Well I think the JF vs Gm poll is skewed somewhat by the fact that one is owned by many already and the other is not.
If I had a pair of gravemakers I would prefer JF. I have neither so I would take a GM because I might still pull a JF while the chances of me ever seeing a GM are slim.
Yeah but not equally. Almost all the people that already own one or more GM would prefer a hero they donāt have yet bar a few exceptions that would prefer an extra GM. Of the people that donāt have GM the opinions will be more equally spread out.
So JF receives a majority of the votes from people that have GM + those that donāt and think he will be better. GM receives mostly only votes from people that donāt have him AND think he is better than JF.
I donāt think this poll reflects which hero is better mind you.
It just reflects the current sentiment as to who wants which hero. Quite a big difference and yes for the reasons you have given.
Although I will say that, if people genuinely thought that JF was substantially subpar to GM, unless you are a big fan of variety, youād likely choose a dupe GM. It stands to reason that at the very least people think he is a good enough hero to take āfor the sake of varietyā
Voted for Zeline, assuming I didnāt have one. But I do have one, sheās on +18, and sheās perfect. Fast dispell is great, aoe attack debuff is great. Telluria is ok-ish for me, but (perhaps biased) I am not scared of green tanks. After the nerf she skewed from offensive tank to supportive tank. Tough choice, I donāt consider Telluria weak, but I think Zeline will remain superior in utility.
JF/GM
Well, I said too much on it already. Still think GM is better. Very fast mana with no downsides, comparable elemental link, direct damage. Every time I face GM on defense, heās always firing, and even with over the average board I have at least one heroās hp down to red staring at my healerās mana bar and praying before I can take him down. And if I am taking him down, that means I let that Albyās live and God knows what can happen. Besides, just his class is what makes him attractive. Almost zero competition among Barbs.
White Rabbit/Malosi
If Rabbit was of any other color, heād be passable. But him being the only holy def debuffer (yeah, I know thereās lingerieā Vivica but thatās a bit early) grants him place on the wishlist.
The last poll really nailed it Made me scratch my head for a while, do I want a bag of week old trash or decomposing animal corpse? Sargasso is probably the best of them all for his healing stop debuff, but alone I wouldnāt spend to chase him.
Since this poll is about hope, I voted for Gravemaker.
I hope Empires eventually adds trade to fix merciless RNG.
While Jean-FranƧios is nice for season 1 map and normal titans ( special skill defense down is a popular for these enemies), Gravemakers immediate damage ( and bonus damage versus green) make Gravemaker action oriented while Jean-franƧois is more reactive. A dead enemy cannot put a status ailment on your team.
So for people willing to trade with me, Gravemaker will be more useful trade currency unless SGG also fixes Costume chamber. Then red 5* heroes with costumes will be better trade currency ( hoping Wilbur costume pays homage to @Kerridoc love of singing ).
Do you think post-nerf JF is worse/comparable/better than GM?
Many in the JF thread expressed the opinion heās worse.
How does each potentially fit your playstyle?
Do you have GM, and do you use him everywhere or is he situational?
etc
In the end, I think theyāre pretty comparable. I went GM because of the V.fast mana, which would suit my playstyle better. I think I would use GM more than JF.
I have quite a few of the heroes listed soā¦ if Iām voting for free heroes, it will generally be one I donāt have unless I see a real reason for a dupe which in these cases I donāt.
Telluria vs Zeline - This was hard since I want both. I think reason Iād choose Zeline is because sheās a really nice flank and would be a nice addition to my Titan team
GM vs JF - Chose GM mainly because heās v fast. Plus if I had GM, I wouldnāt try so much for JF. But if I have JF, I might still try for GM. I think that tells you something
Rabbit vs Malosi - Rabbit easily given he finds a place on my Titan team just like costumed Viv or Rigard. And titans are my favorite part of game
Dark - TBH none since I already have more dark heroes to level and there are no Tabards dropping for me. Iām running a deficit of 31 Tabards (incidentally includes Obakan and Quintus). Honestly i chose sargossa because heās meh but not useless. Just pales in comparison to other premium dark legendaries. If cost is same, I rather have Jabber over Sargossa, but would choose Sargossa over costumed Quintus even
My 2cents (note that my votes were highly subjective and I donāt always remember exactly what cards do ^^)
Zeline/Telluria: Zeline, because I could use more a fast dispeller than a green tank
GM/JF: GM because I donāt have him and Iāll never have him due to atlantis rotation and me trying not to spend too much (yet, february will be a murder to my gem wallet due to JF and avalon)
White rabbit/Malosi: donāt know what WR does, but Malosi seems to have and high strategic value. Plus, I hate rabbits so much that I usually take pleasure beating them in springvale. (Thank Bugs Bunny for that)
Sargasso/Mok-Yarr and the other two: donāt remember sargassoās card, but heās ugly. Obakan and Quintus are basically already free since you can have them ia TC20, so my choice is Mok-arr who I personally love because heās fun to go against. When I see him in a rainbow defense I try my best to charge him (with my mono purple ofc).
