Booster Pack Heroes Beginner Guide: Survive Chapter 1

The best beginner opening in this Booster Pack Heroes beginner guide is: open a Basic Pack as soon as you have 100 Gold in the first four waves, drop your Squire in the front defensive slot, and bank every Gem for Chapter 2. That routine is the core of surviving the early game in Booster Pack Heroes, an incremental tower defense where every pack you rip open can hold your next frontline defender. The full game launches on Steam on November 10, 2026, per the official Steam page, so most of what follows comes from the demo build and first-hand player guides.

What you need before starting

• The free demo (currently on Steam via Next Fest) or the full game launching November 10, 2026 on Steam, iOS and Android — the mobile version is identical, with one upfront cost and no microtransactions.
• A mouse only: the official Steam page lists a Mouse Only Option, and the game runs on Windows or Mac with very low requirements (any graphics card, dual-core 2.0 GHz).
• The game throws you straight into battle on launch with no menu walk-through, so expect an immediate scripted early death on your first run — that first loss earns your first Mastery points.

Step 1: Waves 1-4 — the Basic Pack spam

Your gold economy snowballs from these opening waves, so spend aggressively on packs rather than hoarding. Player guides for the demo (v0.33) report that pack prices no longer inflate with each purchase, which makes repeated Basic Pack buying safe.

1. Open Basic Packs at 100 Gold

   Buy a single Basic Pack the moment you hit 100 Gold. Each pack contains one card plus a crystal, and each purchase awards 1 Gem.

2. Place Squire in the choke point

   Squire is the 60% pull and your frontline anchor. Put him in defensive slot 1 at the front line, where he stalls basic ground creepers reliably for all of Chapter 1.

3. Slot Barbarian behind the Squire

   Barbarian drops roughly 30% of the time from Basic Packs and attacks in a cone. Place him immediately behind the Squire so his cleave hits everything the Squire stalls.

4. Bank every Gem

   Do not spend Gems yet. Guides agree they should be saved for upgrades and systems that unlock after clearing Chapter 1.

One streamer tip worth copying: the Squire upgrades itself by killing monsters, and an upgraded Squire that defeats three monsters upgrades again, so letting your frontline get kills feeds itself. The cursor also does damage — positioning your mouse to hit multiple enemies at once softens targets and earns more gold from kills.

Step 2: Wave 5 — switch to the Basic Pack Box

At Wave 5 the shop unlocks the Basic Pack Box for 270 Gold. Stop buying single 100 Gold packs at this point. The Box gives you three packs for 270 — saving 30 Gold per three packs — and provides 3 Gems upfront. That cushion lets you keep cycling cards for the unit you actually need next without stalling momentum. In some demo runs the Box appeared as a 5-coin offer for three packs, so expect small price presentation differences between builds.

Step 3: Waves 6-7 — the anti-air check

This is the run-killer. Flying bat swarms arrive in Waves 6 and 7, and Squires and Barbarians cannot attack flying units under any circumstances. You need a ranged unit on the board before Wave 6 begins.

• Bowman is the answer, with roughly a 9% drop rate in Basic Packs. This is why cycling packs aggressively during Waves 3-5 matters — you are hunting the Bowman, not just building bodies.
• Spend your first Mastery points on Trickshot Trajectory (+1 ricochet) in the upgrade menu. One Bowman arrow then bounces between bat clusters and clears aerial waves before they reach your tower walls.
• Player guides consistently flag the same trap: entering Wave 6 without an active ranged unit guarantees heavy tower damage.

If Wave 6 arrives and you still have no Bowman, keep the run going to farm gold and Mastery, then prioritize pack volume next run — Bowman comes eventually, and the 1% slot in the Basic Pack holds a spell (players have pulled Thunderstorm from it), which can also help clear clusters.

Step 4: Waves 8-10 — the Chapter 1 flying boss

The boss fights in two phases: hovering projectile salvos, then a heavy dive slam near your wall. Timing your spell is the difference between clearing the chapter and wiping.

1. Hold Fireball during the hover

   Keep ranged units healthy while the boss hovers and fires. Do not panic-cast Fireball while it is airborne.

2. Wait for the dive slam

   Let the boss commit to its heavy dive slam near your barrier.

3. Cast Fireball on the landing zone

   Drop it the moment the boss touches down. You get massive burst damage on the boss plus an instant clear of the adds spawning alongside it.

Defeating the boss unlocks Advanced Packs, new spell tomes, and Chapter 2 access. Player consensus for the mid-game transition: upgrade the shop and permanent collection bonuses first, and start shifting your frontline toward Paladin (blocks attacks) and Monk (dashes on attack) once armored enemies ramp up in later chapters.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

• Do not bench the Squire early — he holds ground lines through all of Chapter 1; only transition when armored enemies appear in Chapter 2.
• Never enter Wave 6 without a ranged unit on the board.
• Stop buying single 100g packs once the 270g Box exists — you burn 30 gold per three cards otherwise.
• Do not spam spells on cooldown; Fireball is a burst tool for clustered swarms and boss landing phases, not single stragglers.
• Do not spread Mastery thinly across minor stat buffs — put early points into Trickshot Trajectory first.
• Quests are free money: completing them raises your coins per run, and permanent unlocks like "a basic pack every 15 seconds" (100 gold) compound every future run.

One caveat on numbers: pack prices, drop rates and wave counts come from the demo build and player reports, and the developer's Next Fest update (October 19, 2026) rebalanced enemies and made shop rolls fairer, so exact values may shift in the launch version.

FAQ

What is the best Booster Pack Heroes beginner guide opening?

Open Basic Packs at 100 Gold from Wave 1, place Squire in the front slot, stack Barbarian behind him, and bank Gems. At Wave 5 switch to the 270g Basic Pack Box, and have a Bowman on the board before Wave 6's flying bats.

What if I never pull a Bowman before the flying waves?

Keep opening packs every run. Bowman sits at roughly a 9% drop rate, so aggressive pack cycling in Waves 3-5 usually lands one; without him, expect heavy tower damage in Waves 6-7 and prioritize ranged units next run.

Can Squire or Barbarian hit flying enemies?

No. Player guides are explicit that ground melee defenders like Squire and Barbarian cannot target flying units, which is exactly why the Bowman check before Wave 6 exists.

Do pack prices increase as I buy more?

Not in demo v0.33 — player guides report prices no longer inflate per purchase, making repeated Basic Pack buying safe until the Box replaces singles at Wave 5.

Page checked November 8, 2026, against the official Steam store page and its developer announcements, the Steam community hub, and first-hand player guides and demo videos. Drop rates, wave timings and shop prices come from the demo build and player reports and remain unconfirmed for the November 10 launch version.