I missed this thread back in December, just found it now and enjoyed it.
I believe my rankings would be different if my bench had other heroes. My playstyle also influences my preferences. I raid with two healers and two mana controllers, I don’t mind dragging a fight out. I only have three of the HotM in my roster.
Rankings also depend on battle venue: Titans / Offensive Raids / Defense Team / Events
OVERALL:
Kunchen is my Tank on defense (currently flanked by Ursena) and comes on ALL attacking raids. His combination of skills suits my play style, a cleansing healer that debuffs and resists defense down.
For titans he only comes to fight Holy titans.
I love him and he wins as the most used hero in my roster and would probably remain so even if I were to have all the other heroes.
TITANS:
Miki, it has to be Miki. I underestimated Miki, underestimated the silence and regret not summoning him. Attack buffer with no missed tiles, excellent. Don’t mind that he only buffs tiles and not specials, titan scores are tiles (and from Titanium Shields
1* Heroes vs 10* Titan)
Frida - Elemental Debuffer, Red Titan killer.
Ranvir - I really wanted him and was very disappointed to miss out on the 5* Wu Kong. Yes, he would be an upgrade on Wu, his Fast mana would mean fewer mana potions on titans.
ATTACKING RAIDS:
Play style matters so much here.
Kunchen remains my first choice.
Honorable Mentions in Alphabetical Order:
Frida - Tough elemental debuffer, needs other Ice heroes to shine. Dispel comes in handy.
Grazul - Immunity with “top-up” heal at Very Fast mana. Very disappointed to miss her as she can be an excellent counter to so many devastating ailments.
Kingston - Solid sniper with superb secondary effects, debuff enemy’s attack and resisting burns. The Fire family relies heavily on DoT Burn damage making Kingston truly special (Marjana does mediocre up front damage plus Burn, GM is all about the Bern…um, Burn, JF is a pure burner. Low attack stats for many Fire heroes mean tile damage isn’t as fearsome as other elements, Elena and Azlar being the exceptions). I underestimated him because of Lianna, she hits harder and I didn’t realize how good the anti-burn and attack down are (I have Richard as an attack debuffer which led me to undervalue the impact).
Onatel - Narrowly pips Neith into the top half. Mana control but I like the block that Proteus does better. Solid, can take a hit and do a bit of damage but key is stalling the enemy. Needs more thought than most as her mana steal scales up.
Seshat - Proper Fast Mana sniper and hard counter to #1 Holy tank in the game, probably the catalyst for the quick switch to Ursena tanks. Minions replicating is stellar meat shield/overheal. Got 2, one at 3-70, Kage went first for sentimental rather than practical reasons.
Bottom Half (also alphabetical order:
Anzogh - I like him because I have the bench to support him but the six above are better. Was disappointed to miss him but didn’t make an effort either.
Grimble - Probably will become more useful, now I just don’t see it.
Margaret - I can see how she would be useful but others are more useful. Amazing tile damage at least, is that enough of a consolation? No.
Miki - Attacking raids, slow mana, can’t bring mana potions. I would expect to have won or lost by the time he charges and see the other heroes as more effective.
Neith - Mana cut is better for defense than offense due to tiles recharging defenders after Neith fires. The blind all at average mana speed is a good effect but not enough to be top half.
Ranvir - 5* Wu, never brought Wu to a raid, wouldn’t bring Ranvir either, they both add too much variance to the outcome. I expect to win an attacking raid and the missed tiles AND specials increase the chance of losing. Will help a team that is massively weaker have a chance of winning but harms teams fighting enemies of a similar level.
EVENTS/MAPS
You can bring items so mana speed matters less.
Kunchen - remains my favorite. Helps your team and harms the enemy.
Honorable Mentions:
Frida - as above, elemental debuffer. Best with other Ice heroes.
Kingston - Sniper that makes enemies hit gently. Especially valuable versus bosses.
Miki - attack buffer with no misses. Excellent, can feed mana potions. Silence bosses can be clutch.
Neith - Blind all is helpful. Mana cut to bosses as well although tiles can refill them too easily.
Seshat - Sniper with minion meat shields. Nuff said.
Bottom Half:
Anzogh - Helpful but others are better.
Grazul - Protection matters vs. Bosses but not mobs.
Grimble - maybe someday, low damage for tiles and special. Most useful vs. Red Hood bosses in Grimforest, this is too niche to be top half.
Margaret - mobs don’t have specials, excellent tile damage but many other greens are more useful (Melendor with Costume and emblems can go over 800 attack and he heals).
Onatel - Mobs don’t have mana, she can slow bosses but until then low tile damage and poor damage from special.
Ranvir - Could be helpful if team is weak but save him for titans.
DEFENSE:
I am not distinguishing between war and raid, mention it if important
Kunchen - Resists standard defense debuffs, heals, cleanses and drops enemy defense packaged in a tough, tough shell. I believe JF will prove a useful counter to Kunchen tanks due to the defense flip.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Frida - Paladin class is good for defense, already tough and hits three decently hard. Better if stacking another Ice hero (in spite of rainbow being “best practice” on defense)
Kingston - Excellent defender, Fighter class suits him, dropping enemy attack and burn resist make him a top notch defender.
Neith - Mana cut is most effective on defense. Blind is also excellent. Support hero, she is on the bubble in top half.
Onatel - Tough build, mana slow buys time for rest of team to kill the enemy.
Seshat - Solid snipe, extra damage from minions which help protect her when healers can’t keep up.
BOTTOM HALF:
Anzogh - Could replace Neith in top half. Decent hero but…
Grazul - Can’t time her special with AI, two turns of immunity is too few if you aren’t in control.
Grimble - doesn’t hurt, can’t control when he fires. Tanky but not a tank so, no.
Margaret - Can’t control when she fires. She doesn’t do damage, just helps avoid snipers. Slash attack doesn’t get killer cascades that offense does so…not useful enough.
Miki - Can be decent at tank, AI often has him silence the less dangerous enemy so not great on D. Attack buff is only for slash damage, much more effective on attack when you can cascade tiles.
Ranvir - Stings when he hits you but not enough. Same problem as Miki’s slash vs. tiles for attack but with the added danger of missing your attacks (in a 3 tile combo one tile “ought” to miss but with slash attack it is all or nothing, increasing variance in a way I don’t find helpful).