"Legendary" Character concern
I understand the point that "Legendary" characters are supposed to be powerful, but let's be honest here....with each new Legendary character the game becomes more and more broken. The history of Legendary characters did not start this way, and I'm not sure why it changed.
1. Palpatine. Was always a good toon, and a lot of people used him for awhile as their "meta" team. But he was never (imo) so powerful that he could only beaten one or two ways
2. Grand Master Yoda: Again. A very solid toon that really helped Jedi shine for awhile. He was annoying to deal with, but never over-the-top powerful
3 R2-D2: Here's where things begin to change. This toon single-handedly ended the zMaul meta. While R2 wasn't all powerful alone, he plugs in with so many other squads that he is invaluable.
4. BB-8: Initially, he was a great asset to the Resistance line up. As soon as RJT (JRT, whatever) was added, he's a monster. The trifecta with RJT, BB-8 and R2 is a meta that is extremely difficult to beat.
5. Thrawn: Here's the beginning of the end. Basic attack that inflicts ability block one turn after the fact, check. Special ability with low cooldown that is an unblockable, un-dispellable stun, check. Special that removes debuffs, adds protection, and swaps TM with an ally. Average damage. Adds a new ability for Empire characters that removes debuffs and grants TM. While not broken, he cracks the glass.
6. CLS: Essentially a character that can literally do it all. Above average damage on basic, check. Ability to stun on basic, check. Ability to cleanse self, check. Ability to remove all buffs and TM from enemy, check. Heavy damage on special, check. Ability to give self and team TM, check. This character is broken. He has been since day one. Instead of reworking to fit into the overall scheme of the game, it was decided to release the next Legendary toon....
7. RJT: The newest meta. Permanent foresight at the beginning of each turn, check. Average dmg on basic with chance of boosting it, check. Special attack that inflicts an un-dispellable heal block, check. Special ability to inflict massive debuffs that also removes TM, AND gives Resistance allies TM. Then we go to her leader ability which is a Finn-lite style leader. Not huge, but it's powerful. Here's where things get insane....Unique ability with 40% (more like 80% if you are fighting them in arena) to remove all debuffs if inflicted with a debuff. That's once you get past her foresight, which leads us to....gaining foresight at the end of every turn. When she was at her hottest (pre-EP/Vader rework) I counted 42 out of the top 50 teams using her lead. If that's not broken, I don't know what is.
Finally, Darth Traya. This is the answer to the RJT meta. Another incredibly OP toon that will change the game again. While I consider myself more of a DS player as opposed to LS player, even I think that DT will break the game further. Further on down the line we'll have a new anti-Traya toon that will destroy everything else. And the trend will continue
There are 142 characters in the game at this moment. I will wager that in the top 50 arena at any given time, there are no more than 30 different characters being used. There is zero incentive and zero chance to use other toons as they will get quickly crushed by one of the active metas. Even with reworks, when have you seen an Ewok squad in the arena? I and a few have done First Order against CLS and NS and it works well, but not against RJT. What about a clone squad? Let's not even talk about a Jedi squad, even though in canon they should be considered as powerful, if not more so, than anyone not a Sith.
I think the developers should look at working on balancing the game instead of just releasing a new toon that can do it all against the current meta, but I'm not holding my breath
1. Palpatine. Was always a good toon, and a lot of people used him for awhile as their "meta" team. But he was never (imo) so powerful that he could only beaten one or two ways
2. Grand Master Yoda: Again. A very solid toon that really helped Jedi shine for awhile. He was annoying to deal with, but never over-the-top powerful
3 R2-D2: Here's where things begin to change. This toon single-handedly ended the zMaul meta. While R2 wasn't all powerful alone, he plugs in with so many other squads that he is invaluable.
4. BB-8: Initially, he was a great asset to the Resistance line up. As soon as RJT (JRT, whatever) was added, he's a monster. The trifecta with RJT, BB-8 and R2 is a meta that is extremely difficult to beat.
5. Thrawn: Here's the beginning of the end. Basic attack that inflicts ability block one turn after the fact, check. Special ability with low cooldown that is an unblockable, un-dispellable stun, check. Special that removes debuffs, adds protection, and swaps TM with an ally. Average damage. Adds a new ability for Empire characters that removes debuffs and grants TM. While not broken, he cracks the glass.
