Reasonable Expectations
What are reasonable exceptions for a f2p player to be place in arena?
I know this answer can very depending on shard you are on and what you define f2p. For this discussion lets define f2p as spending less than $50 total. I think this conversation will be helpful because I feel like over the months i continue to see posts that seem to imply an expectation of being able to reach #1 but I have always thought as a f2p player if I can break into the top 100 that is reasonable and if I can crack the top 50 that is great.
Thought?
I know this answer can very depending on shard you are on and what you define f2p. For this discussion lets define f2p as spending less than $50 total. I think this conversation will be helpful because I feel like over the months i continue to see posts that seem to imply an expectation of being able to reach #1 but I have always thought as a f2p player if I can break into the top 100 that is reasonable and if I can crack the top 50 that is great.
Thought?
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Replies
Money only buys a time advantage which should lvl out and allow anyone with the focus and resource management skills to be #1.
Anyone who has a plan and worked it well should have been able to stay #1 (top 10)unless up against krackens.
#1 is possible for everyone though even Ftp people
it's too dependent on how dedicated you are and how competative your leaderboard is to give a good indication to what is reasonable.
@Kyno I don't see how #1 is a reasonable expectation because like you said krackens will always be able to get the best mods, new characters, and adjust to meta changes. On my shard the top 10 seems impossible to break into as f2p because they are all teams with 5 toons with each character having a speed in the 200+ range. At one time I was able to get into the top 10 as f2p but it seems like the meta is changing faster than f2p can adjust.
Once I learned what I was doing (end of July/early August), I was able to focus a little better, and started consistently staying in the top 100. By September, I was staying in the top 50, and getting into the top 20. By October, I was dipping into the top 10. October 29th, I got my first top 5, on November 21st, my first #1 (I know these dates because I still have the screenshots). Since that time, I can consistently finish top 10, and for the last couple of months, I'm somewhere in the top 5 at payout 9 times out of 10, including probably a dozen or more #1 finishes (there are four of us competing for payout at that time, making it more difficult to snag).
That being said, I've been pretty lucky with my mods. While I don't have +20 speed secondaries, I have enough solid secondaries that I can get +80-90 speed on my arena characters.
To speak to my situation, I am not f2p. To deal with the current meta I am running rex lead, jka, (was boba) nihilus 4*, gk, zarriss. This team is not fast, all around 180-200 speed. I don't move my mods too much and haven't moved mods off boba to speed up nihilus. I have a very competitive shard (Dec '15) and can take 1st or 2nd every day. This team is by no stretch p2p team and a mix of versatile toons, which means f2p friendly.
A f2p farming smart and not always chasing the meta to stay as flexible as possible can absolutely be competitive. That means top 10-3 no problem.
I ran droids before that and was still hitting #1, again a f2p team, other then B2 for a little bit.
Mods are your biggest point and you are correct they can have better mods, but that doesn't mean they will always be out pacing you, you just may not match speed for all 5 toons as a f2p. This can be overcome with a smart team and good decisions.
Any team can be beat, so toon selection is a moot point, you can't buy a toon that will make a difference (right now) in arena, and even before there was no 1 toon that made a team unbeatable.
Krackens will be krackens, but there are few people that have a team that just sits at #1 with no problem.
Seriously? New meta comes out P2P whales get the new meta toons. New meta toons then become farmable for F2P as this happens, new meta toons become available P2P, old meta toons are now old meta toons.
F2P cannot compete against the whales P2P - it's like a dog chasing its tail - you won't catch it. Levelling out only works if no more toons are released and gear, level, mods, abilities etc all stop increasing.
I am F2P and I was in top 50 for the longest time, but have been slowly sinking. Currently at around 150 rank in arena.
100% true! F2P cannot catch up with new metas and toons and are actually sinking.
People can argue that all shards are different and that is true - because of newer shards. Ultimately every shard will evolve into what the oldest shard looks like - whales on top and f2p or newbs at the bottom of the food chain.
The P2P v. F2P gap is apparently widening yet again and quite dramatically as it has in the past.
Everyone got 3* versions of all toons. P2p get 7*, that is not a huge difference in arena.
It's a marathon not a sprint. It can be done, but you need to recognize tour situation and work a plan accordingly.
It can be done. It's not easy and sure f2p may drop but in the long run for f2p time is an equalizer.
Ummm no.
Yes we need to be picky and cheap to star and gear up a good toon - that's it "a good toon" while p2p gear 5 or more.
Also nowadays it not like JKA or Wiggs is the top toons to farm - its crazy OP toons like Chaze, DN etc as well as speed mods, zetas.
With all this allows faster completion of guild raids which rewards lots and lots of better gear - ther are so many ways that this game is widening the gap between p2p and f2p and it goes so far beyond being picky and cheap and leveling "a good toon"
So how is time an equalizer? Time just means f2p get left further and further behind, while new metas and crazy new OP toons keep coming to the p2p.
Not true. By focusing resources on the right characters -- those that can survive many meta changes and be useful in a variety of squads -- a F2P can compete on older shards. It's newer shards where whales and krakens have a distinct advantage.
This exactly. I ran Wiggs, Lando, Stormy, RG back in the fall. When the return of Emperor's Demise was mined, I planned out some transitions and started working on it. I farmed and geared TFP, and I got the gear ready for Palp. When Palp was available, I got him, geared him to 10 immediately, and swapped my arena to Palp, TFP, Wiggs, Stormy. Once I saw what Boba's rework looked like, I then started working on him, knowing that he could eventually be a replacement piece for Wiggs, and I kept an eye on where the meta was headed. I saw that the meta was going debuff heavy, so I chose to work on Rex, because I needed a cleanser. I've also planned ahead for my next two additions -- GK and zKylo -- because they will be helpful in any team comp I need in the near future. By planning out my changes one or two steps in the future, and picking people to work on that are either meta-counters, or useful regardless of the meta, I can maintain a high ranking as a F2P, even on a shard where there are plenty of people who have had 7* Chaze for months, and there are 7* Nihiluses (Nihili?).
