Will you continue playing the arena in the third season?

[cosmicdebris]

@angryde. The game is no longer fun. Arena is a joke as is. The only way to make it fair is to reset everyone to 0 at the beginning of a new event season. Lopsided coin toss, having to fight opponants that have a power score of 150 higher or more than you with a banner that has 3000 more points than yours Plus platinum and diamond banner items is ridiculous. Having to restart the game 20 times or more to find an opponant even remotely close to what I would call a fair ranked battle is also ridiculous. Meeting my daily objectives should take 20 minutes a day not hours searching for opponants. I have better things to do with my time. Until Rovio fixes these issues I am done with the Arena.

[FreckledPig147]

I’ve decided that I’m done with the whole game until Rovio decides to actually improve it. Not ‘improve’ it. Like making poor adjustments that don’t make any sense whatsoever.

[angryde]

@cosmicdebris While my experience of the game is different… I totally respect where you’re coming from. I’ve been playing the game since its launch and that’s allowed me to gradually gather enough decent set/banner set items to make the game bearable. Add to that the amount of snoutlings/lucky coins + mastery one can grind-out over the course of a year and, yeah, it’s not too bad, I guess. I mean, I don’t have any of the lucky coin purchasable classes… but I have 1080 lucky coins saved. I just try and enjoy it as much as I can… but I understand that’s probably unique to my experience as an old-timer. I’m sorry you’re finding it so frustrating!

[Bossk]

Why don’t you buy the LC classes?
Some of those make the game even more fun, like the Sea Dog and Skulkers!
Really worth it IMO. Also the paladin is worth every LC!

[angryde]

@henjovr Well, originally, it was because I didn’t have the LCs to afford them! Then, as the game progressed, I seemed to do OK without them… and now I enjoy the challenge of reaching diamond in arena without them! I’ll probably get around to buying them eventually… but I like having 1000 LCs in the bank after 1 year of saving!

[Joey]

I didn’t even play any of Season 2!
I don’t like this Arena concept and Season 1 was more than enough.
I don’t even check this part of this game anymore!

Frustration is I won’t get the achievements related to the Arena which are at least 4 or 5!
But seeing how this Arena thing is bugging me, I don’t even care!

[Jim151]

I play only on Sundays. The only achievements I have left to accomplish are arena based ones, and the only one I have a prayer of getting is first place for the week. I’ve given up any hope of advancing past Gold, and in this season I cannot pass Wood. I just died in 3 of my first 4 battles, so I have no hope of first place this week, so I’m done until next Sunday. One of my objectives today is 3 stars three times. That’s a laugh. I haven’t gotten 3 stars once this entire season. I guess level 45/mastery 10 with level 41/45 set items isn’t good enough to win an occasional battle in wood league. So what’s the point? Yes my banner items suck, but with literally no chance to improve them ( a real catch 22 here: you can’t get better banner items unless you get to higher levels, but you can’t get to higher levels without better banner items), again, what’s the point?

[KillerKea]

If you really have level 45 rank 10 birds with level 41/45 set items and can’t get 3 stars, then you need to drastically change your strategy because you keep making the same mistakes over and over again. There are lots of good team combos that can get 3 stars against teams that are 100 pts stronger even when losing the toss. One of the easier teams to use is the venomous team with Reborn, Save Me, the Blessed set and Vengence emblem since everyone has the druid, rogue and Rainbird. My birds are similar in strength to yours since only half my items are level 45, but I like using a more offensive team to finish battles quicker.

[Mimi27]

@jim151–I’m a little confused. You say you only play on Sundays? How do you get your daily objectives met? Or earn LC? As far as losing your first three battles…don’t engage the team if they look like they will beat you. Back out of the battle before you start it, start a battle with Piggy McCool, end the battle with him by pausing and going back to the arena, and check to see who your new opponent is. You might have to do this repeatedly until you get good opponents, but it’s better than losing your first three battles.

[angryde]

@killerkea is absolutely right @jim151 – a sensible, defensive strategy based on progressive degen with the “Venomous” team is your best bet… however, there’s no way of getting around the need for consistent daily grinding. “Venomous” is my stock line-up… and I only have a platinum level “Blessed” set. My arena power rank is only 825 and I can defeat teams in the 920-950 range: i.e. the battle ends 15,000/30,000 in my favour. But it is frustrating, I know. Good luck! Give “Venomous” a try!

[Jim151]

@jim151–I’m a little confused. You say you only play on Sundays? How do you get your daily objectives met?

Well, if I can’t get my daily objectives met on the first day, and I usually can’t, then there is no point in playing the arena the rest of the week because I will have no chance at first place.

[Jim151]

One of the easier teams to use is the venomous team with Reborn, Save Me, the Blessed set and Vengence emblem since everyone has the druid, rogue and Rainbird.

Except I don’t have the blessed set.

[Jim151]

@killerkea is absolutely right @jim151 – a sensible, defensive strategy based on progressive degen with the “Venomous” team is your best bet…

Except when your daily objectives include “Knock out red 5 times with red” or ‘Win 3 times with bomb”, or “Win 5 battles with Priestess”. Then the venom team doesn’t do much good.

