Professions: Engineer vs. War Leader and the Best Skills

How professions work

There are two professions: Engineer (builder and support) and War Leader (combat). A third, Diplomat, shows in the menu but isn't available yet.
Professions started in Season 1. You pick one the first time you open the Profession Hall.
You earn Profession EXP mostly by upgrading season buildings, plus some from world-map monsters and attacking cities. Each level gives you skill points.
The skill screen has two columns:
- Left: permanent skills. These stay with you across seasons.
- Right: seasonal skills. These reset at the end of each season and your points come back.
Extra Profession EXP beyond the level cap goes into Core Tactics Card upgrades (see Tactics Cards).

	Engineer	War Leader
Best for	Most players: free-to-play and lighter spenders, anyone still growing, builders and support players	Strong accounts with big squads: rally leaders, alliance officers, top fighters
Strengths	Faster building and research, free resources, shields and help for allies	Free troops, faster healing, more damage in rallies and base attacks
When	Start every season as Engineer while you're upgrading season buildings	Switch mid-to-late season (around weeks 4 to 6), once your season buildings are mostly done

A common rule from Season 1: stay Engineer until you're at HQ 30 with T10 troops.

Profession Change Certificate: switches your profession and refunds all your points.
Profession Skill Reset Book: refunds your points without changing profession.
Both come from season rewards (for example, War Merit milestones in Season 6). You only get a few, so plan one switch per season.

Skill	What it does	Priority
Build Now / Research Now	Instantly cuts hours off construction or research (every 48 hours)	★★★
Resource-Saving / Recycling	Lower resource cost for building and research	★★★ Max before big season upgrades
Building Inspiration	More Profession EXP from season buildings	★★★
Rapid Production	Instantly collects hours of food, iron and coin output (daily)	★★
Build for Free / Research for Free	Longer free speed-up window	★★
Cooperative Construction / Research	Faster building or research for you and an ally for an hour	★★
Extra Meal	Daily free stamina packs give more stamina	★★
Outstanding Contribution	Double alliance contribution from tech donations	★★
Friendly Shield	Puts a short shield on you or an ally	★ Situational, but can save an ally
Medical Aid	More hospital space for you and an ally	★ Situational
Siege Mastery / Rally Rush	More city damage / faster rally marches	★ For siege-focused alliances

Skill	What it does	Priority
Unit Mobilization	A free batch of your best troops every day	★★★
Hospital Prep / Drill Ground Prep	More hospital and Drill Ground capacity	★★★
Immediate Return	Your squads come home instantly when you teleport	★★★
Team Strike	More damage for every squad in your rallies	★★★ For rally leaders
Craze	More damage during War Fever	★★
Urgent Cure	Instantly heals wounded troops (every 72 hours)	★★ Great if you reinforce a lot
Siege Boost	More damage against enemy bases	★★
Winning Pursuit	More enemy casualties against burning bases	★★
Reinforce Strengthen / Tactical Reinforce	Stronger defense when you reinforce allies	★★ For defenders
Charge Banner	A banner that boosts allies' attack nearby	★
Disguise	Hides your info from enemy battle reports for 30 minutes	★
Decay Ray / Prism Tower	Late-tree combat extras	★

Use team buffs before you start. Cooperative Construction, Cooperative Research and Charge Banner don't affect work or attacks already running. Buffs from different players also don't stack.
Always spend your seasonal points. They come back at season end, so leaving them empty wastes them.
Don't chase flashy high-level skills over useful lower ones.
Take the EXP skills early (Building Inspiration). More EXP means more points.
Plan your one switch per season around when your season buildings are done.

Compiled from community guides (last checked October 2026). Some are run by top-up sellers, so we cross-checked them where possible.