The FTP Rebellion. Who wants to join? (Part 1)

Congratz all on your pulls!!!

I pulled 2 Reubens for xmas! Thing is, I don’t know if it’s worth keeping the 2nd. I’ve got plenty of 5☆ cannon fodder for HA10 when I get there, so I don’t need him for that. Plus roster space is at a minimum.

When I consider his skills, his 215% dmg is good, but what about his 50% down on status effects? If it doesn’t effect % dmg, then how beneficial is this skill? (dumb question) How does a special skill differ from a status effect?

On another note: does anyone like his artwork? I’m kinda meh about it. Poor fellow’s been basking in the darkness too long. Needs some sunlight. :slightly_smiling_face:

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congrats @Vikingblood80 ! Gullin is great… and despite the negative publicity re Reuben, I think he’s still solid (depending on who else you got).

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that’s a great point! with one Brynhild, Melendor still makes sense. with two Brynhilds, I could lose Mel and add in Caedmon - keep the dispel but add another fast sniper.

I was thinking: with one Brynhild maxed, could go Melendor / Hansel / Brynhild / Gregorion / Francine (I’m a bit cautious),

with two Brynhilds maxed, could go

Hansel / Brynhild / Francine / Brynhild / Gregorion . Caedmon comes in if i need a dispel. not sure who to drop though… will need to do some thinking and testing

maybe Lianna will pop out of tc20 and make this exercise easier :stuck_out_tongue:

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warning: a bit of a stream-of-consciousness rant, just pouring my thoughts out. insights welcome of course, but maybe after a couple of cups of coffee I will feel better :wink:

i’m getting a bit discouraged with normal raids. anyone else in the same boat? (posting here because doing it on the main forum will probably flood me with "git good and git better heroes noob! lol)

the presence of emblems has made defenses tougher (in my opinion, I know people here won’t ask me for detailed stats lol and I don’t have any), i usually hover in the 2450 to 2600 cup range, but have been finding raiding up more tough lately.

i opened my raid chest in Platinum this morning, for the first time in a few months. but recently have also been getting knocked back down to Platinum more often too (would usually be able to raid up, but today i wasted too many flags trying to revenge 2600+ cup &#@ $( $( with 4500+ defenses)

+20 heroes everywhere! of my 4 revenges this morning: killed 1 first try, killed 2 on second try (+50 cups each), and failed to revenge a third %&#(!*@ (boards were terrible, Telly and Vela fired, the end - would have won my first attack if i’d gone with mono Purple, changed my mind to use mono Green, ended up getting a board full of Purples, go figure)

I used to believe in spreading emblems around, i stopped my 5 s at +7 so I could have, like, 2-3 5s per color with +7 (each then has 3 nodes of their class talent activated). I also emblem up my key 4* s, with many of them sitting at +15 (that’s all 5 nodes of the talent), and a few very key ones going further (Proteus +19 with mana troop, yay!).

And i have more than 15 5*s competing for emblems. but seeing these massively tough defenses… an Onatel +7 or a Joon +7, I can kill with a Purple mono 3-match, but at +20 I need two matches to kill them, generally. a decent starting board is becoming more and more crucial to winning, IMO. my heroes aren’t tough enough to survive long enough to turn a bad starting board around consistently…

I mean, luck plays a part in everything in this game, but it’s frustrating - and embleming my heroes up can reduce the reliance on luck.

Will things turn around if I pour emblems into my main offensive 5*s? maybe that would make 3/2-ing more viable, now I run mono to have a chance at actually breaking through +20s…

Inventory-wise though it’s tough. I have too many good 5* rogues though: Marjana +7, Inari +7, Francine +7, and Margaret +3. just pulled 2x Brynhild, and also have Scarlett +12. Domitia got her costume recently too… gah! I already stripped Margaret (she was +7) to get Francine there. but all those heroes are key members of my mono teams…

  • Marjana is still my best sniper in Red, next best is Lancelot… Scarlett is fast and strong but spreads damage around, i use her more for the debuff and repeated hits.

