As a FTPer who places #1 almost daily my advice is to stop focusing on so many characters.
QGJ
Lumi
Yoda or Daka
Dooku
ST Han
All gear 9. 34000+ power. How? I spend all my time on 6 characters.
Whales can gear up 20 toons. Until more than 5 are allowed in arena it doesn't matter much.
It's all about biulding for the current meta and holding.
Top 1 - 5 will go to the players that want to spend crystals on refreshes, but I made my march to Top 50 (and dipped into the top 20 once) without the use of any refreshes. I've never built for the meta, but I've focused on six characters (switching out one leader for the other from Arena to GW) and it's served me best.
Top 1 - 5 will go to the players that want to spend crystals on refreshes, but I made my march to Top 50 (and dipped into the top 20 once) without the use of any refreshes. I've never built for the meta, but I've focused on six characters (switching out one leader for the other from Arena to GW) and it's served me best.
Refreshes are almost always the best use of crystals for a FTP. If you use a 50 refresh to move up a single tier it's a wash. However if you stay in that tier the next night you are now ahead 50 crystals. This compounds as you use refreshes to jump tiers until you reach the top 5. There using a refresh to just maintain a spot is sometimes the best use of your crystals.
The unwillingness to pay 50 crystals on a refresh in top 50 and 100-150 crystals in the top 5 is why FTP players fall behind. If I spend 150 crystals and make 250 by placing 5th it is better than if I had sat in 51-100 and made 100 crystals a night. Because with just a little RNG you can get lucky, spend 50 and end up making 500.
Whales on my shard rarely even bother fighting for #1 because for them the crystal bump from #1 over top 10 is minimal. For me it's the only way I have to continue to remain competitive.
Top 1 - 5 will go to the players that want to spend crystals on refreshes, but I made my march to Top 50 (and dipped into the top 20 once) without the use of any refreshes. I've never built for the meta, but I've focused on six characters (switching out one leader for the other from Arena to GW) and it's served me best.
Refreshes are almost always the best use of crystals for a FTP. If you use a 50 refresh to move up a single tier it's a wash. However if you stay in that tier the next night you are now ahead 50 crystals. This compounds as you use refreshes to jump tiers until you reach the top 5. There using a refresh to just maintain a spot is sometimes the best use of your crystals.
The unwillingness to pay 50 crystals on a refresh in top 50 and 100-150 crystals in the top 5 is why FTP players fall behind. If I spend 150 crystals and make 250 by placing 5th it is better than if I had sat in 51-100 and made 100 crystals a night. Because with just a little RNG you can get lucky, spend 50 and end up making 500.
Whales on my shard rarely even bother fighting for #1 because for them the crystal bump from #1 over top 10 is minimal. For me it's the only way I have to continue to remain competitive.
But all that babysitting to do that with the snipping and such. It feels like hitting #1 is more about the timing than the squad.
They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, Nor spoke, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, even in a dream, To have seen those dead men rise.
FTP definitely suffers when the cap gets raised and meta changes. I was able to get about 7-10 maxed 7* before the cap went to 80. Still hanging in top 15 / 1 to 3 at payout. Luckily, the meta has stayed about the same with the last update.
It will be less and less, though because F2P players are getting max stars for more and more toons and the rest of that stuff is relatively quick farming (days rather than weeks or months). It's easier to adapt when you have that many more toons to choose from. Mostly us F2P players have to worry about is the gear levels the whales are able to achieve before us.
I think the old meta being viable was intentional. I don't think that will go away. What should happen is more strategies are also viable so the new meta will have more diversity. My guess is there will be a couple teams that are a bit better than the rest, but it will be an improvement over a couple small variations on a single team being the best.
FTP definitely suffers when the cap gets raised and meta changes. I was able to get about 7-10 maxed 7* before the cap went to 80. Still hanging in top 15 / 1 to 3 at payout. Luckily, the meta has stayed about the same with the last update.
