Yup, the purpose of a game is to have fun, and if you have fun in a different way than "most people", that's absolutely fine. More power to you!

But you came here asking for help because you were stuck, so don't be surprised if you get well-worn (and generally well-working) advice that doesn't take your personal play style into account. People don't know that, after all, and they're sort of used to giving the same advice to all comers; it is after all "most efficient".

I agree that 6*ing Apothecary can't possibly be wrong. All the hype about him is 100% correct. He'll be my 2nd 6* on my alt account; he and Kael are a super team. The only reason he's not 6* on my main account is that I pulled him very late and already had a Doompriest (lucky!), who fits very well into several of my teams.

But by all means, make more 5*50s if that gives you joy. I did, and I haven't regretted it, and I have several 6*s now anyway; it just took me longer to get here. Like ToFu I found lots of use for them, especially in Faction Wars, which has made the game a whole lot less dull, and gained me materials that helped me with great gear and silver from the Forge. Also in Tag Arena where I farm gold bars that give me books and Ancient shards and energy. And I didn't feed my Shieldguard or Saurus from those earliest days either; they're sitting happily in the vault, fully booked, for when I have time to lavish some attention on them; I have to decide which one to make into my fast campaign farmer to free up my starter. I feed only champs who have no obvious other use to me; there is really no shortage of those from Mystery shards; Incubi drop on 12 like there's a factory cranking them out, and you ain't seen nothing yet if you haven't had four 4*40 Militant Sisters slicing their way through the Sewers of Arnoc just for the lolz.

Thanks ToFu, I share the same idea!

And thank you Trips, too, I appreciate your advice. I have no doubt that 6 staring my Apothecary won't be a waist of ressource, and I'll do it soon. But it's such a hassle... So beforehand, I want to enjoy a couple more 5* :)

Maybe Coldheart and Seeker, or Rector Drath or Armina (that I prefer to Warmaiden, am I wrong?) : these are the champions I'm using the most right now.

Does it actually make a real difference to farm stage 13, 15 or 17? Is there a document about drop rates?

Actually, I don't have my Apothecary at rank 6 yet because I don't see the advantage he'd give me at the moment. Maybe in clan boss to deal more damage (Giant Slayer), but right now my main issue is that I'm lacking hard single hitters. I think I'll 6 star Iron Brago next, because he can help me everywhere and his damage isn't bad either. In all honesty, I don't feel as if Apothecary is a "rank 6"-priority in early game. I guess it's nice if you make him the AIs target (using him as weak affinity), but other than that I don't know where in early game, a level 60 Apothecary would help so much more than a level 50 Apothecary.

It's probably best if you 6 star Kael first, because you don't have a single rank 6 champion yet and it really helps - it's about +40% base HP, ATK and DEF. 6 star Apothecary won't help you farming brutal 12-3. (Maybe get 1-2 champs to 50 first, but 6 star Kael will make life a lot easier.)

Then I'd get the (best) rares and epics to 5 star. Also, I think Warmaiden is better than Armina because she's easier to book. Once you booked Armina and have allies that can stun enemies (either by their abilities or stun gear), Armina is much better. I don't think Armina should be a priority at the moment.

I don't know if you are aware of it, but Coldheart, Seeker, Seer and Rector Drath are very good champions - I wish I had any of them. I'm not sure how good Seer is in early game, but generally, I'd focus on these champions for now and get them to rank 5. If I'm not mistaken, Seeker isn't a must 5 star, you can probably get the others to rank 5 first, since Seeker's main strength is to buff your allies.

Yes 17 is better than 15 is better than 13.  The misconception of needing damage dealers to progress usually stalls everyones progress around dungeon 13 stages.  Once you have your farmer, you need SUPPORT = (heal/shield/revive/cc), otherwise your damage dealers will all be dead before they can kill anyone lol.  Also, gearing support champs is generally easier as you aren't worried about CR and CD and sometimes don't need any ACC (like apothecary).  Coldheart is a great example (IMO) of who not to level up in early game.  She is useless unless you can keep her alive.  Rector Drath should be prioritzed as a reviver is greatly needed when first progressing through dungeons.  Seeker can be used at 40/50 in arena for speed nuking and I would prioritize lower.  Could argue rector (I havent leveled any of new champs, so no experience) before apothecary, but healing and reviving always good :)

