Can only ascend 1. Notable other ascended red heroes are Gravemaker +10, Wilbur +19, Boldtusk, Falcon, Gormek, Colen.
JF seems like a no since I already have GM. I’m mostly good on healers with 2x C. Rigard, 2x C. Melendor, Vivica, Raffaele, Guin, Telluria, Brynhild. Attacking with reds is a weak area for my team, and as such Marjana seems like the best option, but I can’t help but feel that PIB is a more useful hero. Of note, my GTV team is a yurple/mono purple team with an acceptable amount of success, so who I choose won’t affect that.
I have both JC and Marjana.
I team them both up against Telluria.
Both of them are great; Marjana is a fair sniper with less DoT, JC does not do initial damage, but very powerful DoT and support skill.
I would love to see Marjana more than JC in your case. GM Wilbur Falcon Marjana can be a very good team.
Perhaps I lack the imagination to see it, but I don’t feel like Marjana pairs with that team at all, unless I’m bringing a dispeller as the 5th to remove spirit link.
Marjana. PIB is only relevant if you want a team of summoners, though he has HoT and attack buff. Jean Francois is best optimized if you have Master Lepus or Killhare around, but he does nothing to the enemy except burn them to death after 200 years and protect the enemy from a possible non-existent defense debuff.
FYI, a dispeller or cleanser can’t remove your Wilbur’s “spirit link”. That can be removed once the effects have been lost after several turns, or when the enemy dispels or cleanses, or Snow White or other buff remover has activated their skill. But if you really want a hero with the best synergy with your Falcon and Wilbur, that would be Guardian Kong as they all have the same mana speed. But in Kong’s absence, you may opt for Anzogh, or perhaps Azlar supported with a high level mana troop for him to shave a tile.
I meant on the enemy team. Marjana’s damage spread out over 5 enemies is a tickle, so I’d need to dispel after firing Wilbur for Marjana to be effective. Realistically, what it means is that either Wilbur or Marjana gets left out of the red stack.
If you haven’t noticed, Wilbur is regarded as one of the best 4 star hero out there as his skill is a game changer both against titans and in raids and wars. On a red stack, it is always almost necessary to bring Wilbur along as he reduces enemy defense while increasing yours, while protecting your heroes from single snipes as the damage is evenly distributed among the allies. Yeah, Marjana may not offer as much damage under Wilbur’s skills, that is the reason I suggested other better heroes to tag along with Wilbur and Falcon, preferably AOE heroes since the total damage output dished out by them is higher compared to a single sniper hero, who may produce the highest damage but to a single hero only.
PIB: In a vacuum, I’d probably recommend PIB because his healing is stealthy good and he immediately makes any other minion summoner more valuable. His attack up helps. I find that if his special goes off, I usually win. Since you have plenty of healers, though, maybe you’re less interested.
Marjana: Given your situation, maybe choose Marjana. Sounds like you’re looking for offense, and for a few more months, she will still be the only red sniper in the game (if you don’t count Tyr).
JF: Maybe it’s because he’s not maxed, but I always have a hard time using JF on offense. He seems pretty good on defense, but since you already have Gravemaker, I would choose between the other two.
I’d say PIB as well…he is very good with his healing, plus attack buff, and added meat shield if you have another summoner. Also depends on whether you’re trying to go mono or going something else.
A keen observation indeed - snipers and spirit link don’t mix well.
With spirit link up, you want to be throwing AoE… Or dispelling it.
I enjoy my Puss and I wouldn’t take back his rings - but this is pretty spot on.
His HoT isn’t huge and his attack buff is useful but not massive - his utility is in combining with other useful summoners, some more than others… With QoH or LoTL he’s incredibly useful, with Telluria not so much.
The only place I run Puss without other summoners is my titan team - I just seem to score better with Puss in than with BK/BT in.
From the enemy, yes it can be dispelled (eg, Sonya, Caed, etc) because it counts as a buff - and OP is right that you’d want to do that before firing a sniper like Marjana.
From your own team, cleanse (eg: Rigard, G Kong, zimkitha, etc) doesn’t clear it because cleanse doesn’t clear buffs.
Or you don’t bother with dispel and fire an AoE like Kong, Anzogh, etc like you said.
Marjana’s main problem is she’s so far behind the power of real killer snipers - either the other red (Tyr) or the more brutal TC20 snipers like Lianna or Magni… Useful, yes, but her stats are on the defensive side.
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The decision largely hinges on how much you pull…
If you were an F2P and unlikely to pull a more stellar attacker then Marj has utility and you can make it work.
As it looks like you pull a bit, at least, to have multiple HOTM and some event heroes… You might later pull a hero like Tyr, at which point Marj winds up in the backup deck.
Puss on the other hand, could become more useful if you pull regularly and may end up with teammates that give particularly good synergies (QoH and Puss is a particularly monster pairing)
This is what I’m thinking. I’m a few steps above C2P and as such I’m doing probably 50-100 pulls a month depending on event/hotm. Marjana seems more like a “right now” hero that I’ll outgrow in the near future, while PIB appears to me to be a hero I’ll continue to use. That being said, red attackers are (thus far for me) hard to come by.
I am currently strongly leaning towards PIB, but am wanting to hear the arguments for Marjana and to be perfectly honest “the only red sniper” doesn’t really sway me as that’s both temporary and ignores her stats being worse than virtually all non classic 5 stars
I pulled PiB in December. I leveled him and emblemed him as well. He was a mainstay on my defense for months. Since pulling GM, Seshat and LoTL, he has become even more relevant to my roster in all aspects of the game. I think you’ll find that PiB will be a huge asset to you now and in the future. Good luck whichever way you decide to go.
Marjana way , you’ll need a red sniper, with emblems focusing on attack path, her tile damage can be improved considerably.