Hi community, I have BK with 18 emblems, and I’m wondering which is the best next node to go: mana 2% or more defense.
I use BK as tank right now and I chose the defense path.
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I’d say the biggest influence on this decision is your Troops. If you have developing, mid-range Mana troops that you use with BK a lot, get that 2% in there and save yourself the trip from Troop Level 17 to 23.
OTOH, if you use Crit Troops with him, or have a Mana Troop at 23 already, not much utility in the Mana Bonus. The only thing it would help with would be a little bump against mana Slow and Drain attacks.
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Go for the defense bonus node, especially so since you are using him as tank. You don’t worry about the level of your troops since they will get leveled and/or maxed as time goes by. The +2% mana bonus is too negligible IMHO.
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Well, you know, you’re not wrong. I used to think this way, as well. But it eventually occurred to me: how much time? How long does it take to level a Mana Troop from 17 to 23? Months? A year?
Assuming I think the 1 tile speed bonus is significant, what utility do I lose by waiting for my troops to level up for all that time? How many battles (and therefore resources) will I lose in the meantime, while I wait?
And if I don’t think that 1 extra tile will win me a significant number of battles, why am I worried about mana speed at all?
This calculus would be different if there was no reset mechanism for Talents. But there is.
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1 tile less to charge is more significant than a slight increase in defense, especially for average speed heroes. At least on offense, charging in 9 tiles (3 matches of 3) instead of 10 is huge. It might be less of a concern for slow speed heroes that go from 12 to 11 b/c you often still need to make 4 matches of 3 (unless you get lucky with diamonds or have multiple 4-match dragon bombs)
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I had the same dilema. My red mana troops are at 17 and had BK at 18 like two weeks ago. I dont invest much money on this game so I know that by the time I will get my mana troops to 23 I will have enough food and iron store to reset him. By personal experience I have to tell you that it makes and inmense difference having him going fast instead of average, especially in raids. II love him!! Hope this helps.
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Absolutely! That’s why it was phrased as an either/or question; so I would say it is significant, and I want that bonus now, not next year.
And that goes triple for my daily-use tank!
2 years of playing. Locking 2 nature crit troops levels 21 and 23 and 3 nature mana troops (the last mana troop I was missing among the 5 elements) levels 17, 6 and 5. Also locking 5 dark mana troops levels 23, 11, 10, 6 and 5 and my sole dark crit troop (the last epic troop I was missing) at level 5. Also locked are my 5 holy mana troops levels 23, 11, 10, 5 and 1 and 2 holy crit troops levels 12 and 5. Included locked are 2 fire crit troops levels 20 and 5 and 3 fire mana troops levels 23, 7 and 5. Lastly, i have locked as well 4 ice mana troops levels 23, 11, 7 and 5 and 2 ice crit troops at levels 14 and 5. I may not be precisely accurate on some troop levels but they are close. I have several other epic troops not locked and awaiting to be fed once those on high levels need some extra boost in experience. I plan to maintain and level 5 mana troops and 2 crit troops per each element. I also have leveled at least to level 5 at least 3 rare troops and at least 3 uncommon troops with the highest attack stat.
FWIW, I basically rely only on epic troops token to acquire them. Unlike some players, I DONT SPEND REAL MONEY IN EXCHANGE OF GEMS JUST TO SUMMON SEVERAL X10 IN THE TROOPS PORTAL. I currently have almost 40 ETTs in the inventory (I was hoarding them from various sources thinking for the summon valor challenge this on-going POV but they kay get used in the next POV). I am hoarding epic, rare and uncommon troops in preparation for raising the levels of my most advanced epic troops per element while common troops are being fed to second liners (mana troops for them just to get to at least level 11). It may take a while getting them to the last level.
Good thing I have maxed my Hero Academy, currently researching level 10 when I should have researched level 6 for me to train rare troops every 2 days as well as to serve as my iron bank. This will be my new source of feeder troops soon apart from the usual farming and chests sources.
IMHO, leveling troops is a better investment in the long term than getting the +2% mana bonus node by reason that your other heroes may use that troop just to shave off a tile. That mana bonus node of 2% only applies to that hero. Leveling troops is a more efficient way of food (and perhaps iron) usage than contemplating a future resetting of emblems. You just need to farm constantly, especially now in Atlantis Rising, for those feeder troops. What if you get a better barbarian hero like GM or Kage, you may want to give them all of the barb emblems to them. What if you get a better tank, or your alliance opted to have a unitank in wars other than the red, you may then strip BK of his emblems in favor of other heroes.
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Good work getting through the grind to get those wonderful toys! Solid achievements, in the F2P/C2P arena!
And, salient points, certainly. You don’t have to convince anyone that in the long run it’s better to just have the high-level troops. It’s pretty straightforward. I believe you.
How long did that first Mana Troop take to get from 17 to 23? If your answer is more than two or three months, then I contend that the 1 tile bonus would net you more resources than the +25 DEF would, over that span of time. Black Knight exaggerates this quality somewhat, as his Skill creates situations where his DEF doesn’t matter at all.
Either one will be just as annoying for those who fight you. He is a “must kill” so faster or stronger are both good options. I’d lean defense myself.
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