It will be less and less, though because F2P players are getting max stars for more and more toons and the rest of that stuff is relatively quick farming (days rather than weeks or months). It's easier to adapt when you have that many more toons to choose from. Mostly us F2P players have to worry about is the gear levels the whales are able to achieve before us.
I think the old meta being viable was intentional. I don't think that will go away. What should happen is more strategies are also viable so the new meta will have more diversity. My guess is there will be a couple teams that are a bit better than the rest, but it will be an improvement over a couple small variations on a single team being the best.
Yes i think old meta still viable is intentional as well. Would've been too much imo to nerf it and to replace it with 5 other random chars. That being said, i firmly believe the old meta is not the new meta now. What i've seen i cannot i unsee!
FWIW, I was a true F2P and attained #1 in Arena. Since then, I have bought the $5 Ewok pack (because I'm working on Ewok Elder right now). Yes, for me, it took the level pause at 70 to get there. I was top 50 for a long time, but soon after I caught up at 70, I was able to quickly move up in rank. It took a focused plan, both long term and short term, farming smartly from Cantina battles (GS, then Dooku), Cantina Shipments (Poe, then QGJ), Arena shipments (Sid, then STH), and GW Shipments (Lumi, then Phasma). Also a plan to gear farm to get them all to 8 ASAP. Finally, some luck in Bronzium packs (Lumi, Dooku and Daka 2x) really helped. Also agree with garublador that you can't be distracted by special events. Stick to your plan if winning is important to you. If not, just have fun.
Jedi2407 you are in my shard I'm Ras Du Fa you Are the first one that I find, on topic yes for sure the pause at 70 was the key.
F2P on the softlaunch leaderboard. Level increases hurt a lot, for sure - once everyone maxes out you generally can hang with anyone. Another thing I did (and I recommend other do) is learn who is on your leaderboard and try to make a guild with them. There are two main guilds on my server, I'm in one now and having less people hit you is definitely a good thing.
People are generally active here or on the reddit, so with a little searching and convincing you can get lucky and join forces against the rest of your board.
I didn't read all the posts here, but OP, I was exposed to the forum very soon after starting. This led to me farming all the right toons and I've hit rank 1 all the time since. I currently have 5500 crystals without a dime spent. I never buy chromium packs so they add up.
As a ftp i banked 8000 crystals before the cap was raised to 80. I used 4000 to get exp so i can be within 1 lvl of whales on my leaderboard. I am holding the rest for emergency meta changes or guild costs. I usually rank top 10 now at payout. I had a harder time holding rank at lvl 70 cap.
Focus on a 5 or 6 characters! I went after Rey and phasma since day 1, as I like them, and they were on my team since then.
On my way I got Sid and Lumi who where replaced for others lately.
RP, RG, Poe and recently QGJ have been on my A team. Not even 7*.
But 5-6* is enough to be competitive if you pair them with good toons!
With Phasma/Lumi/Sid 7* and Rey/Poe 5-6* I had no problem on Poe meta.
With Phasma/RP/Kylo 7*/RG 5*/ Rey 6-7* I had no problem with Dooku meta.
Post upgrade: Any team is viable, it takes a lot of turns and the AI is weird. Easy to win.
Im using Phasma/Rey/Lumi and RG 5* and QGJ 6*.
Always top 1-2 with 100% wins on offense.
I have both p2p and f2p accounts. It is 100% possible to get #1 as f2p. I did it numerous times as f2p. I even have much more damaging squad comparing to my p2p. As f2p you go all assault and dont care about defense. It is also very dependable on time zone and server you in. My p2w has a lot of ppl active during eastern time reward hour. F2p account on other side has only 2 other guys active. Very unfair distribution of rewards among players.
I started f2p as droid team cause i always wanted droids but can't concentrate on them on p2w account.
They were beasts during poe times. Then nerfed to oblivion when poe got nerfed. Now they shine again with protection. Hard but very doable as f2p with more luck needed than p2w team.
P.S. Lots of my allies on server quit playing just after protection update. Basically no more "friendly" competition.
