The Abyssal expedition was pretty fun. It was a whole new event, with different strategies, teams, and bosses. There was a lot to take in, and everything about it was so new that very few had a good idea of how to beat it until a couple of days.
Fortunately, that was the first one. Like they apparently say about parenting, it’s only scary the first time because you don’t know what you’re doing. So, we have the experience, and fortunately, we’ll have an actual commitment from all players (if you do the diamond enrollment thing), so this time it will be great.
So, why am I making this post? Well, there’s a lot of ground to cover in this event. It’s a waste of stamina to use your full LB meta team in a weak place, and fortunately, you don’t have to! Here are some tips, tricks, and heroes I’d suggest implementing into your strategies:
1. Use as few heroes as possible in a fight.
In abyssal, there’s a stamina meter for every hero. They start off with 60 energy and gain 4 every hour. Most battles require 12 energy from every hero involved to start, and you get some back by beating the stage with some conditions. One star if you beat it, a star if nobody dies in the battle, and a star if you win within 30 seconds of the start. Each star you earn gives you two energy back, meaning you can net a loss of only six energy.
However, here’s a thing to consider: you could use four heroes in a battle to get three stars on a battle, or use one hero to two-star it (if you win a solo, the minimum is two stars since you’d lose if someone died). Sure, the four heroes lose less energy individually, but you’ll overall lose 24 energy, instead of losing 8 by just soloing it. Especially if it’s a hero you wouldn’t often use in a team comp anyway, it’s definitely worth it to solo it whenever you can. (Unless it requires 3 heroes to one star when you know you can three-star with five, then it’s a loss of 30 energy either way.)
2. (revised) Have a strong roster from the start.
A major part of this event is the blessed essence. It can be used to buy relics, which buff heroes in different branches. (More on branches in another tip.) Blessed essence is acquired from taking out villages, towns, and cities. However, the initial buffs from the tree (in terms of HP, atk, def) probably won’t be enough to immediately start running your Elite+ and Legendary heroes.
As a result, my suggestion would be to use your good heroes at a high ascension unless A, they already work at lower ascensions (Mehira for example) or B, they’re a boss killer (like Cecilia or Saurus). Then, when the branches start reaching lv 2 or 3 when the stat buffs make ascensions almost trivial, you can start rolling out with the E+ boys.
Basically, try to strategize what heroes you put in your roster so that you can minimize energy expenditure and maximize results (dirty deeds done dirt cheap, I had to). You only get 10-25 heroes depending on your rank, so choose wisely!
3. Build your branches, especially the ones you use.
Just like in the regular game, the Abyssal expedition has a tree, with branches that buff the heroes in them. Unlike the regular game, however, every branch is really good (please buff mage branch). You won’t go wrong in building any of them, so try to prioritize the branch you have many heroes in, and if you have any heroes in it, buff the ranger branch as well (probably the best one of the five). However, you’ll probably have to upgrade every branch for quests, and it’s just a good idea to do that anyway. I mean, it’s not that expensive, so what do you have to lose?
4. Coordinate with the militia and build mutual trust.
This event is not a solo event. You’ll probably be alone for the first day or two, but try to connect with other players as quickly as possible. Since players that are connected can attack anywhere connected to a shared like, your group will progress way faster than if there were 70 lines headed to the final boss.
On a similar note, you’ll probably have to team up with someone else to take out your first towns and cities because they’re so difficult. Just be aware that the person who kills the last enemy occupies the territory that was collectively fought for, so be sure to ask others if they want it before you snipe it after another group was already trying to take it. That’s just mean. Have the initiative to help others before they help you, it will pay off in the long run because you’ll be able to quickly trust those around you. I know that sounds like some kind of kindergarten teacher stuff to say (no offense to any kindergarten teachers out there), but it’s true, it helped me out so much the last time and made the event more fun.
So those were the main tips and tricks I wanted to talk about, now for some heroes I used that were really good:
1. Orthros– apparently they’re reworking the tank branch (probably because of how many people complained about Orthros), but I figured that if you can’t beat em, join em! He was really tanky last time; even at L+, he was killing it! Probably because ascensions don’t matter that much but whatever.
Basically, Orthros has a passive ability where he gets more max HP until he’s at 150% of his base, then heals 3% of his HP every second. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but since he has 1.5 times his max HP, it’s more like 4.5% of his HP per second. The tank branch then increased HP regen by 50%, meaning he was healing almost 7% of his HP per second. That, along with his ult, which let him heal even in stopped time, made him almost unkillable unless you had ridiculous burst damage or Ferael/Oden. Speaking of…
2. Oden– another case of “if you can’t beat em, join em.” When he was on the enemy side, he really screwed with your team. He moves heroes into each other, takes their energy, and does massive AoE damage, especially when he gets his eyes opened.
Obviously, that means you can capitalize on it by using him on your team! Combine him with another AoE unit (like maybe Skriath or… no not going to mention him), and you’ve got a wombo combo, dynamic duo, um… pain train, energy gain, Bruce Wayne. (what am I sayn’?)
3. Warek– so you know about campaign Warek? Yeah, he kinda sucks to fight against, and you know why. But what if I told you that he could do that for you?
Warek on your side with upgraded might is a monster. Imagine him in the campaign, but about twice as good and can solo an enemy team with no issue (so basically just imagine him twice as good, he could already destroy me). This Madlad can be used at any ascension because of the base stat buff, but obviously, he will do better with an SI and stuff. I mean, you’re probably already using him for boss fights, you may as well have fun with him elsewhere.
4. Estrilda– she’s probably the hero that is buffed the third-most by the mighty tree. Where Warek was a unit, Estrilda is a super unit, with all the AoE she deals and the life leech she gains from the tree. Again, you’re probably using her already, but she can easily solo fights if you need to quickly move to some cities or a boss.
5. Rigby– (Quick aside here, I’m going to let you guys know that Rigby is my favorite hero in the game. I use him a lot, so I know a lot about what he can do.) If heroes like Warek and Estrilda gained really good buffs from the might branch, Rigby becomes a monster with it. Imagine a hero with 90% damage reduction, over 150 haste, and tons of life leech when he’s at low HP. To me, that’s the definition of OP, and you’ll definitely see it if you use him. He can also do tons of damage to bosses, not quite Saurus level but still solid overall.
That is about all I have to say on this. I will probably update this post as I go through the event for the second time, whether to add more tips and tricks or to share some unconventional heroes that my group has had success with. I hope this is a good first guide, I plan on adding more here!
aka KrazyKyle1024 from the United State of America!
I play AFK Arena, and I’m a Rigby main!
Username: KrazyKyle1024 | ID: 22147755