I’m looking for some feedback here, and I don’t have a particular axe to grind, just seeing if there are like-minded individuals.
I’ve been F2P since I started, and have been playing for almost 2 years. I’m able to average 2-3 pulls per event and have a full complement of S1 5* heroes. Of my 50+ five stars, exactly 5 are non-S1. I’ve been “fortunate” enough to collect exactly 1 HOTM, the fearsome Noor . I’m also sitting on a large supply of ascension materials, in the vain hope that maybe I’ll receive some luck, but both numbers and my own experience inform me that I’m being far too optimistic.
Is anyone else in this boat? Why do you keep playing, and what keeps you motivated?
Although I haven’t been playing as long as you I am also feeling frustrated as I was just saying in another post on here the odds of pulling an epic hero or a hotm is just rediculously low. It’s abusurdly low and with the kind of odds the game gives us we have a better chance of winning the lottery than pulling an epic or hotm. We are being robbed and Its not getting better any time soon. I like playing this game but unless you pay an ungodly amount of money than you’ll never get the heroes you want. It’s disheartening to say the least and I’m really close to just giving up on this game. If I find another similar game, I’m outta here cause I’m sick of just throwing my money and time into a game and getting nowhere
Greetings! I am F2P for about 3 years now. I used to be pretty “hardcore” about my playing with making sure energy was used, running an alliance, and general keeping up with the Jones’.
I am in the same boat to some degree. I have no special event, S2, or S3 5’s but have managed 4 HotM’s. Still missing a few vanillas 5’s as my TC20 thinks I need an absurd number copies of certain ones .
About a year ago I took a drastic step back in my play time. I set a timer so I can track my daily limit, quit being in an alliance for a time, etc. At first it was tough and felt I was “missing” things. Eventually I leveled out and found I could really enjoy the game just a more healthy level for me in terms of time commitment, etc.
I rejoined an alliance as a normal member. It is fairly casual. I rarely do wars but hit titans and generate enough mats that way. I also enjoy hitting titans. I raid when I feel like it, don’t when I don’t feel like it. I only play events and quests I feel like. Basically I use the game as a mild time killer and play the parts I like when I feel like it.
Once I got over the feeling to “compete” and just did it to compete with myself I enjoyed it. I also make my own challenges. For example I have done a full circuit of the emblem quests with vanilla only heroes and a circuit with 4* only heroes. When I do seasonal events I will try 4* only or make up other rules that I would think make it fun or more challenging. Last ToL I made a rule to not use any one of my top 5 heroes … and it was fun.
The lack of “needing” to be in diamond means I can try whatever weird team combinations I want to raid teams. Doesn’t matter what my trophies are, try whatever, whenever. Plus, let’s face it, the difference in loot from platinum or diamond is marginal.
Going at my own pace as a F2P also became more enjoyable because given the power creep and current meta it is almost impossible to be a F2P who doesn’t commit a HUGE amount of time daily to keep up anymore. A combination of not chasing that goal and the goal being out of reach anyway made it easy. Even being P2P can take massive time commitments these days.
I also found some like minded people both in my alliance and on the forum to talk F2P stuff. Basically you avoid getting answers of “just use X combination of hard to get heroes” or “hold your mats forever until you get impossible to get hero X”. Here is a thread with a bunch of us, all are welcome:
Everyone is different and plays for different reasons. Playing all the time is certainly not anything “bad”. It is truest a case by case basis with how each player wants to prioritize their own time. Hope it helps and hope you find joy in the game somehow still. If you can’t, it’s a game. If it’s not fun, move on.
I finally and actually broke my addiction!!! 3 days ago I took the game off my phone. Joined in April 2018 and played every single day without fail. I tried multiple time to quit through mercing and reduction of play time, etc. But I just woke up on Monday morning and just decided to be done with the game and simply took the plunge though my emotions were screaming at me not to Every day gets a little easier and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. I just swung by the forum today to see what’s going on this week. #freedom
Well… I’m a little over 2.5 years, and have 50+ 5 stars, though I have 8 HoTMs (one from the ToL), and 2 Seasonal. A lot of it is luck… I’m sitting on purple ascension materials because of the lack of “quality” purples.
I guess the question is why are you playing the game? Is it to collect all the heroes? That’s something that’s not going to happen, even if you spend thousands every month.
I like playing just to have some sense of accomplishment of moving forward. There is no endgame really, so I just look forward to completing events/quests, filling up chests, and working on clearing my missions list.
I also find the alliance wars fun, and I think one of the members of the alliance is like that since that’s one of the things he participates most on (a bit flaky on titans, but not a big deal). There may be a certain aspect that appeals to people: collecting heroes, completing tasks, completing the maps, etc. The question is for you to figure out what attracted you to the game and kept you hooked for the past 2 years.
but just to touch on the ton of non maxed 5s you have
if any of those unmaxed 5s are copies of 5s you already like using, i would probably max some copies since emblems are a bit more common now than they used to be and will add up over time plus you said you have an abundance of mats and this would put some of those to use while still improving your teams(theoretically as idk specifics) and would reserve a set of mats per color along with probly 5 dblades and 5 tomes in case you do happen to get lucky, should take some of the risk factor out of it.(5 blades and tomes may be a bit overkill, idk just first number that comes to mind)
as a p2p, I’ve even done this as it’s easier to play with what’s there than to always chase what could be
Now you make me think what is my own reason to play… I have been playing for a bit more than 2 years, mainly F2P but i did purchase some vip and small offer once in a while (haven’t purchase anything in the last 5 months). I only manage to pull 30 5* (dupes included). No s3 and only 1 s2. Heck my collection of s1 5* is not yet complete.
