Too many options for what to lvl next - collective brain power!

In full disclosure, this is the first time I’ve posted. That doesn’t mean I just showed up today, but have been lurking in the shadows with Obakan and Merlin. I’ve gone through the spreadsheets (Anchor’s guide to hero grades, Empires & Puzzles lvl Breakdown, and various others that I can’t remember right now), and I’m at a loss at where I should go now.

For some background I know that there is a majority of people that ask, “What are you going to do in the game” to which I would say that I want a titan team that crushes, a simple bot team that will make my farming easy peasy, and a raid / defense team that while right now might not make people click the skip button, but will ultimately set me up for higher levels of the game.

I’ve attached my roster of potential candidates for the teams, and below the picture I’ll go into detail of what comprise my current teams.

For my typical titan team I shift colors around so I have two strong hitters of the favorable color and take out the weak color, but I find that I’m always including

Boldtusk in the middle
Wu Kong on the side
and typically Sabina to keep me alive longer.

My raid team is usually (from left to right)
Zeline
Sabina
Boldtusk
Perseus
Joon

Defense is as follows (from left to right)
Sabina
Grimm
Boldtusk
Zeline
Joon

While these are typical setups for myself, I’m looking to get better and thus where should I focus my attention in upgrading Heros?

I’m thinking I need to start looking for a red heavy hitter, maybe Marjana if I can pull her sometime, or should I work on increasing Falcon, Colen, Scarlett, or Lancelot prior to trying for a 5* that I might not be able to upgrade to lvl 4 for some time.

But there are so many options to ascend, which is why I really don’t know where to start without wasting materials. I currently have:
3 Damascus Blades
5 Telescopes
3 Mysterious Tonic
2 Mystic rings
6 Poinson Darts
4 Tabards
3 Tomes
9 Compass
7 Fine gloves
5 Hidden blades
6 Orbs of magic
5 Shields
9 Trap Tools
4 Warm Cape’s

I believe that is enough to either upgrade Wu Kong to lvl 4 or Joon to lvl 3

Grimm to lvl 4 or save it for Perseus to lvl 4 when I get one more telescope (honestly I would love to have an Athena, or Magni and spend materials on them, but that’s for another post… or should I hold off until I can pull a better 5*)

I could ascend Sabina to lvl 4 now, but I’ve read that Merlin is really effective at titans, but I’m reluctant to loose my second healer. (Ideally, I would like to have Sartana over Obakan, and Hel over both, but I can’t exactly look a gift horse in the mouth.

I could ramble on and on, so with the above info I’m looking for suggestions on what to level now, what would be better to wait on, and what would be some better set ups for the various teams?

I’m out of the shadows and into the light of the forums with Joon, Jackal, and Wu Kong dark titan wreckers.

If it were me, I would do Wu to 70, Grimm to 70, Tibs to 70. Then evaluate from there.

Merlin is fine for titans (big attack stat), but he’s more useful for raids. Oba is a fine Purple five star. I’d level him before merlin, given that you have 9 trap tools and 4 tabards. Even using 4 for tibs, you have 5 to get oba to 3/70 and you’ll prob get 3 more trap tools before 2 tabards.

In terms of how you place your titan team, put them left to right in the order you’d fire them…so like this

BT GRimm/Tibs X X Wu. BT activated first for attack buff, grimm/tibs activated next for defense debuff (while being buffed by BT). Wu Kong last.

Now if you’ve decided Tibs and/or Gormek are enough defensive debuff and you want perseus for stats and raiding, then take him to 3/70 instead of grimm.

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Thanks for the quick response Dante! And inevitably, I have questions to shoot back your way.

When you indicated how I should arrange my team from left to right, is the typical train of thought to use mana potions to get everyone’s special up then fire them left to right, or let’s say in a hypothetical the board creates a likely scenario where some hero’s on the right have their specials available prior to the ones on the left. Would I wait to to fire those on the right until the ones on the left were available to fire.

I’m not sure if that makes sense, so please let me know if I need to clarify the question.

if you’re using mana potions right off the bat to power everyone up, you’ll run out before you know it. You want to make some matches and fill organically until you get a good board coming up (bunch of strong color gem matches) then use mana pots to top off if necessary.

If you order them that way, then anytime anything is flashing, you instinctively know to start at the left.

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Sounds good, That wouldn’t preclude hitting a special on the right if the one of the left wasn’t close at all, but if there are multiple flashing at the same time then start on the left and carry on!

So I like the idea of leveling Wu first, then (if I have the orbs) I’m thinking I should focus on Joon, then get Jackal up and running. If I pull a HOTM in March we’ll be looking at getting that individual ascended slowly.

that’s what I would do.

however, you might consider taking Joon first to 70 as you only need 2 more Orbs to get him to 80. That’s your call.

