AFK Arena: Faction Tower Guide 3.0 by XapySlenderman

Faction towers are something that people that are in the late game don’t require much help. However, I shall go in-depth with most heroes to explain why and how they are used and the same logic could be used to use them in the campaign etc.
XapySlenderman, the author

Table of Contents show

Lightbearers

[Stages 1-100]

Any and every hero is good (even Raine) just make sure to have at least a single good DPS a Rowan and a Lucius.

[Stages 101-200]

You can easily do all these stages with only:

Lucius–Rowan–Fawkes–Belinda–Rosaline

These 5 can easily make you reach 200 with a 70+ level difference against the enemies. Other heroes like Rigby, Raine, Cecilia, Oscar, Thane can be used but will not give you as good of results as the above team. For optimal progression, you may choose the above team or if you don’t have the heroes you may use some other hero. Do note Rowan and Lucius are mandatory for low-level progress. Thane can be used as a carry but will not be useful for long as he falls off hard late game.

Until stages 240 you can also just do it with the core 5 but will struggle without Gwyneth later on.

Hero Usage

Some teams will require you to use both Gwyneth and Belinda for as much burst as possible to kill em before they kill you. But Belinda ais mainly there to give her Crit buff to Gwyneth.

Lucius can be not used for some stages where you need the double DPS units ( Belinda+ Gwyneth) with Fawkes/Rosaline, but a tank is a must hence Estrilda and Hendrik can be used here. Their purpose is not to tank but rather provide boosts or as for Hendrik’s case save your DPS.

Signature Item

Make sure Rowan gets his SI raised and then your DPS like Belinda or Gwyneth.
Lucius +20 is nice but make sure your DPS has a higher signature than Lucius, as Rosaline following your DPS is most optimal.
Make Rosaline +20 for a nice boost (her +30 is second most optimal in LBs after Rowan).
Fawkes and Hendrik don’t matter much until late game tower stages for stats. Their buffs are not important and can just be put at +10 for most of the time until you really need the stats.
Estrlida will benefit a lot from +10 or +20 SI due to higher stats but will be lower priority compared to all others.
Gwyneth is a mandatory +25 SI hero. She needs the haste and stats for Rosaline to follow her for which +25 is most optimal.
Cecilia is nice to have +20 but +30 is great for carry potential.

Bad heroes

We all know the famous Raine being outclassed by Rowan and Rosaline. Rigby being a worse Hendrik. Thane doing shit DPS after his fall late game.

Bad Matchups

Your worst enemies are: Ferael, Ezizh, Athalia (only in doubles or triples) and to some extent Skreg in a Ezizh energy team with Rowan in that enemy team.

Elder Tree

The ET is a very nice boost to all heroes; however, you need it for a lot of other places. So the only scenario you may use it for the towers is in the case where you reset your tree and buff up specific Virtues for a week or 2.

There is a priority in which way your ET should be levelled for the towers. This will be different for all the towers so don’t do this unless you wish to hard push towers for a few weeks.

Belinda will be your first easy DPS to get, so buffing Mage Tree to at least 15 should be a priority and then focus on keeping your supports alive. They are crucial for your progress.
The Tank Tree mainly only helps Lucius and Hendrik do more stuns with +15 and survive significantly longer with their +25 Tree skill.
Might is pointless as only Estrlida will use it. But +5 or +10 is amazing for it as when Estrlida charges and hits the backline. The might buff allows Gwyneth to do significantly more damage in the 3 second time spam every time Estrlida does this. Allowing Gwyneth to melt enemies like butter.
Ranger +15 is good for the small sword to constantly do decent damage and give Fawkes and Cecilia more dodge to survive.

All towers cannot be pushed as hard as King’s Tower, hence your level difference won’t be as high against enemies as in King’s Tower. This allows all tanks to actually tank, not much but still a little bit. You will need Rowan though, to allow your tank to even survive 10 seconds and up.

Hero Functions

Hendrik for DPS protection and initial pushback for Gwyneth lightning arrow to hit the frontline enemy too.
Gwyneth stuns and murders it.
Estrilda is mainly good with Gwyneth. As Gwyneth’s base damage kills enemies so fast Estrilda buffs Gwyneth with Her Ult passive and it just becomes too easy to even kill very thick tanks.
Hence a DPS Belinda/Gwyneth With Rosaline and Rowan for every stage as support Lucius /Hendrik or both as tank one protects your DPS. The other heals.
Fawkes your only solid CC usable almost every stage.
Estrilda used mostly only with Gwyneth for her buff.
Cecilia is used as a smart pick for those team comps where you need to reduce a hero’s damage by a significant amount. Mostly heroes like Arden, Mirael, Belinda etc. It does depend on your Cecilia ascension and gear too on hiw much beating she can take.
Oscar is also used to push Silvin and Athalia back but its very niche and situational and hence isn’t worth building rather than just taking a mercenary.
Rowan and Lucius are mainly healers who can also tank.

