DECISIVE and HEROIC Ratings Explained
What the DECISIVE and HEROIC ratings mean in We March as One, how to earn them reliably, and which achievements depend on them.
We March as One rates every battle. You can win a level and still see a rating below the top, and those ratings are not cosmetic: they pay bonus gold, they gate a large block of achievements, and they are the game's built-in difficulty valve when a level feels impossible.
There are two ratings worth chasing.
The two ratings
DECISIVE is the clean-victory rating. The common reading among players is that it rewards winning efficiently — breaking the enemy without grinding your army down in the process. A battle you win by the skin of your teeth is a win, not a DECISIVE.
HEROIC is the against-the-odds rating. It rewards winning a fight you were not favoured to win, typically by beating a larger or better-positioned force.
The exact thresholds are not published in-game, and the game does not show a score breakdown. What you can rely on is the behaviour: the two ratings are earned in different circumstances, which is why a level can be cleared many times without ever producing both.
The Mastered achievement requires earning DECISIVE and HEROIC on the same level. That is only possible if the two ratings are evaluated differently — one for efficiency, one for difficulty. Roughly seven in ten players have it, so it is a normal campaign milestone rather than an expert feat.
How to earn DECISIVE
DECISIVE rewards a battle that ends with your army still functional. The levers:
- Bring more army than you need. A decisive win is easier with a large, deep formation than with a clever small one.
- Fight behind terrain. A choke point reduces the damage you take, which is exactly what efficiency measures.
- Use the King well. A crowned circle absorbs damage that would otherwise cost you units.
- Finish quickly. Long grinding battles tend to produce wins, not DECISIVE wins.
The easiest DECISIVE in the game is an early level you have outgrown. Go back to level 10 with an Act 3 army and the rating falls out almost automatically.
How to earn HEROIC
HEROIC rewards winning when the odds are against you, which means the opposite approach:
- Fight under-strength. Bring less army than the level expects, or skip upgrades that inflate your power.
- Fight a larger enemy. Horde levels are natural HEROIC candidates because the enemy is, by design, bigger than you.
- Win with a plan, not a surplus. A well-placed choke point that lets a smaller force beat a larger one is exactly the scenario the rating is looking for.
This is the counter-intuitive one. Players who always buy the biggest possible army find HEROIC hard to earn, because they are never the underdog. Players who deliberately under-invest find it easy.
Several players report that skipping parts of the upgrade tree keeps the campaign challenging — and that is also the state that produces HEROIC ratings. If you are chasing the rating achievements, resist the urge to buy every node.
What the ratings pay
- Gold. Better ratings pay more, which is why replaying for ratings is the most reliable income in the game.
- Achievements. A large share of the achievement list is rating-gated.
- Progress confidence. A level cleared at DECISIVE is a level you can beat again, which matters when the next act asks for a bigger army.
The gold economy guide→ covers how rating income compounds.
The rating achievements in full
| Achievement | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Decisive | Earn DECISIVE on any level |
| Heroic | Earn HEROIC on any level |
| Mastered | DECISIVE and HEROIC on the same level |
| Sacked | DECISIVE on a city level |
| Man-at-Arms | DECISIVE and HEROIC on all of levels 1–10 |
| Knight | DECISIVE and HEROIC on all of levels 11–20 |
The two blocks — Man-at-Arms and Knight — are the real completionist challenge. Twenty levels, each cleared twice at the two different ratings, is a substantial amount of replaying.
A practical rating routine
- First clear: play normally to progress. Do not chase a rating on a level you have not beaten.
- Second clear: replay with the same army for the rating you did not get. If the first clear was a grind, the second will often be DECISIVE; if it was easy, the second will often be HEROIC.
- Third clear: only if the second produced the wrong rating, and only on levels you are targeting for Man-at-Arms or Knight.
- Move on when a level is below Act 2. Ratings on early levels can be mopped up later with a much larger army.
Official source: Steam global achievement stats ↗ — Decisive sits around 95% of players and Heroic around 88%, while Mastered sits near 69% and Man-at-Arms around a quarter, showing how much harder the level-block achievements are.
The short version
DECISIVE is won by bringing more than you need and taking less damage than you should. HEROIC is won by bringing less than you need and winning anyway. Both on the same level is Mastered, and both on every level of an act is Man-at-Arms or Knight. Chasing them is the campaign's secondary progression, and it funds the primary one.
Sources
- Steam global achievement stats for We March as One ↗
- We March as One on Steam (official store page) ↗
- Steam user reviews for We March as One ↗
FAQ
What is the difference between DECISIVE and HEROIC?
DECISIVE rewards an efficient win, HEROIC rewards winning against the odds. They can both be earned on the same level, which is what the Mastered achievement requires.
Can I get both ratings in one battle?
No. A single battle produces one rating, which is why Mastered requires clearing the same level twice.
Do ratings affect gold?
Yes. Higher ratings pay bonus gold, which is the main reason to replay cleared levels.
What is the easiest level for DECISIVE?
An early level replayed with a later-game army. Level 10 with an Act 3 army is the usual pick.
What is the easiest level for HEROIC?
A horde level, where the enemy army is larger than yours by design. Fighting under-strength on purpose also works.