6. CLS: Essentially a character that can literally do it all. Above average damage on basic, check. Ability to stun on basic, check. Ability to cleanse self, check. Ability to remove all buffs and TM from enemy, check. Heavy damage on special, check. Ability to give self and team TM, check. This character is broken. He has been since day one. Instead of reworking to fit into the overall scheme of the game, it was decided to release the next Legendary toon....
7. RJT: The newest meta. Permanent foresight at the beginning of each turn, check. Average dmg on basic with chance of boosting it, check. Special attack that inflicts an un-dispellable heal block, check. Special ability to inflict massive debuffs that also removes TM, AND gives Resistance allies TM. Then we go to her leader ability which is a Finn-lite style leader. Not huge, but it's powerful. Here's where things get insane....Unique ability with 40% (more like 80% if you are fighting them in arena) to remove all debuffs if inflicted with a debuff. That's once you get past her foresight, which leads us to....gaining foresight at the end of every turn. When she was at her hottest (pre-EP/Vader rework) I counted 42 out of the top 50 teams using her lead. If that's not broken, I don't know what is.
Finally, Darth Traya. This is the answer to the RJT meta. Another incredibly OP toon that will change the game again. While I consider myself more of a DS player as opposed to LS player, even I think that DT will break the game further. Further on down the line we'll have a new anti-Traya toon that will destroy everything else. And the trend will continue
There are 142 characters in the game at this moment. I will wager that in the top 50 arena at any given time, there are no more than 30 different characters being used. There is zero incentive and zero chance to use other toons as they will get quickly crushed by one of the active metas. Even with reworks, when have you seen an Ewok squad in the arena? I and a few have done First Order against CLS and NS and it works well, but not against RJT. What about a clone squad? Let's not even talk about a Jedi squad, even though in canon they should be considered as powerful, if not more so, than anyone not a Sith.
I think the developers should look at working on balancing the game instead of just releasing a new toon that can do it all against the current meta, but I'm not holding my breath
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It's like saying, some teams are good at rancor or tank, they are just good at one part of the game. These mobile games tend to not have a long shelf life, I am happy this game has had this long of a run.
Good post. Thanks for making the effort and for sharing it.
I guess as many folk like the way that the game is going as those that don't. Either way it seems the Devs have opted for the current route.
Might as well buckle up and enjoy the ride eh!
Legendary characters are only unlocked through the events. But, you are right that you have to spend the money to get the toons required to win the event.
This is also very true. And maybe I guess I'm looking at my own personal view that the arena is the final say on how good your account is. I'd say especially since I rarely if ever do either raid anymore. And it is nice to have the variety for TW and TB. I love using murder bears!
I imagine balance will come by way of rotating reworks and character releases. I suspect we'll be getting a Jedi rework shortly.
Me too.
IMO, arena is the most diverse and fun it's every been. With the exception of MT, all the characters being used right now had to be earned and not purchased. (yes, I realize progress can be accelerated through cash investments)
And just think about all those times when you saw a specific toon overtake the meta for a short period. Sure, many on the leaderboard were the same cast of players as prior, but it also presents a great opportunity to a player that has struggled to break into high arena ranks. Does it require some money? Maybe. But if you value being competitive, and a new character is released that you qualify to obtain, you can invest $50 - $100 to gear up that toon and propel yourself up the leaderboard. I was lucky that my roster qualified for CLS. Using him, I finally broke out of the 200s in arena up to the top 100 and that was important to me.
Some people want to be F2P... some, HAVE to be F2P (kids), but I value having played this game for over 2 years and getting new content frequently. Spending a couple hundred on an ad free game that even though it has faults (MKIII Carbanti cough cough!!!) has been fun and evolving.
Yes. It's a constant chase. That's always been the game design.
a. Just saying this abbreviation means jedi rey training
b. You've got a good point there, the power creep is the one and only part of this game that really bothers me.
@Charlo999 why don't you read the attacks and abilities again, think them over, think about how they interact with the meta, and the get back to me on that.
I did purposefully leave off the raid and TB/TW reward toons. Although I agree GK was a game changer from his essentially constant taunting and cleanse. Originally, Han was good, but wasn't great until his rework came along. If you'll recall after the pit first came out, you rarely saw Han on a raid team. Now, you see him constantly.
TB = ROLO and IPD. Both solid toons, but I only ever see IPD in arena, and that's infrequent.