Counter Guide

Athalia

Use Fawkes or Rowan to take the hits and dodge. With T2 Gear Rosaline has the potential to survive but isn’t as good as before with her not being able to dodge her initial strike.

After Athalia hits Fawkes or Rowan, she will eventually ult. The scary part…

Athalia’s ult will always target high groups of enemies near each other. Meaning she will obliterate your dps Gwyneth or Belinda as Rosaline follows them making them the largest group. To counter this you will require a GOOD Hendrik who will save your dps from death most likely winning you the game.

Nara

Putting Rosaline is your best bet against Nara while, your dps does the damage. If Nara is in the backline, Gwyneth is the superior choice. Rosaline constant running away gives her the range to be in Rowan’s potions healing her and Lucius’s shield healing her.

Numisu

Just use Gwyneth for stationary backlines with numisu, otherwise pray for rng with T2 gear for your mages to dodge his offensive Totem’s damage. Try and interrupt his ult or burst him as his ult will one shot your dps most times.

Ezizh

With Belinda as DPS Belinda and Rosaline on him.

Or just him and kill all others with Gwyneth and ignore him as Gwyneth doesn’t care for ults.

Eironn

Backline: Gwyneth
Frontline:Use Fawkes to coffin him, if not possible then use Hendrik/ Estrilda to stop his initial vortex.

Tasi

Use Gwyneth with Estrlida to kill if only in the backline. As Estrlida constantly boosts Gwyneth with her SI increasing her damage.

Just use Fawkes to remove banish from your DPS at right times. Otherwise is Fawkes can coffin her, that’s the only other way.

All other DPS enemies like Belinda, Ferael, Mehira, Gwyneth, Arden, Saveas etc. die from Gwyneth.

Lucius shield will prevent all cc that damages you. Hence Arden roots, stuns etc. can be prevented. No damage cc like tasi sleep, Mehira charm etc cannot be prevented. Hence stuns from Gwyneth are so good.

Hero Placements

Belinda

Almost always backline.

Gwyneth

Backline, almost always back middle.

Rowan

Front where there is low dps or back middle or any other back positions too.

Lucius

Frontline – in front or back (for initial stun).

Sometimes behind Rosaline to gain time to put his blessed shield down to survive before he gets burst down.

Hendrik

Front or behind Rosaline Same reason and Lucius.

Rosaline

Can be placed anywhere.

Fawkes

Back or front as a dodge tank.

Estrlida

Front or behind another tank or dodge tank.

Cecilia

Depends on the enemy you want to target.

Oscar

Anywhere he can survive 5 seconds.

Perfect Gear Sets

2 Intelligence type, 2 Strength type, 2 Agility
You need your (Belinda and Rowan) or (Rowan and Rosaline) to have perfect sets.
Lucius and Gwyneth always need perfects to perform well.
Fawkes and Cecilia need the dodge to survive.

Mercenaries

Taking Belinda as a merc, later on, will not make her have sufficient crit, hence not enough damage. Fawkes will still work backline without the extra dodge as a merc.

All other heroes work fine as mercs.

[Stages 201-459]

These are team strategies for the endgame part of the tower. Here you have to make choices and really invest in heroes you want to go forward with. All the signature item and furniture item requirements stated below are the minimum for good team progress.

Set 1: Cecilia carry (Stall)

The core concept: you support Cecilia with healers and CC heroes while she kills most enemies 1 by 1. A very slow team but works perfectly with +30 Cecilia.

Key heroes

+30 SI Cecilia and +3 FI (Furniture)
Rowan +30 SI
Rosaline +30 SI

Others

Lucius to shield Cecilia for Extra tankyness;
Hendrik is basically a cheat death for her and really good CC;
Estrilda is Hendrik but better cause she buffs the damage of a very slow team;
Gwyneth is more cc, anti-heal due to her flaming arrows and more dps to help Cecilia;
Fawkes has crucial cc with his banish and his cleanse is amazling to help Cecilia.

Set 2: Gwyneth carry (Burst)

The core concept: protect Gwyneth from CC and high damage and buff her attack with heroes like Esteilda and Rosaline and see her shine.

Key Heroes

Gwyneth at +25 SI(For haste and accuracy) and +3 FI. Your main DPS.
Rowan +30 SI. Main tank, healer and CC.
Rosaline +30 +3/+9 FI. CC, secondary damage, buffs and gives Gwyneth really high crit even without the Arthur buff. She also triggers Gwyneth’s +20 SI effect.

