Star-Up Special Ants
Special Ant star-up requires different amounts of duplicate copies, Orange Shells, Exotic Shells, EXP, and Honeydew depending on the star level. Below is the full progression step by step.
Star-up requirements
| Stars | Dup. | Orange Shells | Exotic Shells | Exp. | Honeydew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5.4 M | 8 M |
| ★★ | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15.8 M | 12 M |
| ★★★ | 0 | 4 | 10 | 29.6 M | 16 M |
| ★★★★ | 0 | 4 | 15 | 46.3 M | 20 M |
| ★★★★★ | 1 | 4 | 20 | 98.2 M | 24 M |
| ★ red | 0 | 5 | 25 | 156.2 M | 28 M |
| ★★ red | 0 | 6 | 30 | 231.5 M | 34 M |
| ★★★ red | 3 | 6 | 35 | 325.4 M | 40 M |
Orange Shells
Orange Shells you get from Tertiary Egg’s . Require them from SvS, VIP Store and weekly Force of Life and other events.
Exotic Shells
Exotic Shells you can obtain from VIP Store, Frilled Lizard, Season Store and other events and packs.
Experience
Kiwi honeydew can be required in most events and rewards.
Honeydew
Honeydew is an common resource that you can get from Anthill, Hunting and events.
To build 3 Special Ants up to 3 Stars, you will need in total:
| Resource | Cost for 1 Ant | Cost for 3 Ants |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate copies | 5 | 15 |
| Orange Shells | 34 | 102 |
| Exotic Shells | 147 | 441 |
| EXP | 908.4 M | 2,725.2 M |
| Honeydew | 182 M | 546 M |
Main Bottleneck
The biggest bottleneck will be Exotic Shells.
For free-to-play players, getting enough Exotic Shells will take a long time. You need to stay active, participate in Lizard events, buy VIP Store shells whenever possible, and collect Exotic Shells from other events whenever they are available.
For spenders, it is important to keep an eye on store offers before new ants are released. Exotic Shells take much longer to collect than most other resources, and a higher-star A-tier ant will often perform much better than a low-star paid ant.
Recommended Star-Up Strategy
Start by building your first 3 Special Ants to 4 Stars.
This gives you a strong and stable core that performs well in most situations.
After that, focus all your resources on your main DPS ant and push it to 3 Red Stars as fast as possible.
This is where you get the biggest power spike.
Once your DPS is established, start developing your second and third Special Ants forward at a balanced pace, depending on your troop type and lineup needs.
Do not over-invest unevenly — your lineup is only as strong as its weakest unit.
Resource Priority Rule
Do not use stars on secondary troops if those resources can instead push your Pro Troop forward.
Progression priority should always be:
Main March > Secondary March
Important Reminder
The best S+ tier lineup with only a few stars can be outperformed by S, A, or even B-tier lineups with high stars.
Stars matter a lot. Do not underestimate high-star ants just because they are not ranked as the absolute best ants.