  • Inari’s dodge is key to my Yellow team’s survival. I could bring in Danzaburo, but he duplicates Joon’s blind…

  • Francine, I could drop for costume Caedmon +15, but Francine’s 3-turn cleanse means I have to worry less about timing… and defenses these days have multiple ailment casters too!

or maybe i just have to be patient. with emblems becoming more common now, it’s only a matter of time anyway.

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Wish I could help you here.

A few things I have noticed about the game, which is why I’m not particularly fond of raids:

  • Lately, it seems like diamond tier is mostly populated by teams that make my heroes soil their pants just by looking at them

  • Even other teams that used to make my heroes soil their pants are now down in platinum tier

  • Some days, my raid boards are so terribly bad that I think a well organized group of Banes might be able to beat up my best teams

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Simple answer:

A special skill is everything a hero does when you unleash his action. A status effect is any ongoing effect (icon) as a result / part of that skill. It can be a positive effect (buff) or negative (ailment).

Example: Sartana

Her skill has 2 parts : she does direct damage + poison damage. So Reuben will only reduce the poison damage to half as poison is a status effect. (Status : poisoned)

Haven’t thought about his full use yet but as an obvious part he will be good against heroes which do high DoT:

Gravemaker, Clarissa, DomitiaC, Yunan, Rana (Vela), JF

He will be even better against effects that can’t be cleansed:

Jabberwock, AzlarC

Hope it helps.

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If you got Melendors costume using 2 different kinds of heal (instant and heal over time) works very well.

That team looks sturdy but may be does not have enough fire power but with Gregorion on board you can get high tile damage.

I am not sure if this concept will work for mono. I think with mono you also want to kill with specials. Sturdy teams might work better with different colors. Just my feelings…you need to test it.

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So, my 2 cents on emblems. I emphasized putting emblems on my raid/war defense heroes, and limited my 5* emblems to level 18. So my defense is JF+18, Magni+17,Clarissa+18, Vivica+18, Lianna+7. But what also helps is that I run 3-1-1 teams, so in addition to the defence, I can concentrate my emblems on heroes I use 50-80% of the time like Malosi+18, Zimkitha+17, Rigard+19. There are some bottlenecks (namely Ranger, and Fighter), but then my Raid Offence most of the time are like this:

Purple Tanks: Malosi+18, Rigard+19, Zimkitha+17/JF+18 Joon+18, Bai Yeong
Yellow Tanks: Malosi+18, Rigard+19, Zimkitha+17, Clarissa+18 Domitia+4
Red Tanks: Rigard+19, Malosi+18, Magni+17, Athena+7, Sonya+20,
Green Tanks: Rigard+19, Zimkitha+17, JF+18, Malosi+18, Elena+9
Blue Tanks: Zimkitha+17, Lianna+7, Proteus+19, Melandor+18, Buddy+19

Bolded heroes are ones that I use multiple times in offense or defense teams. I may make slight alterations based on the defense team composition, but generally those are the lineups I use.

So, I’ve basically concentrated my emblems on some core heroes that I use most of the time, which means I have in my raid offense, there are only 9 heroes that are non-core who don’t necessarily need emblems. Although there are obvious reasons why heroes like Proteus, Sonya, Melandor, and Buddy would need them for survivability and they get used all the time for maps or quests.

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Congrats @akionna and @Vikingblood80 (and anyone else who got him that I missed, I am behind) on Gullinbursti! That pig is the :bomb:. Mine is +19 and has been a game changer in certain contexts. I don’t keep dupes, but he would make me think twice.

Congrats too to @amrath and @Vikingblood80 on Reuben! Granted it depends on your reds, but I feel I could use him for sure which is why I x10 pulled this month. I have 5 EHTs I may burn too. Carol, Reuben, or Santa would be nice. I need reds.

To answer your question @amrath his ability applies to DoT damage only. For example if you have a hero who gets hit by Kelile and Reuben’s special is active it does nothing for the damage from her hit. Say Kelile’s burn damage is 200/turn after the hit. If Reuben is active it reduces it to 100 per turn. Fire, Poison, drowning, etc. are all status effects he reduces. Any damage those enemy heroes do with their special prior to the effect (initial impact) he does nothing for. Does that make sense?

Congrats on Krampus @Noble_Weasel . O wise one who knew to wait :wink:

I used my 100 Valhalla coins and got Kvasir. He is new to me and a good 3*. It was free, I’ll take it.

