Hey hey I understand how you feel. Arena is hard when you're just starting out.

Maybe you can show us your roster here instead so we could help you come up with a team that can help you progress in arena?

From what I am reading in different post arena seem very difficult early game. Just look at the affinity cup youtube event.

However I dont think you should blame end-game players lowering their team on purpose as an excuse. I am one of them, but I would never go below gold IV, since I would then lose my bonuses and the medals that is the sole reason for lowering my team.

And even so I would be easy to beat with only arbiter in my defense.

It has been suggested before that inactive players drop down with strong defense teams and prevent active players from having fun. I dont know if it is true but I trust the sources. I think it was Hell hades. He suggested inactive players should be removed from arena after a certain time instead of continuesly getting lowered.

Also remmember that any algorhythm made by plarium is subject to change in the level of gear/champions the player base has. I myself have run the same team for about 5 months and I start to struggle on monday/tuesday before the best teams have passed me. So I can feel that the playerbase as a whole simply have better teams. This will effect players in golv III, since I now have a strong defense up to avoid getting relegated the first few days. Enough players behaving like me and a chain reaction will occur down the ladders. Making everyone feel the effect of improved teams in Gold IV.

drone said:

Also remmember that any algorhythm made by plarium is subject to change in the level of gear/champions the player base has. I myself have run the same team for about 5 months and I start to struggle on monday/tuesday before the best teams have passed me. So I can feel that the playerbase as a whole simply have better teams. This will effect players in golv III, since I now have a strong defense up to avoid getting relegated the first few days. Enough players behaving like me and a chain reaction will occur down the ladders. Making everyone feel the effect of improved teams in Gold IV.

I agree that while players may reduce their level a bit to farm medals, they won't drop down too many tiers as it just doesn't make sense - gold iv players want to farm gold medals, high silver players want to farm silver medals. 

Been playing for 48 days.  100% F2P.

My arena defense team is 60 Valkyrie (lucky Ancient... don't hate), 60 Athel, 50 Warmaiden and 50 Spirithost.

All fully ascended.

Sometimes I sub out Warmaiden for a 50 Umbral Enchantress on offense.

My arena team is 64k power and I have invested a lot into their gear except for Athels banner, which doesn't exist because the spider hasn't dropped a single one of after 4 weeks of semi-active farming.

I saved my arena medals and only used them for the progress missions. I'm on the GH rank 4 progress mission and I have one skill at rank 3 and 90 silver medals.  It's going to take me about 3 weeks to finish this one mission with the win rates i've been getting.

And I've only been able to progress as "quickly" as I have because I login to refresh arena quite often throughout the day looking for "easy" teams and honestly because of that Valkyrie pull.  I don't even want to think about where I would be had I not pulled her.

As others have echoed, the amount of high tier teams in the lower brackets is a major problem.

In Silver 2 the majority of teams probably shouldn't be 4 level 60 top-tier arena epics/legendaries @ 140k power.

In Bronze you DEFINITELY shouldn't even be seeing these teams.  Ever.

SOLUTION:

Just like everyone else said, remove inactive players from arena defense.

You guys can pick the threshold, but make it happen.

I guarantee it's having an impact on new player retention.

I understand that you only play for 48 days and the ones you put on your defense are probably your only good champions that you have. But with this team, and for only 48 days, dont expect too much. 

lolcatz said:

Been playing for 48 days.  100% F2P.

My arena defense team is 60 Valkyrie (lucky Ancient... don't hate), 60 Athel, 50 Warmaiden and 50 Spirithost.

But this is plarium we talk about here. They will watch it for $$$. As long as they get one new player to whale out for arena in a month they won't 'fix' the system. If it brings $$$ it is working as intended. You and me not liking it is not making it broken or requiring fixes.

There was an Arena matching algorithm change a few weeks ago that screwed things up.

Prior to that, I was fluctuating in Gold 3 for the first time (after a year of playing F2P). Suddenly, I was matched with fake Power god teams that crashed me down to Silver 2, where I'm currently struggling.

To me, there are two problems:

1. Team Powers listed in Arena are fake. My team is at 136k Team Power. I have been defeated by a team as low as 36,000. I'm regularly swept by teams of 75k-90k. Sometimes I find teams of lower power that I can defeat. But it's always a crap shoot. I've learned to not even try against teams of 110k+. Why even include the Team Power in Arena listings if they mean nothing?

2. Matching algorithm doesn't work. I've been matched with teams more than double my power, and as low as 1% my power. What's the point of either? Seems like proof to me that Team Power is irrelevant in Arena.

