Numantian Games left Early Access on 18 June 2019 with The New Empire, a 48 mission campaign carrying more than 60 hours on top of the existing Survival mode. The custom engine pushes up to 20,000 infected on screen at once, and a single one reaching an unwalled house can end a four hour colony in about 90 seconds. Everything hinges on wall placement, noise discipline and the score factor you set before the map generates.
Your choice of equipment defines your damage output and playstyle. This guide ranks every major option, explains what makes each one strong, and tells you which builds they pair best with.
Equipment Rankings
| Equipment | Tier | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden Wall | S | Sealing chokes in the opening 20 days | Cheap, fast and made of the resource you have most of on day one. |
| Stone Wall | A | Permanent perimeter once the Stone Workshop is running | The real defensive line. |
| Great Ballista | A | Early to mid game walls where noise still matters | Fires heavy bolts with very little noise and often skewers several infected in a line. |
| Shocking Tower | B | Choke points where the horde arrives densely packed | The first tower that genuinely deletes crowds, using electricity to vaporise packs of weak infected at once. |
| Executor | B | Late game walls holding the final wave | The Great Ballista upgraded into an automated gatling cannon, and the strongest static defence available. |
S-Tier: Wooden Wall
Cheap, fast and made of the resource you have most of on day one. It buys time and nothing more, and it will not survive a serious wave past the first third of the run.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | S |
| Best For | Sealing chokes in the opening 20 days |
| Key Mechanic | One infected can end a run |
| Recommended Build | Ranger |
How to get it: Available from mid-game onward. See our walkthrough for the exact progression point.
Best builds using Wooden Wall: Pairs naturally with Ranger thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Stone Wall
The real defensive line. Far more health than wood and the minimum requirement before any wave that includes specials arrives at your gate.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | Permanent perimeter once the Stone Workshop is running |
| Key Mechanic | Noise attracts the horde |
| Recommended Build | Soldier |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Stone Wall: Pairs naturally with Soldier thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
A-Tier: Great Ballista
Fires heavy bolts with very little noise and often skewers several infected in a line. It is the quiet defensive tower, which matters because loud defences pull more attention.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | A |
| Best For | Early to mid game walls where noise still matters |
| Key Mechanic | Score factor sets difficulty and reward |
| Recommended Build | Sniper |
How to get it: Accessible in the early-to-mid game. Check our maps guide for the location.
Best builds using Great Ballista: Pairs naturally with Sniper thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Shocking Tower
The first tower that genuinely deletes crowds, using electricity to vaporise packs of weak infected at once. It needs energy, so it dies the instant its Tesla Tower does.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Choke points where the horde arrives densely packed |
| Key Mechanic | Villages of Doom seeded on the map |
| Recommended Build | Thanatos |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Shocking Tower: Pairs naturally with Thanatos thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
B-Tier: Executor
The Great Ballista upgraded into an automated gatling cannon, and the strongest static defence available. Expensive in iron and energy, and worth every unit of both.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tier | B |
| Best For | Late game walls holding the final wave |
| Key Mechanic | Tesla Tower energy grid |
| Recommended Build | Titan |
How to get it: Found in later areas. Our walkthrough covers when you can access this.
Best builds using Executor: Pairs naturally with Titan thanks to how their stat scaling lines up.
Equipment Progression Path
The order you should acquire equipment as you progress:
- Starting gear → Enough to clear The Deep Forest
- Stone Wall → Your first real upgrade, available early
- Great Ballista → Mid-game upgrade with good scaling
- Wooden Wall → Best-in-slot, aim for this by late game
- Upgrade to max → The power spike from max upgrades is enormous
Equipment Tips
- Always upgrade your primary equipment before diversifying. One strong option beats three mediocre ones.
- Match your equipment to your build's stat priorities for maximum scaling.
- Use the pause key as a core mechanic, not an emergency button. The game is built around pausing to issue orders, and no amount of mechanical speed will replace stopping the clock during a wave to retarget six units individually.
- Check our tier list for how equipment rankings affect overall build effectiveness.
More They Are Billions Guides
- They Are Billions They Are Billions Overview
- They Are Billions Best Builds
- They Are Billions Tier List
- They Are Billions Walkthrough
- They Are Billions Beginner's Guide
- They Are Billions Tips & Tricks
- They Are Billions Combat Guide
- They Are Billions Boss Guide
- They Are Billions Maps & Locations
- They Are Billions Crafting Guide
- They Are Billions Classes & Characters
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