I think you are in a much better position than me. If you have that question, maybe i should start questioning myself too
if you’re having fun and you’re in an alliance of players close to your same strength and have the same goals you’re all progressing towards, i don’t see what there is to question.
I’ve personally been way more excited about completing alliance or personal goals than i ever have about obtaining a new hero but again…I’m p2p so that may be that the new hero thing is a bit more of a common feeling for me than you guys
You are f2p and you got 50+ 5s? I’ve been playing over 2.5 years and I maybe have half that. Still no s2 or s3 5s and only a handful of hotm. You are way luckier then I am.
A common theme for burn out seems to be mats. People can’t get mats to ascend their 5’s, etc. It sounds to me they’re playing more as a collector and enjoy the acquisition, not necessarily the process of acquiring those mats (playing the actual game, matching tiles and killing enemies).
I get that. The part that makes it easier for me is I enjoy killing time matching tiles to kill orks, goblins, whatever the hell else I fling a tile at. If I get loot from a box am I still disappointed? Yes, of course. Since I enjoy the game itself I don’t have that added frustration of “I did something I don’t like to MAYBE get something I want. I didn’t get it and now put myself through misery for nothing” feeling ( that’s even too long for an acronym … I should paraphrase better in the future). Then that burn out makes sense.
It comes back to why you play. I like the game for what it is. Is it flawed and have room for improvement? Yes, duh. Are they too stingy with summon rates and ascension mats? Yes, again, duh. If you like the game those are annoyances more than deal breakers. No game is perfect.
I think it’s a fairly easy assumption to say the 50+ 5 stars come from TC20. At 5% rate, that’s one on average every 40 days on top of any other summoning. Could also be running multiple TC20s.
I think the question is what part of the game do you enjoy the most? I’m f2p too. I view it as a challenge. Why are there people in my alliance that have played longer and spend money, yet consistently under perform me against titans an in war. The only conclusion can be I’m a better player right?
I know I can’t possibly be the best. Doesn’t keep me from wishing. But it’s the challenge and the alliance that keeps me playing. Also don’t have much else to do with my life :).
I feel you. I literally spent more than two years with only Seshat as my one non-S1 5*.
So, fwiw, you have 4 more non-S1 5* than I did. And I wasn’t even f2p the whole time. I became vc2p.
I’d say three things kept me playing.
My friends, & the community. I didn’t believe it at the time, but at least a couple of friends believed in luck for me. 2020 turned out to be an amazing year for new 5*.
Also, for the first time since I started playing, I tried out other mobile games last year, but the community here is unmatched!
Setting game goals. 100k titan hit? Done on dark titan. Now I’m trying for 100k on holy titan. High level rainbow mana troops? Done. Now, I’m working on 2nd or 3rd mana troop.
It doesn’t have to be hero/troop/titan related. Maybe there’s a challenge event/Ninja Tower/even X player you want to beat. My suggestion is to make some achievable goal. It can be whatever you like.
Other factors. I have always accepted that being f2p/vc2p, I am always behind p2p. I know I will never have 10s of maxed non-S1 5*. My 4* mats have been piling up too.
If your goal is to get more non-S1 5*, the question I’d ask you is this: can you keep playing with no idea when you will be lucky again? Because every f2p is dependent on luck. You could be lucky the next time you summon, but it also could be months or even literally more than a year.
PS Wrote on mobile, so formatting may be a bit weird.
I just started the game as a F2P (3 months and a half to be precise), so here’s my point of view as a beginner F2P (OK my GF got me the gift of Valor Pass 6 for Christmas, so maybe I am C2P, I dunno ).
It started as a project to get the free VIP pass for as long as I could (120 days, it’s actually 130 but I understood my mistake too late so 120). You know, creating 20 side accounts and leveling them to 10.
So far so good, but then I thought “Alliances are unreliable, even when you need something as simple as a 4* titan dead or winning a war on occasion, so why not create my own”. I did so and let only my GF in it. And then I enlisted all my side accounts in it. Purely for help vs titans, because it was obvious that the two of us cannot kill anything but a 2* at most (she’s also about 4 months in the game, F2P). Still consider it a solo alliance though since I run all side accounts myself - developing them, I mean.
Here comes the interesting part for you (sorry for the long intro). These side accounts need development! It’s really fun to manage them, also some of them got exquisite heroes. For example, this morning one of them pulled Bertila as a bonus draw. So what I mean is that with multiple accounts you can get multiple types of rare exquisite heroes even if you are F2P. Also, all these accounts will need your constant attention and you may as well feel thrilled to invest for example the time and effort to beat a rare quest with a 3* team rather than autoplaying it with a 5* team as you probably do already.