Maldonado said:

There was an Arena matching algorithm change a few weeks ago that screwed things up.

Prior to that, I was fluctuating in Gold 3 for the first time (after a year of playing F2P). Suddenly, I was matched with fake Power god teams that crashed me down to Silver 2, where I'm currently struggling.

To me, there are two problems:

1. Team Powers listed in Arena are fake. My team is at 136k Team Power. I have been defeated by a team as low as 36,000. I'm regularly swept by teams of 75k-90k. Sometimes I find teams of lower power that I can defeat. But it's always a crap shoot. I've learned to not even try against teams of 110k+. Why even include the Team Power in Arena listings if they mean nothing?

2. Matching algorithm doesn't work. I've been matched with teams more than double my power, and as low as 1% my power. What's the point of either? Seems like proof to me that Team Power is irrelevant in Arena.

The way I look at it, if a team has far lower power than you, it means you should probably have a path to defeat them - maybe not at first but eventually, if you are willing to try different tactics and if you have options to overcome problems like a big speed disadvantage (probably your main issue in such cases). On the other hand, teams with significantly higher power may be beatable - if you select the right team and have high enough speed, while theirs is not so well made or lacks speed. 

My team is at 90-105k power depending on who I swap in and out. I frequently defeat teams of 140k or so power, when I see weaknesses in their team, or sometimes even when they look like a strong team and I just give it a shot in an ambitious mood. But yeah, I also lose to teams at 75k or 90k. In some cases, I can adjust my team and win a rematch, in other cases the speed disparity is just so big or they have such a brilliantly synergized team that I can't win without regearing half of my champions first. Or maybe not even then. 

If you're at 136k and not even trying against teams above 110k, clearly your team is less effective than it could/should be and the most likely reason is either a lack of speed or a lack of synergy. Or maybe a lack of accuracy on debuffers.  

I have been here a month as of today.  I am getting better at arena offense.  I can get to B3 but then wake up and find out my defense was squashed during the night and I am just above B1.  Its back and forth but I am trending higher.  I change my defense team but that only works for 1-2 days before everyone figures out how to beat it. 

ClosedPoly said:

I have been here a month as of today.  I am getting better at arena offense.  I can get to B3 but then wake up and find out my defense was squashed during the night and I am just above B1.  Its back and forth but I am trending higher.  I change my defense team but that only works for 1-2 days before everyone figures out how to beat it. 

Plarium allows us to play for free.  They could charge a monthly free.  For free, this is what we get.  Take it or leave it.  Plarium does not care how many f2p players leave.  If whales start leaving then things will change. 

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

I don't agree with this:

"Plarium does not care how many f2p players leave. If whales start leaving then things will change."

All the players are equal, it doesn't matter if you're a f2p or a whale/dolphin.

"All the players are equal ..." Bla, bla, bla... 

Players from around the world have been talking about this problem for many months. The arena is poorly balanced with missions and new players do not have the pleasure of duels, they only have frustration. And all we hear is that we are important to Plarium. Prove it!

L9753 said:

The way I look at it, if a team has far lower power than you, it means you should probably have a path to defeat them - maybe not at first but eventually, if you are willing to try different tactics and if you have options to overcome problems like a big speed disadvantage (probably your main issue in such cases). On the other hand, teams with significantly higher power may be beatable - if you select the right team and have high enough speed, while theirs is not so well made or lacks speed. 

My team is at 90-105k power depending on who I swap in and out. I frequently defeat teams of 140k or so power, when I see weaknesses in their team, or sometimes even when they look like a strong team and I just give it a shot in an ambitious mood. But yeah, I also lose to teams at 75k or 90k. In some cases, I can adjust my team and win a rematch, in other cases the speed disparity is just so big or they have such a brilliantly synergized team that I can't win without regearing half of my champions first. Or maybe not even then. 

If you're at 136k and not even trying against teams above 110k, clearly your team is less effective than it could/should be and the most likely reason is either a lack of speed or a lack of synergy. Or maybe a lack of accuracy on debuffers.  

As for the matching algorithm, it's based on current arena rating, not on team power nor on actual effectiveness in combat. 

I do adjust my team as much as I am able. I don't have a vast array of fully-quipped 60s for every contingency. Nor do I have unlimited equipment, such as speed. I use the best equipment I have on the best Champs I have.

I'm mostly F2P. However, I have been enjoying the game (mostly, even despite the frequent crashes). So I decided to buy the Season deal to give Plarium some money for an entertaining game.

