Survive Zombie Arena Wave Guide

Anchor

Tactician — places Vanguard Turret + Steel Barricades to lock a chokepoint.

Carry

Marksman — long-range DPS with Deadeye and Sonar Ping, keeps the kill count up.

Sustain

Medic — keeps the team uptime high so the carry never has to back off.

Scaler

Necromancer — once Credits flow, swaps in for late-wave area damage.

Early waves — weapon first, always

Use the first few buy phases for weapon upgrades only: handgun into shotgun as soon as Credits allow. Every Credit spent on a class unlock before the first weapon upgrade is a confirmed beginner mistake — the Survivor starter kit limits both kill efficiency and Credit income from kills simultaneously. Redeem the active code (Zombies for 2,500 Credits) before the run to accelerate this window. Place one barricade at the main stairwell entry and one turret behind it before voting Auto Skip on any early wave.

Mid waves — first class unlock and gear

Once you have the shotgun (and ideally a rifle), shift spending to the first class unlock. Marksman (15,000 Credits) is the recommended first unlock for solo DPS; Medic (10,000 Credits) for co-op support. Both are A-tier and immediately pay off. Add one Health upgrade during mid waves — late-wave chip damage starts accumulating earlier than most new players expect, and the Health upgrade is one of the highest effective-value purchases in the game relative to its Credit cost.

Late waves — scale toward Legendary

Once your weapon is at rifle tier and your class is at least A-tier, bank aggressively toward the next tier. Late waves pay out more Credits per kill than early waves, so the Credit gap between A-tier classes (Marksman 15k, Tactician 75k) and Legendary classes (Bastion 200k, Necromancer 250k) can close faster in high-wave runs than grinding early waves. Note: Hardcore Mode was nerfed from 10 to 7.5 Credits per zombie in the May 8, 2026 patch — factor this into route calculations if you farm Hardcore specifically.

Vote yes when:

• Your team has at least one barricade placed at the main stairwell entry.
• At least one turret is placed behind the barricade and operational.
• Everyone has the shotgun upgrade — the starter handgun does not clear fast enough to justify rushing early waves.
• The current wave ended with time to spare and no one is actively spending Credits.
• Your class kit is active and the team composition has its roles covered.
• Mid or late waves where your loadout consistently outscales the current wave's payout.

Vote no (hold) when:

• Any teammate is still placing barricades or positioning turrets.
• Someone is mid-upgrade and has not confirmed the Credit spend.
• The team is still on the starter handgun — weapon upgrade comes first.
• After a position wipe — the surviving player needs a full buy phase to re-anchor the chokepoint.
• Early waves where rushing ahead cuts into Credit banking time before the kit is solid.
• First run on a new class where you are still learning the kit timing.

Stage 1 — First unlock (0 to 15,000 Credits)

Start on Survivor (free) and bank Credits for one to two runs. Unlock Medic (10,000 Credits) first if you primarily play co-op — healing utilities scale well in 25-player public servers and Medic earns Credits from healing, not just kills. Unlock Marksman (15,000 Credits) if you play solo — Deadeye pierce and Sonar Ping carry DPS in solo runs without requiring teammate coordination. Both are A-tier and represent a massive power jump from the Survivor starter kit. Do not buy Ninja (25,000 Credits) as a first unlock — it is C-tier and falls off hard in mid and late waves.

Stage 2 — Mid-tier anchors (15,000 to 75,000 Credits)

Engineer (20,000 Credits, B-tier) is a viable stepping stone but not a priority destination — Tactician is the direct upgrade. Demolitionist (50,000 Credits, B-tier) handles crowd control and pairs well with a Tactician anchor in co-op. Tactician (75,000 Credits, A-tier) is the highest-impact mid-tier unlock and the correct structural anchor on the Rooftop Map — Steel Barricades block stairwells and the Vanguard Turret auto-targets elites. For team play, unlock order: Medic → Tactician → Legendary.

Stage 3 — Legendary classes (200,000+ Credits)

Bastion (200,000 Credits, A-tier) is the co-op Legendary — Bunker invincibility for the whole squad is worth the Credit cost in team-focused high-wave runs. Necromancer (250,000 Credits, S-tier) is the solo and leaderboard Legendary — Death Nova area damage is the highest late-wave ceiling in the game. Necromancer was further buffed in the May 8, 2026 patch with higher minion walkspeed and higher minion damage, making it even stronger than it was at release. Do not rush Necromancer before you understand zombie spawn patterns — its kit demands active management to pay off.

When to swap class between runs

Swap to a new class when your current class is no longer the limiting factor in your wave count. If you consistently push into mid-waves with Medic but die to DPS deficit, swap to Marksman. If you die to lack of structural lane defense, save for Tactician. If your team reaches consistent late waves but still wipes to the final push, the Bastion Bunker is the gap to close. The wrong time to swap: when you have fewer than one run's worth of Credits banked — a new class has a learning curve and you should have credit reserves to absorb early mistakes with the new kit.