Argonne's 3-Hero Domination Guide


 * UPDATE as of August 14th 2018.**

Due to recent hero re-balancing the 3-Hero Formation described below is now more vulnerable in PvP and not the most effective in PvE. The principle of focusing your investments your critical heroes and gear is still valid.

Specific changes I would suggest would be: ****
 * 1) Remove priority from Healer and replace him with a Warlock which you add to the team much earlier.
 * 2) Archer should be built from beginning along with Buffer, Mage and Knight.
 * 3) WD Bow should be the first Weapon you take to level 50 with Archer as your intended core DPS hero
 * 4) Get a Max Cooldown Warlock ASAP
 * 5) Aim for the following combo at a minimum (Warlock, Buffer, Archer, Tank) Optional: Mage & Knight

This guide is meant to be a brief introduction to a strategy based on the concept of limiting team size to concentrate investments and eliminate common early game waste that that can actually slow you down at best and limit your end game potential at worst. While counter-intuitive given the nine-hero roster limit, the three hero strategy can progress quickly and efficiently from the beginning of the game, and has been proven a competitive option even among the current top players (7/29/18 - Stage ~ 25,000) while minimizing wasted expenditure. This guide is fully geared towards how to manage your hero lineup and investment in gear to maximize success in a 3-Hero strategy. For all other beginner questions please reference the existing beginners guide and beginners guide to heroes.

It should be noted that this strategy is my adaptation of a strategy/formation that I first saw used by Bimbromir (Kift Server). I switched to a 3-hero line up after developing a full 9-hero team, and looking back I regret the gold/jewels/resources that I spent on additional heroes and duplicate gear that now sits wasted on the sideline providing no value. While this strategy can be viable for both Free2Play or Pay2Win, this guide is designed to walk a Free2Play player though the early stages with no or minimal real money investments.

Why a 3-Hero Formation?
This section is intended for anyone who always asks "why should I use this strategy". If you just want to follow my guide blindly I'm honored and you can skip down to the next section. If you want to stick around I'll walk you through some of the main reasons why a 3-Hero formation is great.

Cost
It can be very costly to full upgrade the gear on even a single hero all the way to the maximum level of S-Class +50 reinforcements. To complete a maxed out 9-hero formation would either take years of farming or a ton of in-app investment of real money. If you have the bankroll to fully gear out 9 heroes then this guide may not be for you, but for anyone else this is the best way to quickly get a strong team, and still probably the fastest way for you to start the long grind to eventually have a full 9-hero roster.

* For reference, details on the full cost of upgrading weapons and gear to level 50 can be found in Banxi's spreadsheet which is linked on the home page

Power
Due to the accelerated scaling of primary stats (Damage, Vitality, Magic Defense, Physical Defense) on equipment between level 30-50 it is most beneficial to choose a single weapon (and a single piece of equipment for each other type of advanced crafting material) to upgrade past level 30. Based on the significant power advantage provided by the %Damage boost on World-Dungeon weapons, it is further a must that you choose a world dungeon weapon as the one you push past level 30. A single knight with a +50 weapon can easily outclass an entire team of heroes with +34 weapons, so your best bet is to choose one hero to max out for DPS

Consistency
Once you've gotten one strong hero to weapon level +50 (or as high as your budget will afford) you will begin to notice that supporting this hero with spells from other heroes (Buffer, Healer) significantly increases the hero's performance in battle. Any time your Buffer or Healer casts healing, shields or buffs on any other hero begins to be a waste. Due to the semi-random nature of Buffer and Healer support casting, the only way to ensure they focus on your main DPS hero is to remove all other from the field.

* Once you've upgraded your Buffer and Healer enough that they can target 4+ heroes with each of their support skills, then you can start adding back and developing your other heroes without sacrificing any power or consistency.

Progression Overview
Before we go any further I'll outline the standard progression from a fresh start to Mid/Late game using the 3-Hero Domination strategy. While the end goal is a 3-Hero line up, depending on your situation and preferences you may actually use 5 different heroes as you develop.

Your final target is a lineup consisting of the following heroes.

