champagne Fair (2-day event, returns roughly monthly), you can trade extras for Fair Vouchers and spend them on Widgets, Mithril, Forgehammers, and Gen 4 gear chests. Two things to know up front:
- Only excess shards from max-level heroes count. If a hero isn't maxed, the game won't let you scrap their shards. So the "extras" pile is whatever overflows on heroes you've already finished.
- Skill books are huge. Once you're past the early game, leveling iron-tier heroes stops being a priority and your skill book inventory bloats. Dumping books is often a bigger voucher source than shards.
The workflow:
- Hoard Advanced and Epic keys for 3–4 weeks
- When Champagne Fair goes live, dump 400–500 keys in one session
- Trade in skill books and excess shards from maxed heroes for vouchers
- Spend on Widgets first — they define the competitive meta and you'll never have enough. Then Mithril and Forgehammers. Vouchers don't expire, so save them if nothing good is in the shop this time.
Opening keys steadily throughout the month leaves a lot of value on the table. The shard-to-voucher ratios reward bulk dumping.
Exception: Once you're in Gen 3, Call of the Sovereign cycles will ask for 90 Epic and 30 Advanced keys to clear the recruitment tasks. Keep that reserve set aside.
Hero Roulette: The Real Shard Farm
This is the event most players think of when they say "hero summons," even though technically it's an event, not a gacha.
The basics:
- 3-day event, starts on day 2 of HoG / Strongest Governor / Kingdom of Power
- Switch between the current Roulette hero and eligible heroes from the previous two generations
- 1,500 gems or 1 Lucky Chip per spin
- 13,500 gems for a 10-spin (10% discount, and it stacks toward milestones faster)
- Up to 150 spins per day, 450 over the event
The Roulette hero by generation:
- Gen 1: Saul
- Gen 2: Zoe
- Gen 3: Petra
- Gen 4: Rosa
- Gen 5: Long Fei
- Gen 6: Sophia
- Gen 7: Wee & Woo
- Gen 8: Diego
That pattern follows a class cycle across generations — Archer → Infantry → Cavalry — rather than rotating between all three Legendaries in the same generation. Gen 8 keeps the cycle intact: Wee & Woo were the Archer, so Gen 8's Roulette hero is the Infantry, Diego. If the current event is Gen 4, for example, the eligible choices are Rosa plus the Roulette heroes from the previous two generations, Petra and Zoe. Alcar and Margot do not become Roulette heroes because they belong to Gen 4.
Hero switching becomes available after the July 8 maintenance. Before spinning, select the Roulette hero you actually want. You can choose the current option or a Roulette hero from either of the previous two generations. This does not add every Legendary from those generations to the wheel.
Milestone rewards (the real prize):
| Spins | Rough reward |
|---|---|
| 5 | Bonus shards + speedups |
| 15 | More shards + Skill Manual |
| 35 | Big shard chunk |
| 70 | Truesilver + shard bundle |
| 120 | The big payout — large shard pile, premium materials |
I tracked my last Petra Roulette: 0.57 shards per spin from the wheel itself, then add another 100+ from milestones. Hitting the 120-spin milestone consistently nets me around 165 shards per event. That's a serious chunk toward maxing a single hero.
F2P rule of thumb: Compare all eligible heroes, choose one target, and spin only when you can afford at least the 70-spin milestone. Finishing an older Roulette hero near an important star breakpoint can be better than starting the newest hero at low stars, but do not split a limited gem budget across several targets.
Heroes Actually Worth Chasing (By Generation)
Generations in Kingshot are server-age milestones first. Once your server enters a generation, those heroes become available through their assigned sources. Hero Roulette has one designated Roulette hero per generation, and each event now lets you select from the current one and those from the previous two generations.
Generation 1 (Day 1+)
The starter Legendaries. Access from server launch.
- Jabel (Cavalry) — Solid starter. You'll replace her in Gen 3 with Eric, so don't pour shards past the basics.
- Amadeus (Infantry) — Top-tier rally leader infantry. Stays relevant for 5+ generations. Worth heavy investment. Requires 20 shards to unlock (not the usual 10).
- Helga (Cavalry) — A-tier joiner with team-wide buffs. F2P-friendly because you can grab her through the First Top-Up Pack.
- Saul (Archer) — Featured in Hero Roulette during Gen 1. Strong joiner skills early, but phased out for attack rallies later.
Generation 2 (~Day 50)
Three heroes drop in: Hilde, Zoe, Marlin.
- Zoe (Infantry) — F2P priority for Gen 2. Hero Roulette feature during this generation. Build her.
- Marlin (Archer) — AoE damage with stun. Strong in Arena and Expedition, holds value long-term.
- Hilde (Cavalry) — Healing skills, great joiner. Daily Deals + top 10 in HoG 4. Lower priority for pure F2P unless you have spending budget.
Generation 3 (~Day 105–120)
Just three heroes: Petra, Eric, Jaeger. This is the most important generation for F2P planning because Petra is the first cavalry hero with an offensive widget.
- Petra (Cavalry) — Priority pull. Default cavalry rally leader through Gen 4. Available via Hero Roulette and Swordland Shop. Her Change of Fate skill swings from 5% to 600% damage — wildly RNG, but the upside is massive.
