Hello,im fairly new and i would like to know which ones are the must have epics one should have maxed beofre start with a 5*
Purple
Proteus, Rigard
Yellow
jackal
Wu
Li
Blue
Grimm
Triton
Sonya
Kiril
Red
Wilbur, Falcon
Green
budy
Caedmon
Melendor
peters
Proteus for sure - good for everything, especially challenges.
if you dont mind i would add the heroes to the main topic to have a good guide later.
Rigard Wilbur Falcon Jackal…there’s a lot of good epics
In no particular order (and will add more if I think of them)
Blue: Grimm, Triton, Sonya, Kiril, Boril
Green: Melendor, Buddy, Hansel, Caedmon, Peters
Yellow: Wu, li, jackal
Red: BT, falcon, Scarlett, Wilbur, Colen
Purple: Rigard, Proteus, Cyprian, Sabina
Most of these heros still find use on my war teams, and some of them (falcon and jackal especially) still get used regularly in raids and titans.
These heroes are a must in every roster imo :
Yellow : G. Jackal, Wu kong
Purple : Proteus, Rigard
Blue : Kiril, Sonya, Triton
Green : Caedmon, Melendor, Hansel, Peters
Red : Boldtusk, G. Falcon, Wilbur
These heroes are also worth levelling for general use but which I personally no longer use as often as the above:
Yellow : Chao
Purple : Tiburtus, Sabina
Blue : Grimm
Green : Buddy
Red : Scarlett
These heroes are good for epic tournaments and worth levelling for those :
Yellow : Li Xiu, Hu Tao
Purple : Cyprian, Merlin
Blue : Boril
Green : Little John, Gadeirus
Red : Colen
@Impiousbe broke it down more than I did. This is a solid list.
I will throw out there that depending on who you get in the way of 5*s may give you different usage than this list.
Some “must haves” listed are pretty rare creatures, eg Jackal or Falcon. I have neither as I only ever pull 3* event or seasonal heroes. They are incredibly desirable but not must haves as many players will not have. I also do not have Proteus.
I wouldn’t hold off on 5* waiting for these guys.
Must haves that are easier to get (S1):
Rigard absolutely, also Tibs and Sabina are useful
Wu Kong for titans, I would not say any of the others are must haves.
Grimm, Sonya, Kiril
Melendor, Caedmon
BT, Scarlett
Rarer epics that can be added if you are lucky enough to grab them
Proteus
Jackal
Triton
Buddy, Peters
Wilbur
And probably some S3 4* that I have no experience with.
pretty solid list!!! let’s add Hansel to green and Boldtusk to Red.
Nevar is right in that some are rare. If you are F2P or C2P then these heroes should be your main goal. That being said I will always tellm people to focus on atlantis summons first until they have proteus and wilbur. Save all gems for those. Once you have those then guardians is a good place to summon next for Jackal and Falcon.
This is what I have been doing, except I made a run on the last Teltoc, 3x 10-pulls got me 3x bats 
.
But I do have Wilbur and Triton.
Jackal and Falcon are both must have 4s AND must have for fully realized top tier 5 teams
All of the elemental defence down heroes are essential to forming the strongest teams and while jackal and falcon are only available during the guardian event - that makes that specific event probably the single most important event to save up pulls for, or if cheap-to-play; to save up funds for.
In 2 years I had a single Jackal and 2 Falcons. But I’m in high diamond now and in the process of building out 6 mono teams in each colour for wars - so vastly further along than most players - but I still wanted more Jackal and Falcons for my teams so last Guardians event I did around 80 pulls.
I now have 7 jackals and 5 Falcons. If you pull substantially during guardians, you have a better chance of getting these two critical heroes than any other of the Ultimate “must haves” since most of those are 5*s.
Guardians was a key for me moving from gold all the way to diamond.
The other amazing 4* heroes will find you. You need to plan and go after Jackal and Falcon
I moved all the way to diamond without them as they have eluded me. I agree they are critical for top success but the OP was asking for must haves to finish before moving on to 5*.
My point is if you decide you must have these two before moving on to 5* you may never do so. Get the must haves that you can, move on to 5*, and if Jackal and Falcon come your way all the better.
Not everyone spends to chase heroes. I chased them (and failed) by saving gems for months and months. But I have also moved on to leveling 5* without them.
Out of those I would do proteus, Wu, krill, Wilbur, Peters
I wouldn’t consider any individual hero a “must have”. That way of thinking leads to overspending, frustration, disappointment, and less skilled gameplay.
I would say that it’s a must to have 2-3 maxed 3* in each color and know how to use them well before starting on 4*. It’s equally important to have 2-3 maxed 4* in each color and know how to use them well before you start on 5*.
With that said, here are my recommendations for the most useful heroes in each rarity and color.
Rare heroes
Red–Hawkmoon and costume, Nashgar (Azar and Jahangir to a lesser degree), Namahage from Atlantis, Ei-Dun from Valhalla, Rudolph from Santa’s Challenge, and Squire Wabbit from Springvale
Blue–Gunnar and costume, Valen, Ulmer (Karil to a lesser degree), Gato from Atlantis, Nordri from Valhalla, and Vodnik from Pirates of Corellia
Green–Brienne and costume, Belith, Berden (Isshtak, Carver, and Friar Tuck to a lesser degree), Mnesseus from Atlantis, By-Ulf from Valhalla, Hisan from Sand Empire
Yellow–Bane and costume, Kailani, Gan Ju, Melia from Atlantis, Kvasir from Valhalla, and Pixie from Riddles of Wonderland, Arman from Sand Empire
Purple–Tyrum and costume, Balthazar, Chochin and Gill-ra from Atlantis, Bjorn from Valhalla, Guardian Bat from Guardians of Teltoc
Epic Heroes
Red–Boldtusk and costume, Gormek, Scarlett, Colen, Guardian Falcon, Wilbur from Atlantis
Blue–Kiril, Grimm, Sonja and costume, Triton from Atlantis
Green–Melendor and costume, Caedmon, Hansel from Riddles of Wonderland, Buddy from Santa’s Challenge, Peters from Pirates of Corellia
Yellow–Wu Kong, Li Xiu and costume, Chao, Gretel from Riddles of Wonderland, Guardian Jackal from Guardians of Teltoc
Purple–Rigard and costume, Tiburtus, Sabina, Proteus from Atlantis, Merlin from Knights of Avalon
There may be more I’ve forgotten, and I haven included any of the season 3 4* as I haven’t finished leveling them yet, so I can’t really speak to their utility.