Your First 30 Minutes in All Star Tower Defense
You just loaded into ASTD for the first time. The game throws a pile of menus at you — banners, traits, star upgrades, multiple game modes. Ignore most of it. Here's the only thing that matters right now: getting one strong DPS unit and building a team around it.
As of Update 7/8 (Feb 2026), the new-player experience is actually generous. You'll get enough Gems from the starter missions to do 2-3 multi-summons in your first session. Don't waste them.
Your First Summon — Where to Spend
Head to the Summon tab. You'll see multiple banners rotating. Here's the priority:
- Rate-Up Banner featuring any S-tier unit — If Frieren, Killer Serious, Madara, or Gear 5 Luffy are on rate-up, pull here. No question.
- Standard Banner — If the rate-up is a niche unit you don't recognize from the All Star TD Tier List, the standard banner has a wider pool of usable units.
Your first goal: land any unit rated A-tier or above. Tanjiro (300 Gems), Levi (300 Gems), or All Might (350 Gems) are all fantastic early pulls that carry you through Story Mode without heavy investment.
Pro Tip: Don't reroll your account chasing Frieren or Sukuna. The time you spend rerolling is better spent clearing Story stages for Gems. Any A-tier DPS gets the job done for the first 10 stages.
Team Composition Basics
ASTD uses a tower-defense format. You place units on the map and they attack enemies walking along a path. Every team needs four roles filled:
| Role | What It Does | Beginner Pick |
|---|---|---|
| Primary DPS | Your main damage dealer, handles most enemies | Tanjiro, Killer Serious, Ichigo Bankai |
| AoE Clear | Wipes large waves of weak enemies | Madara, Todoroki, Pain |
| Single Target | Shreds bosses and tanky enemies | Levi, Killua, Michishibo |
| Support | Buffs team or debuffs enemies | Gojo Infinity, Itachi, Dio |
You don't need all four roles immediately. For Story stages 1-5, a single strong DPS unit at 3-star can solo most waves. Start adding role diversity around stage 6-7 when enemy variety increases.
Story Mode — Your First 10 Stages
Story Mode is your bread and butter for the first week. Each stage drops Gems, upgrade materials, and occasionally Trait Burners. Here's the progression roadmap:
Stages 1-3: Place your strongest DPS unit in the center of the map. Upgrade it during the round using in-match currency. You'll clear these without thinking.
Stages 4-5: Enemies start coming in larger waves. Add a second unit — preferably one with AoE. Todoroki or Bakugo both work at low star levels. Position your AoE unit where the path curves so it hits enemies twice.
Stages 6-8: Boss enemies appear. They have massive HP pools and walk slowly. Your AoE unit won't scratch them. This is where you need a single-target attacker. Levi at 2-star can shred early bosses thanks to his fast attack speed.
Stages 9-10: Multiple boss waves plus dense trash waves. You need a full 4-unit team here. If you're struggling, it means your core DPS needs more stars, not more units.
Warning: Stage 8 has a difficulty spike that catches most new players off guard. The boss has a shield phase where it takes 50% reduced damage for 10 seconds. Wait for the shield to drop before using any burst abilities. Don't panic-place extra units — they won't help if your main DPS is underleveled.
Resource Management — The Gem Question
New players always ask: "Should I save Gems or spend them?" The answer depends on your roster.
Spend Gems if:
- You don't have a single A-tier or higher DPS unit
- A rate-up banner features a unit that fills a gap in your team (no AoE? Pull for Madara)
- You're sitting on 1,500+ Gems with no clear saving goal
Save Gems if:
- You already have a functional 4-unit team of A-tier or above
- The current banner features units you already own
- A leaked banner rotation shows an S-tier unit coming in 1-2 weeks
For more detail on when to pull and when to hold, check our Summoning Guide.
Pro Tip: The game gives approximately 300-400 Gems per week from daily missions, login rewards, and event stages. A full pity cycle costs around 4,500 Gems. Plan accordingly.
Star Upgrades — Concentrate, Don't Spread
This is the single biggest mistake beginners make. You pull 6 different units and spread your duplicate fodder across all of them, ending up with six 2-star units instead of one 5-star carry.
The correct approach: Pick your best DPS unit and funnel every duplicate into it. A 5-star Tanjiro will outdamage a 2-star Frieren in Story Mode. Stars matter more than base tier for your first two weeks.
Upgrade priority order:
- Primary DPS → get to 5-star
- AoE unit → get to 4-star
- Single-target unit → get to 3-star
- Support → keep at whatever star level you pulled it
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Pulling on every banner — You dilute your Gem pool and end up with a wide but shallow roster. Pick one banner and commit until pity.
- Ignoring Story Mode — Infinite Mode is tempting but the rewards scale with your progression. Clear Story first.
- Trait rolling on low-star units — Traits are a percentage-based boost. 20% more damage on a 2-star unit is almost nothing. Wait until 5-star minimum.
- Placing all units at the start of a wave — In-match currency is limited. Place your DPS first, upgrade it, then add support units mid-wave when you can afford them.
Warning: Don't sell duplicate units for Gems. The Gem return is terrible (10-20% of summon cost). Always use duplicates for star upgrades — the power increase is worth far more than the Gem refund.
What's Next?
Once you've cleared Story stage 10 and have a 4-star+ core team, you're ready to branch out. Check out our Best Units Guide to plan your next summon target, or dive into the Trait Guide to start optimizing your top units.
Don't forget to redeem all available All Star TD Codes — free Gems are free Gems.