Heroes & Generals Wiki - Complete Guide

Quick Facts

Developer: Reto-Moto

Publisher: Reto-Moto

Release Date: September 2016 (Open Beta / Steam Release)

Platforms: PC (Windows, macOS)

Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter (MMOFPS) / Real-Time Strategy (RTS) Hybrid

Business Model: Free-to-Play with microtransactions

Setting: World War II (European Theater)

Factions: United States, Germany, Soviet Union

What Makes It Special

Most first-person shooters treat every match as a self-contained instance that ultimately has no bearing on the broader world. Heroes & Generals shatters this convention by linking the boots-on-the-ground FPS action directly to a persistent, player-driven strategic war map. When you capture a town in a shooter match, you are actively pushing your faction's borders on a massive overhead campaign map. This seamless integration of two distinct genres—the twitch-based reflexes of an FPS and the long-term planning of an RTS—is the game's defining hallmark.

Another major selling point is the sheer scale of the conflict. A single assault team in a FPS battle can consist of up to 18 players per side, but those players are supplemented by AI-driven bots to make the battlefields feel like actual wars of attrition rather than small skirmishes. Meanwhile, the overarching Generals layer accommodates thousands of players simultaneously plotting supply lines, deploying paratroopers, and managing wartime economies. You are never just playing a match; you are a single soldier in a machine that spans an entire virtual continent.

Furthermore, the progression system is uniquely satisfying because it is completely class-agnostic. Instead of being locked into a specific role, every player has a single "Soldier" level. As you gain experience, you unlock the ability to specialize that same soldier into an Infantryman, a Tank Crewman, a Pilot, a Recon Scout, or a Paratrooper. You can seamlessly switch between these roles between matches, allowing you to experience the war from the muddy trenches, the skies, or inside the armor of a heavy tank, all on the same character.

How to Play

Heroes & Generals is fundamentally divided into two interconnected layers: the "Heroes" layer and the "Generals" layer. Understanding how these two layers feed into one another is crucial to grasping the game's flow.

The FPS Layer (Heroes)

This is the core combat experience. Players queue up for battles based on their faction's current strategic needs. The combat is heavily tactical, leaning toward a slower, more methodical pace compared to arcade shooters. Health does not regenerate automatically; you must rely on medics or health packs. Ammunition is limited, and suppression mechanics play a massive role—being shot at will blur your vision and shake your aim, forcing you to use cover intelligently.

The game utilizes an encounter-based spawn system. You do not spawn wherever you want; you must spawn on a Deploy Point or a Mobile Spawn Point (MSP) driven by your teammates. If the enemy destroys your spawn points, you are pushed back to your main base, making logistics and spawn-point management just as important as getting kills. Battles are won by either depleting the enemy's reinforcement tickets or capturing and holding key objective points on the map until a timer runs out.

The RTS Layer (Generals)

Once you reach a certain level, you unlock the ability to play as a General. In this mode, the game shifts to a top-down 2D map of Europe. Here, you spend "War Funds" (a separate currency earned by playing FPS matches) to purchase Assault Teams, which are essentially bundles of NPCs, vehicles, or resources. You deploy these teams along the front lines to attack enemy cities or defend your own.

When you command an Assault Team to attack a node on the map, it creates or feeds into an active FPS battle. If the FPS players win the battle, your Assault Team captures the city. If they lose, your Assault Team is destroyed, and you lose your investment. Generals must manage supply lines, coordinate with other Generals to focus attacks on specific sectors, and ensure that the FPS players always have tanks, planes, and fresh reinforcements to use in their battles.

Progression and Customization

Progression is handled through a unified character system. You earn Experience Points (XP) and Credits by killing enemies, capturing points, healing teammates, and winning matches. XP is used to unlock new weapon tiers, vehicle modifications, and specialized equipment like anti-tank mines or binoculars. Credits are spent to actually purchase and maintain these items. Every piece of gear has a "Repair Cost" and an "Upkeep Cost." If you buy a top-tier fighter plane but crash it repeatedly without scoring points, the upkeep cost can drain your funds, forcing you back to cheaper, starter-tier equipment until you recover economically. This creates a highly immersive risk-versus-reward dynamic.

World & Lore

Heroes & Generals does not follow a scripted narrative or feature specific protagonists. Instead, its "lore" is derived from the authentic historical context of World War II, interpreted through the emergent, unpredictable actions of the player base. The game actively avoids fantasy elements or alternate history, striving for a grounded, gritty representation of the 1940s European theater.

The Factions

The world is divided among three major powers, each with distinct visual identities, weapon arsenals, and vehicle rosters that reflect their real-world counterparts during the war:

• The United States: Representing the Allied push from the west, the US faction features highly versatile weaponry. Their M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle gives infantrymen a high rate of fire early on, and their vehicle roster includes iconic machines like the Sherman tank and various models of the Stuart light tank. American gear generally emphasizes reliability and adaptability.
• Germany: The German faction is technologically advanced in the late-war tiers. Players who grind through the German ranks are rewarded with incredibly lethal weaponry, such as the STG 44 assault rifle and the MG42 machine gun. Their armored divisions feature heavily armored beasts like the Panther and Tiger tanks. However, reaching these late tiers requires significant time investment, meaning early-game German players must rely on bolt-action Kar98k rifles and lighter Panzer models.
• The Soviet Union: The Soviet faction is defined by its philosophy of overwhelming volume and rugged practicality. Their early-game submachine guns, like the PPD-40, allow for highly aggressive close-quarters combat. As the war progresses, they field massive quantities of T-34 tanks, which are highly maneuverable and effective in groups. Soviet weapons often have higher recoil and simpler designs, perfectly fitting their historical profile.