Others

Lucius is really good for his initial stun if he is placed in the backline as this prevents many dangerous attacks. His shields are ok support.
Hendrik is crucial for Gwyneth on any stage where there is a risk of her dying. Ferael, Athalia, Tasi etc stages. His knockback is great to link the frontline enemies with chain lightning arrows from Gwyneth that is hitting the backline.
Estrilda is crucial for almost every stage where she doesn’t get 1 shot. Her knockback is great to link the frontline enemies with chain lightning arrows from Gwyneth that is hitting the backline. Her ‘Inspire’ skill and ult passive buff really boost Gwyneth’s overall damage.
Belinda is great as a secondary DPS and for the crit buff that she gives Gwyneth but isn’t used as often. She is great when she is used for the crit buff.
Oscar is anti-Silvina and Athalia of the team and can be really handy to get them into Gwyneth’s line of fire with his +30 SI kickback but is better to merc than build for yourself.
Fawkes is good for removing debuffs to allow Gwyneth to do full damage and remove 1 enemy if required. Isn’t the best as he can sometimes remove an enemy that Gwyneth was able to hit with her lightning arrows.

Weaker sets

Belinda group up (Burst)

The core concept: Use Belinda and Rosaline to fire off 2 ults to grouped up enemies and kill em off really fast.

Key heroes

Belinda +20 SI
Rosaline +30 SI +3/+9 FI
Rowan +30 SI

Others

Oscar, Lucius, Hendrik, Estrilda and Fawkes can really help with the group up. Raine can supercharge her but is very situational.

Wilders

[Stages 1-100]

All you need is a good DPS unit (Solise, Eironn, Tasi) and Arden.

[Stages 101-200]

You mostly just need these heroes to progress quite easily:

Eironn-Tasi-Nemora-Lyca-Gorvo-Saurus

You can achieve equal amounts of success with either Gorvo or Ulmus for Early game. Ulmus will provide more heals and roots that synergise well with Eironn or Gorvo that attracts enemies to himself with his ultimate and much tankier than Ulmus. And provides a shit ton of stuns.

However later on Gorvo will become superior and to survive with higher lvl difference healing is inferior to CC that Gorvo provides.

Signature Item

Lyca’s signature item to +20 is a priority to increase Eironn’s damage. You may upgrade Eironn’s signature to +30 as the first one. The rest don’t really require a higher signature until the later stages. An elite Lorsan may also be used for these stages. Kaz may also be used. Saurus should be the second +30 for his amazing healing.
Eironn should still get his SI to +20-+25 first as his vortex speed depends on his MSPD that his SI gives.
Ulmus isn’t usable with at least +20 SI. Lorsan only needs his activation. Tasi and Nemora will need it to +20 much later on for stats until all are +30 for stats much later on. Gorvo is already very good with his +10, +20 and +30 is a plus but not important to have.
Saurus is a must have +30 Team wide heal which is superior to Nemora’s ult.

Hero usage

Seirus can also be used for these stages and make your team have 2 tanks but such stages, places where this is necessary are very low so just take a mercenary Seirus for such stages.

With the introduction of Saurus, Seirus isn’t even required anymore as Saurus does what Seirus does but 10 times more damage, tanking, CC and healing.

Average Heroes

(Since there are no bad wilders)

Solise and Kaz can also be used but are usually not as efficient as the others stated above. Solise’s flower won’t survive long enough for it to do a lot of damage. But if it stays alive long enough, it will out-damage Eironn. So it depends on you: if you want to try a thousand times for the right RNG for flower placement.

Kaz has insane dodge with +30 SI but doesn’t provide any cc or support for the team nor is a pure DPS and relies heavily on RNG. Not optimal to use. Still can be used as a tank in any stage without Brutus, which are not many.

Seirus is a tank that does nothing but takes damage. His CC is very slow and inferior to Gorvo.

Ulmus is the worst tank among them all as he can’t tank more than 5 seconds due to his terrible base stats and no damage mitigation.

Bad Matchups

Your most annoying enemy will be Brutus. He does a lot of damage, heals and his roar makes your dodge 0. And since all the Wilders except the tanks depends upon the dodge to survive its usually a bad matchup for them. Brutus also cannot be burst down due to his immunity shield and hence is a serious threat to you. Enemy Tasi is mildly annoying if she one-shots your Eironn. Ezizh will also be very annoying if you don’t kill him with Eironn very early on.

Ascension priority

Eironn>Tasi>Saurus>Nemora>Lyca> Gorvo>Lorsan

If an Ezizh appears in the enemy team comps, usually try to kill him first with Eironn. Lyca, Saurus Tasi and Eironn can do good damage, so don’t always think if Eironn dies all is lost. But Eironn is the top priority to keep alive.