It’s a shame that you tried to level up multiple heroes without focus on 5 first.
If i can give you a suggest, finish first one per color (Dante gives you some good tips) and don’t waste your time trying to level up all at the same time.

For what concern the raid team, i see a really good Zeline and Lianna, with Joon and Obakan on the flanks.
It seems to me that you are a spender, and probably in your shoes i’ll go for Marjana or Azlar to complete the team (leave out Perseus)
So something like Joon-Zeline-Azlar/Marjana-Lianna-Obakan

For what concern titans, of course Grimm/Tibby/Wu kong/Jackal/Falcon have priority. All the rest can wait.

The common rules to level up first the 4* if you don’t have materials to fully ascend a 5* is always a must.

Up to you what you want to do with Wu kong/Jackal/Joon.
You are in a grey zone, and having a full Joon is so ■■■■■ good.

Ok, first off, I’ll have to say that it would have been easier if the Pics had been sorted by Element before posting or if you had set the eligible heroes in teams of 5 and posted those rather than all of your heroes.
I’ll take this by element, but first the disclaimer: This is my opinion and everyone has one. Not all of them will agree with mine. I’ll try to include clarification as I go along. Any suggestions you can take or leave. Ok, 3 Damascus blades and 3 Tomes of Tactics and that is enough to ascend Three 5 star heroes to their 4th tier. Use them wisely, because they are very rare and not easily come by.

Dark: You have: 9 Trap tools and 4 Tabards
Eligible Heroes: Sabina 3-60, Obakan 2-38, Tiburtus 3-60, Merlin 2-27, Rigard/Cyprian untrained.

Sabina: Healers are very important to new players because they keep their heroes alive while they are still vulnerable. One of the first things that players tend to do is ascend a healer/Debuffer or Healer/Status ailment eliminator to 4th ascension. Later in the game they visit that hero every now and then as that hero sits the bench and wonder what they could have done with those ascension items if they had only known they’d be tied up in a hero they only drag out for some events sometimes or try unsuccessfully against some titans now and then. This stands for Melendor and Rigard as well. You’ll hear howls from Detractors on this one for sure. But those same people will agree with me if they ever make the top 100 regularly. Getting rid of your dedicated healers is the first step toward becoming a higher level player. You need healers that do something toward killing your opponents as well like Kiril or Boldtusk. The only possible exception to this statement is Vivian. You’ll see why if you go against a fully ascended Vivian, although I still think there are better answers.

Obakan: A second tier 5 star and not a consideration at this time. You have other priorities.

Tiburtus: This is a staple hero that you will use for your entire time in the game in events, initially as a newer player to advance and eventually as a back up against titans. This is the Hero in your stable that you should be focusing on right now. His armor removal ability is crucial to killing your opponents faster and he will win you battles. The three 4 star Armor removals that you need to focus on are Tiburtus, Gormek, and Grimm. Train up all 3 if you can, but train up 2 of them for sure. Grimm is one of my favorites.

Merlin: I ascended Merlin to max at the suggestion of friends of mine and still have yet to see the benefit of doing so. That’s probably just me. He is supposed to be one of the premiere 4 stars in the game. I have heard it from enough reliable sources to believe it is true. I just have not seen it myself.

Rigard: Covered above

Cyprian: Cyprian was a favorite of mine starting out and against young teams he’s brutal. Later on he’s not so impressive, but with recent tweaks upward he’s better. Also, he’s pretty important in some events. You may want to start passively training him up.

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Holy: You have: 6 Orbs and 6 poison darts

Heros: Wu Kong 3-60, Joon 2-57, Jackal 3-17, Hu Tao/Chao/Li Xiu untrained

Wu Kong: This is the ONLY hero that is in every single one of my Titan battle groups and he is not truly useful until he is fully ascended. Right around 4-35 he can finally survive a one shot from larger titans and I don’t think that he ever gets to the point where he can survive a one shot from a 10 star without reducing the power of the attack of the titan. He is crucial to attaining high scores against titans, but there is a learning curve on how to use him properly. When you first start using him, I’d recommend putting him in your Farming and Raid teams so using him properly becomes second nature and you don’t need to think about it. Read posts on how to position your heroes to make the sequence of firing an easy and fast decision so you don’t make mistakes. You will never regret ascending this hero and it should be a priority for you.

Joon: I know, Joon. One of the premiere regularly available heroes in the game. This hero alone has caused more people to swear out loud more than just about any other hero and you really, really want to train him up now. The truth is that you are 2 orbs away from getting him to 3rd tier even if you ascend Wu Kong now and Wu Kong is vital to your titan battles. If Titan battles are not that important to you, ascend Joon to 3rd, then get ready to ascend him to 4th. You won’t regret it.

Jackal: This hero is definitely worth ascending, but not right now.

Hu Tao/Chao: No, using ascension items on these heroes is something that you will eventually regret.

Li Xiu: Is there some reason you haven’t started training her up yet? Start! Ascend her when you are done with Joon and Wu Kong.