I already have quite good support. But bosses like Spider and Dragon require damage output. I also have to admit that I haven't tried deeper stages recently because there are just so many events and tournaments to do. I don't want to waste my energy for failed dungeon attempts, so I'm fine with farming stage 13/14 on auto (excluding Spider). I need to do the tournaments to get epic books and void shards.

dragon20 doesn't need damage, you just need to get 1 poisoner to the boss and u win 100%.  It will not be fast, but dragon is easiest dungeon to finish first.  If you are trying to outdamage waves, your progress will be slow.  Eventually you will be able to add more damage when your supports are very strong.  But to get to 20, you may need 4 support and 1 poisoner at first.

spider is a different animal altogether.  Very dependent on your roster.  The HP burn strategy is best.  It's funny because for most accounts this will be last they get to 20, but will end up being fastest to clear once you get a good team.

Post your roster if you'd like specific advice. My first dragon20 runs were 10-15 minutes lol, I recommend a slightly faster approach...

I want to share with you a different point of view.

This doesn't mean that my point of view is better or worst than anyone esle point of view.

It just means I have a different out look on things.

I believe upgrading your Damage Dealers first is ideal.

Damage Dealers main function is to kill the enemy.

If the Damage Dealer isn't max level, I think they will struggle to do their main function.

I think your first 6 star should be Kael.

I think your second 6 star should be Warmaiden.

I think once the above 2 star 6 star.

You can begin to focus on the support heroes such as Apothecary - Seeker - Darth

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The next thing I would do is begin to focus on your gear.

You have been farming campaign to level up food to make 6 stars.

This is very good!

While you are farming campaign, You should strive to find gear pieces.

I believe a person commented about this before (Scrim)

(Scrim) said your Kael is wearing 6 lifesteal pieces.

You only need Kael to wear 4 to acquire the Lifesteal bonus.

2 of your Lifesteal pieces are not contributing to your Kael.

My Recommendation is to do the following:

You should keep the Top Row the way it is Weapon - Helmet - Shield.

What you need to do is change the Bottom Row - Gloves - Chest - Shoes.

Try to get 5 star or 6 star - Common or Uncommon - Lifesteal - C.RATE Gloves.

Try to get 5 star or 6 star - Common or Uncommon - Accuracy - ATK% or HP% Chest.

Try to get 5 star or 6 star - Common or Uncommon - Accuracy - SPD Shoes.

When ever, you deal with the Weapon - Helmet - Shield 

You want to care about the Rarity of the Item - Epic or Legendary

When ever, you deal with the Gloves - Chest - Shoes. 

You want to care about the Star Level of the item - 5 or 6 Star

I think Chapter 8 of Campaign has Lifesteal gear.

I can't remember the Chapter with ACC gear.

However, I would farm those locations for higher star pieces while you upgrade food.

Super interesting, thank you guys!

Re: Warmaiden vs. Armina. Since I got the first one after the second, I've always favored her. I got Warmaiden pretty late, actually, so she never was in my roster. Right now, she's 40, and I barelly use her. Even for Barbarian Clan Wars, since I have so many great champions in this faction... But I guess I'm wrong, and am gonna work on her! I won't 6* her right away, but 5* definitely.

So she should be my next? Even before Coldheart, Seeker, or Drath? I use Coldheart in dungeons (currently at lvl 10-11) and CB, but she's indeed a little squishy, and efficient only with Apothecary and Drath to heal/revive her -- but so damn efficient!

My Seeker is so versatile, I love this guy, I use him everywhere, with a relentless set.

And my Drath has become essential for any fight which lasts a little.

And, I just picked Athel... Is there a point in levelling her up, right now, or will she be redundant with my Kael? Kael which I'll be able to 6 stars very soon. In a couple of days hopefully.

Also, on a side note, I picked a second Apothecary. Since my first one is fully booked, I thought it could be interesting to make him a second support for Faction wars, at, say, 4*. Not now cause I have other priorities, but later. I thought about giving him a Shield set + a speed test. Am I right, or is it just a waist of ressources?

Thank you Player J!

I know 6 lifesteal pieces is not optimal, but those 6 pieces are just my best ones right now. I have lvl 16 lifesteal crit rate gloves (with speed, attack, HP), lvl 16 ATK chesplate (with speed, HP%, crit rate) and lvl 12 speed boots (not 16, otherwise my Kael becomes too fast in arena). As for my top raw, it's as good as it gets, lvl 16, with a mix of speed, atk%, crit rate, and HP%... 