I voted for Telluria, GM, White Rabbit and Sargasso, as they would be the most helpful in my squad. They were difficult choices, because in the first two cases, they are great heroes.
I love Zeline, but a green tank would be great, so Telluria.
JF is amazing and groundbreaking, but 450 damage to three heroes at a very fast speed, + 40% damage to nature, is irresistible to me. Thatās why GM.
I donāt think Malosi is a good hero. It doesnāt hit hard and its side effect, hitting just one target, has low relevance to me. Malosi prevents status effects, but not damage. Peters and Hansel do more, prevent damage and effects. Hansel prevents even mana gain. Therefore, White Rabbit every day of the week, he is excellent.
The fourth poll is difficult, but I would find more use for Sargasso, who despite the little damage, would help a lot in wars when healing is supportive. Its side effect would prevent enemies from healing.
Telluria 100%. I am lucky enough to have Red Hood and during my beta testing, Telluria + Red Hood synergized incredibly well together.
J.F. vs Gravemaker was a tough choice, but I went with J.F. even though I have Mitsuko already. Reason being that both J.F. and Mitsuko together fight very well against the ever-threatening Finley+11 wings that keep appearing in diamond ā even if he pierces the reflect and ice def buff, he canāt pierce the defense protection buff. I know Finley is just one hero, but he is seriously threatening enough to make me desire J.F. more than GM.
White Rabbit no question, this one is easy. Defense down is one of the best status ailments to cast.
Lol last poll made me chuckle I picked Sargasso, since he has a niche in field aid I could use. And I already have Obakana and Quintus, so why would I want another one?
I should probably have posted something outside of the Beta section in the public area to say that after the Guardians Challenge Event Iām going on hiatus with a high chance of not returning to the game afterwards - it was a similar hiatus that led me to leave FB and Twitter in 2013 - but as Iāve been tagged and am not yet totally out the door Iāll answer as if I was continuingā¦
Telluria vs Zeline: Telluria - I would have more use for her in my roster. Another 5* healer to accompany war attack teams, a green tank for tournaments and mana down likely to be useful elsewhere too. Having got Kingston for and a number of dispelling options (including Evelyn, Hatter and emblemed Melendor just from the greens alone) Zeline brings less to my particular roster.
Gravemaker vs Jean-Francois: Jean-Francois - Whilst I am a bit disappointed with the direction in which they have taken JF (which has strongly been influenced by trying to maintain his defensive credentials as this forum puts far too much emphasis on defence) as I would have preferred he become 450 damage over 4 turns and had the Ice defensive buff removed but anyway whilst Iām not happy with the direction heās gone in given his potential he does now seem balanced and even though I donāt have GM I think JF has the slight all-round advantage. People are underestimating just how much his two defensive buffs help his team to the extent of completely nullifying a Finley flank next to a Green Tank (Telluria and Heimdoll more likely to make this a possibility) whilst allowing you to burn both sides of a defence without needing a second GM - furthermore if the tank is dead at best GM can only do 66% of his max damage from skill as he can only hit 2 targets whereas JF can still do 80% of his. Couple in the Critical Buff elemental link for Titans and he can bring some utility there too.