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Ice: You have: 4 Warm capes and 5 Farsight telescopes

Heroes: Grimm 3-60, Kiril 2-49, Perseus 3-41, Sonya 1-21

This is tough. With the number of Trap tools you have and the fact that you have Tiburtus ready to ascend, you can put off ascending Grimm here and choose to Ascend Perseus. You are short 1 Farsight Telescope, or as we call them in my Alliance “Unicorns.” There is every chance that you’ll see 9 more capes before you see another telescope, but there is also a chance that you’ll have one dumped in your lap tomorrow. You can continue to train your heroes upward until Perseus, Kiril and Sonya are all at Max 3rd tier and then make a decision, unless you get 4 more capes before then (or 8…or 12). They are all worth ascending. My suggestion is to Keep training them and ascend someone every time you get up to 8 capes or ascend Perseus when you get your final Telescope. I have a feeling that he’s going to be very important in Alliance wars.

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Nature: You have: 5 Sturdy Shields and 3 Mysterious Tonics
Heroes: Skittleskull 3-60, Lianna 2-45, Zeline 3-1, Caedmon 3-31, Kashhrek 2-10

Skittleskull: I’ve never had a problem against this Hero. I see him/her a lot, but rarely does he/she cause me trouble.

Lianna: Again, one of the premiere regularly available heroes in the game, but she only does damage, although it is a LOT of damage. Her tile attack against titans is incredible as well, but repeatedly I have opted to use different heroes instead of using her. I even played Caedmon for a long time instead of using Lianna and almost always opted to ascend a different Nature hero over ascending her. I see her a lot in top 100 battles and if she goes off, I hope I can survive the hit. If not, oh well. All she does is damage one hero.

Zeline: Zeline does more than damage one hero. She does damage, Debuffs the entire opposition and reduces their attack strength. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. The downside is that when she goes against a deflector, she pretty much dies. I can live with that, even if she can’t. She’s a priority to ascend.

Caedmon: In my opinion, he’s one of the top 2 4 stars in the game and you can ascend him without worry. You will use him repeatedly in events and against teams that have Deflectors where Zeline is not a good option. I still say he takes a back seat to Zeline, but you are still short 3 mysterious tonics to ascend her to 4th. If time goes on too long, you may want to consider ascending Caedmon to 4th and waiting for shields for Zeline’s final ascension.

Kashhrek: One of the most unappreciated healers in the game. He is an enormous pain in my butt when I’m raiding on my smaller account. Even when I focus on taking him out to get him out of the way, I fail and end up just boosting the heroes around him to their special while he heals. He’s definitely worth ascending, but not ahead of Zeline.

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Fire: You have: 5 Hidden blades and 2 mystic rings
Heroes: Boldtusk Max’d (nice), Colen 3-26, Falcon 2-31, Scarlett 1-19, Lancelot 1-21, Gormek untrained

Colen: Enough people avoid him in a raid for you to know he’s worth ascending to max.

Falcon: I have a fully ascended Falcon and don’t even use him against titans. I use him sometimes in events, but that’s about it. He’s not a priority to ascend or even work on. Just train him when you have nothing better to do. He’s worth training up and ascending eventually, if you have a surplus of hidden blades that become unhidden for you.

Scarlett: Higher level players swear that she has one of the best tile attacks against titans of any 4 star hero. I’ve never trained her up, so I can’t attest to this. Train her up as you can passively and find out for yourself. I would not make her a priority.

Lancelot: I also have not made Lancelot a priority, but mostly because I’m maxing out my 5 star reds and that takes a while. I will be starting on him soon. Consider him a priority, just not as high a priority as getting my 5 star reds to Lvl 80.

Gormek: One of the premiere Armor removing tank 4 star heroes in the game. Certainly worth training up and certainly worth. Yes, even if you are working on Grimm and Tiburtus. Once you get Colen to max, Gormek is a priority. You’ll have to choose between him or Lancelot, unless a 5 star red lands in your lap.

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Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to help out. That’s one of the main reasons I’m here!







You have an interesting take and I agree with most of what you said. But here I gotta say something.

I have a maxed Chao and he has saved my butt so many times I can’t count it. His damage is good (not great, I’ll concede that) but the mana suck and the ability to direct it to a single opponent is priceless. Uh oh, is Azlar about to fire? Zap him with Chao and you can hold out a little longer. He can also singlehandedly control Alberich if you stay on him. In general, I use him to control healers with great effect. If there are any yellow tiles on the board at all, healers never get a chance to do anything while Chao is around.

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Chao is IMO actually about the second best 4* yellow. He’s not stunningly great at anything, but he’s a dependable general purpose hero. The other non Wu Kong yellow 4*s are specialists, very good at what they do well, but next to useless outside their strengths. Chao is very useful because he’s not limited to one role the way the others, even Wu Kong, are.