Team cores

Eironn is your main DPS with Lyca and Tasi doing decent damage too. Nemora charms and heals which are a must for survival. Tanks just to take the initial hits. Lorsan can make sure a unit like Tasi even though avoids damage with her teleport still gets really low because of the link with some other enemy. Gorvo for a tank can interrupt a shit ton of ults right before they are casted saving you big time.

Note: Gorvo is a GOD for Athalia stages as he is the only one who doesn’t get one shot and escapes her. Dodge heroes die due to her high accuracy later on. Tasi won’t survive. Ulmus and Seirus can’t escape so they die from the next combo attack. Gorvo has a shield and jumps away making him very viable for lategame Athalia counter for wilder tower. He needs high ascension to do this though.

Elder Tree

Eironn needs the highest dodge to survive with pulling all the enemies. Same goss for Lyca to survive for her to provide her SI buff. The small swords are a nice bonus so 20+ is a good place for them.
Sustenance is great for Tasi’s haste.
Might +10 is godly for Saurus to do more damage.
Fortitude is only important for Gorvo to survive the Athalia while Sustenance is a must for tanking Tasi and Nemora. A lot more healing potential too with it.

Counter Guide

Brutus

No counter. Pray to the rng gods that he doesn’t spin while his debuff is on your heroes. We will kill all of em if thats the case. However Gorvo can jump and interrupt the initial Brutus Roar.

Athalia

Gorvo, explained in detail above.

Nara

Lyca fodder or use Lyca as fodder and Eironn near her so he pulls nara with his vortex and kills her. If Eironn is a must somewhere he can’t get Nara then just Sacrifice Lyca. If Gorvo is +30 SI you can also use him against Nara. Before that Lyca is a better choice.

Fawkes

Eironn to Vortex him and interupt with Gorvo before he coffins someone.

Tasi

Pray to the Rng Gods that Tasi teleports to the right to get hit by Eironn’s Ultimate or Gorvo to constantly stun her.

Saurus hard counters Tasi cause its much harder to burst him down with his constant heals and shields.

Shemira

Tasi usually banishes her. Not a threat when always cc’s by charm, banish, frozen or asleep. Just interrupt her ult with Tasi etc to survive or else you are dead.

Silvina

Usually targets Nemora so put her frontline and wait for Rng to make Nemora survive and Eironn pulls Silvina to him.

Thoran

Make sure his curse is always put on lyca or else it will be bad news if others get affected.

All other heroes

like Ezizh, Ulmus, Eironn, Warek, Khasos, Lucius, Belinda, Gwyneth, Thane, Numisu etc are countered by Eironn.

Hero placements

Wilders are special in the way that any and every hero can be placed in any slot depending on the enemies and perform very well

Perfect Gear Sets

Eironn is the only one who needs it the most to dodge all the enemies he pulls towards himself. All others can do good with T2 wrong faction gear. Though, perfect gear on Tasi, Saurus and Lyca will always also be even better.

Mercenaries

Every hero can be loaned as a merc other than Eironn for later stages as with only 500 dodge in the non-perfect gear he won’t survive as a merc.

[Stages 201-459]

Set 1: Eironn Burst (Burst)

Core concept:Eironn pulls in heroes and kill em while Tasi, Nemora and Gorvo cc them if required. Lyca and Lorsan are essential for the burst and Saurus is good for extra sustain if required.

Key heroes

Eironn +30 SI and +3 FI. His furniture is really good as it basically makes it that he will never disappoint in damage.
Tasi +25 SI and +3 FI. Great CC, damage and tank.
Lyca +20 SI +3/+9 FI. Good buffs and godly damage at +9. She will out-damage both Eironn and Saurus with +9 FI.
Lorsan for the link that pretty much is necessary for the burst potential with the link against enemies like Skreg and Tasi.

Others

Gorvo to interrupt the initial Brutus Roar and become a CC machine that can counter both Athalia and Nara.
Nemora for the charm and inferior healing. Her +9 FI is great to prevent Brutus too.
Saurus for the superior healing and extra DPS and can take some hits. His +30 SI and +3 FI are great for PvE in general.

Set 2: Eironn Stall (Stall)

The core concept: relies on Eironn, Saurus and Lyca doing damage over time, while Tasi, Gorvo, Nemora and Saurus stall the team.