The Arena algorithm recently changed for the worse. I didn't suddenly overnight go from inching my way up in Gold 3 to struggling in Silver 2 for nothing. They obviously changed something.

I'm just a casual gamer who doesn't have as much time as hardcore gamers to pore over Arena opponents to discover the weaknesses of team permutations from a pool of 300 champions. Such efforts are fine for hardcore gamers, but not so fun for casual gamers.

I wouldn't be complaining about the Arena system except that high-level Arena accomplishments are required for Missions/etc. Don't make game rewards require high-level Arena wins when the system is problematic. Otherwise, it's just like hitting a wall, and how fun is that?

And if the algorithm doesn't use Team Power, then remove it from the Arena listings. It erroneously conveys that there is some relevance to Team Power in Arena. Really, what is the point of displaying Team Power if it has no impact on relative strengths/difficulty?

This is not a Team Power score problem. This part of the game "Arena" is simply poorly balanced. At the beginning it made sense but when a lot of edn game players appeared they have no chance. If I am to collect 1000 points for GH upgrade lvl 10 and collecting 2-4 points every day, what's the point? my progress in the game has stopped and I don't see any prospects. At this point, the game has lost sense to me and to many players. I am going to spend 3-4 months on one mission doing nothing else, no thanks!

The arena is "broken" simply because the player base is skewed significantly stronger and there are no mechanisms in place to adjust for this. PVE is easier for new players while PVP is significantly harder. This is likely true in most games. My 2nd account is less than 2 months in straddles silver 2/3. I haven't pulled someone to push this team to gold. Definitely 1 hero away. I don't think you should expect to be in gold until 60+ days without good shard luck as f2p. And if you don't have a couple hours a day to commit then definitely no chance. I am almost done with 2 GH bonuses to 6 btw.

Edit: I am using in arena

40 spirithost 

60 warmaiden 

60 karl (lifesteal gear)

60 jinglehunter (good early shard pull)

Wow! 2 hours a day on the game or no chance? That's rough and not something I can commit. Given that, I think Missions/etc. should definitely NOT include high level arena wins as requirements. Replace them with something that casual gamers can have a chance at.  It took me a year to get to Gold 3 a few weeks ago, then the algorithm changed and I'm scraping my way up through Silver 2. At this rate, I might hit Gold 1 in a couple months.

My best champs for use in the Arena are 60s:

Wurlim

Errol

Rae

Altan

Their main equipment ranges from 4 to 6 star. Their accessories, not as good.

Trips said:

The arena is "broken" simply because the player base is skewed significantly stronger and there are no mechanisms in place to adjust for this. PVE is easier for new players while PVP is significantly harder. This is likely true in most games. My 2nd account is less than 2 months in straddles silver 2/3. I haven't pulled someone to push this team to gold. Definitely 1 hero away. I don't think you should expect to be in gold until 60+ days without good shard luck as f2p. And if you don't have a couple hours a day to commit then definitely no chance. I am almost done with 2 GH bonuses to 6 btw.

Edit: I am using in arena

40 spirithost 

60 warmaiden 

60 karl (lifesteal gear)

60 jinglehunter (good early shard pull)

This team needs a gorgorab :)

Maldonado said:

Wow! 2 hours a day on the game or no chance? That's rough and not something I can commit. Given that, I think Missions/etc. should definitely NOT include high level arena wins as requirements. Replace them with something that casual gamers can have a chance at.  It took me a year to get to Gold 3 a few weeks ago, then the algorithm changed and I'm scraping my way up through Silver 2. At this rate, I might hit Gold 1 in a couple months.

While i agree with you that arena missions must be re-thought, I do not agree 'reach g1' should be taken out of missions as a whole.

If you are casual player not even playing 2h a day you wont reach anything anyway. Might as well ignore missions altogether and focus on anything else.

Later on there is a mission to do X amount of dmg to this or that CB (increasing number, increasing CB difficulty as missions go higher) within 24h (before it resets for next day). That might mean 'use all 4 keyes available in a day (6h refresh)... or even buying some extra if you have no champions / gear to beat that score within less keyes.

To give you an idea: last mission (allowing you to get arbiter after finishing) is - do 100M dmg to nightmare CB.

Without at least few great hall bonuses at lv7 (and possibly 20% for being in g4) you would need to spend like 6-10 keys to do this ... while having above average gear on each of your champions.

Either go hard on the game / missions to finally get arbiter or ignore that part of the game altogether.