Also it would be really challenging for you to bring all accounts to such power that you alone (with these side accounts) could beat a 14* titan! How’s that for a challenge?
Hope this helps you with some ideas. Best of luck. I am well aware of the part of each game where you just “have it all” and the game is no longer interesting. Starting anew makes it interesting again, at least for me. Also, since you learned from past mistakes, even much more fun at times.
I’m into my third year of play, I think. While I can’t claim to be F2P I have spent less than £20 during my time with the game.
My roster consists of mainly the S1 heroes but I have managed to pull a few HOTMs: Ranvir, Vela, Reuben. All ‘accidental’ pulls as I wasn’t pursuing them. The only HOTM I did try to get was Telluria but failed miserably! I have yet to pull a S2 or S3 5* hero, but have some 4* and 3* heroes (but they tend to get ignored when it comes to pulls). I have two event 5* heroes in my Lady (of the Lake) and Guardian Chameleon.
I’ve been on the verge of stopping several times. Way back I played the game solo, not raiding or joining an alliance. As players of the game are aware of, there’s a progression wall even in the story mode. You either need a higher level hero or the ‘correct’ combination of lower tier heroes to progress. At least this is what I found. And I was stuck on story progression due to lack of overall strength. A friend has heard all my grumbles and was surprised I hadn’t quit. But the puzzle mechanics, the heart of the game, is what kept me playing. At the very least, this aspect has to be something one finds acceptable; better still, one finds enjoyable.
As a ‘card collector’ game, then unless you have tremendous patience or a large disposable income it’s a losing endeavour. In such a case I think it’s perhaps best to understand and accept you’re unlikely to accomplish this goal - it’s possible though highly improbable.
I have some reserve in ascension materials, lacking in one, as I am reluctant to ascend certain 5* heroes in the vain hope of pulling someone better. I’m also somewhat reluctant to ascend a duplicate due to the rarity of ascension materials. I don’t hesitate as much for duplicate 4* heroes, and have duplicates of those I find most useful (mainly the healers).
What each player has to decide, and acknowledge, for themselves is why they play the game and whether it is enjoyable for them. Having the latest and greatest heroes is all very well and good, but ascension materials is one issue.
But the fun I tend to derive now is just how far I can take my roster. Even with my fairly modest roster I have managed to venture into the global top 50 in raids (which is surprising) given how much tile luck is needed to string together consecutive wins without the need of flasks. I cannot stay there and recently even got beaten back down into platinum!
My alliance team mates also provide a reason to stay with the game. And alliance wars brings the alliance together far more than other aspect of the game as there’s potential for more direct cooperation.
I feel your pain. I’ve been playing since the game was created. I have 22 total 5* heroes. They are all S1 or HOTM. I don’t usually drop a ton of cash on this game but decided to try my luck this month. After nearly 100 draws this month (3 ten pulls included), I have yet to get a S2, S3 or special event 5* star hero. I didn’t even get the HOTM this month. I look at other player teams in raids or even on my own alliance and I feel like I will never reach the next level in the game as I cannot compete with the heroes others have. I can’t speak for others outside my alliance but it appears my “luck” is much worse than the rest and I am honestly becoming tired of trying. The announcement for upcoming new events looks interesting but I can’t help but feel my luck will not change.
I’ve been ftp/ctp for about 2 1/2 years now. Most of my 5* came from TC20. I have about 20. Got a few HoTM.
I play because it’s fun watching all the idiots spend loads, have no concept of war/battle tactics and rely on what Wanchor evaluates their heroes at.
Oh look another shiny hero I ‘Must’ have.
Great. You can only ever have 5 on defence. Every defence can be beaten. Using Rainbow defences invariably means a lot of the hero’s benefits like family and elemental bonus aren’t used.
You can only use 5 at a time on any team. 30 in war.
So what’s the actual point and value of having all these emblemed shiny heroes if you never use them and don’t know how to anyway?
I thoroughly enjoy thrashing 4600+ tp teams full of shinies I’ve never heard of with my Mono Red team. It’s all I use and has taken me to top 15 Global and No. 1 local UK.
Same in war, love it, defences which beggar belief but, hey, full of shiny Heroes and Wanchor and Wise Goat say they’re good.
If you only use Classic S1 Heroes and 85% of your roster is 4*, you learn how to compose ‘teams’ of heroes that ‘work together’ and consequently thrash expensive teams of individuals.
I have a 3000tp 3* team that happily obliterates 4* teams.
It’s fun.
That’s why I play because no matter who you are or how much you do or don’t spend you’re at the mercy of the board and as I’ve shown and proved time and time again, money doesn’t buy success.
. I’m also sitting on a large supply of ascension materials, in the vain hope that maybe I’ll receive some luck, but both numbers and my own experience inform me that I’m being far too optimistic.
.
Every day gets a little easier and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. I just swung by the forum today to see what’s going on this week. 
loot from a box am I still disappointed? Yes, of course. Since I enjoy the game itself I don’t have that added frustration of “I did something I don’t like to MAYBE get something I want. I didn’t get it and now put myself through misery for nothing” feeling (
).
