Heroes that pair well with Howard based on role synergy and community tier lists.
Howard is F2P accessible. Shards are obtainable through events, daily play, and alliance activities without spending money.
As an Epic hero, shard requirements are lower than Legendary heroes. Good for early investment.
Howard is the early garrison tank of Kingshot — a Gen 1 Epic Infantry hero whose kit is built around shield-based defense. Shielded Strike deals up to Attack × 280% AOE with knockback, Joint Defense buffs all heroes' Defense by +15%, and Shield Block reduces his own damage taken by +30%. His Expedition skills extend the defense to the whole army: Defenders' Edge reduces all troops' damage taken by +20%, and Weaken reduces enemy squads' Attack by +20%. No exclusive gear (Epic pattern). F2P-accessible through 4 methods. heroes.js tier: B Garrison only — quickly outclassed by Gen 2+ heroes, but a reliable early pick. His lore is one of two inter-hero pairs in the roster: he was a Sixth Imperial Cavalry guardsman imprisoned after a rebellion for political reasons, and his friend Gordon — working as a prison chef — broke him out using a spatula. He became a village chief sentry and earned the nickname 'the guardian with the plank-shield' after defending against a rebel attack with improvised plank defenses.
Garrison — B. Garrison only. Quickly outclassed by Gen 2+ heroes.
Shielded Strike. Howard gives an enemy a solid whack with his heavy shield, knocking the target back while dealing AOE damage. Scaling by level (percent of attack aoe): 200, 220, 240, 260, 280.
Joint Defense. Howard leads the effort to fortify defenses, increasing Defense for all heroes. Scaling by level (percent defense all heroes): 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15.
Shield Block. Howard trades in his shield for an upgraded model, reducing damage taken. Scaling by level (percent self damage reduction): 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.
Defenders' Edge. Howard guards our troops with his shield, reducing damage taken for all troops. Scaling by level (percent damage reduction all troops): 4, 8, 12, 16, 20.
Weaken. Howard's intimidating presence reduces the total enemy squads' Attack. Scaling by level (percent enemy attack reduction): 4, 8, 12, 16, 20.
Confidence: VERIFIED community consensus multi source. Sources: kingshothandbook.com build guides, allclash.com (via Perplexity), kingshotguide.org, community consensus
Stat focus by piece: helmet → infantry lethality · gloves → infantry health · chest → infantry health · boots → infantry lethality
Minimum build: helmet Infantry Rare Lv 32, gloves Infantry Rare Lv 32, chest Infantry Rare Lv 32, boots Infantry Rare Lv 32.
Standard infantry archetype at epic tier. The piece split is the same for all three archetypes — chest and gloves for health, helmet and boots for lethality — with only the troop-type prefix changing; allclash.com's Zoe guide is the canonical worked example, and Zoe is an infantry hero. Confirmed across allclash, heaven-guardian and kingshothandbook build guides.
Confidence: VERIFIED community template. Sources: allclash.com Zoe build guide (canonical infantry template), community consensus, Perplexity cross-verification
Gordon, Howard — early mid defense. Source: kingshotguides.com + lootbar.gg + kingshotmastery.com (verified 3+ sources)
Howard, Quinn — max damage reduction up to 40pct. Source: kingshotguides.com + lootbar.gg + kingshotmastery.com (verified 3+ sources)
Quinn, Howard, Amadeus — high tier resilience counter. Source: kingshotguides.com + lootbar.gg + kingshotmastery.com (verified 3+ sources)
No public source documents explicit hero-vs-hero counter matchups for Kingshot. Community discussions reference troop-type rock-paper-scissors (Infantry > Cavalry > Archer > Infantry) and formation-based counters but not specific hero counters. Check Discord/Reddit for player-tested matchups.
Checked 9 public sources for this and found nothing published.
Free-to-play viable: yes.
Obtainable from: Exploration, Watchtower Intel, Hero Recruitment, Epic General Hero Shard.
Shards to unlock: 10.
Shards per star: 0 star to 1 star 1, 1 star to 2 star 5, 2 star to 3 star 15, 3 star to 4 star 40, 4 star to 5 star 100, total shards from unlock to 5 star 171.
Confidence: VERIFIED 3 independent sources. Sources: kingshot.fandom.com/wiki/Hero_Star_Upgrade_Requirements, kingshotdata.com/database/hero-shards/, kingshot.net/hero-shard-calculator
4 F2P access methods.
Attack: 1,361 · Defense: 2,220 · Health: 26,640 · Expedition attack %: 140.11 · Expedition defense %: 140.11
Lowest Attack (1361) of researched Epics — defensive tank archetype.
Confidence: 9x3x3 VERIFIED 3 sources functional equivalence plus kingshotdata. Sources: kingshotwiki, kingshothandbook.com/heroes/howard-build-guide, kingshotdata.com/heroes/howard, kingshotguide.org/heroes/howard
Howard served as a guardsman of the Sixth Imperial Cavalry, defending the Imperial Palace during a rebellion. Afterward he faced political persecution and was imprisoned. His friend Gordon — then working as a prison chef — broke him out using a spatula. Howard fled to a small village, where he became chief sentry. When a rebel attack came, he defended the village using improvised plank defenses, earning the nickname 'the guardian with the plank-shield.'
Hero research verified 2026-04-14. Figures are community-sourced and cross-checked; where no public source documents a value, this page says so rather than estimating.