Also been trying Leo out in raids and he is doing better than I though he would :+1:.

@sleepyhead I understand your raid :cut_of_meat:. As a F2P you will inevitably fall behind in emblem counts at those tops tiers regardless of effort. Paying just gets you more opportunities. It’s obviously different going for high ranks than just filling a chest. I pretty much only fill chests and have a system that works for me if you want to try it. I win most, they’re competitive, and tough enough I still lose some.

My team D is 4300+. What I do is start with revenge raids and then go to rolling. I don’t even look at the team, if their TP is under 4400 I am coming. I do venture into 4400+ for kicks some times. My D team is my strongest heroes, they’re not a great offense team. Most my offense teams are less and some in the 3900-4k range . That means my offense team can still be outgunned by a few 100 TP. I don’t watch cup count, etc. If the TP fits, I fight. Overall it seems to give competitive fights and allows me to fill chests usually in diamond these days.

Good luck out there and happy holidays!

:beers:

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@sleepyhead … I max emblems at +18. And it’s usually first come, first serve. With emphasis on defense team + heroes I use every day.

Here is something I read a long time ago:

“Choose your hero for each class.”

Just like @Quinn3, I have my core heroes. I do 3-1-1 when raiding. Sometimes 4-1. But it’s usually Mitsuko and Telluria + three strong colors against tank. I need six tiles to take out the tank.

Details below, if interested. Otherwise, blurred out so folks can avoid eyestrain.

  • Mitsuko +18 was my first sorcerer. Poor Sabina only has +3. Now Krampus gets those emblems. He’s at +7.

  • Buddy +18 was my first ranger, and my first tank. When Lianna showed up, she got to +18. Tiburtus has none. But he was late to the party.

  • My Paladin was Guardian Falcon +18. When Telluria showed up, I almost stripped him. But general consensus was, “Don’t do it, you moron.” So Telluria is at +11. She still gets emblems, despite the constant nerfing.

  • Mist +18 was my first cleric. Then Lady Woolerton +18. Rigard showed up late, but he’s also +18. Apparently I have zero 5-star clerics.

  • Kiril +18 was my lone wizard for a long time. When Sartana showed up, she got to +18.

  • Druid is Melendor +18. Then Caedmon +18. Finally Noor gets the remaining emblems. She’s at +11.

  • Wu Kong +11 was my first monk. He’s at a weird stopping point because of Joon +10. They’re competing … and sad Wilbur only has one emblem.

  • Fighter class was lacking for years. But have Boldtusk +18, then Elena showed up. She’s +7, but only because I took Colen +18 recently. Mostly for rush wars.

  • Gormek +7 was my first barbarian. Stopped him for Grimm +18. Then Little John +18. Also for rush wars. But I love his -64% mana to all. Obakan and Azlar wait for final mats, if I ever ascend them.

  • Domitia +15 was my first rogue. Scarlett and Kelile both at +7.

Our playstyles are different @sleepyhead. I would emblem accordingly. You spread them out for a reason. Are you willing to focus on just a few heroes to emblem up your 5-stars?

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hey thanks @TGW @Muchacho muchach@Quinn3 @akionna @Vikingblood80 all great food for thought

play style and bench depth make a big difference, I agree. i’m a mono offense guy through and through, if i were to switch to 3/1/1 or 3/2 that would make a big difference

i think i’m also both cursed and blessed with my bench. i have steep competition in Ranger, Monk, Wizard and especially Rogue - but a dearth in Sorcerer and no 5* Clerics

in my mono experience, tile damage and special damage are both key. though i usually only have one good sniper per color, so the rest of my team focuses on stalling and survival while the sniper charges (or while i use tile damage to take out the defensive middles) - Yellow for example; Joon snipes; Inari and Malosi and Lady Wooly stall. Purple too, Proteus/Rigard for survival while Tibs, Seshat, Sartana kill.

i definitely have to think a bit. but also in the mid- to long term. power creep is here and it will keep coming after all…

thanks for all the food for thought

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Thanks for the explanations @Muchuchus and @Vikingblood80. These really help.

Also, It seems people are leaning toward Reuben, so I’m keeping the second. He may become fodder for HA10 down the line.