Right now, I can farm brutal 12.3, even though I'm only 5*, so I'll wait to have really awesome gear to change those 2 pieces. And for this, I need to farm Dragon and high difficulty clan boss. And for this, I need a better roster. Each thing at its time :)

The reason I recommend upgrading Warmaiden 2nd is because she does AOE Def Down.

I didn't see any AOE Def Down heroes in your roster.

But I know Warmaiden is a farmable champion in campaign.

So even if you haven't pulled any AOE Def Down champion from Shard.

You can still acquire a Warmaiden.

You have now just told me new information.

You have said that you own Armina.

I have looked up Armina.

Armina is an Epic Champion.

Armina can do AOE Def Down.

However, I wish to ask you a few questions.

1st question - What move does Armina do on Auto?

2nd question - How many Epic Tomes do you own?

On Auto, Warmaiden does the A3 move (Which is the Def Down move)

Warmaiden is Farmable Champion.

You don't have to use Books on Warmaiden because you can farm duplicate copies of her and use the Duplicate copies as Tomes.

Depending on the answers you give me, It can impact my previous statement on your 2nd 6 star.

Next thing I want to say about champion's is:

I don't think you should waste time on a 2nd Apothecary.

I don't think you should waste time on leveling up an Athel.

I think it is better for you to focus on other hero's.

Next thing I want to talk about is gear:

The Sub-Stats are more important vs. Primary Stat on the Top Row of gear pieces

Weapon - Helmet - Shield

The Primary Stat is more important vs. Sub Stats on the Bottom Row of gear pieces.

Gloves - Chest - Boots

I understand you own a few pieces level 16, but what you have to understand is they are 4 star.

I'm not saying you should sell these pieces.

What I think is that you should put those level 16 pieces 4 star on another champion.

I think you need to focus on making your Kael stronger.

To make Kael stronger, you need 5 or 6 star pieces.

The 5/6 star pieces I am telling you to use come from Campaign.

You should be farming Brutal Chapter 8 or Nightmare Chapter 8.

You should strive to get the higher star level of gear.

I am not talking about Dungeons.

You shouldn't even be focusing on Dungeons.

You should be focusing on Campaign + Leveling up heroes in Campaign.

Level 16 - 4 star gloves give you 40% C.rate.

Level 16 - 6 star gloves gives you 60% C.rate

Level 16 - 4 star chest gives you 40% Attack

Level 16 - 6 star chest gives you 60% Attack

The difference in the Primary stats are to great.

You are missing out on 20% Extra Bonus.

A 4 star Epic Glove isn't going to make up for a 20% Main Stat difference.

A 6 star Common Glove will be better vs. your Epic one.

You have to remember the game is a "Grinding Game".

You have to level up your heroes to get stronger.

You have to level up your gears to get stronger.

All the gears you have upgraded - Don't Sell them.

Just move them to another champion who has no gear on.

6 Star gear is better vs. 4 Star gear

4 Star gear is better vs. No Gear

The game gave you the 4 star gear as beginning gear.

The beginning gear helped you Kael beat Normal Mode.

The beginning gear helped your Kael beat Hard Mode.

You have said your Kael can beat Brutal Mode

Brutal Mode unlocks level 5 gear

Why keep the same 4 star gear on Kael when you have the power to use 5 star gear?

Keep pushing the boundaries on your hero levels + gears.

I see your point! When I get better gear, then, I'll use it.

Armina uses her A3, which is great. And she stuns at the same time. The thing is, she's very expensive to fully book, and I have 14 epic books, that I'd like to keep for Seeker or Drath.

I have 4 Warmaiden in my vault right now, but the Level 40 one.

Oh thanks by the way, I had missed your message ,and yeah, I totally share your point of view. For me, waisting time and ressources on secundary missions is the fun... to a certain degree. I'll admit that I should have leveled my Kael up to 60 before.

I agree with most of what J said, and would have no qualms 6starring Warmaiden.  Being able to farm her as books would allow you to fully book both apothecary and warmaiden.  Those 3 plus rector and one more seem like a good starting 5 for dungeon progression.  I am not too keen on farming gear outside of the dungeons, which is why it is wise to 6star your heroes sooner rather than later.  Your artifacts will suck early on, and you will spend lots of silver upgrading them.  The common gear from campaign is garbage.  Bite the bullet and farm the chickens sooner, you will have to do it eventually.  This way at least you will get the better gear faster.

