This is a guide on where each 5* hero belongs on defence. I created it based on my 2 years and 6 months experience in the game.
(Here is the 4* heroes guide: 4* heroes positioning guide)
5 things to consider:
specials fire from left to right
the tank must be a very sturdy hero (or a hero who can destroy the opponents if they fire)
the only 5* healers who belong to the corner are Alberich and Mother North.
slow heroes should not be in the corner, they may never get the chance to fire (there are a few exceptions in the 5* category)
the left side should be reserved for heroes who will help the heroes who will fire next (in case everyone is charged up at the same time) - revivers, dispelers, attack buffers, defence debuffers, healing buffers, healers (healers should fire earlier since if the hero who fires afterwards hits a hero with riposte, they can survive the riposte if they have just been healed).
Best - perfect position
Yes - great position
Maybe - good position
Rarely - under certain circumstances, they could be placed there
No - bad position
Worst - putting the hero in that position is a crime against humanity
(*ninja heroes work best when there are at least two of them on the team)
Example of a good defence rainbow team order:
Alberich-Zimkitha-Kunchen-Drake-Alasie
Left wing: reviver
Left flank: attack buffer
Tank: sturdy hero who punishes the attacker
Right flank: a fast hero who blinds the attacker
Right wing: fast sniper who takes advantage of the heroes who fired before
Disclaimer: this is a guide for regular raid defence, it can be viable for wars and tournaments, but it does not take into consideration tournament or war rules.
Edit: Gazelle, Chameleon and Vela added.
Edit 2: Costumes, S3 heroes and new HotMs added.
Edit 3: New costumes, new S3 heroes, new Springvale heroes, Myztero and new HotMs added.
Edit 4: New HotMs and new Valhalla heroes added; changes to “grades”.
Edit 5: New HotMs, Ninja heroes, new Christmas heroes and new Valhalla heroes added.
Edit 6: New HotMs, Villains and costumes added. Changes to cKadilen and Garnet.
If I ever would be as lucky as to get Mother North, I will be tempted to make my defence team entirely with the worst positions, just to test it out and maybe for some fun of it.
Actually, in that case I’d swap Azlar and Sartana.
Reason 1: you want Azlar to fire before Sartana in case there are almost dead heroes so that Azlar can finish them off, letting Sartana take care of the heroes with more HP.
Reason 2: you have 2 yellows on that team so it would be better for the purple Sartana to be between them. This would make it harder for the attacker to stack against your team.
Really appreciate the time you’ve taken to put this together, feel a little sorry for Margaret as the poor girl apparently shouldn’t be in any lineup anywhere lol. Shes my only other green 5* and I’m wondering whether to stop levellin her, thought she’d be another Inari but maybe not
She has the Paladin talent which naturally enhances hwr as a tank
Her stats are more tanky than Alice.
Alices problem is that she’s just too squishy. Yes she may dodge a special skill with the talent BUT she’s not likely to survive to dodge a special… More likely to die from tiles first.
Alice is best suited to the flank or better yet the wing.
I 100% agree with the reasons @Guvnor gave
Another reason is that Alice won’t make any difference even if she fires, she doesn’t hit hard enough to kill a hero and her -attack to 1 hero is not deadly.
Marjana, on the other hand, is much tankier and she applies DoT which makes her an okay tank.
If I were you, I’d run Evelyn-Marie-Frida-Onatel-Lianna.
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