Final Lineup
As you start out, your buffer and healer will be weak providers of DPS, and their ability to provide strong support will be limited. Both require a full set of gear and significant gold investments in skills to become viable. Therefore I suggest you begin with a lineup focused on direct DPS and not support/buffs.
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Buffer
 * 1 Healer

Beginning Lineup
As you progress, these three heroes can provide you with significant DPS and a variety of skills that will help you through different situations (Stages, Boss Stages, Dungeons and PvP). Once you build a strong beginning lineup with fully promoted heroes and gear between levels 10-15 It is time to develop your first supporting hero: The Buffer.
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Mage
 * 1 Archer (optional)

Intermediate Lineup
Continue to build this lineup, and once you can afford to fully gear your buffer with Max-Cooltime and some gold invested into skills its finally time to begin developing your second supporting hero: The Healer.
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Mage
 * 1 Buffer

Final Lineup
This will be your team until you can maximize your Knight (primary DPS) and upgrade your Buffer and Healer enough to support a fourth hero consistently!
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Buffer
 * 1 Healer

Early Game
 Goal:  Your goal for early game should be to develop a strong 3-Hero team for pushing early stages with 3 relatively equal DPS'ers.

At the beginning of the game you should be solely focused on promoting your Kift knight from 2-Stars up to the full 5-Stars and providing him with S-Class Gear /w +5 reinforcements ASAP. Since he starts the game with a free promotion you will progress fastest by focusing your efforts on him. At this time feel free to continue using all of the heroes that the game gives you to start, just make sure you have your Kift knight and a cheap mage to start promoting and gearing up. [Optional: You can also use an archer if you really like them or want to]

Knight (Kift) - Item Build
While you will eventually want to outfit Kift entirely in Plate armor since it offers the best survivability, it is acceptable to place non-plate armor on Kift if you get lucky with drop rates and find Chain, Leather or even Cloth armor that is 1 or 2 classes above your current Plate gear. It is even acceptable to reinforce this gear to +5 of its current class, but unless it is Cloth or Leather gear (which can be later used for your Healer or Buffer) I would refrain from synthesizing it to a higher level.
 * Paladin Sword
 * Full set of Plate Armor
 * Full set of Wizard/Mage Trinkets

Once you finish promoting your Kift knight to 5-Stars, you should shift your attention to your Mage. I used the cheapest mage I could find, Brica, and would advise you to do the same since any hero can have their base stats maximized at a later time. There are other uses for jewels early game that provide much larger and more immediate returns than maximized base stats. You should already have begun place any "found" cloth gear on your Mage.

Mage (Brica) - Item Build
As you begin to promote your wizard feel free to begin spending gold and materials to reinforce your Mage's gear. Given the scaling costs of reinforcements at higher levels it may sometimes be more cost efficient to start catching your mage up to your Kift knight.
 * Wizard Staff
 * Full set of Cloth Armor
 * Full set of Wizard/Mage Trinkets

''Optional #1: If you are feeling the desire to accelerate your early game, the best investment by far is to purchase the promotion materials required to immediately take one of your heroes to 5-Stars. If you are going this route, my preference is to purchase the "Souls of the Dead" to promote your first mage all the way to 5-Stars, preferably when they are on sale in the World Map Shop. Souls are more challenging to farm early game than Dragon Hearts, and the Dragon's Den Dungeon provides 2 other valuable resources that are worth farming, so you will quickly find yourself with more Dragon Hearts than you need.''

''Optional #2: If you randomly find a really good Bow, think you would be more comfortable with a third hero early, or just Really. Like. Archers. Feel free to include one in your initial lineup. Fortunately most of the trinkets and armor you'll develop on an Archer will be re-usable on your Buffer, so don't feel too bad investing gold to level these. The one watch out here is your bow. Since Buffers require staffs/wands make sure not to invest too heavily in the bow at this point since it will be replaced early in the mid game.''

If you decide to go this route, I would suggest the following build for your Archer to maximize the amount of gear that can be recycled.

