Came across a defense today with onyx, frigg, mica(12 emblems, level 30 mana troop), GM, cobalt. I took in three purples and two green heroes. Fired about 12 tiles into mica in the first two turns, also fired Sartana and proteus, yet mica still had more than half of his health, due to counterattack, dodge and increase in defense. Special of mica went off and mica then charged incredibly quickly due to the increase in mana generation, so I lost in the two turns following that. I did not expect the tank to be that strong, especially considering that the hero is not even maxed yet. I really donāt like nerfing heroes, but I think this might be a problem, having such a good tank and not having that many options to beating a specific hero, as no matter which heroes you use, the dodge, counterattack and extra defense will still be there anyway.
Iām not one for nerfing or calling certain heroās overpowered as you just need to use different heroās and tactics but starting a raid against five ninjas and they can have dodge and counter attack from the offset there is no counter as obviously canāt take battle items
To me, thatās a reroll unless I can counter with a similar team (which I canāt at this time). 
The family bonus is just unfair, not a difficulty curve for one to overcome. This is the only nerf I advocate ever for this meta
Or at least I would love a Very Slow mana mode/tourney/war/somethingā¦
. If thereās 3 of them in defence team EVERY third gem of ten is dodge. Itās NOT 10% chance. Thereās no any balance with them on a deck. Their family bonus MUST be changed to something else.
So I took my Mica for a dry run testing him out in raid offense in my yellow stack. I wasnāt too impressed about pulling him - definitely one of the āleast desired Ninjasā, but why not give him a shot.
The core of that mono team are: C Vivica, C Joon, Thor. The āsituationalsā are Malosi, Inari, Uraeus.
So I added Mica as a second support and Malosi. I have to say that I was positively surprised about Micaās contributions.
-
His 1st charge requires as little as 5 tiles, and thatās elemental link, buff to defense and mana gen. With bad boards that has proven to be life-saving more than once. Together with Thor and Malosi they can avoid a lot of damage from the fast heroes in current defenses.
-
He is invaluable for all those Bera/Freya as their dying mana cut does not prevent him from firing. So if unfortunate cascade charges your heroes but then the last bit is taken by dying Bera, you can still fire Mica to protect your heroes while you are looking for tiles.
-
If he fires once, with the mana buff he can sustain his spirit link through the whole match basically as with the self mana buff he charges so fast. That helps a lot against sniper-heavy team.
I am really strongly considering giving him the darts. The only thing stopping me is the possibility of pulling Leo costume when he gets featured eventuallyā¦ and after Uraeus and Thor I only have one last set of darts left.
Exciting review incoming!
Still really hate it.
Summary
The mechanic is still horrible. Unless you take items and blast through you are forced to make sub-par moves just to stop a curse which still gives no other reward other than stopping it. Everytime it grates on me doing it.
And then you will inevitably get a curse you cannot stop. No smart play helps, only a Tornado or a Hurricane. Againā¦that just annoys me. This is a puzzle game and it gives you a puzzle you cannot solve. Irritates me everytime.
Iām never trying for the big scores in this, I donāt have the resources to do that when this lands straight after a monthly event which I have gone for. But invariably I will start to make Dragon attacks and Nados for the last 20 as it will just p!Dās me off to the point I throw the towel in and blast through.
This is the closest thing in the game to a serious drag. Iām not sure how anyone can get pleasure from it tbh, it seems to be designed to frustrate.
Again, for me itās a simple fix. Just give me a little tickle when I remove a curse. Little mana boost or heal or something. But that doesnāt seem to be a concern so it will never happen and I just have to accept that every 2 months Iāll have to grind my teeth and just get through the horrible thing.
Correct me if I missed this in the thread, but Iāve just pulled Ametrineā¦and the only othe Ninja I have is Onyx. Was a little disappointed at first with it being a 4*, but realised they will work really synergistically together in the cases where the opponent has counterattack, or def up. AMETRINE firing first then ONYX. So Iām gonna level Ametrine up to see how well it works. Anyone already using them together?
I havenāt even started playing it this time.
Not only I share your opinion, but I find it unreasonably time consuming and way too costly in terms of valuable battle items.
I also donāt quite get why NTE doesnāt accumulate beyond 10 units: I could play it in the weekend when I have more spare time.
So even if I could easily sail thru the first 20 levels Iād rather not get anything from it because I donāt like the idea of a lost challenge.
never be 100% sure. U sleep well and in the next day u will be disappointed but u never know
Just got Brienne, Ulmer and Nashgar. Iām soooooooooo happy 
It looks like there are less players climbing the tower. I will try to reach level 40 but thatās my last attempt. So boring.
Donāt like the ninja tower, i play it because of the emblems but i donāt have any fun playing the tower!
Frustrating yesā¦
Worst add to the game for meā¦
I just got Ametrine as well, and will certainly be leveling her up to join Onyx in my purple stack. She will replace Sabina for the 2nd dispeller
I promised myself last time I would play it without the expensive battle items (saving those for my titans) and finished it for the first timeā¦
Doing same this time. I donāt worry too much about the Oni curses I canāt avert and carry on. I still have most of my favourite heroes heading into the final 10 floors. The key for me has been letting go of the care factor around losing heroes and being clever about how I use my bench.
Once I got there it all became a bit easierā¦
I stopped at 24 floor and decided not continue. Game mechanic is ok but itās too battle items consuming thanks Oni curses always on tricky position to force me keep using tornado, beside that bosses are way too overpower, forget about that.
I think a lot depends on the looks of your bench
Iāve actually found some enjoyment in it now.
Probably not the enjoyment they were planning mind but knowing that itās done for another 2 months and I donāt have to play the stupid thing again until then does cheer me up.
Just pulled Onyx, now I am not sure who to ascend out of him and Bera.
Current purples are:
Ursena +18
Clarissa +18
Seshat +18
Victor +18
G. Panther
Freya +1
Who gets the next set of tabbards?
As you have already maxed Freya, who is quite redundant compared to Bera, I would go for Onyx. Both are great heroes, so whatever your choice, you wonāt make any mistake by leveling them.