Key heroes

Eironn +30 SI and +3 FI. His furniture is really good as it basically makes it that he will never disappoint in damage.
Tasi +25 SI and +3 FI. Great CC, damage and tank.
Lyca +20 SI +3/+9 FI. Good buffs and godly damage at +9. She will out-damage both Eironn and Saurus with +9 FI.
Gorvo to interrupt the initial Brutus Roar and become a cc machine that can counter both Athalia and Nara.

Others

Nemora for the charm and inferior healing. Her +9 FI is great to prevent Brutus too.
Saurus for the superior healing and extra DPS and can take some hits. His +30 SI and +3 FI are great for PvE in general.

Weaker sets

Solise carry (Continuous damage)

The core concept: enemies like Brutus, Skreg, Ferael etc. were huge threats to Eironn comps back in the day but with the introduction of Saurus and Eironn Furniture, these have become quite easy to deal with even without solise teams.

The Solise teams relies on Solise surviving letting her flower survive to burst enemies down.

Key heroes

Solise +30 SI and +3 FI for sufficient damage and consistency on flower damage.
Tasi +25 SI and +3 FI. Great CC, damage and tank.
Lyca +20 SI +3/+9 FI. Good buffs and godly damage at +9. She will out-damage both Eironn and Saurus with +9 FI.

Others

Gorvo to interrupt the initial Brutus Roar and become a cc machine that can counter both Athalia and Nara.
Nemora for the charm and inferior healing. Her +9 FI is great to prevent Brutus too.
Saurus for the superior healing and extra DPS and can take some hits. His +30 SI and +3 FI are great for PvE in general.

Graveborn

[Stages 1-100]

Just use Shemira! Or try others for fun.

[Stages 101-200]

These stages require mostly only 5 heroes:

Shemira-Ferael-Thoran-Grehzul-Nara

If you use the others you won’t be able to progress as fast as the ones using the above team.

Signature Item

Ferael should have signature item priority to atleast +20 first.
Grehzul to +10 or +20 is also very necessary.
Thoran to just activation or +10 and Shemira and Nara can be +10. Shemira can also be +20 as this helps alot with damage and twisted realm.

The higher signatures are required later for the late-game stages for the stats.

Isabella to +20 after the others is also a good idea.
Oden can also be decent with just +10 or +20.
Diamon is must have to +20 while Izold is amazing at +30.

Eventually all have to +30 for the stats.

Hero Usage

Sometimes single target burst (Isabella) is required, sometimes AoE overtime damage (Shemira). The other 4 are usually permanents in your team. Isabella is a good hero to +20 after the others. Oden though doesn’t have enough damage as Isabella, his utility, if he can survive, is insane compared to Isabella and can be a replacement for Isabella and Shemira. Some stages though will require to Use ( Shemira/Isabella) with Oden and Ferael. The last 2 slots can be the 2 tanks or Nara too.

Average Heroes

Baden and Isabella are very situational heroes. Both can be used in the later stages too but will not result in optimal progress. But with the recent buff to Dura’s might, Baden becomes alot more usable in the later tower stages still not as good as others.

Bad Matchups

Your worst enemies will be full Wilder teams with Tasi and dps like Eironn or Ira and healer like ulmus/ nemora amd Seirus can be really annoying to deal with too.Ezizh will also be really annoying without Isabella or Daimon bursting him down early on.

Team Cores

Either keep Ferael or your DPS Isabella/Shemira/Daimon/Izold/Torne/Kelthur alive the whole match. Tanks can die and so can Nara but must at least serve the purpose to CC and tanking long enough. Nara can shred a tanky unit if she stays alive. She is quite a monster!

Nara should always be put against the most annoying unit or the unit that your Thoran curses.

Grehzul, Thoran, Izold all tank damage. All have special perks like summons, magic resistance, Curse, Ressurection, CC, insane heal etc.

Oden and Ferael are there for their insane utility that supports the DPS (Isabella, Daimon, Izold, Shemira, Torne, Kelthur) to do all the damage.

Ferael +30 is insanely important for the tower. Without his healing reduction wilder stages are impossible that contain Nemora and Ulmus. Both super tanky and heal like monsters.

Elder Tree

The ET is a very nice boost to all heroes, however you need it for alot of other places. So the only scenario you may use it for the towers is in the case where you reset your tree and buff up specific Virtues for a week or 2.

Shemira, Oden and Isabella do good damage so its always important to 20+ for Mage Tree.
Ranger is decently good for Ferael and Kelthur to survive more and small swords to do some damage. Fortitude is good as some tanks are super tanky so with +15 tank tree can stun a lot with their kits.
Might is crucial to at least +5 or +10. This makes Nara actually be able to kill very high-level Nemora with Ulmus that she couldn’t before the buff.

Counter Guide

Nara

Nara the enemy Nara before she chains you.