Haven't spent a dime on this game (nor will I ever) and I can say it's possible to reach rank 1 as f2p, did it a couple days ago. My level in-game is 60; most in my top 20 are between 62-64 and main whale is level 67 i think. I use a droid team so it's easier to climb ranks even with much lower team power rating.
100% FTP, did not even know there was a $5 Dooku pkg. started playing mid-Dec, wasn't even on the right track in the beginning, until I read whisperT's guide and farmed Sid and Lumi. hit 1st in arena on 2/21 (Phasma(L), Sid, Lumi, 4* GS, 5* Poe), and since then 80% of days I am #1.
Now the important part, post-update. I will say this, if protection did not exist, i would agree that it would be harder to remain #1, whale teams like QGJ(L)+Rey+GS+FOTP+RG would be harder to beat, because whales will level faster and equip gear pieces at L72-L74 earlier than you. but since protection was introduced, oneshot is prevented, offense is easier than before. i can still remain #1.
so far only 1 player claiming to be f2p and consistandly ranking nr1. all the others including myself noticed a drop in arena rank. seems like your supposition was correct. f2p will always be playing catch up to p2p until the lvl cap.
Nope, the update actually made me hold rank, i havent dropped out of top 15 since the update.
I run Poe(L),Han,Daka,Rey,Phasma.
I really don't see any disparity between a well planned FTP and a PTP, those who do are delusional, i still get 500 crystals a day, now i spend like a PTP
Top 1 - 5 will go to the players that want to spend crystals on refreshes, but I made my march to Top 50 (and dipped into the top 20 once) without the use of any refreshes. I've never built for the meta, but I've focused on six characters (switching out one leader for the other from Arena to GW) and it's served me best.
Refreshes are almost always the best use of crystals for a FTP. If you use a 50 refresh to move up a single tier it's a wash. However if you stay in that tier the next night you are now ahead 50 crystals. This compounds as you use refreshes to jump tiers until you reach the top 5. There using a refresh to just maintain a spot is sometimes the best use of your crystals.
The unwillingness to pay 50 crystals on a refresh in top 50 and 100-150 crystals in the top 5 is why FTP players fall behind. If I spend 150 crystals and make 250 by placing 5th it is better than if I had sat in 51-100 and made 100 crystals a night. Because with just a little RNG you can get lucky, spend 50 and end up making 500.
Whales on my shard rarely even bother fighting for #1 because for them the crystal bump from #1 over top 10 is minimal. For me it's the only way I have to continue to remain competitive.
I understand Sly, my issue isn't that F2P shouldn't spend shards on refreshses... Especially if they can assure themselves a rank up.
The idea is more about F2P's not having access to a plethora of crystals to use a stockpile to race themselves to the top ranks, where spending refreshes will net you back those crystals. That was my point about Top 20 vs Top 50 and the fact that you can make your way to Top 20 without the need for refreshes but they're mandatory at the very top.
I'm 74 almost 75 hit rank 1-3 everyday still. Best way to keep up is to judge the meta before it happens. Next best thing, practice against teams you don't like to fight and figure out the highest %age to win.
Message me when you get a chance and tell me your payout time, etc., and I'll try to avoid attacking you around then.
Its nice to meet someone from my server I'm on México City so I think is UTC -5 I tried not to hit you today, I had locked in #1 and the app crashed ,ended in #5 Im so mad Bluecouch got really lucky today.
I have two accounts: a light P2P account that I started mid December and a pure F2P account that I started early-mid February. I finish top 1 or 2 almost every day on both accounts for the past several weeks/months. In my opinion, the first few days of a F2P account largely determine the success. Intelligent farming, crystal usage, and patience can put a F2P player in a very solid position to sit around the top of the shard starting around week 2-3. If the player has a very good understanding of the meta, they can start farming shards from day 1 for meta defining characters.
