I have LJ ready to ascend excepting one shield. And knowing the maddening nature of this game, I expect a 5* green hero will drop just before the shield.
Which green 5* would give you second thoughts about leveling LJ first. (Being a bird in the hand kinda guy, a 5* ascending beats a 4*. And advice that tells me the mats will come again applies equally.)
So, which 4th tier 5* green would you rank above Little John at full ascension?
Lianna? Zeline? Hmm…
Meh. Aren’t most 5* heroes at 3/70 better than LJ AT 4/70? Easier to say who is not, isn’t it?
4* at 4/70 is almost always stronger than 5* at 3/70.
That’s the received wisdom. I think it is often wrong. LJ might be a good example.
I believe spg said this was the case by design.
No argument from me that the general intent is for 4* 4/70 to be better than 5* 3/70, but considerable pushback from me on the idea that this is always the case. I haven’t looked at the numbers properly, but instinctively I think that LJ could be a good case in point.
Oh, that “received wisdom”. It took a mighty swing at me for asking about feeding Chao to Leonidas. That being s sotuation where the 5* showed up after the 4* had reached 3d tier.
It is just that situation I thought might arise with my green heroes.
Hi-jacked myself, again.
Brobb, do you give much weight to the mana speed?
I’ll take Joon at 3/70 over ANY 4/70.
Answer to original question
Alberich in a heart beat.
Yes, he is a HotM, but the Devs have said we can get him again. It might be like my desire for a Merlin avatar, possible but extremely unlikely, but we don’t know yet.
Just a personal note.
I got 4* green healer Kasshrek ( OMG that hero is a tank, 30% more HP than squishy, attack heavy 4* green healer Melendor. I still use Kasshrek occasionally especially versus titans ) to 2.50 when I summoned Melendor. I needed Melendor for his clear debuff in raids. So I raised Kasshrek to 3.1 then started to level Melendor.
This was one of the most aggravating experiences in the game, waiting for Melendor to be useful. Then I thought to check 4.70 Kasshrek versus 4.70 Melendor and realized how much of a tank Kasshrek, he is very tanky even for a healer, and how much of a glass cannon Melendor, such a high attack stat for a healer with such a weak HP for a healer. I think the Healers Guild makes him attend the Fighters Guild meetings because they are ashamed of him 
So if you decide not to level Little John, compare his 4.70 stats in the summon menu with your “other” green’s stats (4* or 5*). So you are not disappointed with the “other” green’s attack stat (Little John’s is high for a green ).
Edit: just remembered this helpful link:
Gryphonknight, I have those same two hanging out with nothing to do.
I plan on bringing Melendor up so I can replace Sabina when purple is weak
Kashhrek is on a defense team when I want to shave some trophies, but not too many
First of all, Melendor actually has higher defense and HP than LJ.
LJ at 70 is 741 569 988
Mel is 714 586 1000
So they are comparable for survivability and only 29 pt difference attack stat. Mel’s heal will help keep your team alive vs hard titans.
But in terms of the question, of the standard greens, the only ones I’d spend Tonics on are Lianna and possibly Groot (Horghall) if you need a tank. Kaidlen and Elk I wouldn’t bother with Tonics…and thus probably wouldn’t bother taking them to 3/70 either.
Albi or Zeline for limited heroes would make me immediately stop leveling LJ. They’re both fantasic.
for comparison, here’s the green standard 5s at 3/70
| Horghall | 552 | 547 | 1299 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lianna | 613 | 604 | 1049 |
| Kadilen | 585 | 644 | 1047 |
| Elkanen | 568 | 659 | 1065 |
Dante, think rhetorical. If you’re stuck waiting for one ascension piece, what would you do if a 5* drops?
Wow, I would love this…or “always get crap from summons”.
I think you are talking of green 5* avalaible now.
In my mind, only Lianna and Zeline right now, with Alby overall (hoping he return somehow).
I like LittleJohn and for me is one of the best (if not the best) 4* green.
I think mana speed matters, and I think that fast mana is usually better than slow mana. But I also think that we tend to overweight the importance of mana speed and forget about context. Whether mana speed should be a priority depends on the hero, their special, and the role you wish them to play.
By way of example, Marjana has a great sniper special that charges fast. It’s good for Titans and on raid attack. But on raid defence it’s worse than useless - it goes off too early to take out anyone and the AI inevitably misdirects it. Marjana as a defender is pretty much harmless. On raid defence it would actually be better for her mana to charge slowly, so that her special would hit later in a raid, when the opposition were more vulnerable.
Then I’m doing something very wrong. I had a few videos of Marjana tanks wiping half my team out while the rest just watch, but I think I’ve deleted them now. Unless I can snipe her first, her pseudo-tank stats usually allow her to get that special off more than once.
Hmm… maybe you don’t have a late game team yet? She can be pretty effective against weaker heroes.
I seek out teams featuring Marjana, especially in tank. Then I give them wedgies.
Yeah for sure, not even close, yet. My team consists of one maxed out 5* and then I rely on 4s after, so I don’t expect to steamroller anyone above 2400 trophies, but even so I can usually deal with any Athena/Hel/Lianna combos no problem, it’s only Marj that seems to give me consistent trouble, even Grimm/Isarnia stacked can’t seem to stop her. My attack team is admittedly flimsy though, so when she charges it’s often a one hit kill.
Hey.
A question about green heroes.
I have Lianna and Zeline sitting at 3/70. I am one tonic down to ascend one of these to the final tier.
Which one would you ascend first for overall play (titans, war, raids and map)?
Ty 
Academic for me since I only have Zeline, but it depends on what other heroes I have available. In your place I would pick Zeline first because I’m already working on Marjana and Joon as fast 5* strikers, and a third would be less essential.
If you already have a good dispeller or two, especially Caedmon, but no fast striker types, I’d suggest Lianna as the better pick.