- Eric (Infantry) — Replaces Jabel. Solid investment.
- Jaeger (Archer) — Garrison archer. Decent through Gen 3, drops in priority once Rosa unlocks in Gen 4. Don't over-invest in widgets.
Generation 4 (~Day 180+)
- Rosa (Archer) — Replaces Marlin as the archer core. Her 3rd skill has a chance to boost archer attack by 30%, and her debuff immunity makes her huge in Arena.
- Margot (Cavalry) — Strong PvP, evasion-based kit.
- Alcar (Infantry) — Situational.
Generation 5–8
Gen 5: Long Fei, Thrud, Vivian. Long Fei is the roulette hero.
Gen 6: Sophia, Triton, Yang. Sophia is the roulette hero.
Gen 7: Ava, Charles, Wee & Woo. Wee & Woo are the roulette hero, while Ava and Charles are not realistic F2P roulette targets right now.
Gen 8: Diego, Liz, Luna. Diego is the roulette hero, which makes him the default F2P target of the generation. Liz is reachable without spending too — Hero Rally and Daily Deals are free paths — but she is a garrison hero, so she only pays off if you are the one holding the wall. Luna is the one to want if you lead rallies or join Bear Hunt, since her first Expedition skill is a flat +25% Squad Attack, but she is not on Roulette and will be slow to finish without spending. Full breakdown in the Gen 8 heroes guide.
These later heroes are extremely strong, but pure F2P players still need discipline. Build the roulette hero only if it fits your march plan and you can hit meaningful milestones; otherwise, finishing a strong Gen 3–6 core can beat chasing a low-star newest-gen hero.
The F2P Hero Roulette Plan
The benchmark: every Roulette hero should end up 5★ on an F2P or low-spender account. Not recruited, not "worked on" — finished. Recruiting plus a full 5★ costs 1,075 shards, an event that reaches the 120-spin milestone yields around 165, and each Roulette hero stays selectable for three generations (its own plus the next two), which is roughly 15 to 18 events. That is a finish in about seven of them with the rest as slack. If you are not hitting 5★ on Roulette heroes, the cause is almost always split spins rather than a shard shortfall.
Corollary: never spend Mythic Shards on the Roulette hero. The wheel finishes him given spins. Mythic Shards are the only way to reach the heroes the wheel will never offer, so spending them on the Roulette pick converts your scarcest currency into something you were getting free. Shards go to the non-Roulette heroes; gems and Lucky Chips go to the wheel.
Use this decision order each time Hero Roulette opens:
- Compare up to three eligible Roulette heroes. Check the current generation and both previous generations before selecting a wheel; early-generation kingdoms may have fewer than three options.
- Prioritize a useful breakpoint, not just novelty. Finish an older core hero if the event can push that hero to a meaningful star level; otherwise, invest in the newest option that clearly improves your main march.
- Skip the event if none of the choices improve your roster. Hero switching creates more options, but it does not make low-impact spending efficient.
- Hoard gems between events. Treat 70 spins as the first serious milestone: seven 10-spins cost 94,500 gems before free Lucky Chips. The full 120-spin target costs 162,000 gems before free spins, so only chase it when you have been saving for it.
- Always 10-spin, never single. The 10% discount adds up, and milestones count the same.
- Use every daily free spin. Confirm the selected hero before spending Lucky Chips or gems.
The new system makes it easier to finish a partially built Roulette hero after your kingdom advances. That is useful flexibility, but concentration still wins: one hero at 5★ is worth more than three stalled Roulette projects.
The biggest trap: Choosing an older hero only because you already spent gems on them. Continue only when the next star breakpoint still improves your active lineup. If the current Roulette hero provides the better long-term upgrade, past spending is not a reason to stay with the older target.
Free Hero Sources
Beyond keys and gem spending, the reliable free sources:
- Alliance Championship Store / recruitment sources — Gordon shards and other lower-rarity shards. Not your main combat plan, but useful for filling out early utility.
- Daily Deals — Hilde shards. Check the shop daily.
- Hall of Heroes — Marlin shards; unlock him first, then use generation Mythic Shards to build him.
- Hall of Governors top 10 — Hilde shards as rank rewards.
- Strongest Governor event — Big shard payouts for the current gen's featured hero.
- Intel Missions — Steady drip of Rare and Epic shards.
- Swordland Shop — Petra shards once you're in Gen 3.
- VIP rewards — Passive shard accumulation, scales with VIP level.
If you're early game and overwhelmed: complete every daily and hit your free Hero Roulette spins. The rest sorts itself out as your server ages.
Common Mistakes
- Opening keys the moment they drop instead of hoarding for Champagne Fair.
- Spinning Hero Roulette for a hero you're about to replace next generation.
- Single spinning instead of 10-spinning. You lose the 10% discount and milestone efficiency.
- Spreading shards across too many heroes. Pick three core heroes and max them.
- Forgetting the Call of the Sovereign keys reserve.
- Investing widgets on Gen 1–2 heroes you'll replace within 60 days.
- Buying speedups with gems that should be going to Hero Roulette.
- Selecting a Roulette hero without comparing the two previous-generation options.
- Skipping daily free spins during Hero Roulette events.
For long-term progression, check our Kingshot Hero Tier List for current rankings and the Master Academy Guide for research priorities.
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