Soul Exchange 8 (I think)
My view on this is from the lower end of a Top 100 alliance player. At my level more heroes are playable than in the Top 20, but I am mostly interested in heroes that make me better, not that keep me floating where I already am. And I suggest the same view for everybody, no matter where they are at. The big guys obviously don´t care much about anything here, they´ll probably select something for the museum or a triplet for a hero that they like both copies they already have. Players in lower parts of the game will have more heroes of interest, but since they pay the same price I would still suggest to look at the best hero possible.
I find the selection this time more complex than usual, as there are many heroes that can be useful, but there is not 1 clear must-choose-hero like Ludwig and Milena were.
So generally speaking, what is a good hero to pick from SE (or same principle at a lower level also in Fated Summons)
- A hero that is simply super strong (very rare in SE/FS)
- A hero that fills a specialized niche, but is otherwise useless
- Most importantly: a hero that makes you better at something that you want to be better at. And that can be nearly anything depending on interests.
Reversely, what is a bad hero to pick? A pure damage based hero, because those get outdated the fastest and since all heroes in SE and more so FS are already old, you start out with something that is outdated by the time you get it. So better pick a hero with a timeless skill, that doesn´t degrade over time, then your only worry are the stats.
Now for this current selection:
10 souls: Nothing outstanding this time, but still a few niche heroes. For most people that only have 10 heroes to trade, the recommendation would be to save up more heroes for next time, for those that have more, look into the higher categories.
Jabberwock+Costume: Because of the costume he has the best stats among the 10ers, but he´s a damage hero and not much else (tiny mana control), he did get a boost when the costumes got boosted, so he is not as outdated as others, but certainly not good enough for a recommendation. Let´s say you have no purple 5 star and your ally runs purple tanks and you only have 10 heroes to trade, well, no need to ask anyone, there is only one hero possible for you. But honestly Freya and Bera were available for nearly free in FS before, you´d better stick to those.
Mica: A bad hero, but with a niche (or 2), so when they first announced only the 10ers I was considering him in case nothing good came up in higher tiers. The niche is buffs. If you need buffs he delivers 3 of them at Ninja speed (fastest in the game). So if you want to make a journey hero (Sha, 9HB, etc) faster and don´t have a Granny, here´s your charger. Also fun use: Gullinbursti teams, I used to play Kailani there, obviously he´d be better…
Eiora&Fluffy: Another outdated damage hero (avg speed sniper, juck!), with a little minion side effect.
Noor: Probably worst hero in the SE. Slow and nothing game changing, nobody needs to pay for that.
Frosth: I can see one (and only one) use for him: If you want a fast blue hero to make 5 minions for your Pengi to become useful in PvP. I can´t remember any other hero that does that. Pengi is obviously not the big option anymore these days, but we are in the 10 hero section, so I guess we can look at lower gameplay uses.
15 souls: Some interesting options, but no must haves.
Kemeny: Outdated damage hero with nothing interesting besides the damage. Stop repeating yourself Gargon
Eloise: Do you already have 6 anti-minion heroes? If yes, this is a skip, if not, she´s definitely on the list. But it´s really about the anti-minion action, so make sure you need that and she´ll be a good pick.
Winifred: Slow speed, so rush specialist, with a bard bonus and many other extra, the first really interesting hero here. Bard bonus, good hit, attack down, buff immunity! Makes it a generally strong hero for all situations where speed is less important (rush, towers, events, etc)
Vanda+Costume: CVanda is definitely a good (or the best?) pick at 15! Very fast speed means 6 tiles to get the ailment immunity (which is the most important part of her special), useful in all situations where you absolutely have to protect yourself from ailments (like Erlang etc)
Athena+Costume: Also a generally good hero. I don´t think she´s strong enough for absolute top level with her avg speed (you can get the same package at faster speed or a stronger package at the same speed if you have access to all heroes), but if you play avg speed stacks and need a def downer (now with a baby dispel attached) she´s alright. Of course she is mainly a titan specialist, that is where she really shines, in some cases even part of the meta team (when you need the combo of EDD and DD to free up an additional spot).
20 Souls: All of them are nice!
Diaochan: Fast speed healer with bonus (minions and buff steal). Nothing wrong with the package! Top 10 alliances have too many better options (Hathor, Granny, Rhys,Thalassa etc), but since those guys won´t read this, I am sure anyone can find a place for her.
White Rabbit+Costume: Absolutely a candidate for top pick! Has now been included in SE, because the Opera Christine has recently been released, which is the modern upgrade of this hero, before that, he was unique and too valuable to be handed out for free. Why? Because there is no other yellow, fast speed DD to 3 targets, so he was part of all yellow kill-3 stacks. So even though he is a damage hero, he is unique (well now not anymore, but nearly), because of the DD and I guess he would be able to improve many fast yellow stacks out there (including mine).
Fogg: EDD for titans (don´t think there is a better one, except his costume, which is not included), but he´s also a useful support hero for PvP, he can be used to dispel taunt (the most powerful buff on def), he can snipe out near dead enemies as well. So absolutely more than worth having.
Garnet: I would say the best hero in the selection, even though she is really rather old (meaning not very impressive stats these days), her skill is timeless. Remember, I liked the ailment protection on Vanda? Now she gives ailment protection for 4 tiles instead of 6! That´s nearly a whole world faster! Plus she gives an overheal (which is way better than the tiny damage Vanda does). Also great companion for hippo, which is another reason why this is the only hero in this selection to be regularly seen on top end war videos.
Tethys: Another fast speed hit-3 hero, one of the newer ones, but still the damage part is becoming outdated, I assume she´ll get a costume soon. But the attack boost to the team makes her interesting anyway (60% to blue allies is very big), so if you want to build a fast blue damage stack, she can be a useful piece of the puzzle to make it happen. Can also be used in 5th spot on a titan team.
Recommendations:
Tough, more than usual it depends on your roster. But I´ll try some hopefully helpful hints.
Overall best hero, if you really don´t know who to pick: Garnet.
I think this will be the hero that most people should find useful. Now with cheap troop levelling the 20% troop boost to get Garnet to 4 tiles is much more achievable for the majority of players. And there is simply no fault in her design, she´s amazing, she does what she promises (protect from ailments) much more reliably than anybody else (because faster) and the lower stats are at least on a healer, not a hitter (who is much more stat dependent).
15Souls: Vanda
10 Souls: None
Purple: Diao
Yellow: Rabbit
Red: Garnet
Green: Winifred (or Fogg depending on interests, like titans)
Blue: Tethys (or Athena depending on interests, like titans)
Heroes I would consider: All the 20ies (I have none of them), all the 15s except purple, none of the 10s.
For my self: I would absolutely love to have Garnet, but my yellow stack is in big need of help (I can say Mist is not happy to meet 2LB Brimstones etc), so I guess I will not be able to pass on the Rabbit.
Feel free to add or disagree as much as you like 
In case you are new and don´t know the abbreviations:
SE = Soul Exchange
FS = Fated Summon
EDD = Elemental Defense Down
DD = Defense Down
I hope that covers it.