Based on what you have said, I don't like Armina as your 2nd 6 star. lol

I recommend going with Warmaiden as your 2nd 6 star.

Here is the issue:

Kael is your Damage Dealer.

Kael will do his A2 move on Auto which is his Big Nuke.

You want to get a hero who moves before Kael that can do AOE Def Down.

This way when your Kael does his nuke - It will deal more damage to the enemy.

Warmaiden AI will do the AOE Def Down all the time.

This means if you level up Warmaiden, You can play most of your fights on Auto Battle.

If you level up Armina, You will have to manaully play the fight.

You will have to manually do the AOE Def Down move.

This will be a huge inconvience because if you are using your Free 30 Auto battles.

Your team will not function properly.

They will do the wrong moves at the wrong time.

Armina - Is not a bad hero.

Armina is a very good hero.

The issue is she isn't doing the right move we want her to do at the present situation.

Lets give an example:

Lets say you have Warmaiden + Kael

What will happen?

Warmaiden goes first and does A3 move (AOE Def Down on enemy.)

Kael goes second and does A2 move (AOE Nuke on enemy).

At this point, The enemy might just be dead.

Now lets say we use Armina + Kael

Armina goes first and does A3 move (Stun on enemy)

Kael goes econd and does A2 move (AOE Nuke on enemy)

In this situation, the nuke Kael did isn't as deadly.

It isn't as deadly because the enemy defense wasn't reduced.

This means the enemy team can will still be alive.

They will be stunned, but they will still be alive.

If you leave the enemy alive, You give them a chance to defeat you. 

You want to give the enemy no opporunity.

It is best to try and finish them fast. 

The only time you worry about Stuns is when the enemy is so strong that you can't beat them in 1 shot.

However, you haven't reached such a point.

You are still leveling up your Kael.

You are still improving your Kael gear.

Your Kael could 1 shot a lot of things.

If you can beat them in 1 shot, Than you should do it.

My bad J!!!

Actually I just ran Armina a bunch of times in auto, both in Dungeon and Arena, and she always does her A2 (AOE decrease DEF) first.

I don't own Armina.

I don't know anything about Arimina.

Armina is a new champion to the game.

Arimina just got added to the game like a week ago.

I haven't pulled her from a Shard, yet.

I don't have any friends or teammates which own her, yet

For these reasons, I am telling you to observe how Armina AI functions.

It would also be good if you can see how much damage Arimina does compared to Kael.

Based on what you tell me, I make a decision with the information.

The decision I make is based on my Raiding Philosophy.

Kael is your AOE Damage Dealer.

Kael will do his A2 move on Auto always as first move.

You need a hero to go before Kael to do AOE Def Down.

The hero needs to do the AOE Def Down move on Auto always as first move.

The hero needs to have the AOE Def Down move with 100% Chance Percentage.

You have just told me Armina does the AOE Def Down as first move on auto.

Now the follow up question: 

Do you have enough Epic Tomes to book the AOE Def Down move to 100% Chance Percentage?

If the Chance Percentage doesn't reach 100%, The AOE Def Down Debuff will not land consistently.

It will miss people and not land on them.

At which point, The champion is useless because it defeats the purpose of why we using the champion.

We are using this champion to do AOE Def Down.

If she doesn't land Def Down on the enemy, We will use another hero who does land Def Down.

Such As Warmaiden

I see two good reasons to work on Warmaiden instead of Armina right now:

1) I can book her up with copies, easy to farm, and save my 14 epic books for another champ

2) Warmaiden is force, and will be useful against force heroes in Arena (typically, I always struggle against Shaman).

So here we go, I'm convinced :)

My next problem is a speed tuning problem: my Kael having is faster than all my other champs. Which ruins the combo -- actually not entirely, but I have to run A1 on Kael, increase ATK on Spirithost, decrease DEF on Warmaiden, increase SPD on Apothecary, let the other play one turn, and then, only then, I can do A2 on Kael and nuke.

I could lower the speed on Kael (by removing his boots for instance), but it doesn't look like a great idea. So I should instead increase the speed of the others, but right now, with my available gear, it's just impossible. I've tried, and there's no way. 

Bottomline: as soon as I have leveled up my Kael to 6*, I'll work on my speed gear.