@amrath Congrats on double Reuben! I’d keep a second copy of any HOTM I can get, since they are so rare for me, and just in case of any future buff. If I had to get rid of any 5*, I’d choose a S1 5* first.

I’m not a huge fan of his artwork. However, I managed to get one Reuben and can finally have both the non-S1 hero and matching avatar (Edit: for when I complete current PoV). :sweat_smile:

Congratz on completing POV, @SamMe!

I’m not even close. Level 38 atm. Don’t think I’ll make it this time as I’m not summoning as many heros as before. I probably won’t finish titans either. But that’s ok; I’ll get as far as I can and enjoy the journey. :smile:

@amrath Sorry, I meant I’ll get Reuben avatar once I’ve finished PoV. :sweat_smile: Still have a little bit to go. Thanks for the positivity!

Have your ever merced a titan? If you’re allowed to temporarily leave your alliance during a titan pass, it can be easy to find a near dead titan in global chat. I’ve done it when I wanted to finish PoV titans sooner.

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Sure. Haven’t made a top 100 run since long.

That’s the result of the emblem increase.

Interesting observation. I usually don’t go mono so I did not notice. I am kind of tired raiding lately…I noticed that my preferred style went from 3/2 to 4/1 lately. The thing that keeps it interesting is testing new teams.

Not sure…you will get some attack nodes but this won’t increase tile damage a lot.

Came up with the same idea and a similar embleming strategy (mostly +7), which also some of my very analytic alliance mates are doing.

Some general thoughts and examples of my roster:

+0 for costumes without fully leveling the hero (strength-wise they are +8)

Richard
Isarnia

+1 just to enable the talent, mostly for use in wars

Ares
Khagan
Sartana

+7 is 375 emblems…which is a really good tradeoff…talent is 3/5 and it costs even less than a 4* (505)

Elkanen
Ratatoskr
Grimble
Quintus (still many emblems in stock)
Tyr
Ariel (finished yesterday at +6…waiting for 3 more emblems)

+8 is a very special node…even it is expensive (125) it pays off for some heroes…at least for roques and rangers to get the mana node. So this costs about the same as a full emblemed 4* (500 vs 505 emblems)

Domitia (mana node)
Guardian Owl (attack node)

+18 is recommended for war defense (1125 emblems). The last 2 nodes cost the same as doing a new 5* to +7 (375) Expensive!

Marjana (war defense)
Malosi (war defense)

+19 / +20 might pay off for some very very key heroes (1250 / 1500 emblems).

Athena+20 my first +20 and most used hero (crit node)
Kingston +19 (mana node)
Telluria +19 (mana node)

So Rush wars changed a lot recently in embleming strategy (mana node gets lvl 11 mana troop down to 5)…if you have more than one mana troop in that color.

I think I will reset Rigard+20 & Marjana+18 for mana node before next Rush wars.

I am not giving Mist and Malosi mana node as I am still missing a second yellow mana troop.

The only heroes not following this strategy are Leonidas+10 (crit node at 10) and Victor+12 (talent node 12 4/5)

Whew…almost like a guide. :hot_face:

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Congrats. Kvasir is my only emblemed +20 3*. He is sooooo good.

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That’s it…very well summarized :ok_hand:

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thanks for the summary of your own embleming strategy :wink:

I think maybe I’m being impatient… my idea was to bring all 5*s to +7 where reasonable, then start pouring emblems into the most used. Now I will have to decide who those most used, core ones are - some new ascensions might make me reshuffle my main Defenses :slight_smile:

PS I just reset Seshat to activate her mana node myself… good call!

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Here comes the 4* part.

I also had that +15 for a while but with the recent emblem increase and rush wars I decided to go mana node or all the way down to 20.
Another thing for mana node is that I reached lvl 17 mana troop recently with almost all colors (only green still leveling) so average heroes will go down one tile using 17 instead of 23.

Recent changes updates

2 months ago
Kiril +20 (wars)

Within the last month
Melendor +20 (wars, mana node)
Caedmon +20 (mana node)
Sabina +20 (wars, mana node)
Proteus +19 (mana node)
Tiburtus +8 (mana node)

It is really easier affording emblems now.

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