War Inc: Rising Formation Guide — Dash, Backstab, Outflank and Split

Your formation determines which enemies your units target first, how they move across the battlefield, and whether they survive the first engagement. It's the single biggest skill gap between intermediate and advanced players.

There are four formations: Dash (standard), Backstab (aggressive), Outflank (tactical), and Split (defensive). Each counters one other formation and loses to another. The key is scouting your opponent before the match and picking the right counter.

Dash is the default formation. Your leftmost units engage the enemy's front line directly — A1 attacks F1, A2 attacks F2, and so on.

This formation maximizes aura abilities and unit synergies. Frontline Tanks cover the most area, and support units sit safely behind. It's the safest choice when you don't know what your opponent is using.

Strong against: Nothing in particular. It's the neutral option.

Weak against: Backstab formations that bypass your frontline to hit damage dealers.

Backstab sends units directly to the enemy's back line, targeting their damage dealers first. This is the most potent offensive formation.

Use it with Bomber units that self-destruct for massive AoE damage. Place Bombers to target positions B2-B3 and B5-B6 for maximum coverage.

Strong against: Dash formations that rely on a tank wall.

Weak against: Split formations that spread your backstab force into two ineffective groups.

Outflank sends 10 edge units (columns 1 and 7) into the enemy's flanks. They draw aggro while your main force advances through the center.

This is the best counter to Frost Queen, whose AoE is most dangerous against tightly-packed formations. Spreading out forces her to choose which group to target.

Strong against: Frost Queen-centric teams.

Weak against: Split formations that split your flanking forces into isolated groups.

Split shifts your left units 3 spaces left and right units 2 spaces right, creating two separate battle fronts.

This is the hardest formation to predict and the best defensive setup. It counters Backstab by splitting the backstab into two ineffective groups.

Strong against: Backstab.

Weak against: Dash, which engages each half of your split force individually.

Here's the counter wheel at a glance:

- See Dash coming? Use Backstab to hit their backline.

- See Backstab coming? Use Split to neutralize it.

- See Split coming? Use Dash to engage each half 1v1.

- See Outflank? Split works well here too.

Scouting is everything. If you can identify your opponent's formation before the match starts, you can pick the counter and win before the first unit deploys.