Ubisoft Montreal shipped For Honor on 14 February 2017 built around the Art of Battle, a melee system where every guard and every attack lives in one of three stances: top, left or right. The 18 mission campaign runs three chapters against Apollyon and her Blackstone Legion, and multiplayer has grown past 30 heroes split between the Knights, Vikings, Samurai, Wu Lin and Outlanders. Marching Fire added the Wu Lin in October 2018 along with Breach, the four against four castle assault mode.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Citadel Gate | Art of Battle three stance guard basics | Vikings | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Temple Garden | Revenge meter mastery | Vikings | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | River Fort | Stamina and exhaustion + gear | Knights or Vikings | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Sentinel | Build optimization | Knights | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | High Fort | Min-max | Knights or Outlanders | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Citadel Gate)
A Knight castle map under assault by a battering ram, split into the Gatehouse, the Battlefield and the Barracks. The three areas are very different fights, with the open middle favouring reach heroes and the interiors favouring anyone who can push others off ledges.
Level/Difficulty: All modes, Dominion and Breach Key Rewards: Ledge kills at the gatehouse, strong minion lane control
What to Do in Citadel Gate
- Learn Art of Battle three stance guard. Guard, light attacks and heavy attacks all sit in a top, left or right stance, and an incoming attack only lands if your guard is not already covering that side. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Vikings as your starting role. See our builds guide for why.
- Watch the opponent's guard indicator rather than their animation. The Art of Battle resolves on stance, so an attack coming from their right side is blocked by putting your guard on that side regardless of how the swing looks, and reading animations will make you late every time.
- Acquire your first weapons upgrade: Kensei nodachi or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Art of Battle three stance guard fundamentals
- Vikings selected and functional
- Citadel Gate main content cleared
- Ready for Temple Garden
Phase 2: Early Game (Temple Garden)
The Samurai map most players name as the best looking in the game, with open lanes and clean sightlines between zones. Its layout makes rotations quick, so a team that captures two zones can defend both.
Level/Difficulty: All modes, Dominion Key Rewards: Fast rotations, few environmental hazards to punish mistakes
What to Do in Temple Garden
- Work on Revenge meter. Blocking, absorbing hits and fighting outnumbered fill a meter that, when triggered, knocks everyone around you off their feet and grants both damage resistance and extra damage. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Kensei nodachi if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Never commit an attack into a full Revenge meter. Activated Revenge knocks everyone around the player down, grants damage resistance and boosts their damage, so the correct answer to a teammate who has fed someone Revenge is to back off and let it expire.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to River Fort.
- Consider whether Knights might suit your playstyle better than Vikings.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Revenge meter integrated into gameplay
- Kensei nodachi acquired
- Temple Garden fully cleared
- Ready for River Fort
Phase 3: Mid Game (River Fort)
A Viking fort with working catapults and a great deal of water. Environmental kills are unusually common here because so many walkways end in a drop, which rewards heroes with bashes and throws.
Level/Difficulty: All modes, Dominion Key Rewards: Catapults, plentiful ledges and water hazards
What to Do in River Fort
- Master Stamina and exhaustion. Attacks, dodges and guard breaks all cost stamina. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Warden longsword. It's the best weapon and becomes accessible around now.
- Spend the first fifty hours on exactly one hero. For Honor has more than 30 heroes with distinct chains and punishes, and the fundamentals of guard switching, parry timing and stamina management transfer far better than a shallow knowledge of five movesets.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Feats earned through Renown for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Stamina and exhaustion mastered
- Warden longsword acquired or in progress
- River Fort fully cleared
- Ready for Sentinel
Phase 4: Late Game (Sentinel)
A tight Knight map where fights compress into corridors and stairwells rather than open ground. Long reach weapons lose value in the interior, and heroes that can bash opponents into walls gain it.
Level/Difficulty: All modes, Dominion and Skirmish Key Rewards: Close quarters advantage for Heavies, short rotation times
What to Do in Sentinel
- Finalize your build. You should be running Knights or Vikings with optimized gear.
- Warden longsword should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Clear the minion lane in Dominion. Zone B is worth points and Renown, and Renown is what unlocks your tier three and tier four Feats. Players who ignore minions spend the whole match with tier one Feats while the opposing team is calling in artillery.
- Gear stats disabled in duels optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into High Fort.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Warden longsword upgraded to max
- Sentinel fully cleared
- Ready for High Fort
Phase 5: Endgame (High Fort)
Elevated Knight fortification with a strong vertical element and several exposed edges. Holding the upper zone gives a team the movement advantage, since defenders always arrive downhill and outnumbered.
Level/Difficulty: All modes, Dominion Key Rewards: High ground control, multiple ledge kill opportunities
What to Do in High Fort
- High Fort tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Learn one punish per hero you fight rather than a full matchup. Knowing that a parried heavy gives you a guaranteed heavy of your own is worth more than memorising an entire chain tree, because that punish appears in every single fight.
- The endgame loop: run High Fort, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Outlanders for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Gear stats disabled in duels mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- High Fort fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Ganking a player whose Revenge meter is already full, which knocks the whole team down and reverses the fight.
- Switching heroes every few matches, so the fundamentals never accumulate and no punish becomes automatic.
- Chasing kills across the map in Dominion while the minion lane and zones go uncontested and Feats stay locked at tier one.
- Attacking into a block until stamina hits zero, then being staggered and killed during the recovery.
- Assuming gear stats matter in Duel, then blaming losses on equipment in a mode where all gear stats are switched off.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Watch the opponent's guard indicator rather than their animation. The Art of Battle resolves on stance, so an attack coming from their right side is blocked by putting your guard on that side regardless of how the swing looks, and reading animations will make you late every time.
- Never commit an attack into a full Revenge meter. Activated Revenge knocks everyone around the player down, grants damage resistance and boosts their damage, so the correct answer to a teammate who has fed someone Revenge is to back off and let it expire.
- Spend the first fifty hours on exactly one hero. For Honor has more than 30 heroes with distinct chains and punishes, and the fundamentals of guard switching, parry timing and stamina management transfer far better than a shallow knowledge of five movesets.
- Clear the minion lane in Dominion. Zone B is worth points and Renown, and Renown is what unlocks your tier three and tier four Feats. Players who ignore minions spend the whole match with tier one Feats while the opposing team is calling in artillery.
- Learn one punish per hero you fight rather than a full matchup. Knowing that a parried heavy gives you a guaranteed heavy of your own is worth more than memorising an entire chain tree, because that punish appears in every single fight.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More FOR HONOR Guides
- FOR HONOR FOR HONOR Overview
- FOR HONOR Best Builds
- FOR HONOR Tier List
- FOR HONOR Beginner's Guide
- FOR HONOR Tips & Tricks
- FOR HONOR Weapons Guide
- FOR HONOR Combat Guide
- FOR HONOR Boss Guide
- FOR HONOR Maps & Locations
- FOR HONOR Crafting Guide
- FOR HONOR Classes & Characters
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