For a player starting out completely fresh with no prior experience, remaining competitive and still being F2P is still very possible but will require much more time. I made some poor choices on my main account early during its life, such as spending the free starter crystals on chromiums, farming shards to unlock characters and then failing to continue farming higher, and not refreshing arena attempts. As a result, I missed out on important characters early on, namely GS. Yes, that account is not purely F2P, but I was able to correct those mistakes when I made my alternate account. The community is larger and resources are somewhat more accessible nowadays, so new F2P players may not suffer as much as long as they show incentive to do some research.
Since character stars are a much bigger deal at lower character and gear levels (larger relative power boost), unlocking GW and cantina as soon as possible is very important. Although I have never spent more than 30-40$ on this game, I don't believe P2P offers that much of an advantage. You unlock 7* characters very early on and will level up somewhat faster, depending on how much you dump into this game. It is possible that the hardcore P2P accounts were not on my shards, there were only a handful of players that I could confidently say were impossible to beat during the first few weeks in arena. A team of JC, Lumi, GS, St-Han/Sid, and the guaranteed chromium character from the first pack of the account (if not completely unlucky) will be easy to farm and is sufficient to grind out arena ranks to get into top 20-50 within the first week or two. Dooku hard modes are farmable extremely early, so he can be unlocked within reasonable time (~2-4 weeks) and can replace either JC or the chromium character. Once cantina opens, rewards can be funneled into QGJ/Daka/5s, which really don't take that long to obtain if you spend at least 100 crystals daily. Granted, my alt account was born during the rise of the speed meta, so QGJ had a massive impact on my arena team after I unlocked him about a week or two in, and allowed me to secure a top 20 (if not higher) spot every day as long as I refreshed arena attempts. The account hit lvl 70 the day of the lvl increase, so I never benefited from sitting at the cap. I would argue not much really changes, as your farm generally contributes to xp gain anyway.
In short, if you have the time and the understanding of the game, achieving a top F2P is actually not that hard at all. There are enough powerful characters available early on that will be capable of achieving relatively high ranks. After enough time and team optimization, a F2P character will be as good as any other player to hit rank 1 daily, even if there is no lvl pause. However, my circumstances may not be the same as those for other F2P players, so it not everything will be universally applicable.
Hi there, I'm another true FTP and have been consistently #1. I started mid Feb when the login rewards was Cad Bane. I started slow in arena, as I usually settled for mid 1000's, didn't bother moving up in ranks. I caught up quick when I invested in ST Han and Phasma after speculation, a long time before the Advantage and Protection rework. Invest in a team and stick with them. I beat out lots of stronger, more *'d up teams when I started moving up. Master your team and manipulate the AI, that helped me.
My supposition is that the only way for a FTP (a true FTP, not a "I spent money but now I don't" one) to get rank 1 on a server is to have the level pause like there was at level 60 then level 70. This must have allowed FTP's to get caught up to the PTP's.
Otherwise I don't see how an FTP player can get to #1 competing with people that are leveling and gearing much more rapidly than others.
Would you top ranked FTP players agree or disagree with this? Did the level pauses assist you?
I spent 37 started release day, the pauses help Vs whales but then honestly you can(read could) catch up on gear and levels pretty quick, it's the shards that are slow so being ahead or at least on top of the meta is more important. I was on top of the phasma lead meta and that is what really brought me up high in the rankings and I build upon that.
100% ftp I didn't start consistently getting #1 till everyone started using dooku. I quickly figured out that my st han was a great counter. I also started rg early. And now it seems like those 2 plus my maxed fives are still meta so I plan on staying #1
I'm ftp (but spent a few bucks at the beginning, $40 total) - definitely benefited from the pauses, finished 1 very frequently when paused at 70, now that the whale on my server is 77 to my 74 and running some esoteric nute RG leia setup I'm usually 2
I am a true f2p, and have finished top 5 regularly in my server for a week. I have not been number 1 yet, since I run a droid team and didn't pre-craft any gear. The update has been beneficial for droid teams, but obviously since I havent pre-crafted its difficult to beat those teams.
