I finally managed to get Vivica after many years. I got her from HA of all places . She is my first 5* healer I can max. I did manage Raff, but due to a glut of good blue 5’s he is mat. stuck. While he is next in line I still need 5 scopes . I guess my question then is two parts:
1 - Is she a top priority as she’ll outperform my current top two healers? Those two would be Gullinbursti +20 and c-Melendor +20.
I do have the other 4* healers +20, but no costumes to date.
2 - Is Vivica worth emblems? Currently Elkanen has my cleric emblems as he is the only 5* candidate and my worthy 4’s have all their emblems. Elkanen is around +16. I am about to max Malicna though as I managed to pull her and now Vivica. Is one of those 3 an outlier as heads and tails more effective with emblems then the others?
I would note if I strip Elkanen I wouldn’t have a high emblemed green to replace him with in my D.
I get it’s roster dependent, etc but I think that is a lot of info so looking more in generalities. I am F2P so if I get any new 5’s they would be vanillas.
I use more often Rigard rather than Vivica. Her slow mana sometimes desperates me. I’d only max her if I had her costume and I’d wait for the scopes for Raffaele. I think that he’s a better healer than Vivica.
My roster relates to yours. I have Gullinbursti+18, C-Melendor+18, and Vivica at 4/80. If I want a yellow healer I always go Gullinbursti first and am more likely to use C-Mel over either (I always use Mel over Raf).
I would still call her a priority even though I don’t think she’ll outperform your other healers. I certainly don’t have enough 5 star healers.
I’m sitting on 400 Cleric emblems and debating whether Viv or Elk are worth it or if I should just get another Rigard leveled up. If you gave me enough emblems to take Elk to +16 I would over Viv or Rigard (I just haven’t bothered with given him a few nodes) so no I wouldn’t strip him.
I’m not sure if what I’m doing is most optimal, but this is what I do. It seems similar to your situation so it’s what I recommend.
I honestly don’t use my Rigard that often. I understand that is blasphemy . I get my cleanses via c-Sonya, c-Caedmon, Glenda, antidotes, etc. usually.
I can see that in raids. My initial thinking was PvE for S3 hard. I can use mana pots as needed that way. Slow mana does hurt in raids. Even the pig gets left behind some times due to that in PvE. Raff ability to 50% could make him potentially more usable to Viv in PvE offense, we’ll see.
Is that true of PvP and PvE? I get it, c-Melendor was The Man for healing until the pig came. Overheal is just truly a game changer. c-Melendor (Fake Gandalf?) was on all my seasonal teams, etc, but the pig is phasing him out some times.
I don’t keep dupes so I don’t have the additional Rigard as an option. My thinking, so far, is I need Vivica to survive and heal. Her base stats probably do that already pretty well. Same with Raff and his massive D/HP. Not sure he needs emblems (his attack is hopeless already ).
Elkanen has worked out pretty well actually. He follows Buddy and that hits fairly hard. Lianna and Caedmon then clean up if I mono. The alternative for multi enemy hitters in green are:
c-Skittleskull - too squishy typically especially in PvP. Good attack stat. A drop can be useful.
c-Little John - same as Skittles in PvP but does make some PvE for the mana slow. Both have great attack stats.
Horghall - Not maxed yet. He is 3:1, but still not sure he is the answer there.
Elkanen on A/D path is pretty solid. He then up his HP by hitting harder via his special (that’s the thought at least).
I used Gullinbursti all through season 3 (well once I got him) as my sole healer regardless of enemy elements. It helped the auto play since heroes would go into the boss wave with over 100% health (side note i also used Freya and three strong colors for auto play).
In Raids/war Mel gets much more use. The slow speed is part of it, but it’s Mel’s dispel that comes in handy. I mostly run into green tanks in war. Top tanks include Telly, Heimdall, C-Kadilen. All three have an aspect to dispel. All three make Raf less useful due to the color.
I often throw Raf or Gullinbursti as an extra healer in a 3-1-1 if I think I can win the slow play battle.
I have another North +18 and I still use Mel more than her because it’s often that first heal that makes the biggest difference.
I may be an outlier opinion here, and initially off-topic, but I must say this:
How is it at all possible to sing Melendor’s praises? In either outfit, he dies to light straw driven by a breeze!!
No, seriously – tumbleweeds make that dude DIE.
But on-point now:
Leave the emblems you have on Elkanen on Elkanen – he’s solid. I have him at 18 nodes now. And I’ve left Vivica at 7. But I don’t want to spend a reset emblem on her.
Raffaele has actually begun to impress me. The 50% heal coupled with an impressive regen number are good. When you add a full-team cleanse on top of that, you’re talking about superior effects. —>
→ But the thing that really makes me think you should have maxed Raffaele before Vivica? His base stats. Raff has the one thing that Vivica does not – durability. He isn’t a tank, but he’s a meat shield that can put meat back on a team’s bones.
I never run Vivica unless I can put another healer with her (quite good with Gullinbursti). I’ll take Raffaele to any party all by his healing lonesome.
If you’ve got your hero academy consistently trading a 5* every week and you don’t have darts to throw around, I’d recommend waiting for Joon until you reach 12 darts just in case. If you draw Joon–or if I draw Joon–I’d be quite happy to see him maxed.
Raffaele’s a good healer, too. My brother drew him, and we’re pleasantly surprised with his performance.
I’ll also say I did a scan over the leaderboard a few days ago and recorded all the heroes I saw. Gullinbursti was the only 4* to appear twice in the world’s top 100 trophy defense teams. (I also counted only 1 base Vivica and 1 costume Vivica.) Gullinbursti’s proven himself well enough that if you had a full 5* squad except him, I wouldn’t dare call him a weak link. He might get mad.
Mine is also +20. He hangs in there in diamond level raids as a single healer even
I haven’t maxed either. Raff has been stuck at 3:70 for months as I got both Athena and Glenda who I have priority to. As soon as I get scopes he is next as of now though. Vivica I just got so have done nothing with. I need to finish some current projects.
I have Joon at +19 (skipped 20th node on purpose), Leo at +7(ish) and maxed Justice. Viv was the only yellow I was missing. I have enough darts for two yellows currently so I will max her. The only pull that would change my mind if maybe an HotM or event hero out of HA, but we all know those odds…
Mine is +20 and an absolute monster. I am so glad I pulled him. So far my only other non 3* is Fura .
I got Vivica as the 2nd S1 hero after Richard, both at 3/70 since 2018, still hesitant to spend ascension mats on any of them. I will only ascend Viv if I get her costume since I badly need a defense down holy debuffer and that the costume bonus improves her stats and mana speed, otherwise, I will still relegate healing to Woolerton+18 or any of the 3 maxed Gullinbursti, one of which is at +19.
I’d save those darts for better holy legendaries or when you get Viv’s costume. Gull is a subpar healer than Viv, but he is redeemed because the pig damages the enemies, overheals and cheap to ascend and emblem. Try also getting Woolerton, who is a better healer than those slow yellows.
. She is my first 5* healer I can max. I did manage Raff, but due to a glut of good blue 5’s he is mat. stuck. While he is next in line I still need 5 scopes 
. I guess my question then is two parts:
. I get my cleanses via c-Sonya, c-Caedmon, Glenda, antidotes, etc. usually.