Stat Progression
Most are familiar with the existing graphics showing the L1->L30 stat progression of the Crit & Mana troops in game. The below now also has the stat progression of the Ninja Troop and the new Magic Troops.
Note: Updatd to include new “magic” troops; still verifying.
Best Use
This is a little more conjecture & HIGHLY roster dependent so I will try to keep things pretty general. NOTE: This is mostly my opinion where there is no maths presented
Often the best troop YOU have is not going to be the best troop that someone else has.
Offence
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Mana troops are best WHERE YOU CAN ACHIEVE A BREAK POINT.
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If you CANNOT get a tile break point, the other two troops (Yes Crit AND Ninja) are generally better (for the same/ similar level).
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Ninja Troops have most benefit when equipped to a Ranger Hero (as the troop stat stacks with their talent stat) and with Damage over Area Heroes (e.g. Azlar or Isarnia) where the single cast has multiple opportunities to “bypass” defence buffs.
Summary of Mana Break Points:
“Crit & Ninja are better than Mana”…???
This builds on the work done by @zephyr1 on this thread: Where to find stats about stacking - #11 by zephyr1 which shows that the Crit troop is better than Mana troop in tile-dominant situations.
Shoutout to @mattp169 too for Line discussions which prompted this topic. Think he’s working on a document with some more detailed/ other scenarios too.
Click for maths explanation
Maths makes use of the Damage Calculation as well as information presented here in this Guide to Crit Damage.
Assumptions:
- Using Maxed 5* Heroes Avg Stats
- Avg Attack = 731
- Avg Defence = 725
- Troops are L1 unless specified elsewhere
- Using the Damage Calculation
The Forumla I have used is:
Damage = 33 * ([Attack Stat] * (1 + [Troop Attk %]) / [Defence Stat])^1.35 * ([Crit -- 2] * [Crit %] + (1 -[Crit %]))
Normal Damage Rankings – Tiles & Slash Attacks
A full ranking of “best to worst” in terms of NORMAL damage dealt (Tiles & Slash Attacks):
BASICALLY: what this means is, in tile damage scenario’s if you can equip & use a “higher ranked” troop, you are better off doing so…
Special Skill Damage
In special skills, there is no chance for “crit” damage. So essentially the “best troop” is going to be the one which has the higher attack stat.
Choice based on my Raid Style?
As originally stated, if you can get a “Mana Break” then that is your first aim.
If your play style is PREDOMINATELY from special skills (i.e. you raid rainbow or 1-1-1-2), then the Higher Attack Stat troop is going to be the best application if you cannot get a Mana Break.
If you raid 2-2-1, 3-2, 4-1 or mono, tiles are where the majority of your damage is coming from & thus should follow the “rankings” presented above
Defence
This is where it becomes a little more (read a LOT) more subjective… Generally speaking tho, the Mana Troop is the best option for use on defences.
Many players choose to use Mana Troops on their defence for a couple reasons:
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Mana generation is not as straightforward on defence as it is on offence (see below).
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In war situations, having the Mana Troop means lower net defence score which means lower war points for killing that defence.
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Additionally, most defences do NOT depend on normal attack (slash attacks) in order to do the majority of damage… Thus the “crit chance” has less and less of an impact.
Click for Note on mana generation on defence:
Mana generation on defence is not as straightforward as it is on offence… On offence, mana is directly linked to the tiles moved. On defence there are two sources of mana generation:
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Passive mana generated every turn
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Dynamic mana generated based on tiles which “hit” the defending hero. This “decays” with cascades of tiles.
Overall, the Ninja Troop doesn’t massively impact / affect any of these decision reasons regarding troop selection on defence… There is an argument for using a Ninja Troop over a Mana Troop on defence for a “big hitting” hero, in that they will amp up the damage done, but the mana bonus is still very powerful due to Reason 1.
One exception may be a multi-hitting ranger hero as the Ninja Troop & Ranger Bonus Proc separately (E.g. Finley) thus leading to more bypasses & more damage output.