When I first started, it took me a while to crack the top 100. That was without much trying. Then, I focused to get top 50. For a while, I held that comfortably. I'd occasionally crack the top 25. And for me, I believe that is the best I can/will achieve. I am not able to log in and battle it out the last few minutes before payout. And I'm not willing to spend crystals to refresh my Arena battles. It seems to me to stay in the top 25 consistently on my shard, you need to do 1 or both of those things. So, if I get back to top 25 again, I'll be good.
Currently, I struggle to get into the top 50 by payout. The meta has shifted, and I didn't have toons ready for it. I'm hoping to claw my way back to the top 50 soon. We shall see....
because once you're max you can't improve anymore, while those who aren't max yet can and they will inevitably catch up to you. Since offence is relatively easy in this game, you don't even need an equal or better team to beat p2p players. New characters won't always change the meta and old meta teams are still able to beat the new meta teams on offence. But yea, an team like Old ben lead, rey, qgj, RG and st han won't be able to compete in top tier arena anymore.
i'm 100% f2p, not a single penny went into my swgoh account and i'm able to reach top3 everyday (not always during pay-out due to getting sniped of not having the time to play)
I use to play another Internet f2p game from a website, if you were one of the first few hundred that joined and started playing religiously. You were pretty much in the Top 100. This was very similar to this game's Light and Dark Side Battles only. Except you weren't in control of the characters, you were allowed 12 characters max, you name them, give them a form, and that's it. All you had to do was to send a max of 6 active troops into 6 separate missions for X number of minutes. The end result was a list of damage your character did with others in your faction. The team that had all their members at 0 health was obviously the losing team.
For every 1% of damage you did you earned:
Level 0 = 1xp
Level 1 = 2xp
Level 2 = 4xp
Level 3 = 8xp
Level 4 = 16xp
etc
Up to a level max of 11.
If you were damaged, you had to be healed, and like the damage it cost game money to heal, and a full 100% recovery time was 1 hour.
Stats was basically like any other roleplaying game...strength, speed, endurance, firepower, etc.
The only advantage people can have is time. Assume Person A and B started on the same day, same hour, etc, if A put his/her characters in missions 8 times day, odds are A going to level up faster than B who plays 5 times a day.
This game on the other hand, is almost the same. Biggest difference is money is allowed to get things done faster. (The Dark Side, quicker, easier and more seductive, HA!) Anyways, Those who joined over a year ago, should be lightyears ahead of someone who started playing 4 months ago, and plays (and/or pays) at the same pace.
Is there a true objective to this game? Unlock all characters, and get them to Level 80. Oh wait, isn't it 85 now? Oh wait, now you can unlock ships too? Wow, and Mods are new? Oh wait, the cast from Rebels? Oh my...
I'm sure at some point, if the game plateaus and stops adding new things, everyone will eventually have exactly the same. Also, life happens, and people quit, or die, or whatever that causes him/her to stop playing, thus allowing someone who joined months later to overtake.
Do I expect to be in the Top 10,000? Nope. I just joined the game 5 weeks ago, and this board 4 days ago, and a Guild 2 weeks ago.
I just do my part and have fun.
This isn't the only game I play, and I also have a full time job, and other hobbies.
Yes, I've spent a lot of time, literally days worth of hours, but if somehow the game servers explode due to mother nature or whatever, I won't cry. I am having fun, and I'm not being paid real life money to achieve certain levels in the game.
For those who can afford to pay loads and loads of money to get toons to Level 85 and fully gear and fully mod them, great.
If you are truly dedicated, and have the time to spend on the game, you'll get to where you want to go.
Started mid-FEB 2017, and not trying to reach the top.
The thing as F2P (or at least what I've come to think) is not to spread too thin or farm niche teams (full resistance, full jedi, or even full sith), as the meta WILL change and they will be left behind and benched for ever. If you farm the kind of chars I told you, you can have a safe starting point for new metas.
(I'm a ftp who spent $0.00 on a February 2016 shard, always stay top 15, and didn't jump on the maul wagon)
I'm sure you will disagree but saying you should not farm toons like jka and wiggs is very narrow sighted and leads me to think the game is only about arena and how to remain powerful there is only related on toons you pick for that purpose.
Jka - still useful in arena (I use him to great effect), his special is a trigger ability that is very useful in combination with toons like zarriss and boba. He is great for GW, he will probably get a ship (but can't bank in that) finally he is great for HAAT. Being good in an " end game" event and getting you better chances at good gear.
Wiggs - maybe not useful in arena, although I have one shard mate that has been throwing them in and is making top 10 all the time. They are essential in HAAT and can be used in a power team on Rancor. This will get you better/more gear needed for other toons. Very useful in GW and for building up as a young player.
Just because a toon has a really good power or ability doesn't make them a target to farm, a single hard node toon is something you have to weigh because a useful versatile toon now is more useful then trying to get a "power" toon like you suggest when it will take a long time before you have them.
With reworks and other synergies and abilities (zetas) coming out, many toons have a use and if they help you grow from the beginning I consider that a good investment.
In the long run the lvl cap/gear cap allows player to get more powerful toons to the same lvl as other players. P2p and f2p in the long run will end up with the same roster (this is very long run) but you get what I'm saying.
Mods are probably the only thing that you may have a point about but it's not like you can buy them p2p only have an advantage here because they will have more chances to roll the dice.