Archer - Item Build
Once you have leveled this 2 or 3 Hero line up to S-class gear with 10-15 levels of reinforcement it is time to begin thinking about your Mid Game
 * Bow
 * Leather Helmet and Pants; Cloth Chest, Boots and Gloves
 * Full set of Wizard/Mage Trinkets

Mid Game
Once you get all 2(3) of your beginning heroes up to level 10-15 S-Class gear its time to start thinking about moving towards your final line up. At this point you should be strong enough to easily take out at least a few World Dungeons, so you should be doing so as often as possible in hopes of landing some Plate, Leather and Cloth reward items. You should not level any non-reward gear above level 15 in any circumstances (except for Trinkets, Runes and standard Plate/Cloth gloves which are arguably better than the reward type). Any investment now of this much gold or even worse Jewels of Blessing will be a waste. Your primary target now should be getting strong enough to face World Dungeon 9 in order to win your first reward weapon, the Staff of the Sun.

Once you find your first reward weapon it must become your primary focus. Reinforcing this weapon to level 30 will be invaluable in your next target which is securing your first Excalibur drop, the World Dungeon sword reward weapon. Finding your first Staff of the Sun is also your cue to start preparing your buffer. As soon as your Staff of the Sun is strong enough to replace your Mage's weapon, take your old staff and all your Archer's leather armor and give them to your buffer. This should provide an instant injection into damage and survival and allow you to usher in your Intermediate Lineup

Intermediate Lineup
With this lineup your Buffer's attack stat won't be a critical factor so focus on leveling world dungeon armor on all 3 characters, the Staff of the Sun on your Mage and CoolTime/skill levels for your Buffer. The initial skills you should focus for your Buffer are listed below.
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Mage
 * 1 Buffer

Remember to keep a close eye on the thresholds to increase target count for all Buffer and Healer skills

Initial Buffer Skill Set
You may not reach these levels before finding your first Excalibur, but making these investments should put you on the right path for this.If you are still having trouble proceeding, step back and drop a few more reinforcement levels into your final rune set or your Knight's set of trinkets as these should help you move forward.
 * Regeneration to Level 125 (3 Targets)
 * Bloodlust to Level 100 (4 Targets)
 * Mind Control to Level 100 (4 Targets)

Finding your first Excalibur is a good signal that you have reach the beginning of the end of the Mid Game. Regardless of any other gear level, your focus now should be leveling your Excalibur your first to reinforcement level 30, and then all the way up to level 50 using any and all Reinforced Titanium Ingots that you can forge. Once your Excalibur is 5 levels ahead of the Staff of the Sun you have entered the Late Game.

Late Game
At this point you will realize that your Knight is dealing far more DPS than your Mage, so it is time replace your Mage with your favorite Healer, and move all of the Mage's gear over, leaving you with your Final Lineup

Final Lineup
With your final lineup installed our remaining priorities, loosely in order should be as follows: Work in Progress
 * 1 Knight
 * 1 Buffer
 * 1 Healer
 * Knight weapon to Level 50
 * Buffer/Healer Max Cooldown Stat (80%)
 * Buffer/Healer able to survive long enough to cast spells
 * Healer God Shield, Holy Shield and Heal to Level 100 (2 Targets)
 * Max Toughness (160%) on your Knight, High Toughness on your Buffer & Healer (80%-100%)
 * Max Cooldown (80%), Crit Rate (170%) and High Crit Damage (2,500%-4,000%) on your Knight
 * Healer God Shield, Holy Shield and Heal to Level 200 (3 Targets)
 * Buffer Sleep level 125 (4 Targets)
 * All Buffer/Healer Spells up to 4 Targets

Beyond Late Game
Work in Progress
 * Purchase 4th - 6th Heroes
 * Keep an eye out for strong hero types, and your current team weaknesses which can guide your hero selection process
 * Continue to upgrade Healer/Buffer skills to support larger team
 * Max Toughness on all "Non-Plate" heroes
 * Max Cooldown on all Heroes
 * Max Crit Rate on all DPSers

Credits and References

 * BimbromirWork in Progress

Coming Soon
Argonne's 1-Healer No Weapon Meta

"Did you think that the 9-Healer Meta was the tits? '3-Hero' not XXXXTreme enough for you? Try Argonne's new 1-Healer No Weapon Meta for the ultimate Everybody's RPG experience."

"Guaranteed to trigger the shit out of all your friends as your +100,000,000 rebirth levels healer rips their team to shreds with her bare hands....."

"Pew Pew Pew blasting health lasers out of her f'ing hands"