TB/TW creds = Hoda and Wampa. Solid toons that are powerful, but can be handled in multiple ways.
My main gist of the origin of the thread is that the Legendary characters are so powerful that there are limited ways to beat them constantly in the arena. And the trend is seemingly going to continue.
Once Traya starts getting popular though, most of the existing legendary/raid toons are getting kicked right out of the arena meta. I feel kind of bad for newer players going forward. What are they supposed to get all excited when after many months of planning and farming they unlock their CLS or JTR and they aren't even arena viable anymore? How dumb is that?
I'm not disagreeing with this...I realize ultimately this game is a business and needs to make money or it closes...but what I'm not looking forward to is the absolute leap in power creep we are about to take. Then again though...Traya is raid reward and anyone that wants to gear her will have plenty of time to save up gear while they collect shards so they won't be making anything off that one.
I think CLS was an example of doing it wrong. When CLS first hit the scene he absolutely smashed the arena and was a total game changer for raids. His introduction just made way too many other squads and character obsolete.
I think NS was an example of doing it right. When they got their pass, they became a rock solid team that could take first place in arena but weren't kittenly dominant like CLS when he first got added to the game. People paid money for them, they're definitely a meta team...but they were never a "You must have this squad or go to the back of the bus" addition to the game like CLS was.
I guess we'll have to see how it plays out when these new characters start hitting the arena...but my guts telling me these new Sith characters are going to absolutely stomp pretty much the entire existing meta and the arena meta will look like it did post CLS release. They aren't going to be like NS where they're a little power creepy and a strong contender...they're going to dominate. Get Sith or get out.
See marquee releases as a head start to the gearing up of a new character. Before the marquee events were introduced, new characters that were potent (like Rex, Wedge...) were P2P releases only for a length of time at least equal to those 4 months (or even more). Or Tournaments (not really F2P friendly either).
No I obviously didn’t look at any kits it’s my opinion based on names (sarcasm off)
Traya looks to give a second shut down move (fracture being first) that’s not as potent but lasts longer. A nice control toon.
And daze on basic is nice.
Her lead is rubbish (-40 crit when she gets bonuses from tri-sith being crit) and funnily the auto cleanse runs counter to her basic that adds additional debuff effects from allies.
We will have to see what her damage and speed is like.
Now sion brings aoe dispel, aoe debuffs, debuffs on all his moves and debuffs on being hit, massive stat increases, massive opponent stat decreases, good damage and an auto tank with revive. That’s a huge toon for an EP lead.
What are you seeing I don’t?
@Charlo999 Just that her isolate prevents buffs out of turn and countering. That shuts down rey's triple attack with BB-8. It also keeps one member of the RJT squad from getting the illuminated destiny buffs. Also, she inflicts offense down when someone gets buffs out of turn. The four members of the RJT squad that are not BB-8 will all lose 50% offense with illuminated destiny, taking away a significant chunk of damage.
Apparently your gearing your talk to jtr squads.
I can already shut down jtr with fracture and it will kill the whole squad.
The offence down is tied to her lead. No one is gonna use that lead.
@Charlo999 clearly the rjt squads are not well missed or r2 would have them stealthier before you could fracture. Also, we’ll see if people use her lead when they unlock her. We’ll see.
I thought Traya was going to be a legendary event. I received bad info from somewhere
Well modded or not, just wait till RJT unstealths (she goes a lot, so it'll happen quickly) and then fracture her. I fought against RJT squads for a very long time without using her myself and this is indeed how to make those squads trivial.
@Meerava well if the teams built well they’ll have a tank or two taunting to keep that from happening
This game's definately been trending in this direction for a really long time
You can remove taunt, only hit GK until Rey is unstealthed so you can fracture. As I said, I fought against RJT a long time using Thrawn to control her.
@Meerava what if zeta old ben throws up another taunt right away? Then R2 can get rey back in stealth or another tank could taunt and cover Rey up.
It might be Sion, or Traya, or who-knows what else, but I can't shake the feeling that something is going to come along and utterly ruin the meta again.
You can shut old ben down before he does any of that. When running the old gk/zariss-hide-DN team when RJT teams started (did it for a couple months before adopting it myself, still taking top 5 every day), I had to shut down Old Ben from doing anything otherwise it'd be a tough fight. Needs a fast CLS or Raid Han. I usually avoided the teams that used Old Ben in those times.