As the title goes… I have Tarlak closing in on max and I cannot get the frat boy to work properly! Fighting 11* and the occasional 12* titans, Wilbur is a necessity and always gets the bottle from start. But Tarlak? If I pot him from start I can be sure the board will dry up and get stuck. If I don’t, I can be sure he gets killed before using his skill.
How do you others do it? Why is this flimsy jock so highly regarded?
Don’t have him, can’t really comment, but… flimsy jock 
I have Tarlak and he kicks booty for my team. 
My alliance is fighting 9-10* titans, though, so I’m not sure how much harder it would be to keep him alive against an 11*.
Turtles and axes do the trick for the most part.
Thanks, yeah I’m running him with turtles and axes too (and Wilbur!). He still dies all the time… On a bad or mediocre board he is insta-killed even with a banner as soon as Wilbs effect is over. If I can keep Wilbs going he might live a little longer, but then there’s the timing too… board might as well dry up right after he’s gone off (and that he does 1/10 of the times I bring him if I don’t pot…).
I reckon I’m doing something wrong, as he’s generally appreciated. Funnily enough I don’t have these issues with Ranvir; there’s the misses of course, but he usually lives to fire several times. Sure he’s fast and has higher def, but still…
First thing is, don’t pot Wilbur until you run out of non-stacked-color stuns. That will save on the pots.
Second thing is, even when Wilbur is up, if almost everyone on your side has 4*-flimsy defenses, you’re going to absorb a lot of damage from the big titans. That will likely push Tarlak to the point where, when Wilbur’s buff goes down, he gets one-shotted. So you probably need a decent healer too.
Also, when the titan uses its special, everyone will take a bunch of damage. And the flimsiest defenses will distribute their extra damage to everyone else. So Tarlak really works best with reasonably sturdy heroes around him. His defense already sucks, so he’s sharing a lot of damage with everyone else. If he receives a lot of damage from others too…ouch.
Only pot Tarlak when you have a 3-match lined up on the weak spot or several matches/a cascade of your color seems reasonably likely. That will save on pots over the long run.
Properly emblemed Tarlak is as tough as most of other heroes. I have not really observed him consistantly being killed before others, you can see his stats (armor / health route) below.
Now that’s a beastly boy! I’ll see how I go when he’s finished in a couple of days… it’s a shame really they made Wilbur a monk too.
Thanks @Garanwyn ! I do try to manage the potting somewhat, if there’s a vertical 3 over weak spot from start I hold off. So, I very rarely hold off :>. Also, if the match happens to be on colour it’s tempting using Wilbur first for the debuff…
What you say about the damage distribution makes a lot of sense. All my titan teams consist of a mix of emblemed 4s and 5s. All teams apart from yellow have a healer (and Tarlak isn’t in that one). But yes, now that you say it they all appear to suffer when he’s in the mix.
Will take your advice to next titan fight, thanks again!
Sure thing. We fight 12* titans exclusively, and my Tarlak is neither emblemed nor a frequent death (or, rather, when everyone else is dying, he dies too). But keeping Wilbur up is very important if you’re not going to use heavy items to hold the titan at bay.
This is a topic that I would greatly appreciate more advice on. I have Wilbur and Ranvir, both emblemed, and always bring a healer plus two others of the strong colour, but I dont think I am using them optimally. What items do you use and what strategies do you recommend ?
We are fighting 10 to 11* titans. Most of my teams are 5*s.
@Garanwyn
Secure him by those reflecting shields out of the lodge from being hit when not active.
Items differ a bit due to the titans special. Sometimes you’ll need antidotes.
Big mana, small mana revive scrolls and tornadoes
or
shields (dragon, titanium), axes, mana, tornadoes
or
time stops instead of one of the others.
The received damag step-up between 10* and 12* is reasonably steep. So you have a bit of flexibility. What items to use depends a lot on how “all-out” you want to go.
Axes are the most cost-effective way to debuff a titan’s damage output. If you farm AR hard when it comes around, you should have enough wood to keep yourself in them forever.
Turtle banners are more material friendly than Dragon banners, but Dragon banners are a more damage-forward item. If you’re going all-out and you don’t bring Wilbur, Dragon banners.
I like the little mana pots or the 60% pots, because they cost less food to make than the biggest mana pots, and I’m often applying mana pots on top of some existing gain, so they are lost wasteful. But the biggest mana pots are your all-out option because they reliably let you fill 5 heroes quickly.
Tornados are great for boosting mana and rearranging an iffy board. They are part of an balls-out strategy.
Time Stops are the ultimate defensively-postured heavy item. They let you protect a team and work the board for 3 turns. If you dont bring Wilbur and are fighting a big titan, they are a good option.
I like the little antidotes if I have a real healer on the team, and the big antidotes if I don’t. Right after the titan drops its special is a good time for a heal anyway, so the big antidotes make a lot of sense.
With Wilbur, the strategy is:
When I’m going for max damage that means as many heroes of the titan’s weak color as possible. I’ll often lead with an axe and then a Tornado or two once the stuns are used up, and then pot up all buffers and debuffers and go to town.
Thank you @Garawyn. Extremely helpful. Do you also bring red pots for emergency topups?
You’re welcome.
No. I’d rather bring a healer and second set of mana pots and top up a healer if it comes to that. When I have a cleansing healer like Rigard on the team, that’s exactly what I do, since it cleanses the special debuff and gives a big heal too.
I generally bring the little antidotes pots if I’m not worried about healing, and the big antidotes if I am worried, since they give a big heal in addition. To cleansing.
@Garanwyn. Thanks so much for the speedy and thoughtful advice. Ive not been playing optimally - I tend to be too timid!
Last question : do you use your green banners at the start? Are they useful against 10-11*? I know arrows arent useful at this level.
The green (turtle) bannerswork fine for bridging when Wilbur isn’t up, or if you don’t have Wilbur along. In that case:
Axe/Turtle Banner/Mana/Antidote is a good damage mitigation choice. Or Axe/Dragon Banner/Mana/Antidote for a more damage-forward choice.
