Update kills arena again

[Kdubz]

I know the latest update has been out for a while, but it seems like they undid everything they previously fixed in the arena.

Again, the statistics are totally whacked in the computer’s favor. Even with the cheater set, I can’t even win 50% of coin tosses – how is this even statistically possible? Shouldn’t I win ~75%?

Why do I always have to play such strong opponents? After about three battles in, I’m always paired with opponents equal or a 100+ stronger. This is fine, but somehow their team ranking is about the same but with all level 13-15 birds with set items and banner sets. All of my birds are level 8-11. How does this ranking system even make sense?

Finally, I don’t know how people pick up points so quickly in the overall standings. It seems now if you don’t knock out any birds you only get 2 stars (unless your banner finishes untouched), and my battles now take a lot longer for the above reasons. So what are these people really doing? Are people now just cheating, but to a reasonable extent to it’s not completely obvious?

Topic

[angryde]

@kdubz Hey, I’m sorry you’re finding the arena so frustrating post-update. All I can do is offer you commiserations. Most of us have just accepted the fact that the arena isn’t designed to be fair… and is – ultimately – just micro-transaction bait. The only reason you don’t read much about it here… is because a lot of us have quite high power rank(s) with very strong sets/emblems/birds. It’s not unusual for me to face opponents with power rank(s) 500-700 above my own – depending on what set-up I’m using. So, you’re not alone. People accumulate points quickly because they’ve got 60/15 birds, 10/10 L62 sets and a sound strategic game – they know what works and what doesn’t work in the arena. Most experienced players can easily + quickly accumulate more that 10,000 points in the arena (within a couple of hours; sometimes less). I know it’s annoying… but look through our many threads. There’s lots of great advice on strategy, etc. Good luck!

[RedYoshi45]

Hey, let me talk about some issues you addressed:
1. Without the Cheater set, I lose way more than 50% of the time, yeah. But with the set, so far, I’ve been having more than 50% wins. (Still – I wrote to Rovio several times before that this is not good game design, having to “cheat” to get a fair coin toss!)

2. I have no issue with too strong opponents. It’s been way worse before the 1.5.0 update. I’d regularly lose to opponents that were 300+ stronger than myself. Now, the opponents I face are between -400 and +200 in strength, which is OK to me.

3. The power rating isn’t only based on your birds. They may have strong birds but a weaker banner in return. You may have weaker birds but a strong banner in return. If you tap and hold a bird or banner you’ll see its power rating. Complete sets also increase the power rating.

4. Most people in the Arena use an AoE (Area-of-Effect) line-up, usually Wizard or Thunderbird w/Twin Lightning or Mana, Paladin or Samurai w/Dragon, and quite often Spies w/Artillery or BEEP!, OR Pirate/Capt’n with Scissors. To get 3 stars consistently, you need this sort of team so you’ll always kill birds too while you try to drain the banner’s health.

Here’s how I usually do battles:
– If I win the toss:
1. Use the Rage Chilli on Chuck. (I have the Golden Chilli – you should get it if you don’t have it!) This will usually get rid of some of the opponent birds already. Finish the remaining birds off with your other two birds.
2. Keep attacking the banner as long as the opponent birds are down.
3. Once they revive, they’ll usually go for the weakest bird, most often that is Chuck. Use your other two birds and focus on the banner. It should fall soon.

– If I lose the toss:
1. Let the enemies attack. Most of the time they can KO Chuck.
2. In return, attack their weakest bird too.
3. Once Chuck revives, use the Rage Chilli on him. It should bring the remaining enemy birds down.
4. Again, hit the banner until they revive.
5. Once they revive, keep focussing on the banner. It should fall soon after.

5. While yes, there are some cheaters that try to stay under-the-radar (you won’t believe how surprised we all were that people were branded as cheaters that we didn’t even notice!), we don’t all cheat. It is quite possible to collect 10k points within 2 hours.

[pixelyzed]

Yoshi’s strategy is very similar to mine too. I do not have the Valliant banner set yet but I have a fully enchanted Might set and all 3 stars emblems. So my banner is strong (31525 health and 885 power). I usually stick with Ressurection or switch to Thorn Wall if I have an objective to defeat enemies as they attack.

So I concentrate on the enemy banner more than Yoshi, especially if I win the coin toss. I will usually attack it relentlessly until it falls unless one of my opponoents is Chuck with Reset. I’ll knock him out first then. But since I use Chuck in the Arena more than I used to, I knock out more pigs than I used to.

I also use the Rage Chili on Chuck first chance I get in a new battle (Usually with TB or Mage). I rarely play the Arena without Palladin and either Witch or Bard except for objectives. For me, the first 3-5 battles are always with opponents weaker than me so I try to get the objectives with with my weaker birds in up front.

Your weapons set choices are also important. I got much better results since I use the Lasting Song set for Matilda as it gives massive healing when you use the Rage Chili on any bird. Also, the Last Will set for Chuck as, if Chuck is knocked out, the remaning birds automatically perform bonus attacks. Banner Breaker on Red yields great attack. I have mixed unmatched items for Bomb and Blues but I’d usually use Scissors for Bomb and *Beep* for Blues.