Good morning everyone - there’s lots I didn’t know about the Arena and much of it was discovered by trial end error.
I was chatting with my guild-mates on Google Hangouts and was mentioning some of the stuff I learned and out of 29/30 guild-mates none had heard of them. So I thought I would make a quick video.
Any constructive feedback would be much appreciated. I will incorporate those changes and make a better video then delete this one. Thanks everybody
(I will also shower and shave in the new video… I mean… before making the video lol)
Very nice guide! The only thing that was incorrect is that traits DO NOT work in Arena.
You also mentioned that there is no tutorial for it in game, which is true. I did make one a while back if you need any additional information on it, but your overview did cover most of it: GoW Let's Play #10: How to Draft in Arena
I’m not competing with anybody - This is literally my 3rd video ever; I’m asking for feedback to improve what I can do in the future
And not one person can supply 100% of the community content, surely there is room for others?
I have lots of unique teams that I have put together that everybody I’ve shown loves. I want to YT them too, but I want to make sure I am making worthwhile videos so feedback is important in the early stages.
Thanks for picking an interest in this great game mode. We always need more and better Arena players to improve the quality and diversity of the experience for everyone. If your video can attract even a few players to the Arena on a regular basis, then it’s worth making.
Having said that, here comes my feedback. Please don’t take any offense from it, I’m doing my best to be constructive, here. ^^
First of all, I’d recommend making sure you’re fully awake and perhaps making an outline of what you want to say before hitting the record button. Ironically, you mention at some point that you hate YT videos that drag on and on, but you’ve made a 19 minute video… that’s super long just to give a few basic tips!
There’s a lot of repetition, hesitation and other moments that could easily be cut off to improve the final result. You could give the same amount of info in 2-3 minutes, honestly, maybe 5 if you want to include an entire fight as a bonus demonstration (but in that case, you might want to give the tips at the beginning, all at once) and I think it’d be a lot better for it.
Secondly, don’t take this the wrong way, but the fact that you obviously play Arena and like it enough to want to make a guide about it, but were yourself still unaware of some of the fundamentals such as Traits being negated speaks volumes of Arena awareness in general.
If your guild mates didn’t know you can change your Hero’s weapon, close the Arena in between fights and resume your run later, or rearrange your line-up’s positions between fights (you can also change your weapon in between fights, by the way) or other basic functions of the game mode, then we really might need a basic tutorial in game.
I always assumed that people picked up this kind of info after their first run or so, just by seeing their opponents’ line-ups. But to be fair, there’s a LOT of line-ups that make no sense out there. I keep seeing stuff like the Hero at the top with Prismatic Orb or Imperial Jewel, or entire line-ups with color overlap, like they expect to get a team bonus as in constructed, and that’s just sad. The meta is basically divided between these noob line-ups and hardcore Arena players who make sensible picks, focus on the most currently powerful troops and weapons, and arrange their line-ups accordingly. There’s not much middle ground between these two extremes.
Last but not least, you mention the Retire button as a thing. That is not a thing. Let’s not encourage bad drafters to believe in the unplayable draft myth. You should never retire an Arena run. You have nothing to lose by playing it out and, more importantly, if you really end up with a team that does no damage at all, or otherwise sucks, you should take this as an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and draft more wisely next time. Not blame it on bad luck, retire the run, and then apply the same poor drafting technique to your next run. That would be my advice to people who use or even consider using the Retire button.
Other than that, you give sound tips and I would have made a fairly similar draft to yours given the picks in your example. I would have picked a different weapon, probably St Astra (but you don’t seem to have it) and switched the Wight and Grave Knight around (Wight is super weak to true damage early on, wherever you put him, but he can tank up a lot after a few spell uses; Grave Knight is far less useful in the late game and if you lose your Hero at some point, 7 attack is better than 6 on your top troop).
In any case, I would strongly suggest this timeless guide as a starting point for anyone interested in getting into the Arena and/or brushing up on their fundamentals:
The last update was a few patches ago, but there hasn’t been a major revolution in how the Arena works since then (not a permanent one anyway).
