Place, then max
Put one unit down and max it before placing anything else. Upgrades multiply damage; extra placements split the same match cash across weaker bodies.
Alliance Tower Defense Beginner Guide
A concrete first-session path for Alliance Tower Defense!: lobby orientation, your first Easy City clear with one maxed Camera Man, Auto Skip discipline, first summons, and the free Coins most new players miss.
The one-paragraph version
This beginner guide is a checkpoint path through the official match → Coins → Summon → units → team loop, and the early grinding decision is built in: once your runs are measurable, farming goes to the Coin farming estimator instead of a universal method or rate claim. New to Alliance Tower Defense!? This beginner path skips the summon altar for now. Queue 1-player Easy (City), place your Camera Man on the pad nearest the lane chokepoint, and spend all match cash maxing it — a maxed Camera Man (150 DPS for 250$ total) solos this map. Enable Auto Skip only after that first max, collect your 100 Coins, and repeat the loop. Claim the Group Rewards chest (150 Coins per 24h, needs the MrUpTime's Games group joined), let Coins pile to 850, then take your first 10-pull. From there the game is a ladder: Medium (275 Coins), Crazy (1,000 + Spin Ticket), Insane (850 + Scientist Crate), Endless (leaderboard). Checked 2026-10-15.
Step by step
Your first hour, minute by minute
This path comes from the community strategy guide and matches what experienced creators do on fresh accounts.
1. Read the lobby
Four things matter: the summon altar, the squad equip panel, the mode/map picker, and the Shop button (codes live at the bottom of its window — see our codes page before your first run so free Coins don't expire).
2. Win one Easy City match the manual way
Queue 1-player / Easy / City. Place Camera Man on the funnel and max it before anything else. Watch which pad covers the most lane — that is your funnel. This one run teaches placement, upgrading, and the reward screen.
3. Claim your free income
Join the MrUpTime's Games group if you haven't: the Group Rewards chest pays 150 Coins every 24 hours. Stand in the AFK Area (2 Coins/min) whenever you're idling in the lobby anyway.
4. Start the farming loop
Repeat Easy City with the same one-Camera-Man plan, now with Auto Skip after the first max. Each clear pays 100 Coins. Ten clears is roughly a 10-pull; two hours of clean loops out-earns any first-day summoning luck.
5. Take your first real summons
Buy 10-pulls (850 Coins), not singles — 15% cheaper per summon. Use Auto Sell on duplicates. You are listening for two outcomes: a Scientist Camera Man (economy, from Scientist Crates via Insane later) and any Epic or better for your mid-game carry.
6. Climb one rung at a time
Probe Medium in 1-player before raising difficulty or player count — never both at once. Medium pays 275, and Canyon Bridge (Hard, 500) adds a second lane that wants one carry per lane. Crazy and Insane have their own preparation guides.
Core habits
The placement rules to burn in early
These five rules carry you from Easy City to Insane unchanged.
Own the funnel
Put the carry on the pad closest to the lane chokepoint (a corner or narrow bridge the enemies must pass). Range then covers the whole approach.
Two wallets
Match cash upgrades in-match units; lobby Coins buy Summons and nothing else. Never budget one against the other.
Auto Skip discipline
Enable Auto Skip only after your first unit is maxed. If a skipped wave outruns your upgrades, toggle it off, spend, and re-enable. Starting a run with Auto Skip on and zero upgrades is the classic beginner loss.
Second unit = no leak
Add a second unit only when its upgrades do not starve the carry's max. If the carry finishes late because of it, the second pad was a leak.
Avoid
Beginner mistakes that cost hours
Auto Skip on wave one
The most common first-week loss. Skip only after your first unit is maxed; if a skipped wave outruns you, toggle it off, spend, re-enable.
Five units, none maxed
Extra placements split match cash across weak bodies. One maxed Camera Man beats five level-1 units on every early map.
Summoning before farming
Coins buy summons; match cash buys upgrades. Spending your first 300 Coins on three singles instead of farming to a 10-pull is the slowest possible start.
Ignoring Group Rewards
150 Coins per 24 hours is free — that is a 10-pull every six days for one group join.
Skipping the codes box
Halloween (200 Coins) and 10M (300 Coins) were listed working at our October 15 check. Codes expire, so redeem before you grind.
If stuck
Quick fixes for common walls
Waves leak past my carry
Your carry is under-upgraded, not under-supported. Re-max it first; add the second unit only when that no longer starves it.
I keep failing Medium
Go back to Easy City for three or four more 10-pulls. A second Camera Man max or any Epic carry makes Medium trivial.
A code says Invalid
Codes are case-sensitive, one use per account, and expire without notice — check the current status table on our codes page before spending more time.
Everything is too expensive
You are probably in a party server where skip votes run ahead of your first max. Solo until your loop is automatic.
FAQ
Beginner questions
What should I do first in Alliance Tower Defense?
Queue a 1-player Easy (City) match, place one Camera Man on the funnel pad, and max it before placing anything else. One maxed Camera Man clears Easy City alone, and that loop is your income for everything else.
Which starter unit is best?
Camera Man. It is the 35% Uncommon summon, cheap to place (100$) and cheap to max (250$ total for 150 DPS), and the community strategy guide documents a solo Easy City clear with it. Speaker Man is the tutorial unit you replace first.
Should I summon before my first match?
No. Clear Easy City first, claim your Group Rewards (150 Coins per 24 hours once you join the MrUpTime's Games group), and let matches fund your first 10-pull (850 Coins). Summoning before you understand placement wastes the roster you start with.
When do I turn on Auto Skip?
Only after your first unit is maxed. Starting a run with Auto Skip on and zero upgrades is the classic beginner loss — the skipped waves arrive faster than your unfunded units can kill them.
How do I get free Scientist Crates?
Beat Insane mode: each clear pays 850 Coins plus 1 Scientist Crate. That is also the long-term goal of the beginner path — the ladder is Easy → Medium → Crazy → Insane → Endless.
Step-by-step: your first hour
- 1. Queue 1-player Easy (City) and place your Camera Man on the pad nearest the lane chokepoint.
- 2. Spend all match cash maxing that one unit — a maxed Camera Man (150 DPS for 250$ total) solos the map.
- 3. Collect the 100-Coin clear reward, then repeat the loop until the upgrade feels routine.
- 4. Claim the Group Rewards chest (150 Coins per 24h) after joining MrUpTime's Games.
- 5. Bank Coins to 850 and take your first 10-pull — the summon guide covers the math.
If you're stuck
If a maxed Camera Man stops soloing Easy City, the placement is wrong, not the unit — move it to the pad with the longest lane coverage and let the full walk distance work.
Common mistakes
Enabling Auto Skip before your first max (you skip the income you came for), spreading early Coins across three units instead of one, and summoning before the first 850-Coin bank.
Related pages
Continue with your next task
Coin farming guide
Turn the Easy City loop into a Coins-per-hour plan.
Unit roster
Know what every summon can deliver, with stats.
Codes status
Redeem what still works before it expires.
Progression guide
The full Easy-to-Endless ladder with thresholds.
Team building
Roles and loadouts once you own 5+ units.
Coin estimator
Plan a Coin goal from your own match results.
Coin farming estimator
Measure your current runs against a Coin goal.
Coins and Summon guide
Plan your next Summon with the verified currency loop.
Sources and corrections
Where each starter-checklist fact comes from, with dates.
Team builder
Compare the units you own as you unlock them.
Tier list method
Learn how to judge a starter before you invest.
Part of the beginner path — return to all guides when you are ready for the next task.