4*:
Boril: Sometimes i use Cyprian but never Boril
Hu Tao and Colen: Only leveled for very fast tournament
Sumitomo: I can’t find any use for this guy
Li Xiu: Long ago a tank for me, but now sleeping all the day
Kelile: Ok hero but out of order…
5*:
Justice: not a bad tank but not for me anymore. Sitting around 100%
Marjana: Not bad but i have no job for her. No tile damage
Margaret: Seldom used for some fun, too unreliable for real action
Quintus: system error, very boring guy
Thoth Amun: Why the hell did i level this guy - i liked his minion for a while…
A while back when Little John and Gobbler were my only 4* green heroes I used them pretty frequently.
Now Gobbler sits on the bench almost all the time, he saw some use though in this raid tournament to deal with Buddy’s v. fast minion spam, he ate well and shared with the others.
Kashhrek. Been using him as tank a long time ago but now he’s just gathering dust. Useless in attack, even in mono green stack. Maybe will use him as tank in 4* tourney with excluded red… But his strength is massive def bonus against red so idk…
So you have an army of 5 star hero of the months and now can’t find a use for your previously used 4 and 5 stars. OK…
I see a use for all heroes, especially with wars and the introduction of tournaments. Whether or not you consider the tournaments important or not is another matter.
My unused (4 and 5 star) heroes that I probably won’t fully ascend:
Ameonna: I will try her at tier 3 first.
Sumitomo: Has uses, but enough to bump other reds? Will try at tier 3 first.
Danzaburo: Will try at tier 3.
Boril: Just got him but it’s a little late. He will probably sit at tier 3 indefinitely and does the job there.
Kelile: I’ll get her to tier 3, but she doesn’t scale well so will probably be there forever.
Khagan: Since it takes almost 9 months to get red mats, he won’t be ascended unless I play another 2 years and no other red 5 star appears. He’s not bad, I just have other red 5 stars that are better.
Gormek: Not my favorite pulverizer, will be a long time if ever that I ascend him to 4.
These heroes aren’t bad, I’ve just been playing long enough that they aren’t useful compared to other heroes. With ascension materials being scarce, we have to pick and choose what we ascend.
I am prepared to be castigated for this, but for me it’s Wilbur. I use him against green titans, but that’s honestly about it. He often doesn’t get off the bench for wars since I have trouble managing his spirit link buff of opponents.
N.B. this is only taking into account my maxed four stars. For example, I don’t have Kelile or Skittleskull maxed, Chao at 3.60 sees less use than Wilbur, etc.
Kashhrek. It was fun while it lasted sweet tank o’ mine, but it’s over
Skittleskull. My second green, after kashhy. She was used a lot until I had another green. Now she’s on a trial team and that’s about it.
Honourable mention: Gafar. I love this guy but he’s so, so, so squishy. I want to use him but the enemy AI is seriously gunning for him. I have pretty much avoid bringing him in AW because he’s always the first of the gang to die.
Wu Kong. After getting Ranvir the old chap became obsolete in my experience. And before I got Ranvir I used Wu ONLY for titans and rarely for AW should the occasion of holy color stacking arose.
And I’m determined to remove all the emblems I gave him and give them to Drake.
Hu Tao, but that has recently changed because I decided to retire Li Xiu for my farm team because I needed some AOE attackers to speed up process. Sure he is slow as molasses, but I’ve decided Li Xiu (my first 4* yellow) has seen enough enemy parts and decided to give her a cushy office job. Let the panda have some fun.
Colen, when there is Azlar on your bench, you kind of forget that Colen is there, unless Azlar is not allowed in certain situations. But the slow mana plus his plushiness made it hard for me to consider using him… So this raid tourney I decided to take him out for a drive, surely the very fast attack will make him viable right? Wrong… With 4 straight tourney maps yielding next to nil red tiles, this maxed, albeit un-emblemed Colen never got his special off even once and was always the first one targeted (and subsequently killed) by the A.I. controlled opponents. Ugh… Call it bad luck, but yeah… Colon cancer is back on the bench again.
Skittleskull - Got her to 3^60 since she was my last classic 4* green acquired. But slow mana charge made it so that she never sniffed battlefield even once… Maybe when I decide to retire some other farm team member… Just maybe, but not any time soon.
