In one line: Cage isn’t won by power. It’s won by which skills get picked. The rally leader brings the stats and a full 3-skill kit. Joiners bring exactly one thing each: the 1st war skill of their 1st hero, and only the top 4 of those count.
Lab status · Observed
Where this comes from: MIRÖX’s Cage play and rally coordination with her alliance on S216, first published in the LOJXLab Community Discord (April 2026), plus in-game skill descriptions and screenshots.
Sample (rough): S216, roughly 5–10 Cage events, MIRÖX’s estimate.
Not yet measured: a controlled run-by-run comparison. Hero tiers below are MIRÖX’s call from experience, not a damage benchmark.
What would change this: a game update to how joiner skills are selected, or logged runs showing a different leader/joiner split scoring higher. Send us your runs.
Part 1 · How Cage actually works
1. One rally = 7 heroes
In Cage, every rally is treated as one combined formation: 3 heroes from the rally leader + 4 from joiners. Not all 7 matter equally.
2. Leader vs joiner: the critical difference
| Rally leader | Joiner | |
|---|---|---|
| Heroes that count | All 3 | Only the 1st hero |
| Skills that count | All war skills of the 3 heroes | Only that hero’s 1st war skill |
| Stats that count | ATK, DEF, HP, gear/armor, buffs (Felon, Prison…) | Mostly ignored |
| Job | Builds the power | Adds one strong skill + troop volume |
3. The skill selection system
- Only the skills of the first 4 joiners’ slots are used.
- The system picks the highest-level skill; if two are equal, the earlier joiner wins.
- So: 10 players joining ≠ 10 skills. More heroes ≠ more impact. Only 4 joiner skills matter.
4. What does NOT matter (common mistakes)
- Lethality, DEF and HP skills: no effect on your Cage score.
- Joiner troop type: doesn’t affect the score directly.
- Most joiner stats: ignored.
- Two of the same buff in one rally: wasted. If your rally has 2 ATK buffs, you already lost damage.
5. What DOES matter
- Rally leader stats
- The top 4 joiner skills, all different buffs
- Troop count (damage scales with it)
The winning formula: DMG taken + DMG + ATK, each from a different skill → maximum score. Rally damage ≠ your personal score: you score by taking part in many good rallies, not by owning one strong one.
Event limits: Cage lasts 30 minutes; each player can start up to 5 rallies.
Cage is a controlled system, not a power system. The leader builds the power; joiners complete the system.
MIRÖX
Part 2 · Choosing heroes
A good Cage hero is not the highest power, the most stars or the best stats. It’s a hero with a strong 1st war skill (level 5, 4★) that buffs the whole rally: more damage, less enemy DEF. Personal buffs, survivability and troop-specific bonuses rarely help here.
Upgrade rule if you’re not maxed: don’t spread resources. Upgrade only heroes whose 1st war skill works from the joiner slot.
The MIRÖX rule
- If the hero scales → Leader. If the hero adds → Joiner.
- Put your strongest full kits (usually gold heroes) in the leader slot, where all 3 war skills work.
- Put your best 1st skills (often pink heroes) in joiner slots, where only the 1st skill counts anyway.
Hero by hero (L = leader, J = joiner)
| Hero | Best slot | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mireya | Leader | As joiner only Stealth Cloak applies (−20% enemy ATK). As leader she adds Mind’s Eye (+25% ATK) and Banshee’s Lament (+20% DMG, +10% more if enemy power is lower). |
| Whisper | Joiner | Curse (−20% enemy DEF) lifts the whole rally’s damage, guaranteed, no RNG. As leader her Erosion is chance-based. Lead with her only without a stronger damage leader. |
| Sawyer | Leader | His 1st skill (−20% enemy HP) is weaker than DEF reduction. His full kit (Rage Strike, Steel Rend) scales the whole rally. Best: Sawyer lead + Whisper or Mireya joining. |
| Lofili | Joiner | Strong damage boost in the 1st skill; the rest of the kit is worth less than a gold leader’s. |
| Flameborne | Joiner | Damage + utility hybrid from the 1st skill. |
| Samir | Joiner | Clean ATK boost from the 1st skill; 2nd and 3rd skills mostly wasted in Cage. |
| Lunarl | Joiner | Very strong DMG boost from the 1st skill. |
| Alph | Leader | Mechanic-based kit (DEF interaction, adaptive scaling). As joiner you only get lethality reduction, which doesn’t count in Cage. |
| Veronica | Joiner, or Leader if maxed | Pure damage amplifier that needs her full kit to lead well. Not maxed → joiner. |
| Vivian | Joiner (B+) | Clean +25% ATK, no RNG, no conditions: “safe power, not winning power”. Lead with her only if you need stability. |
| Phoenix | Joiner (B) | Balanced +25% DMG, +25% HP, stun, +15% ATK passive, but all additive, so it doesn’t scale. |
A setup that works
Strong gold leader (Sawyer or Mireya), then joiners that stack different buffs: one DEF reduction (Whisper), one DMG taken (Tyrone), one DMG (Lunarl or Veronica), one ATK (Vivian or Samir). No duplicates.
Before your next Cage
- Leaders: put your 3 best full kits in the formation and max your stats and buffs.
- Joiners: set your best rally-wide 1st skill as your first hero.
- Agree in alliance chat who brings which buff, so no two joiners bring the same one.
- Join early: when skills are equal, earlier joiners get picked.
New to Cage? Start with Trial Cage for beginners & F2P and the SUN Cage Academy rally leader playbook. Every Cage guide and date is on the CAGE hub.
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