Puzzles & Survival: How to Hunt and Burn HQs in Valiant Conquest

To safely score points during the Valiant Conquest event in Puzzles & Survival, locate unshielded enemy Headquarters (HQs), scout them to ensure they are not reinforced traps, relocate within 5 to 10 tiles, and use March Speedups to land hits within two to three seconds. Once the target is burning or cleared, immediately activate a Peace Shield or relocate to avoid enemy retaliations and prevent overflowing your infirmary.

Where to Find Unshielded Targets

Scanning the enemy state randomly wastes event time. Focus your map search on specific high-traffic zones:

Alliance Hives: Search for clustered alliance territories. Casual players frequently neglect to refresh their Peace Shields before or during active war hours.
Resource Belts: Check level 5 to level 7 resource tile bands encircling the central Wasteland and mud zones. Players often leave their main base exposed while their marches gather.
Wasteland Perimeters: Active combatants frequently stage near the map center. Players staging on the borders may drop shields to launch their own raids, leaving brief windows to strike.

Prioritize enemy HQs that match or sit below your march tier. Bases displaying low commander might relative to their HQ level or lacking custom avatar frames often signal inactive accounts or farm bases with unshielded garrisons.

Scouting and Assessing Defenses

Attacking an unshielded sanctuary without reconnaissance risks marching directly into a reinforced trap. Send a scout march first to evaluate three key data points:

Total Garrison Count: Compare the garrisoned troops against the sanctuary's natural wall capacity. A troop count far exceeding standard solo capacity indicates enemy alliance members have reinforced the base.
Defending Heroes: Check the assigned wall heroes. High-star combat heroes with advanced tactical skills can inflict heavy casualties even if the account owner is offline.
Anti-Recon Status: If an unshielded base has Anti-Recon active, do not blindly attack. High-might players use Anti-Recon to hide millions of defending troops. Either test the base with a minimal single-tier scouting march or skip the target entirely.

Scout Report Finding	Threat Level	Recommended Action
Low garrison, standard heroes, no reinforcements	Low	Relocate and initiate a rapid strike.
Garrison far exceeds solo wall capacity	High	Abort the solo attack; request an alliance rally or skip.
Anti-Recon active, high commander might	Unknown / High	Skip target or probe with a single-unit march.

Executing the Close-Range Blitz

Long march distances alert defenders, providing them time to activate a Peace Shield or request defensive reinforcements. To strike before the defender can react, execute attacks from close range:

Relocate Near the Target: Use an Advanced Relocator or Random Relocator to place your sanctuary 5 to 10 tiles away from the chosen HQ.
Deploy Your Main March: Send your primary combat march using your strongest troop specialization (Riders, Shooters, or Fighters) and your best combat hero formation.
Apply March Speedups: Immediately use 25% or 50% March Speedups to force your attack to hit within two to three seconds. This compressed window prevents the defender from reacting to the incoming attack alert.
Cycle Follow-Up Attacks: If the initial strike leaves defending troops standing, launch follow-up hits immediately until the enemy base begins burning and the garrison is cleared or hospitalized.

Hospital Management and Safe Extraction

Extended offensive raiding incurs casualties that split between hospital admissions and outright troop losses depending on event rules. Monitor your medical capacity closely between hits.

Prevent Hospital Overflows: If your Infirmary fills to maximum capacity, any additional wounded troops die permanently. Monitor hospital capacity after every hit.
Heal in Batches: Use short healing speedups and reserved resources to empty hospital beds between relocations rather than letting wounded troops pile up near the limit.
Protect Your Position: A burning enemy HQ alerts local alliance members. As soon as your troops return to your sanctuary, immediately activate a Peace Shield if you intend to continue scouting the local area.
Exit Hostile Territory: If your march speedups are depleted, your hospitals are filling, or enemy rally leaders begin tracking your coordinates, relocate to an obscure map edge or use your conquest recall to return to your home state.