Hey thanks for the feedback It was my first YT video ever so there’s room for improvement. I’m trying to incorporate everybody’s feedback and I’ll delete & remake in a few days. That’s why I didn’t “nail it” on the 1st run lol
We can disagree on certain non-concrete things like retiring, weapon choice, troops and order, etc, but this thread is not the place to debate those. The video was intended to talk about the Arena features that almost nobody knows about… I’ll take you bringing them up as a cue that I should leave out those parts of the video to keep it more focused.
Anyways again thanks, I hope my reply doesn’t come off argumentative because I genuinely appreciate you taking the time and I know I can take your suggestions to heart and improve based upon them
Sure thing. You’re very welcome. Of course there’s room for improvement, but since you’re open to and even seeking constructive criticism, you can only improve. Glad to provide you with some proper feedback rather than “you’re great” or “you suck”. ^^
I have to be honest with you, I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that many people would assume that basic game mechanics such as switching troops around within your line-up or changing your hero’s weapon won’t work in Arena, and even more so that this idea would stick with them. I would assume that, being used to those mechanics from playing in any other mode (not just PVP, but even Quests or Challenges) where it works like that, they would at least try rearranging their line-up or selecting a different weapon (and thus see that it works there as well).
I can see more easily how a ton of people (you included, before this thread) would incorrectly assume that Traits work in Arena, in no small part because Traits show up visually on the troops in Arena, even though they shouldn’t. Still, after a number of games, you definitely should pick up on the fact that there’s no tedious animation for Traits to load up at the start of the battle, or that none of your troops ever gain any bonus whether or not you have a Trait on them that says they should.
Granted, I’ve been an avid fan of the Arena and playing it almost exclusively from Day 1, so of course my perspective is very far removed from that of a player relatively inexperienced on this game mode.
In any case, if those assumptions are there and since there is no basic tutorial addressing them in the game, it’s a good thing to debunk them for anyone in doubt, and perhaps seize the opportunity to also clarify a few other things regarding fundamentals that people might not be too sure about before jumping headfirst into the Arena.
If this helps, here are a few pieces of information that might also be good to know for potential new Arena players and you might want to add to your video:
Troops in the Arena are at Level 15. That is to say ALL troops, ALWAYS. This, like disabling Traits and Bonuses, is by design, so that the Arena offers a “level playing field”, as the devs rather aptly put it.
This is especially important to note for Summon effects, though, as the text on the card will always be vastly incorrect. “Summon a Random Level 6 Daemon”? Nope: LEVEL 15 Daemon (or Goul, or Spider Swarm, or Thrall, and so on).
Additionally, there is a (reported) bug with this mechanic that currently makes a big difference: this stays true even if you buff or debuff the Magic of the troop (or Hero) who does the summoning.
Your Hero is the exception to the Level 15 rule (do I hear a “duh” in the back? ^^ tssk tssk). The Hero’s stats in the Arena are those attached to your own actual level. Low level players only have 7 Attack, whereas some of their opponents will have 8 or even 9, and so on.
However, Hero Class Bonuses, like Traits, are disabled in the Arena (thankfully, as those who remember the patch 1.09 OTK Arena meta can attest ^^).
The other exception to the fair-game-for-all mindset of the Arena, also surrounding the Hero, is that you only get to pick a weapon out of those you happen to have in your own collection. You already mention this in your video, but as a positive. I think it might be important, especially for newer players, to know that this will limit their options (not that it affects me personally, I own them all, but I could picture a fairer system where we could just pick any weapon by default for Arena, whether we own them or not outside of it).
The Stun effect, contrary to the Traits it is meant to disable, unfortunately still exists in the Arena. It consists solely in passing your turn and painting shiny but utterly useless red stars on an opposing troop, though… I’m sure those folks who persist on drafting the Kopeshi as their Common would benefit from learning that. =)
That’s it from me. Sorry for writing another novel lol. I can get carried away very easily when it comes to the Arena. Happy video making!
It was my first YT video ever so there’s room for improvement. I’m trying to incorporate everybody’s feedback and I’ll delete & remake in a few days. That’s why I didn’t “nail it” on the 1st run lol
Happy video making!