Athalia

Thoran tanks it all! Daimon deals with it while Thoran tanks.

Ferael

Nara chains.

Lucius

Ferael stuns or Oden energy steal.

Tasi

Oden Energy steal, Isabella snipe, Daimon steal, Izold 1 shot, Torne whip.

Brutus

Grehzul skeletons or Izold healing.

Eironn

Nara with (Isabella/ Ferael/Oden/Daimon) support.

Silvina

Oden can suck her energy while Shemira or Isabella tank her. Ferael helps Silvina do less damage while she is hitting the mage.

Gorvo

No counter, bad matchup. Pray to Rng that he doesn’t murder your dps. Once Daimon or Izold set up, it becomes easy to kill Gorvo.

Thoran

Daimon burst.

Ezizh

Isabella burst or Daimon burst.

Mehira

Nara. If occupied with something else, good rng Ferael can stun her exactly when she ults. Nara doesn’t let Mehira spawn the bats making her an amazing counter.

Warek

Shemira/Daimon/Izold/Torne/Nara while tanks distract.

All other heroes

like Mirael, Arden, Gwyneth, Morvus etc are countered by Nara. And heroes like Belinda etc. with Ferael.

Hero Placements

Ferael

Usually near enemies you want to fear or frontline if he has sufficient dodge and no dps enemy near him. Fine behind Thoran.

Shemira

Backline. Frontline only early game.

Isabella

Backline.

Oden

Backline, better if behind Grehzul.

Nara

Against whatever enemy you want to kill fast. Mostly always backline.

Thoran

Where all burst enemies are.

Grehzul

The other frontline slot where Thoran isn’t.

Daimon

Anywhere he can survive.

Izold

Anywhere he can survive.

Torne

Anywhere he can survive.

Kelthur

The target you want to displace.

Perfect Gear Sets

1 agility, and 1 mage sets and 2 strengh sets are all you need.
Ferael needs the dodge.
Nara/Izold/Torne/Daimon could use the extra stats.
The mages (Shemira, Isabella, Oden) need to do damage. So their crit rating must be as high as possible.

Mercenaries

You may merc a Thoran, Grehzul, Nara, Daimon, Izold, Torne, Kelthur or Oden.

However using a merc Shemira, Isabella or Ferael isn’t a great idea. Mercs don’t have perfect faction gear. Hence, Ferael will never have enough dodge nor will the mages have enough crit to be useful. A +20 ferael with perfect agility gear is better than a +30 with no Graveborn gear. Going from 500 to 700+ dodge is a huge deal for Ferael’s survivability as he cannot heal unlike others and Graveborns don’t have a healer yet.

[Stage 201-459]

Set 1: Daimon support (Burst)

The core concept: protect and support Daimon for him to ult and destroy the world.

Key heroes

Daimon +20/+30 SI and +3 FI is essential for Daimon to carry and survive.
Ferael +20/+30 SI is amazing with Daimon as his health recovery reduction makes Daimon’s shield give back almost nothing if its not destroyed. He is also great CC.

Others

Izold: +20 SI frontline with CC to protect Daimon;
Thoran +20 SI is a tank that is quite tanky and have 2 lives meaning more stall.
Oden +20 SI is great CC and displacement.
Nara +20 SI has great single target CC and energy steal.
Grehzul +10/+20 SI is a good magic resistance tank when Izold can’t take on too many mages.
Kelthur +25 SI is a great secondary dps that can distract enemies really well.

Set 2: Izold carry (Stall)

The core concept: support Izold until he can ult and stack his furniture. Don’t let him being burst down. Silas, the upcoming GB healer, will only make this team stronger as it boosts Izold’s health recovery.

Key heroes

Izold +30 SI and +3/+9 FI i essential for him to carry hardcore.
Ferael +20/+30 SI is amazing with Izold for his CC and energy steal.
Oden +20 SI is essential for him to group up all enemies using his to get hit by Izold stacking noxious poison.

Others

Thoran +20 SI is a Tank that is quite tanky and has 2 lives meaning more stall.
Nara +20 SI has great single target CC and energy steal.
Kelthur +25 SI is a great secondary DPS that can distract enemies really well.

Set 3: Thoran cheese (Cheese)

The core concept: get enemies to group near Thoran and let him ult with his SI and tank loads of damage and then reflect it back one-shooting them.

Key Heroes

Thoran +30 SI +3/+9 FI for cheese consistency.
Kelthur +25 for grouping up and extra damage.

Others

Any hero to stall long enough let Thoran gain enough energy to ult.

Set 4: Kelthur Cheese (Stall)

The core concept: let Kelthur survive till the end and with his SI stack his attack, letting him 3 shot tanks by the end.