Malosi vs White Rabbit: Can I say Vivica Costume instead? - Malosi is a waste of roster space in his current build as far as I am concerned. I can also avoid a single target casting buffs or status effects by killing them first which Joon does a lot better or I can silence them which also prevents any damage or healing as well (Hansel at Fast, Gretel in the same colour but average and ther options come to mind). As such White Rabbit wins the Malosi vs White Rabbit argument by default - however as many people will take an exercise as this to be a which is more useful pulling for exercise I would put Vivicaās costume ahead of White Rabbit. It is disappointing that White Rabbitās defence debuff applies to only one of his targets which is OK for Titans but honestly Vivica dropping defence further (-44% vs -34%) to all enemies rather than 1 and from what I can remember being the only holy dispeller as well only adds to her utility. Yes by default sheās slow but with the costume and if can produce troops from HA to get a Lv 29 troop you can shave 2 tiles off her charge time to make her average. Together dropping defence further than WR, bringing dispel to a colour that lacks and in general in testing I found her heal more useful than WR special damage I would opt for her over WR. The fact that Viv costume may get boosted odds at a costume gate rather than WRās measly 0.2% odds means Iām very hestitant to blow WRās trumpet as honestly to most people Iād recommend saving gems and skipping over the Wonderland gate completelyā¦
Obakan vs Mok-Arr vs Quintus vs Sargasso: Personally Mok-Arr but Sargasso best of the four - In this showdown of four heroes I have 3 of the 4 heroes and as such I would personally accept the one I donāt have which is Mok-Arr HOWEVER of the 4 Sargasso is the best hero. Much of the community opinion within this forum on Sargasso stems from when he was first released when he was pretty dire but since then he has been buffed so that he is now arguably the most effective heal blocker in the game (though I suspect Season 3ās Fura and other heroes that reduce max health may give him a run for his money). Stopping 80% of healing on 3 heroes for 4 turns can in the likes of a field aid war against the appropriate defences can prevent a lot more healing than some of the blink and youāll miss it 2 turn heal blocks of the sand heroes. The problem though is that there are currently not many times when a heal blocker is definitely needed. High diamond defences often donāt bother with a healer and go all hitters. If youāre attacking with defence debuffers and snipers you can go one-by-one taking a hero from 100% health to dead within the same turn to give it no chance to heal anyway for a blocker to be relevant. Heal blockers are more useful when you need to rely more of Damage over Time or AoE hitters which often means you weaken the opposition but not kill them and there will be some turns in which they might be able to heal away your work before you can kill them. In that regard Sargasso suffers from not many well rated purple AoE strikers (Ursena is about the only purple hit all people happily ascends) and given the prevalence of red AoE heroes I wonder how Sargasso would have been rated if Kestral and him were different colours but anyway drifting off a little. Family bonus recently helps him a bit more if you have other Pirates as they have reasonably decent synergy with the Atlantis family heroes - Sargasso can prevent healing the worst of Locke and Proteusās stacked DoT with Peters blocking an attacking cleanser like Zim getting rid of the DoT whilst Arielās mana buff on top of the Pirate buff temporarily makes Sargasso and Locke fast as an example. I could go on with other AoE combos Sargasso can help but itās starting to go off topic but suffice to say Sargasso can work well with certain types of heroes however as the meta favours faster snipers over say AoE heroes that Sargasso works best with heās not as useful at the moment. However metas and games can change and evolve in different directions and as such I would take Sargasso who does a very good job doing something that is not as useful right now but under different circumstances be much more so than any of the other three heroes who donāt excel in any particular area being average across the board.
I do not think I have logged into my Facebook account since I created it to link my Empires account ( can never be too careful when making sure micro transaction purchases, and the attached account, is recoverable ).
Done the bare minimum to reach my already preset Challenge Event goals then logged in once a day to check if there was a Rare or Class quest to auto play and to pick up VIP daily bundle, empty farms and mines and tell any slacking builders to build something else.
As such my mini-hiatus of two weeks Iāve not done a single Raid Tournament hits, any raids, titans, wars etc etc. And considering for the last 7 days of that Iāve been away ill with quinsy and so had plenty of time to reflect and do other stuff on my phone Iāve had a lot of time to think about everything re: game.
I have come to accept that given the current direction of the game that this is going to be my final year in the game. The average cost to summon a 5* hero in this game started at overpriced as it was but with each new type of summon weāve seen either prices to pull increase (such as with Atlantis) or had odds watered down by new heroes being added to old summon gates without changing odds (new Challenge Event heroes with record low 0.2% pull chance) that the overall trend is to make something that started as overpriced into something absurdly ridiculous. And given the amount of development time that will eventually go into adding something like the Grinch at 0.15% summon rate to the Xmas gate later this year it all seems too ridiculous. So yep my departure station is fast approaching as honestly rather than chase Season 3 heroes at 400 gems a pull Iāll just put the money towards taking a month off later this year to go visit some countries Iāve always wanted to but given their distance are more planned out affairs than a holiday in the same continent. In the long run I feel Iāll be better off for it.
Now before that departure point I grant that I still have time let on my VIP year pass that I will intend to run down before I go (only prospect of monthly extensions right now) and will be significantly reducing my on going budgeting. Shall be keeping an eye out on what the Valor Pass winds up costing in both time and effort as would be interested to see how much commitment it requires. Does mean Iāll need to move on from my research alliance to something where I can just do my Titan hits and only opt into wars if and when Valor Pass requires. Already decided certain parts of the game Iām just opting out of in the long run to save some time.