100% ftp I didn't start consistently getting #1 till everyone started using dooku. I quickly figured out that my st han was a great counter. I also started rg early. And now it seems like those 2 plus my maxed fives are still meta so I plan on staying #1
How does Han work for you as leader ? I have him gear 9 but it doesnt seem to really work his defense hability so I switched back to Dooku I also tried Phasma for a bit but I started to fall more ranks with her.
Replies
It's all about biulding for the current meta and holding.
Top 1 - 5 will go to the players that want to spend crystals on refreshes, but I made my march to Top 50 (and dipped into the top 20 once) without the use of any refreshes. I've never built for the meta, but I've focused on six characters (switching out one leader for the other from Arena to GW) and it's served me best.
Refreshes are almost always the best use of crystals for a FTP. If you use a 50 refresh to move up a single tier it's a wash. However if you stay in that tier the next night you are now ahead 50 crystals. This compounds as you use refreshes to jump tiers until you reach the top 5. There using a refresh to just maintain a spot is sometimes the best use of your crystals.
The unwillingness to pay 50 crystals on a refresh in top 50 and 100-150 crystals in the top 5 is why FTP players fall behind. If I spend 150 crystals and make 250 by placing 5th it is better than if I had sat in 51-100 and made 100 crystals a night. Because with just a little RNG you can get lucky, spend 50 and end up making 500.
Whales on my shard rarely even bother fighting for #1 because for them the crystal bump from #1 over top 10 is minimal. For me it's the only way I have to continue to remain competitive.
But all that babysitting to do that with the snipping and such. It feels like hitting #1 is more about the timing than the squad.
I think the old meta being viable was intentional. I don't think that will go away. What should happen is more strategies are also viable so the new meta will have more diversity. My guess is there will be a couple teams that are a bit better than the rest, but it will be an improvement over a couple small variations on a single team being the best.
Yes i think old meta still viable is intentional as well. Would've been too much imo to nerf it and to replace it with 5 other random chars. That being said, i firmly believe the old meta is not the new meta now. What i've seen i cannot i unsee!
Jedi2407 you are in my shard I'm Ras Du Fa you Are the first one that I find, on topic yes for sure the pause at 70 was the key.
People are generally active here or on the reddit, so with a little searching and convincing you can get lucky and join forces against the rest of your board.
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/26859/are-you-out-there-levelxx-wiseyoda-cbo-jedi2407-cabig#latest
Message me when you get a chance and tell me your payout time, etc., and I'll try to avoid attacking you around then.
On my way I got Sid and Lumi who where replaced for others lately.
RP, RG, Poe and recently QGJ have been on my A team. Not even 7*.
But 5-6* is enough to be competitive if you pair them with good toons!
With Phasma/Lumi/Sid 7* and Rey/Poe 5-6* I had no problem on Poe meta.
With Phasma/RP/Kylo 7*/RG 5*/ Rey 6-7* I had no problem with Dooku meta.
Post upgrade: Any team is viable, it takes a lot of turns and the AI is weird. Easy to win.
Im using Phasma/Rey/Lumi and RG 5* and QGJ 6*.
Always top 1-2 with 100% wins on offense.
I started f2p as droid team cause i always wanted droids but can't concentrate on them on p2w account.
They were beasts during poe times. Then nerfed to oblivion when poe got nerfed. Now they shine again with protection. Hard but very doable as f2p with more luck needed than p2w team.
P.S. Lots of my allies on server quit playing just after protection update. Basically no more "friendly" competition.
100% FTP, did not even know there was a $5 Dooku pkg. started playing mid-Dec, wasn't even on the right track in the beginning, until I read whisperT's guide and farmed Sid and Lumi. hit 1st in arena on 2/21 (Phasma(L), Sid, Lumi, 4* GS, 5* Poe), and since then 80% of days I am #1.
Now the important part, post-update. I will say this, if protection did not exist, i would agree that it would be harder to remain #1, whale teams like QGJ(L)+Rey+GS+FOTP+RG would be harder to beat, because whales will level faster and equip gear pieces at L72-L74 earlier than you. but since protection was introduced, oneshot is prevented, offense is easier than before. i can still remain #1.