Key heroes

Kelthur +30 SI and good gear.
Thoran +20 SI and good gear to stall for Kelthur if he is already a ghost as Kelthur’s ghost cannot exist without atleast 1 living ally. Thoran having 2 lives helps even more.

Others

Any support to CC and stall for Kelthur to work his magic and do some initial damage.

Set 5: Thorne Group up (Continous damage)

The core concept: let Thorne survive till the end as the last living ally and let him heal off the bones of his allies to become really tanky and heal chunks of health. His damage with anti-heal ensures that he can carry the match.

Key heroes

Thorne +30 SI +3 FI for consistency on survival.
Ferael +20/+30 SI is amazing with Thorne for his CC and energy steal.
Oden +20 SI, most essential character to use. His void portals group up enemies so by the end Thorne can hit all enemies with his whip.

Others

Nara +20 SI has great single target CC and energy steal.
Kelthur +25 SI is a great secondary DPS that can distract enemies really well.
Thoran +20 SI is a Tank that is quite tanky and has 2 lives meaning more stall.

Weaker sets

Set 1: Shemira carry

Shemira doesn’t do reliable damage nor it is easy for her to ult. Using is like playing hard mode in end-game unless your level deficit is below 50 levels. No energy producers in Graveborn, so no hope for her.

Set 2: Isabella carry

She does good damage and with +30 SI and +3 FI may seem to do a lot but is heavily outclassed by all superior sets due to Isabella being vulnerable to CC and very easy to kill. Her DPS also falls off in comparison to Thorne, Izold and Daimon.

Maulers

[Stages 1-100]

These can be tough too… Just get a Brutus or Khasos or Safiya up and let them carry you.

[Stages 101-200]

You will need a variety of heroes for specific stages. But Brutus and Safiya is a must for all teams to have optimal progress.

Brutus-Safiya-Skriath-Skreg-Vurk-Tidus

Alternatives

These will make your life alot easier but Khasos and Warek can also be used and see alot of success until you reach around the 180+ stages. You may use Antandra as a carry but she won’t last long until she falls off really hard.

Bad heroes

Warek and Antandra become absolute shit and shouldn’t be considered for optimal progression. Warek does ok with +30 but that far too heavy of an investment to make a hero ‘ok’ and not even good.

Signature Item

Safiya should be your first +20 and first +30 and Skriath your second +30 from Maulers.
Brutus doesn’t matter much until late-game where you need the stats.
Vurk needs his SI at least to +10 – +20 for good use of him.
Khasos and Warek +1 or +20 both are fine to use depending on your emblem situations.
Tidus can be +20 or +10 and that will be ok.
Skreg at least +10 is very nice for him to ult very early into the battle.
Drez +10 or +20 is fine too.
Anoki benefits a dent bit from +20 as his circle radius for his effects to trigger are quite small.
Satrana is pretty decent at +20 now.

Bad Matchups

Your worst enemy will be mostly Athalia, Ezizh ,Nara,Tasi,Rosaline and CC heavy teams. Backline killer teams like with Gywneth and Nara. Rowan will also not be favourable for you.

Elder Tree

The ET is a very nice boost to all heroes; however, you need it for alot of other places. So the only scenario you may use it for the towers is in the case where you reset your tree and buff up specific Virtues for a week or 2.

Since the cores require mages, rangers and tanks +15-+25 are good enough. The others don’t matter much. A bit for Numisu is good too. Might is the only reason Khasos has any use. Otherwise, he sucks and still sucks endgame but got from being shit to the last slot of Maulers (sometimes).

Counter Guide

Eironn

He should suck in your Brutus or Tidus and let Safiya put Static field on em and melt him. Todis interrupts his Vortex if Eironn is in the frontline.

Athalia

Tidus.

Anoki also is a great counter for the enemy’s Athalia. His shields prevent knockback and damage from the initial dive and if he is placed against Athalia, then her entire dive gets wasted as she flies behind Anoki due a bug.

Belinda

Numisu

Tasi

Sometimes Vurk can clutch kill her with his ult.

Arden

Khasos Burst (viable till around tower 180 or below) Or survive till Safiya ults.

Shemira

Safiya stun while she ults. Kill her or die yourself. Tidus can also fear her.

Ferael

Skriath with +30 or overlevel or somehow make Saifya Ult. Clutch wins. Tidus with Safiya’s static field or Drez can also deal with him.

Ezizh

Skriath with Safiya burst and Skreg burst also on top of that.

Mehira

Vurk has a slight chance to kill her before she ults. Tidus and Drez are great at killing Mehira. Numosu can easily distract her and make her ult in the wrong direction.