[KillerKea]

@jim151 Use a Sweet flag and the Sweet set for the Druid and you’ll get a decent amount of healing. If you have an arena set that might be better to use, but you have to adjust your team to take advantage of that set. For example, the Mighty set which increases your criticals will not help the venomous team much at all since their initial damage is very low and the Mighty set doesn’t increase the damage from residual effects.

For those other objectives there are plenty of teams that work well. I generally like the Samurai and Paladin with Dragon Breath or Red and the Sea Dog with Sugar Rush for Bomb. However I also like using the Canoneer and Captain with different equipment depending on the objective.

[Jim151]

The only banner set I have is sinister, and my head is pretty weak as it comes from the stone league. Still, I use it, along with the thorns emblem.

[Mimi27]

@jim151 you can meet your daily objectives if you wait for teams you can beat. You might have to engage Piggy McCool 50 times but you’ll get those teams where you can meet the objectives. Don’t feel as though it’s first place or nothing. Go for a spot on the leaderboard where you can get a couple of stars and start building up your banner items. Work on leveling up your team. Find the style that works for you. Engage teams that have Rainbird over Wizard and avoid the chain lightening set in the opponent. A team with mainly hard hitters such as Red and Bomb and Wizard with the chain set will be much harder to beat than teams with Rainbird and Matilda. I find that Paladin with the dragon set, Chuck with Reborn and Rogues with Beep works for me. I don’t have the Artillery or Save Me for Rogues, and I just made Diamond this week. I also change up my team depending on whether or not I have to knock out a bunch of opponents or keep them alive the whole time.

[Jim151]

@jim151 you can meet your daily objectives if you wait for teams you can beat. You might have to engage Piggy McCool 50 times but you’ll get those teams where you can meet the objectives.

Eh. If that’s what it takes, I’ll pass. If that’s what Rovio expects us to to, it’s pretty dumb. Why not just remove the 3 strikes and you’re out rule?

[KillerKea]

@jim151 I wouldn’t play the arena if it only took 10+ tries at finding a team I could beat. Unfortunately the Sinister set won’t work well with a venomous team. I haven’t used the Sinister set much since it was the last set I got and I think the Blessed set is far better. Hopefully you have a Blessed Idol, Frozen Hide or Blessed Blanket since those are the best items to use in my opinion. Until I got the Blessed set I only used the Blessed Idol and Frozen Hide despite having other complete sets. I think you should use the Underdog emblem or Vengence emblem if you have it.

[Anonymous]

@jim151 If they removed the strikes then Rovio can’t make money from our frustration :D. Half of their profits is from Angry Birds. The other half is from Angry Players! :D

[angryde]

@jim151 Mate, we’re all just trying to help you here… snidely quoting the advice of experienced players who’ve succeeded in the area isn’t particularly constructive…

In response to my post – you wrote – ‘Except when your daily objectives include “Knock out red 5 times with red” or ‘Win 3 times with bomb”, or “Win 5 battles with Priestess”. Then the venom team doesn’t do much good.’

Ummm, then you just swap out the least proficient bird vs the particular team you’re facing for RED/BOMB/PRIESTESS: i.e. you make a tactical decision based on what’s in front of you team-wise and vis-a-vis the objective.

Obviously, not every team, ‘Venomous’ included, will be tactically advisable in every single arena battle and nobody here is claiming otherwise… we’re just making helpful suggestions… which is, after all, the point of civilized forum.

Remember, almost every person who has progressed to diamond or whatever has faced the exact frustrations you’re facing. You’re not alone or, dare I say it, unique in your frustrations. Please try and remember that when responding to fellow nesters! Good luck!

[Jim151]

I have the blessed head, but it’s very weak. I think I got it the first week of the first season.

[Jim151]

Obviously, not every team, ‘Venomous’ included will be tactically advisable in every single arena battle and nobody here is claiming otherwise… we’re just making helpful suggestions… which is, after all, the point of civilized forum.

I understand that, and didn’t mean to sound insulting.

[LondoJowo]

Of course, I love it!!!!

[KerrAvon]

@jim151 If you have the Blessed Idol, then that is a great start. It doesn’t matter that it has a low health, the effect (20% increase in Bird Health) is what is important. I used a wood level Blessed Idol in combination with a sweet flag for a long time through the first season.

The Blessed Idol and a Sweet flag gives you most of the important properties of the Blessed set. Another option is the Blessed Idol with a flag with Vigor (10% reduction in damage to you birds). In the lower leagues I always used a Rage Shield. This is very important if the opponent has a wizard.

For the Birds you can use, as others have suggested, Rainbird (Reborn), Druid (Sweet or Nightmare) and Rogues (Save Me). But I mostly use Paladin armed with Protectors Aura instead of Rainbird. This provides a further 10% reduction in damage to your birds. With this team I essentially target one bird at a time and let the poison take down the bird. If you make sure the poison knocks out each opponent bird, then you essentially gain an extra turn. This is because the poison takes effect during the opponents turn, and so the knocked out bird does not get an increment until the following turn. And I usually only ever give the Rage Chilli to Matilda.

Lastly, the Wood league is not very competitive at the moment. You could probably get through to the Stone league by completing just 3 sets of objectives.

[Jim151]

Thanks for all the advice. I made some adjustments, made all my daily objectives, and (for now), am in first place. We’ll see how it goes.