Boril - Sure I’ve seen plenty of opponents (and trials) with him in the lineup, and even the player icons. But I didn’t really use him much… Because I like to use Cyprian more because Cyprian is a better utilizer of Perfect Riposte, Cyps have lower defense and higher HP which made him a better candidate for that skill. But Boril (aka Boring-O) hasn’t seen much action, aside from the Trials.
Def Hu Tao – he’s a beatch when faced, but on my teams, he never gets his special filled before he’s gone (and he has four talent levels).
In no particular order, after that:
Little John (seven talent levels, still too slow), Kashhrek (specialty, imo)
Boril, Cyprian (neither maxed, so maybe later)
Melendor (six talent levels and still goes down like a feather)
Kelile (other reds better)
Colen (ditto, and slow)
Wu (only for titans!)…
My go-tos, just for comparison:
Aegir and Vivica
Sonya (my hero!), Caedmon
Rigard & Sabina
Lancelot, so I can better use Vivica and Little John (with talents, he’s better!)
Li Xiu (my other hero!), Chao
Scarlett, Boldtusk
Tiburtus and Grimm (but not great), Athena (not maxed)
Similarly to couple others… Kashrek was once my tank, keeping me upt to Platinum before he was finally replaced by Kunchen. Now almost never used - not even wars or quests. I think I may have used him on a raid tournament once or twice.
Wu Kong. Once a super star - now replaced totally by Ranvir, sometimes making his way to a war squad or 4* tournament with buff boost.
Cheeshire Cat - was supposed to be my anti-guin, but never served his purpose. Have him maxed but almost never use - unless fighting a war against yellow tanks.
Kelile - oh boy, she was one of my first 4 stars and an amazing hitter early in the game for me. Replaced by Marjana and overshadowed by other powerful red 4 stars, rarely sees a fight now, I think beside the rogue quests.
Chao - purple tanks are rare and even if I meet one - I have better squad for them. Never faced purple tank war in my life. There’s just not enough attacks to use him. Again, he was one of my yellow 4 stars, so I used to run him a lot but he just fallen off quite quickly and I was never too impressed with the guy.
For 5 stars. I plan my mat spending carefully so anyone I took to 4.80 is greatly used. For those who are 3.70 I’d point Guardian Owl. I literally knew he was going to be disappointment the moment I started working for him, but thought he’ll at least help in my 5-6 war team where paired with quickly falling allies. Maybe he filled that purpose for couple wars but having now 40+ heroes maxed the initial need is no longer there. And he really sucks otherwise.
Boril+18 is my current tank. His defensive stats surpass those of most 5* tanks. His role is to be a meat shield and buy time for the Elena and Azlar flanks to charge and cast. No trouble keeping above 2400 overnight, sometimes I even wake up above 2500.
Even though it’s unstated and probably understood to be the case, I’m not including unleveled and underleveled heroes as my playstyle dictates that I have no or little practical experience with those.
Mostly Unused:
Cyprian, 4/70: he was my first 4* and first purple 4* due to having no other options at the time. I lean more towards special combo play and sniper play, so a passive riposte guy like this doesn’t fit me as a player that well. Cyprian did work in his day and would still be amazing against AOE heavy defense teams, but I mostly just heal through those and forget Cyprian exists.
3/60 Boril gets an honorable mention here.
Sonya, 4/70: going to be a bit of a surprise for some, but Sonya came late to the party for me, and she had to take a backseat for her bigger brothers Grimm, Richard, and Kiril. When Frida came along and ate all the scopes, Sonya basically found no purpose. It’s not that she’s bad by any means, but she just doesn’t fit into my blue special combo blitz (Kiril, Grimm, Frida, Richard, not in that order) due to her mana speed, oddly enough. She comes out for wars in blue stacks, but that’s about it. I even pulled Paladin tokens from her and gave them to Ares. She… just doesn’t fit for me.
Honorable mention to my 3/60 Triton for basically the same reason, as well as having a flimsy secondary effect. I know he’s a good sniper, but that’s just not how my blue bench developed.
Sumitomo, 3/60: I leveled him to 3/60 purely for the Fighter class quests, but after I got a Panther, that stopped being a thing.
Ameonna, 3/60: I’m just not good at tile cascades. I’m just not. So Ameonna gets benched because she’s piloted by an idiot.
Kashhrek, 3/60: I forget when I got him, but it was definitely after Boldtusk. Because he keeps getting outshined by better 4* heroes, and his area heal is limited in usage, he doesn’t see much play outside of late flag wars. I’m going to final him anyway because I need more support, but he just came too late and did too little for my bench when he arrived.