Silvina

Skraith can tank and still sandstorm with T2 gear against silvina. Also Tidus can deal woth her if she is low.

Hero placements

Safiya: always backline against a DPS you want dead fast so that her ults hits that area.
Skriath: backline, better if middle for ult to suck more enemies.
Skreg: frontline – melee enemies.
Brutus: frontline – magic or burst enemies.
Tidus: anywhere he survives.
Drez: anywhere he survives.
Anoki: frontline.
Vurk: backline most of the times.
Numisu: backline.
Satrana: mostly frontline or backline is she can’t take the burst.
Khasos: depends on his Furniture ability. If +3 then backline else if +9 them frontline.

Perfect Gear Sets

The gear sets are important due to the mirco stats they provide instead of the base stats.

Safiya, Tidus and Skreg are the only heroes who really need the perfect full faction gear for extra stats. Tidus needs a perfect set as he goes in the frontline and without 700+ dodge he will die in 2 seconds.

Mercenaries

You may merc any and every hero and se great success with them unlike other factions.

[Stage 201-459]

Set 1: Full Invade (Invade)

The core concept: it relies on Skreg +3 Furniture buffing heroes while melee heroes go fight on the enemy side and Anoki puts enemies on their side.

Key heroes

Skreg +10 SI and +3/+9 FI, he just needs to tank and survive to provide his buff.
Tidus +20/+30 SI +3/+9 FI, main DPS and carry so he needs all the abilities and stats. His furniture is pretty godly.
Anoki +20 is essential to pushback enemies to their own side.
Brutus: mainly there to tank any form of burst damage.
Satrana: A really good frontline made that does heavy damage and anti-heal if invested with +30 SI and +3 FI.
Numisu is just great support for the team.

Others

Safiya: she is mainly there to put her Static field on Tidus to let him get enemies low.
+30 SI Skriath is great burst and accuracy reducer to let Tidus live longer.
Drez +20 SI +3 FI is a great secondary DPS.
Khasos: is average if his life leech works.

Set 2: Safiya and Skriath burst (Burst)

The core concept: support Safiya and Skriath to burst down enemies and tanking all the hits and providing sustenance.

Key heroes

Safiya +30 SI is an amazing DPS.
Skriath +30 SI is great for initial burst and Safiya cleans up.
Skreg +10 SI, he just needs to tank.
Brutus: mainly there to tank any form of burst damage.

Others

Tidus +20 SI is good CC for several dangerous backline enemy teams.
Numisu is just great support for the team with his heals and stun totems.
Khasos: is average if his life leech works.
Anoki +20 is essential to pushback enemies to their own side until Vurk has used his ult.

Set 3: Tiny Trouble (Continous damage)

The core concept: Vurk and Drez gain energy while the others cc and tank. As soon as they get their ults off the double heavy damage is too much for enemies to handle.

Key heroes

Drez +20 SI +3 FI is a great secondary DPS.
Vurk +20/+30 SI is great DPS but its hard to get him to ult the first time.
Skreg +10 SI and +3/+9 FI, he just needs to tank and survive to provide his buff.

Others

Numisu is just great support for the team with his heals.
Khasos: is average if his life leech works.
Brutus: mainly there to tank any form of burst damage.

Set 4: Satrana carry (Continous damage)

The core concept: let Satrana carry you with her ults while she is immune.

Key heroes

Satrana +30SI +3 FI to let her carry with the skillsand stats.
Skreg +10 SI and +3/+9 FI, he just needs to tank and survive to provide his buff.
Numisu is just great support for the team with his heals.

Others

Khasos: is average if his life leech works.
Brutus: mainly there to tank any form of burst damage.
Tidus +20 SI is good CC for several dangerous backline enemy teams.
Safiya: she is mainly there to put her Static Field on Tidus to let him get enemies low.
+30 SI Skriath is great burst and accuracy reducer to let Tidus live longer.

Weakers sets

Set 1: Vurk carry

The core concept: Vurk on his own isn’t enough DPS nor does he gain energy fast enough nor is he reliable in DPS and is the weakest among the buffs to Numisu, Satrana and Vurk. Support him with any mauler that can keep him alive till he ults with +30 SI. He either wins or loses.

As for artefacts, it’s quite situational what to use and due to having only 7 of them, it’s very easy for every player to know what to use and when. Hence, I did not include them.

Closing note

I do not wish to discourage people from using their own-crafted teams because of these meta teams. Hence I have always mentioned you may use any other hero too. Just that progression will be much harder. But we all play the game for fun. So if you enjoy a specific character you may use them as much as you like and play the game however you like. However for optimal progression, one must follow some form of meta that provides the best results.

Have a nice day!

Author: u/XapySlenderman