Survivors Guide: Who to Use and Which Exclusives Are Worth It

#What survivors are

There are two kinds:

• Building survivors: specialists you recruit at the Tavern and assign to building slots in the Talent Hall. Each gives a passive bonus to the building it works in.
• Exclusive survivors: two named survivors, Adventurer Taylor and Agent Shirley, who give account-wide bonuses. Their shards come only from VIP Exclusive packs. You won't find them in the Tavern or any event.

#Building survivors

#Rarities

Survivors come in five rarities: grey, green, blue, purple and gold. Only purple and gold can be upgraded, so grey, green and blue survivors are temporary. Replace them as better ones arrive.

#Types and where they go

Each building has up to 4 survivor slots. What matters is the survivor's type:

#Getting more survivors

• Tavern recruitment: free recruits on a cooldown that gets shorter as your Tavern levels up, plus Survivor Recruitment Tickets.
• Base gate rescues, radar missions and alliance gifts: quick, but mostly low-rarity.
• Tickets: the Alliance Store and VIP Store are better value than the Diamond Store.

#Upgrading

Purple and gold survivors go up to 5 stars. Each star needs that type's shards, Survivor Tokens and duplicates. Spare duplicates turn into tokens.

#Exclusive survivors: worth buying?

#Adventurer Taylor: yes, the best value of the two

Taylor gives you extra treasure chests from radar tasks every day. They can contain hero shards, resources and stamina. Because it's a daily bonus for the life of your account, the value keeps adding up.

• Where to get her: VIP Exclusive packs, VIP 1 through 7.
• The sweet spot is unlock + 1★. It doubles her chests for a small spend, and it's the best value for most players.
• 4★ is the next big step, because the chests upgrade to Deluxe. Worth it for steady spenders.
• 5★: skip unless you're already a heavy spender.
• To get the most from her, keep your radar levelled and do enough radar tasks each day to hit her chest limit.

#Agent Shirley: only if you're already reaching VIP 8

Shirley makes your squads stronger: more troops per march and more attack for every hero.

• Where to get her: VIP Exclusive packs from VIP 8 up to VIP 14.
• The real cost is reaching VIP 8, not the pack itself. Don't chase VIP 8 just for her.
• Verdict: skip if you're free-to-play or a light spender. If you reach VIP 8 anyway, unlock her, and only add stars if you're already buying the higher VIP packs.
• Get Taylor to 4★ before spending on Shirley's stars.

#Tips and common mistakes

• Fill the slots first, then level up. An unassigned survivor gives nothing.
• Focus shards on one survivor at a time instead of spreading them out.
• Never upgrade grey, green or blue survivors. Replace them.
• Don't put an Attendant in before your Builders and Scientists.
• Don't look for Taylor or Shirley shards in the Tavern. They only come from VIP packs.

See also: Spending Real Money: What's Worth It.

#Sources

Compiled from community guides (last checked October 2026). Several are run by top-up sellers or account marketplaces, so we cross-checked them where we could.

• Last War Handbook: Talent Hall & Survivors Guide
• Last War Vault: Survivors Guide
• Cpt Hedgehog: Gold Bricks Best Buys
• Theria Games: Talent Hall Guide
• Theria Games: Survivor Recruitment Tickets
• Last War Tutorial: VIP Program
• LDShop: Taylor Guide (store blog)
• LDShop: Shirley Guide (store blog)