The Dynamic Campaign Map

The setting is not static; it is a living map that stretches across fictionalized representations of Europe. Cities like London, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, and Stockholm serve as major strategic capitals. The borders between these nations shift daily based on player performance. A war might last for weeks or months, with the front lines ebbing and flowing like a real historical conflict. Because the outcome is entirely player-determined, the "lore" of the server is written by the community. A heroic last stand by a group of US tankers in a single battle can save an entire sector from a German offensive, becoming the stuff of server-wide legend.

Getting Started Guide

Stepping into Heroes & Generals can be incredibly overwhelming due to its dual-layer nature and deep progression trees. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you find your footing in the early hours of the game.

1. Master the Infantry Basics First

Resist the urge to immediately unlock Tanks or Planes. While they are fun, they are incredibly expensive to maintain for a beginner. Focus entirely on your Infantryman class for your first dozen hours. Learn how the shooting mechanics feel, understand the cover system, and figure out how to read the minimap. Infantry is the backbone of the army, and mastering basic foot-soldier tactics will teach you the flow of battle without bankrupting your character.

2. Understand the Economic Loop

The biggest mistake new players make is spending all their credits the moment they unlock a new weapon. In this game, you must keep a financial reserve. Every time you deploy a weapon or vehicle, you pay an insurance fee. If you perform well (get kills, capture points), you earn that money back plus a profit. If you perform poorly, you lose the money. Always check the upkeep cost of an item before equipping it. A good rule of thumb is to never take a piece of equipment into battle if you cannot afford to buy it twice.

3. Play the Objective, Not the Leaderboard

This is not a deathmatch game. Camping in a bush to get a high Kill-to-Death ratio will rarely win a battle, and it yields poor experience compared to playing the objective. You earn massive XP and Credit multipliers for capturing control points, defending them from enemies, and killing opponents while inside the capture zone. Be the player who throws a smoke grenade to cover an advance, or the one who sprints into the capture point under heavy fire to flip the flag.

4. Respect the Spawn Points

Mobile Spawn Points (MSPs) are usually jeeps or armored cars parked discreetly near the objective. If you spawn on an MSP, do not immediately sprint away from it. Your presence keeps the spawn point active and safe. If you see enemies approaching your MSP, drop what you are doing and defend it. Losing an MSP deep in enemy territory can instantly lose a battle, as your team will be forced to spawn a kilometer away at the main base.

5. Use Your Resources Wisely

As a new player, you have access to basic resources like Health Packs and Ammo Boxes. Do not hoard them. If you are behind cover with a teammate who is low on health or out of ammo, toss them a pack. You earn Assist Points for doing this, which directly translates to XP. Furthermore, familiarize yourself with the "Rambo" mechanic—when you are the last player alive on your team, you gain significantly increased health regeneration, allowing you to make desperate, heroic plays to keep the objective contested.

6. Dip Your Toes into the General Tab

Once you hit the required level, open the Generals screen. Do not worry about commanding armies right away. Simply select one of your free "Infantry Assault Teams" and attach it to an ongoing battle on the war map. This passively feeds your FPS matches and gives you a small stream of War Funds. As you get richer, you can buy more Assault Teams, eventually graduating to Tank Destroyer teams or Fighter Squadrons. Think of the General mode as a passive investment account that slowly grows while you focus on your FPS gameplay.

Common Questions

Is Heroes & Generals truly free-to-play, or is it pay-to-win?

The game is free-to-play, but it features a "pay for convenience" model. You can spend real money to buy premium memberships, which increase your XP and Credit gain rates, allowing you to unlock top-tier weapons faster. You can also buy cosmetic items and certain premium vehicles. However, all weapons and vehicles that affect gameplay can be unlocked purely through in-game currency earned by playing. A highly skilled player with a starter bolt-action rifle can absolutely defeat a player who paid for a top-tier assault rifle. It is more "pay to skip the grind" than "pay to win."

Why does my gun feel inaccurate and weak?

Heroes & Generals relies on a realistic ballistic and damage model. There are no "hit markers" indicating headshots, and bullets have travel time and drop. If you are missing shots, it is likely because you are not leading your targets or accounting for recoil. Additionally, the game features a "Bodypart Damage System." Shooting an enemy in the leg does minimal damage and slows them down, while hitting them in the chest or head deals massive damage. Always aim for center mass or the head, and fire in controlled bursts rather than holding down the trigger.

What happens when a war ends?

When one faction captures the two enemy capitals (for example, if Germany captures both Washington and Moscow), the war is won. A "Victory Phase" begins, allowing the winning faction to paradrop into the losing factions' cities for a few days of chaotic celebration. After this, the entire server is reset. All player progression, weapons, and vehicles are kept, but the strategic map is wiped clean, borders are restored, and a brand-new war begins. This reset ensures no single faction dominates the map forever and gives everyone a fresh start strategically.

Can I play with my friends?

Absolutely. You can create a "Group" in the main menu and invite your friends. Once in a group, the group leader can queue up for a battle, and the entire group will be placed into the same match on the same team. Playing with a coordinated squad—even just two or three people communicating—provides a massive advantage over the typically disorganized public player base, especially if you coordinate to drive Mobile Spawn Points or man a tank together.

Why do I keep running out of money?

This is a common hurdle for new players, usually caused by the "Upkeep Trap." If you take an expensive weapon into a battle and die without getting any kills or capture points, the game will charge you the upkeep cost for that weapon. If you do this repeatedly, you will drain your credits. To recover, you need to equip your basic, free starter weapons for a few matches. Since starter weapons have zero upkeep cost, every point you earn is pure profit. Once your bank account is stable again, you can carefully reintroduce your upgraded gear into matches where you feel confident you can perform well.