March of Giants Builds: Giant, Army & Battleworks
A practical guide to March of Giants builds: giant upgrades, soldier strategies, Battleworks picks, and playtest tips for Ubisoft's 4v4 war MOBA.
FAQ
Are there official March of Giants builds yet?
Should I upgrade my Giant or my Soldiers first?
Do Soldiers really matter that much?
Is March of Giants free to play?
Why March of Giants Builds Work Differently Than Standard MOBA Builds
If you are hunting for March of Giants builds, the first thing to internalize is that this is not a MOBA where one hero does all the work. Ubisoft’s free-to-play 4v4 war MOBA hands every player a towering Giant and a marching army of Soldiers, which means your “build” is really two upgrade tracks stacked on top of each other. Get that mental model right early, and your March of Giants builds will carry you through a genuinely steep learning curve instead of collapsing under it.
The game is still pre-release, so nothing here is a solved meta. What follows is grounded in hands-on playtest impressions and developer interviews from the current build, plus the design intent laid out on the official store page. Treat it as a framework for experimenting, not a tier list set in stone.
Here is how the layers fit together:
| Build Layer | What You’re Deciding | Examples | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giant upgrades | Which abilities and stats scale | Damage, survivability, utility tools | Defines your win condition in duels |
| Soldier upgrades | How strong your army becomes | Health, damage, wave reinforcements | Drives objective pressure and map control |
| Battleworks | Which structures you deploy | Trenches, bunkers, cavalry, soldier drops | Reshapes lanes into shifting front lines |
| Command skill | When you commit or recall troops | Mid-charge redirection, scouting splits | The multiplier on everything above |
The developers have been clear about the fantasy they want. Creative director Xavier Marquis told playtesters the goal is for players to feel like commanders — not to turn March of Giants into a traditional real-time strategy game, but to inject the feeling of leading an army into the MOBA genre.
The Core March of Giants Build Archetypes
Because the game is in active playtesting, archetypes are still forming. Community reports from recent sessions point to four broad directions, each leaning harder on one layer of the system.
| Archetype | Core Idea | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giant-First Bruiser | Pour resources into your Giant, treat Soldiers as support | Wins duels, punishes greedy opponents | Loses map pressure if your army is ignored |
| Soldier Swarm | Upgrade Soldiers and rally constantly | Objectives, resources, and lane pressure | Vulnerable if Soldiers get wiped cheaply |
| Conversion Commander | Use abilities that inspire or convert enemy Soldiers | Snowballs off enemy mistakes | High skill floor, needs timing |
| Battleworks Control | Deploy structures to lock down chokepoints | Defensive strength, siege setups | Slower to react across the map |
Giant-First Builds
This is the most familiar path for MOBA veterans: buy Giant upgrades, fight for individual advantages, and use Soldiers mainly to hold space you already won. It works — until you run into someone whose army play is just as sharp as their Giant play. Marquis noted that you might get away with ignoring your Soldiers against weaker opponents, but against a similarly skilled Giant who actually commands their army, you will need those same tools to compete.
Soldier-First Builds
Soldier-focused March of Giants builds invert the priority. You buy army upgrades, rally from advancing waves, and use Soldiers to capture objectives, collect resources, and swarm enemy Giants — a matchup where Soldiers are notably effective. Several Giants also have abilities that interact directly with troops: some inspire them, some convert enemy Soldiers to your side, and at least one can transform Soldiers into werewolves. That is the clearest signal that army builds are intentional, not a gimmick.
Upgrade Order and Battleworks by Match Phase
Spreading upgrades evenly is the fastest way to feel weak at everything. Player experience from the October playtest suggests picking a primary track early and only splashing into the other when the match state demands it.
| Phase | Priority | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Early | One core combat upgrade + wave income | You need a stable Soldier stream before you can spend on it |
| Mid | Commit to Giant OR Soldier track, add one Battlework pattern | Specialization starts winning fights and objectives |
| Late | Fill the secondary track, upgrade deployed Battleworks | Balanced stats matter more once team fights decide the game |
| Any phase | Never stop rallying | An idle army is wasted economy |
Battleworks are the layer most new players underuse, even though they can swing an entire lane. Based on the current build, here is a rough role breakdown:
| Battlework Type | Best Used For | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Trenches | Holding a lane you already control | Passive if you never push out |
| Giant Slayer Bunkers | Punishing enemy Giants who dive | Needs Soldiers nearby to matter |
| Cavalry | Fast rotations and flank collapses | Poor in prolonged static fights |
| Soldier Drops | Reinforcing a contested objective instantly | Wasted if dropped into a lost fight |
A useful habit: before you buy, ask whether the purchase helps you take something or hold something. Builds that only hold the line tend to lose to builds that can threaten two objectives at once.
Soldier Control: The Skill Layer Behind Every Build
Your build only performs as well as your command timing. The standout mechanic reported by playtesters is the ability to redirect Soldiers mid-charge — sending them forward, then swinging their path to flank an opponent instead of running straight into a wall of damage.
| Command Action | When to Use It | Payoff |
|---|---|---|
| Full commit | Enemy Giant is isolated or overextended | Soldiers shred Giants in the open |
| Recall | Your army is about to eat area damage | Preserves your entire economy |
| Split and scout | Vision is missing around objectives | Early warning, safer rotations |
| Resource detail | No fight is currently winnable | Steady income while you farm up |
| Mid-charge redirect | Enemy lines are stacking one side | Flanks that open up free objectives |
Developers shared that in earlier playtests, even experienced MOBA players went entire sessions barely touching their Soldiers — until they got repeatedly beaten by opponents who used theirs well. The lesson holds for March of Giants builds today: your army is not decoration, it is a second set of abilities on a cooldown you control.
One interesting footnote: in an earlier design iteration, casting abilities literally cost 20 to 30 Soldiers, turning your army into a resource pool. The team also tested Giants that could pick up and relocate buildings and towers. Neither made it to the current build, but they show how far the designers pushed the “commander” concept.
Mistakes to Avoid and How to Get Playtest Access
Most early losses trace back to a small set of fixable habits:
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Ignoring Soldiers all game | Set a personal rule: rally at least once per objective window |
| Upgrading both tracks evenly | Pick a primary track by the 5-minute mark |
| Dumping Battleworks in a lost lane | Reposition to the objective you can still contest |
| Charging Soldiers with no exit plan | Keep the recall command ready before you engage |
| Copying someone else’s build blindly | Test one variable per match and note the result |
If you want to test your own March of Giants builds, request access through the official March of Giants page on Steam, where the team collects playtest signups and posts development updates. Before you install, check that your rig clears the bar:
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10/11 64-bit | Windows 10/11 64-bit |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-11600 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 | Intel Core i5-12400 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| GPU | GTX 1650 4 GB or RX 6400 4 GB | RTX 2060 Super 8 GB or RX 5700 XT 8 GB |
| Storage | 15 GB | 15 GB |
| Target | 1080p, 60 FPS, low settings | 1440p, 60 FPS, high settings |
Note that a persistent internet connection is required, and the specs are expected to shift as development continues toward early access.
For a wider view, our March of Giants tips for lane control, items guide, units explained round out the picture from different angles.
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