How to Get Lancer and Pikeman in Command An Army (Evolution, No Banner Luck)

The Short Answer: Evolve, Don’t Summon

Neither Lancer nor Pikeman comes from the banner. Both are evolution ends — the last stop of starter-unit chains you grow yourself. The evolution guide documents five full paths; these are the two the search requests ask about:

The Lancer Chain: the Most Valuable Path in the Game

Lancer is an S-tier unit with the highest charge damage of anything in the roster — and the Scout Rider chain produces it without the summon luck a 4-star banner would demand. The route:

1. Start a Scout Rider (2★ — banner or early unlock; it is the chain’s only luck-dependent step).
2. Level it to 20 (the evolve threshold per player reports — level it alongside your main push, see the beginner guide’s leveling route).
3. Evolve at an evolve station → Cavalryman (3★).
4. Repeat to level 20 and evolve again → Lancer (4★, S-tier).

The Pikeman Chain: One Step, C-Tier

The Spearman line is the shortest documented evolution in the game: Spearman (1★) → Pikeman (2★), one station visit at level 20. It lands on the C-tier of the current rankings — worth doing for roster completeness and to understand the evolution UI, but not a power target. If your goal is a spear-line carry, the tier list is the place to check whether any future update changes Pikeman’s standing.

The Rules That Apply to Both

• Level 20 at an evolve station — the requirement player reports agree on; the station, not the banner, is where the change happens.
• Evolve and ascend in parallel. Evolution changes what the unit is; ascension permanently strengthens the copy you already own. Focusing on only one leaves half your roster behind — the evolution guide runs the full comparison.
• The Morningstar note: the 4-star Morningstar is the evolved form of Mace — a separate chain, corrected from earlier “new weapon” misreads. It is not part of the Lancer or Pikeman lines.

Sources

Evolution chains, tiers and the level-20 requirement: documented in the evolution guide from player reports cross-checked at launch, with tier placements from the unit tier list. Update 3 context (Laestrygonian odds report) per All Things How’s October 3, 2026 coverage.