Justice, 3/70: I leveled her to the third tier because I had nothing else at the time, but Justice finds little usage because I have so many good/amazing tanks in other colors at final ascension, and I’m hesitant to run her because of the anti-Guin meta. If I don’t get like, literally anything else, I’ll final ascend her because a yellow tank would be useful, but I might even ascend Guardian Owl over her. At least he’s funny.
Wu Kong, 4/70: I pulled Ranvir. Enough said. Wu Kong comes out for war stacks and purple Titan stacks, but he basically is just there for tile damage now. Sorry Wu.
Seldom Used / Niche Usage
Red Hood, 3/70: Mostly because of her low level, she gets squished in low-mid Diamond a lot. She gets regular usage on my low level farming team and in mid/late war flags though as one of the few red all-hits and at average speed as a healer at that. Great, but sidelined because I have other priorities for rings.
Kadilen, 3/70: low level squishiness but frequently used on the farming team and in mid/late war flags.
Quintus, 2/60: the only reason he gets used at all is for low level farming. I’m sorry, buddy, but you just have way too many people in front of you in the line to ever get beyond that.
Hu Tao, 4/70: he had his day in the sun because he was my only yellow 4* for the longest time, but now he’s just a low-level farming staple and mid/late war pick. He will instantly get completely benched once my Li Xiu gets to 4/70… or any feeders at all.
Captain Kestrel, 3/70: Used in a red stack for wars and raids, but after I got a Scarlett who is definitely getting the blades and the emblems, I can’t foresee him getting much more usage after that. Kinda sad since he was my first 5* hero ever, but he’s just… average.
Obakan, 3/70: He had a brief moment in the sun as a third hitter in a purple stack. Then I got Seshat. Now he’s just… kinda there. Mostly used for mid/late war picks, and that’s it.
Gadeirus, 4/70: The slow mana speed is just an awful killer. I use him a lot against blue titans and in mid/late war picks, but ugggghhh… the slow mana speed is just awful, and his ability being a heal-over-time means he can’t always save his neighbors.
Gormek, 3/60: His low level means he rarely sees usage outside of mid/late war picks, but I’m thinking of final ascending him because he requires less brainpower to use than Wilbur. Wilbur requires me to pay attention to the board state and everyone’s mana level to see if it makes sense to blow it. Gormek is just fire and forget. Also Airhawk stated he’s useful, and I can believe it, so he’s definitely just waiting for his time to be a middling war contender.
BONUS LIGHTNING ROUND: Heroes that everyone said were useless/meh but I use a ton!
Cheshire Cat, 3/60: He comes out ALL the time for yellow Titans. Fast speed, higher defense down than Tiburtus, triggering at the same time as Panther. Just wow, wow, wow. I’m routinely the top Titan hitter in my super casual alliance, so you know, not much to brag about, but I just can never get enough of this guy. He’s super, duper, uper niche, but he’s just my kind of niche. I need to max ascend him, so he doesn’t inhale, like, ALL of my healing potions, but I just love this guy more than I ought to.
Chao, max+18: I chose him because I needed hitters for my yellow bench and because I was sitting on a huge pile of Ranger tokens with nobody to give them to. I use him all. the. time. I will admit he’s not the best sniper in the game, but he’s great for me. Buying me a turn or two off his mana cut, surviving through hailfire like a champ, and one of my highest tile damage hitters with emblems, he’s the Joon I don’t have. I love this guy to death, and everybody who hates him can go swim in a lake. That’ll teach you.
Kelile, max+18: One of the biggest problems with the red bench I’ve found is that a lot of the heroes in red are great… but most of the great ones are support heroes or quasi support (Ares, Gormek, Wilbur, Boldtusk). Nobody liked Kelile or would at least give her grudging respect as “merely okay,” but dang, she hits like a train, especially when comboed out with the likes of Ares or a defense down. Her stat balance of high defense means she survives through a lot of pain that most others would crumple to, and excepting DOT snipers like Sartana or Marjana, she usually survives long enough to be healed back up to full. I can’t tell you how many people she’s killed through the DOT, especially those annoying revive fighters. She’s a mini Marjana, sure, but I don’t have a Marjana, and with a bench that included Ares, Red Hood, and Queen of Hearts, I’m not sure Marjana would ever get rings anytime soon even if I had one. She’s incredible for me, and she definitely pulls her weight. She’s always tagging along with her bigger brother Ares, and I will always cheerleader her.
