NOTE: Please do not, under any circumstances, share IMAGES OR VIDEOS from Beta in this or any public Forum thread. Violations can cause players to lose their Beta accounts, or threads to be closed down.
This thread is to provide early insights and discussion on the new Hero Academy feature: Raid Formations
Don’t get too attached
Details from Beta, especially brand-new Beta content, don’t tend to be very reliable for actual release.
It’s incredibly common that features are changed during Beta testing, or sometimes even after testing but before release. That is, after all, the purpose of Beta testing.
Even the in-game tool-tip indicates that Raid Formations is a beta feature under development and subject to change.
So I wouldn’t get too attached to any of this — it’s not unheard of for entire portions of features to be removed or reworked, or for radical changes to functionality to be made.
Overview
Raid formations are changed in a separate menu from training in the Hero Academy building.
They’re available as early as Hero Academy level 1 is built. You don’t have to research level 1 training, as it’s part of a separate menu.
You can only change your Raid Defense Team formation.
Wars, Raid Tournaments, and other battle formations remain unaffected.
4 raid formations can be set: Standard, Reverse, Double, Reverse Double (more on these later).
You can only change your Raid Defense Team formation once per day. When you are about to change your formation, the game gives you an additional prompt to confirm your change. There is a 24h cool-down once you change the formation.
Formations
Credit to @ochartier for making these graphics a while back! 
It makes it much easier for me to explain.
I’ve edited the original images to include some numbers and adjust the position of the heroes slightly. This currently reflects what the formations look like in beta at this time.
These are the following formations you can set:
Standard (default)
The default formation, what we’re all currently using right now.
I’ve numbered each position in the image above, and used those same numbers to indicate the position of your heroes relative to the new formations. I’ve also explained which heroes get hit by which matches from each of the 7 columns in the board.
Reverse
This reverses the current standard formation.
Your wings are now exposed to columns 1-2 and 6-7 respectively – so two columns can hit them at the beginning of the match.
Your flanks are exposed to columns 3 and 5. While your tank can now only be hit by the middle column (4) as opposed to three columns at the beginning of the match.
Double
Your two flanks are at the front, as if you had two tanks instead. They protect the hero in the center from matches, until one of them is taken out.
The flanks take matches from all columns, except the edge columns (1 and 7) which still hit your two wings like with Standard.
Also worth noting is that column 4 match damage is shared between your two front heroes. This works just like in map stages with these enemy formations.
“Target and (minor damage to) nearby” skills
One difference between enemy mobs in map stages that use this formation is the way these skills work with Double and Reverse Double.
Currently, these skills nearby effects refer to enemies that are beside that hero, in the same row.
A visual example: let’s say Thorne targets hero in position 3 of Double… here’s the heroes that take the damage:
Reverse Double
This formation puts your two flanks at the back instead, with your tank in the middle and your wings exposed too.
Your tank and wings are taking all of the match damage, while your flanks are protected behind them. The heroes in the back can’t be hit with tiles until you KO one of the front enemies.
The center shares damage in columns 3 (left wing+tank) and 5 (right wing+tank).
“Target and (minor damage to) nearby” skills
One difference between enemy mobs in map stages that use this formation is the way these skills work with Double and Reverse Double.
Currently, these skills nearby effects refer to enemies that are beside that hero, in the same row.
A visual example: let’s say Guinevere is in position 4 of Reverse Double… here’s the heroes that she buffs:
For a full list of items currently in beta testing, as well as their related threads, please see:
