Total Battle Terms Glossary

July 2, 2026

Use this glossary alongside the Total Battle Calculator when a term from the game or a stacking guide isn’t clear.

Authority

The capacity metric governing how many Mercenaries can be fielded in a march, separate from Leadership (Guardsmen/Specialists) and Dominance (Monsters). Mercenaries fight last in the combat order, after Leadership troops and Monsters.

Captain

The commanding unit assigned to a march, providing base Leadership capacity along with skills and bonuses that affect combat performance. Different Captains provide different base Leadership values and skill sets.

Dominance

The capacity metric governing how many Monsters can be fielded in a march. Monsters fight after Leadership (Guardsmen/Specialists) troops but before Mercenaries in the combat order.

Epic Troops (E-tier)

A troop category following different combat mechanics from the standard G1–G9 Guardsmen tier system. Standard stacking formulas do not directly apply to Epic troop compositions — see common troop stacking mistakes for why mixing Epic and standard-tier math produces inaccurate results.

Guardsmen

The standard troop category (tiers G1 through G9) that draws from Leadership capacity. Guardsmen and Specialists together make up the troop pool used in the core stacking formula.

Leadership

The capacity metric determining how many Guardsmen and Specialists can be fielded in a single march. Leadership comes from the Captain’s base value plus bonuses from research, hero gear, and palace upgrades. This is the capacity the troop stacking formula is built around.

Primary Tier

The highest-quality troop tier in a stacked march — the troops being protected. Positioned to take damage last, after all shield tiers below it have been exhausted in combat.

Shield Tier

Any troop tier below the primary tier in a stack, included specifically to absorb combat damage before it reaches the primary tier. Shield tiers use progressively larger troop counts (1.9× more per tier step down) to ensure they have enough total HP to protect the primary.

Specialists

A troop category alongside Guardsmen that also draws from Leadership capacity, typically providing supporting combat roles distinct from standard Guardsmen tiers.

Stack Factor (Multiplier)

The ratio of troop count between each consecutive shield tier and the tier above it. The community-established standard is 1.9× — see the troop stacking formula reference for why 1.9 is used instead of an even 2.0.

Stacking

The strategy of combining multiple troop tiers in a single march, with lower tiers acting as HP shields for a smaller core of higher-tier “primary” troops, since combat damage flows upward through tiers as lower-tier troops are eliminated.

Sum Factor

The total leadership-cost multiplier for a given number of shield tiers, calculated as a geometric series (1 + 1.9 + 1.9² + … + 1.9ⁿ). Used to divide total leadership into a primary count, from which all shield tier counts are derived. See the full sum factor table by shield count.

For the underlying math behind these terms, see the troop stacking formula doc. To calculate your own stack, use the Total Battle Calculator.