Mana troops for defense teams

[Sparrow]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding the effect of mana generation buffs (from troops and talents) on heroes in defense teams. I found a lot of topics about mana troops and talents, but they all refered to attack teams only.

How do those mana boosts affect defense teams, though? Do they affect the mana generation from tiles that hit the heroes, the mana that the heroes get in each turn, or both?

For offense teams you always aim for certain mana boost values, that will fill the mana bar one tile earlier than default. Are there specific values like that for defense teams, too?

[Rapisu]

The bonus is the same as for attack teams.
For example average mana heroes need 10 tiles to fill. With lvl 23 mana troops they only need 9 tiles.
On offense this means merge 9 tiles, in defense they need to get hit by 9 tiles. The defenders also get a bit of mana every round. If I’m not mistaken it’s the equivalent of 1tile/round

[Sparrow]

Do you know if the 1 tile per round mana gain that all the defenders get is boosted by mana troops/talents?

[Rapisu]

It’s always 1 tile per round, but if you have troops or talent and hit a breaking point you will need less tiles.
So average mana heroes on defense (if they don’t get hit by tiles and only rely on the 1tile/round) need 10 rounds to cast their special. I you have man troops they only need 9 tiles. If you have any other bonuses, like for example Friar Tuck’s special you might be able to reduce it to 8 rounds.

You can also see it differently:
Each hero needs 100 mana. Average mana heroes get 10 mana/tile. With a 13% bonus (troops lvl 23) they get 11.3 mana/tile, so they need only 9 tiles to reach 100 mana.
If you can get it up to 12,5 mana/tile (25%) you only need 8 tiles.

[yelnats_24]

@Sparrow

For offense teams you always aim for certain mana boost values, that will fill the mana bar one tile earlier than default. Are there specific values like that for defense teams, too?

Unfortunately, it is hard to calculate specific value for defense team, but it is generaly do not need to meet certain values as high as on offense. Allow me to quote @Kerridoc for this matter:

@Kerridoc

On defense, the general wisdom is that Mana troops are superior. The Crit bonus is only applied on the occasional “slash” attacks, which occur far less often on defense than tile hits on offense. Also the mana increase is more valuable: mana on offense is gained in discrete packets from each tile, while on defense heroes gain mana both from tile hits and gradually. Therefore, even lower-level mana troops like these can have a meaningful effect on how quickly they cast.

It’s not exactly 1 mana for 1 tile hit on defense:

@Kerridoc

• on offense, a hero only gains mana by matching tiles (unless boosted with a gain-mana buff from, say, Alberich). You gain one tile’s worth of mana when the tile hits a foe, or two tile’s worth if it “ghosts” (doesn’t hit a foe). Certain troops or specials increase the amount of mana each tile is worth.
• on defense, every hero gains a tick of mana each turn. Any hero hit by a tile will gain a chunk of mana; the chunk size decreases the more tiles hit in a particular turn (so a huge cascade may not charge all foes’ mana). Again, mana-boost troops and specials may increase the mana gain.

[Sparrow]

Ah, so the mana gain is not linear for defense heroes. I was surprised sometimes, that a long cascade did not activate all defenders. Now I know why, thanks!

So then there are no specific thresholds for mana boosts in case of defense teams.

I was wandering for example if I should attach a mana troop to Morgan Le Fay in defense. It boosts her self-healing directly (heal boost) and indirectly (better attack compared to crit troop). And if the mana boost can also be helpful even though she is fast, then mana troops might really be the better option.

[Kerridoc]

@Sparrow

if I should attach a mana troop to Morgan Le Fay in defense.

Yes, for both of the reasons you give. Morgan with a big mana troop is trouble.

[H3adshotfox77]

I have been trying to nail down the exact numbers, but on defense each combo level decreases the amount of mana each tile is worth. From what I have seen I feel this mana amount is directly tied to the combo and not to who the tiles hit.

For example let’s say you get to combo 10 without hitting gravemaker in middle, then combo 11 hits gravemaker with 12 tiles (something you would assume would charge his special). He would actually end up getting only around half a bar of mana because of how late in the combo he was hit with the tiles.

The only guarantee that a hero on defense charges from the same number of tiles they would on offense is if the tiles hit them without any combos (plus the 1 tile worth of mana between turns). This is one of the reasons Onatel becomes so deadly if she isn’t either killed before her special, or within a turn or 2 after her special, she breaks the cascade rule and will charge as an attacker would (because she siphons the mana).

What it comes down to is no matter the level of the mana troop, they give some level of value to defending heroes, obviously the more leveled the better. With defense being a race to get abilities off before an attacker, the higher the mana gain the better.