Nope, the update actually made me hold rank, i havent dropped out of top 15 since the update.
I run Poe(L),Han,Daka,Rey,Phasma.
I really don't see any disparity between a well planned FTP and a PTP, those who do are delusional, i still get 500 crystals a day, now i spend like a PTP
I understand Sly, my issue isn't that F2P shouldn't spend shards on refreshses... Especially if they can assure themselves a rank up.
The idea is more about F2P's not having access to a plethora of crystals to use a stockpile to race themselves to the top ranks, where spending refreshes will net you back those crystals. That was my point about Top 20 vs Top 50 and the fact that you can make your way to Top 20 without the need for refreshes but they're mandatory at the very top.
I spent $20... they spend probably thousands...
Nice job... no one on that shard has spent thousands yet.
4 star rg 6 star bane? How much would those stars cost with rng cromiums
2-300 maybe? Not thousands....
Its nice to meet someone from my server I'm on México City so I think is UTC -5 I tried not to hit you today, I had locked in #1 and the app crashed ,ended in #5 Im so mad Bluecouch got really lucky today.
For a player starting out completely fresh with no prior experience, remaining competitive and still being F2P is still very possible but will require much more time. I made some poor choices on my main account early during its life, such as spending the free starter crystals on chromiums, farming shards to unlock characters and then failing to continue farming higher, and not refreshing arena attempts. As a result, I missed out on important characters early on, namely GS. Yes, that account is not purely F2P, but I was able to correct those mistakes when I made my alternate account. The community is larger and resources are somewhat more accessible nowadays, so new F2P players may not suffer as much as long as they show incentive to do some research.
Since character stars are a much bigger deal at lower character and gear levels (larger relative power boost), unlocking GW and cantina as soon as possible is very important. Although I have never spent more than 30-40$ on this game, I don't believe P2P offers that much of an advantage. You unlock 7* characters very early on and will level up somewhat faster, depending on how much you dump into this game. It is possible that the hardcore P2P accounts were not on my shards, there were only a handful of players that I could confidently say were impossible to beat during the first few weeks in arena. A team of JC, Lumi, GS, St-Han/Sid, and the guaranteed chromium character from the first pack of the account (if not completely unlucky) will be easy to farm and is sufficient to grind out arena ranks to get into top 20-50 within the first week or two. Dooku hard modes are farmable extremely early, so he can be unlocked within reasonable time (~2-4 weeks) and can replace either JC or the chromium character. Once cantina opens, rewards can be funneled into QGJ/Daka/5s, which really don't take that long to obtain if you spend at least 100 crystals daily. Granted, my alt account was born during the rise of the speed meta, so QGJ had a massive impact on my arena team after I unlocked him about a week or two in, and allowed me to secure a top 20 (if not higher) spot every day as long as I refreshed arena attempts. The account hit lvl 70 the day of the lvl increase, so I never benefited from sitting at the cap. I would argue not much really changes, as your farm generally contributes to xp gain anyway.
In short, if you have the time and the understanding of the game, achieving a top F2P is actually not that hard at all. There are enough powerful characters available early on that will be capable of achieving relatively high ranks. After enough time and team optimization, a F2P character will be as good as any other player to hit rank 1 daily, even if there is no lvl pause. However, my circumstances may not be the same as those for other F2P players, so it not everything will be universally applicable.
I spent 37 started release day, the pauses help Vs whales but then honestly you can(read could) catch up on gear and levels pretty quick, it's the shards that are slow so being ahead or at least on top of the meta is more important. I was on top of the phasma lead meta and that is what really brought me up high in the rankings and I build upon that.
100% ftp I didn't start consistently getting #1 till everyone started using dooku. I quickly figured out that my st han was a great counter. I also started rg early. And now it seems like those 2 plus my maxed fives are still meta so I plan on staying #1
How does Han work for you as leader ? I have him gear 9 but it doesnt seem to really work his defense hability so I switched back to Dooku I also tried Phasma for a bit but I started to fall more ranks with her.